After a mid-table finish in their first season, Latics missed out on promotion, finishing in fourth place, seven points behind local rivals and league champions Bolton Wanderers. In the 1973–74 season, the Latics finished in 1st place and returned to the Second Division for the first time in 21 years. Oldham's trip back to the Second Division was far more successful than their previous visit. During Frizzell's remaining time at the club, the Latics remained in the Second Division, but with little FA Cup and Football League Cup success. In June 1982, the club appointed Joe Royle as their manager. Royle's side finished 7th in his first season in charge, but fell to 19th in his second. In the 1986–87 season, Oldham narrowly missed promotion to the First Division finishing three points behind Portsmouth and losing in the inaugural play-offs to Leeds United, when previous seasons would have seen them automatically promoted. Royle's Latics reached Wembley Stadium in the 1990 Football League Cup Final versus Nottingham Forest, where they lost 1–0. The next season, Oldham did not have the same cup success, but instead found success by winning the Second Division and returning to the First Division for the first time in 68 years. In their first season back in the top flight, the club finished 17th and became one of the founding members of the newly formed Premier League. After two further seasons at the top level, Oldham faced relegation yet again and during the following season, the Joe Royle era came to an end, as he left the club for Everton. During this era, Oldham Athletic reached the FA Cup semi-finals twice, both times losing to Manchester United after a replay. In 1994 they were less than a minute away from winning 1–0 in extra time when a Mark Hughes equaliser for Manchester United saw the game at Wembley Stadium end in a 1–1 draw, and Oldham were crushed 4–1 in the replay at Maine Road. Many fans of Oldham in the years since have described the last minute equaliser by Hughes the start of a decline that Oldham have never recovered from. Oldham failed to win any of their seven remaining league games following the semi-final and were relegated on the final day of the season after a 1–1 draw at Norwich City. Oldham's side of the late 1980s and early 1990s featured several players who were then sold to bigger clubs. Mike Milligan, a highly rated young Irish midfielder who was a product of Oldham's youth system, was sold to Everton for £1,000,000 in 1990, but returned to Boundary Park a year later after an unsuccessful season on Merseyside.