Andrews gives his reasons for leaving Athletic

Last updated : 03 July 2003 By The Chairman

Wayne Andrews has said that he was “gutted” to leave the Latics but had to secure his future by signing for Colchester United. Andrews said, “The situation was forced on me and I didn’t want to leave. I had an offer from Colchester and, given the situation at Oldham, I had to think about my family. I have a two-year-old daughter who I only saw every few weeks during the season because I was based up there and my family was down south. If I was a northerner I’m sure things would have been different. But weighing up family, the offer I received and the big problems with getting a new deal from Oldham, I didn’t think there was much choice.”

“It’s very disappointing because I made a lot of friends there and was really getting to grips with second division football. Hand on heart, I honestly thought that if the squad stayed together we would win promotion next year and I would score 20 goals. Iain Dowie and the other coaches showed faith in me. They worked hard on my game and I would have loved to repay them. Next season is a new challenge, but I would have preferred that challenge with Oldham. Touch wood it won’t happen, but I can see the team breaking up, which would be a terrible shame after all the work we put in last season."

"I can’t believe what’s happening to the club – circumstances forced me to leave and the same thing might happen to others. I heard QPR were interested, but there’s a good vibe about the Colchester lads and hopefully I’ll settle quickly. Playing against Oldham would be very weird, though. The fans were brilliant to me and I want to say thank you for their support – if I score against Oldham next season, there’s no way I’ll be able to celebrate."