Poggsy to return to Australia

Last updated : 05 March 2008 By The Chairman

Les Pogliacomi, who has accepted retirement, admits that it will be hard to leave Athletic. The popular Boundary Park keeper returns to Australia early next month after chronic knee problems have ended his playing career in England. Aussie doctors believe he could be playing again within 12 months so he has opted to try his luck again back home, hoping that he may resurrect his career when he has healed. Poggsy made 187 appearances for Athletic and he went on a record breaking run during his time at Oldham.

The 31 year old said, "I have a lot of fond memories from my time with Oldham, so leaving will be a wrench. I didn't want to go under these circumstances, and I'm very disappointed that I'm leaving on a low point instead of a high. I have so many connections with the club and the people, but I've also had some bad luck over the last 12 months and maybe it was time for a fresh start anyway. There are also personal reasons which make me and my wife feel positive about going home, we feel sometimes things happen for a reason. Everyone in football has highs and lows, but looking on the plus side I've been involved with two Oldham teams who reached the play-offs. The first time, in my first season a few years ago (2002/03), we had a brilliant manager in Iain Dowie and a brilliant group of players, whose team spirit was something I've only experienced once. My biggest highlight was probably that season because we broke the club record for clean sheets, which is something I'm privileged to hold when you think of the 'keepers Oldham have had. And last year was a great achievement as well because expectations were much lower. It was just a shame we fell away after going top of the league."

"There are other good memories, like staying up on the last day of the season against Bradford when I got man of the match (2005). When I was younger I always hoped to play over here one day, so it's not surprising I have a soft spot for Oldham. When I went for an exploratory operation a few weeks ago, I thought it would be a tidy-up and three months out at worst. I was very shocked to discover my knee was in such a state that, basically, they couldn't help me in the UK. It turned out I was looking at 12 months as the minimum, possibly two years, and of course the first thing you do is wonder if you'll play again. I didn't know if it was worth going through it all, especially as the success rate for that procedure isn't the best. I wanted to check out my options, so I spoke to one of the top surgeons in Australia who said a different way forward would be better. It's still very serious but, hopefully, I'll be able to play in less than 12 months if I take the season out and do a proper rehab. There are no guarantees it will save my career and the specialist told me not to get my hopes up, but he feels positive about me leading an active life afterwards. He put me in a much better frame of mind, that's for sure, because I'd been pretty much shattered by what I heard before."

"There's still a long road ahead, but I'll put myself to good use by working with my father-in-law (in the construction and development industry) and going back to my studies. You can take a kind of mini-degree, so I'll do something relevant to the business. I'm going back into the real world now. I think Oldham are in pretty decent shape at the moment because there are a lot of good young players. To really move forward, though, they need to get the ground sorted out as quickly as possible. Supporters don't want rickety old stands any more, they want to feel good about the stadium and good about the club as a whole. Obviously you need to invest in players as well, but the stadium is the first thing to put right if they are serious about getting to the Championship. The owners can't keep forking out, so I hope more fans go along to games and help to fund investment in the ground and the team. The potential is there for Oldham to become a Championship club, and I really hope they succeed."