ROUGHYEDS owner Bill Quinn has issued an apology to the club’s supporters after the club came under fire for the handling of assistant coach Brendan Sheridan’s departure, writes Kasey Smith.

Long serving Sheridan, who has been part of the backroom staff since 2019, was told his contract would not be renewed for the 2025 season, last week.

He voiced his disappointment on Facebook, revealing that he was informed of his departure through a 2am phone call – something which Quinn acknowledged as a "genuine mistake."

In a statement released via the club’s website, Quinn said: “This was of course regrettable, but was the result of a genuine mistake in time zones with our head coach currently on the other side of the world.

“It was absolutely not the case of any form of unplanned late night phone call, which would be completely at odds with our values as a club.

“Brendan has been a highly valued and popular member of this great club for five years and the decision to restructure our backroom team for 2025 was simply a football decision.

“Sport is sport. It can be tough at times, but there is absolutely no ill-feeling from our side. We are massively grateful to Brendan who has so often gone above and beyond for the team during his time here.”

Sheridan joined Oldham back in 2019 to become assistant to then coach Matt Diskin and has since served under Brian McDermott, Stuart Littler and most recently Sean Long.

He was a popular figure within the club and a fan favourite thanks to his player-focused coaching approach which helped create a positive team culture.

He played a key role alongside Long in the season just gone where Oldham were crowned League One champions.

The full statement from Bill Quinn can be read on the club’s website, roughyeds.co.uk