Scott McNiven has agreed to join Oxford United but left Athletic with a parting salvo. After more than 250 appearances he felt that the Boundary Park club had under-valued him. The defender had been on a weekly contract for the last two seasons so it wasn't a big shock when he was told by ex-manager Mick Wadsworth that he could leave. McNiven has signed a two year deal with the third division team. McNiven commented, “Oldham kept saying they wanted me to stay, but for the past two years they didn't offer me anything new. A lot of the players coming in were being offered a hell of a lot more, so I thought I deserved better after being there so long. Being on a week-to-week contract was no security for me, although I leave with good memories because it's where I started my career."
"I enjoyed my time at Oldham, but I possibly needed a new challenge because you can spend too long playing for one club. It was scary how many new players arrived last season. There were people either signing or coming in on trial every week, or sometimes every day."
"I was sorry to see Andy Ritchie leave – I thought he was unlucky – but obviously I wish Iain Dowie all the best and hope he has the success everyone in Oldham craves. Oxford are quite similar in that they have a chairman with a lot of money who wants to see them getting promotion quickly. They have a brand-new stadium, good training facilities and Ian Atkins seems like a good manager. I'm not going there to play third-division football – I'm going to win promotion and help them get back up there again. It's a long way to move, but it's a different way of life and I would have regretted not experiencing these things.”