THE name Royle has been synonymous with Oldham Athletic for decades, and could be again after it emerged Darren Royle - son of Latics legend Joe - is looking to head-up a takeover.

Darren Royle, a former executive director and executive chairman of Wigan Athletic, is understood to have a consortium interested in buying out Abdallah Lemsagam. But they are so far struggling to agree on a price.

Since Lemsagam announced in January a number of interested parties have come forward.

But with a pricetag thought to be in the region of £6million just for the club, with Boundary Park a separate entity and the subject of a potential courtroom battle after legal proceedings were lodged against landlords Brass Bank in December, would-be investors have been put off, both in terms of the financial side as well as an unclear timeframe for stadium issues to be resolved.

Ironically, the North Stand is named after Joe Royle in recognition for his service and achievements with the club.

In the meantime, Latics' Football League status is hanging by a thread with four games to go.

Oldham dropped back into the bottom two following a Good Friday defeat at home to promotion-chasing Northampton Town and are three points adrift of safety ahead of this afternoon's Easter Monday game at League Two leaders Forest Green Rovers.

It is a far cry from when Joe Royle was at the helm, guiding them into the top flight where they became founder members of the Premier League in 1992.

Now they are battling to avoid becoming the first former Premier League club to suffer relegation from the Football League.