Nickname: Big Joe Royle
Chant: Joey Royle's blue and white army!In 1982, Royle took over the managerial reins at Oldham Athletic. He spent twelve years in charge at Boundary Park, taking them into the First Division in 1991 (a year before it became the FA Premier League) as Second Division champions.
Royle's teams won many friends with their care-free, cavalier style. Royle as an individual also received wide acclaims from spectators for his "rave dancing" along the touchline at the end of a game at Swindon. Oldham were beaten in the 1990 League Cup final by Nottingham Forest, and reached the last four of the FA Cup twice (in 1990 and 1994), losing both times to Manchester United in a replay.
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.
They survived on goal difference on the last day of the 1992-93 with a remarkable 4-3 away 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. 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 trounced three days later in the Maine Road replay. 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.
In November 1994, he replaced Mike Walker as manager of Everton and took them to FA Cup glory in his first season as manager (1994–95).
A year later they finished sixth in the Premiership, but their form in 1996–97 was less convincing and on transfer deadline day 1997 he was not permitted to sign the Norwegians (Tore André Flo and Claus Eftevaag) by chairman Peter Johnson, which led to his resignation. He was named the Everton Giant for 2004 for his successes as both a player and a manager for the Toffees.
