FRANK Rothwell admits the reaction from supporters since his family's takeover was announced a fortnight ago has been above and beyond his expectations, and highlighted just how desperate they were for a change in ownership.

The club had sunk to depths it had never experienced before, with two relegations in four years under Abdallah Lemsagam resulting in Oldham Athletic becoming the first former Premier League club to be relegated from the Football League, allied with ongoing financial struggles.

But the Rothwell family's arrival has lifted the gloom, leading to Latics starting the new season in the National League with hope and optimism, where there had previously been a sense of despair among the fanbase.

And that feelgood factor has prompted fans to flock back.

In the week that season tickets went back on sale, 2,100 supporters took up the 'early bird' offer, to add to the 1,600 purchased under the old regime, making for a total of 3,700 season ticket holders so far.

In addition, at the time of going to press the club had sold 2,298 matchday tickets for Saturday's televised visit of Dorking Wanderers, with the 5.20pm kick-off preceded by a procession outside of the ground, along Sheepfoot Lane.

On a personal note, Rothwell has been receiving handshakes, high fives and good wishes everywhere he goes.

And he says it has opened his eyes into how much Oldham Athletic supporters had feared for their football club.

"I didn't know what to expect really. I just thought I'd be the bloke who owns the club, I didn't think there would be such emotion and such support," he said.

"To sell 3,700 season tickets before the first home game, that's something special.

"I'm so happy about that. And we've sold another 2,298 matchday tickets, and we're not there yet.

"People might be looking at the weather and think 'it might be nice to go to the football'.

"It's normally cold here so they will be able to come and see Oldham in the sunshine."

Rothwell is hoping for a bumper crowd for the first home game of the season, which will be swelled by youngsters from local grassroots clubs as part of the club's community initiative offering free tickets, which were also made available to residents from houses in the immediate vicinity of Boundary Park.

"These people are going to get noise for an hour so I thought 'what can I do?' We've given everyone on Sheepfoot Lane, Furtherwood Road and the houses behind that get traffic coming backwards and forwards all day, so we made a gesture to those people," Rothwell explained.