in 1986 and was sold to Manchester United for £625,000 in 1990, where he went on to win numerous domestic and European honours over the next 12 years. The Latics finished 17th in 1991–92 season – their first top flight campaign for almost 70 years – and secured their place in the new Premier League. A key game which helped ensure survival was a 5–1 home win over eventually relegated Luton Town, in which Graeme Sharp scored four goals. They also hosted Manchester United on Boxing Day 1991, and went down 6–3 in one of the most thrilling league contests of the season. They survived on goal difference on the last day of the 1992–93 with a remarkable 4–3 home win over Southampton, their survival also boosted by an earlier 1–0 away win over Aston Villa – a victory which handed the title to Oldham's local rivals Manchester United. This result sent Crystal Palace down instead. However, 1993–94 brought another battle against relegation and this time the Latics were unable to win it. They were rarely outside the bottom three all season. Another away win over Southampton at the end of March 1994 lifted the Latics out of the relegation zone and a 4–1 home win over QPR in the next game put them three points clear of the drop zone with two games in hand. However, a late Manchester United equaliser put their FA Cup dream on ice in the Wembley semi-final and they were defeated 4–1 three days later in the Maine Road replay. The Premier League campaign had already brought two thrilling matches between Oldham and their bigger local rivals - a 5–2 win for United at Boundary Park just after Christmas, and at the beginning of April the return match at Old Trafford saw the hosts win a closely-fought game 3–2. The Latics failed to win any of their final eight games and a 1–1 draw at Norwich City on the final day of the season was not enough to stave off relegation. Royle remained in charge of Oldham despite their relegation, and oversaw their first few months in Division One. Everton After 12 years of managing Oldham, Royle returned to Everton in November 1994 to succeed manager Mike Walker, who had been sacked after less than a year in charge following Everton's worst start to a league season, with no wins from their first 12