Oldham R.L.F.C., also known as the Roughyeds, is a professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
football club in
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
, Greater Manchester, England.
The club currently competes in the
RFL League 1
RFL League One (for sponsorship reasons currently known as the Betfred League One) is a professional rugby league competition based in the United Kingdom. Part of the British rugby league pyramid, the competition features clubs from England an ...
, the third tier of British Rugby League.
Formed in 1876 as Oldham Football Club, Oldham are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the
Northern Rugby Football Union
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ...
in 1895.
The club became known as Oldham Bears from the
1996 season until
financial difficulties led to liquidation in 1997. A new club formed as Oldham R.L.F.C. in time for the 1998 season, maintaining the former club's traditional nickname of the Roughyeds. Roughyed is a nickname for a person from Oldham, derived from the rough felt used in the hatting industry which once employed many people.
Oldham played from 1889 to 1997 at
Watersheddings
Watersheddings was the site of a former rugby league stadium in the Watersheddings area of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. Historically it was in Lancashire, lying on the A672 (Ripponden Road) approximately 2 miles north east of Oldham ...
in the north east of the town. Oldham's home ground is now
Whitebank Stadium
Whitebank Stadium, currently also known as the Vestacare Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a rugby league and association football stadium which forms part of Limeside in Oldham, England. It is the home stadium of Oldham R.L.F.C. and Avro F ...
in Limeside. However, as Whitebank does not meet the standards for the Championship Division, Oldham have instead used
Bower Fold
Bower Fold in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, England, is the home ground of Stalybridge Celtic football club and, intermittently, Oldham rugby league club.
History
There has been a ground at Bower Fold since 1906. The current main stand was ...
in
Stalybridge
Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 23,731 at the 2011 Census.
Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east of Manchester city centre and no ...
during those campaigns between 2017 and 2021. The club have also previously used Boundary Park, Hurst Cross and Park Lane, Whitefield prior to Whitebank Stadium. Oldham returned to
Bower Fold
Bower Fold in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, England, is the home ground of Stalybridge Celtic football club and, intermittently, Oldham rugby league club.
History
There has been a ground at Bower Fold since 1906. The current main stand was ...
for the 2020 season.
Relegation to
League 1 at the conclusion of the 2017 and 2021 Championship seasons saw the club return to
Whitebank Stadium
Whitebank Stadium, currently also known as the Vestacare Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a rugby league and association football stadium which forms part of Limeside in Oldham, England. It is the home stadium of Oldham R.L.F.C. and Avro F ...
.
Oldham have won the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
four times and the
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
three times.
The team's traditional strip consists of red and white hooped jerseys, navy blue shorts and red socks.
Traditional local rivals include
Rochdale Hornets
The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...
,
Huddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sh ...
,
Halifax,
Salford Red Devils
The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...
and
Swinton Lions
The Swinton Lions are a professional rugby league club based in Swinton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Championship. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. Before 1996, the club was known s ...
.
History
Early years
In 1876, Oldham Football Club was founded in a meeting at the Prince Albert Hotel, Union Street West, attended by Chairman of the
Watch Committee
In England and Wales, watch committees were the local government bodies which oversaw policing from 1835 until, in some areas, 1968.
Establishment
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 required each borough to establish a "watch committee" and to ...
, William Chadwick,
Chief Constable Charles Hodgkinson, mill owner Fred Wild, eminent local
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
and Lord to be
Alfred Emmott
Alfred Emmott, 1st Baron Emmott, (8 May 1858 – 13 December 1926) was a British businessman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician.
Background and education
The eldest surviving son of Thomas Emmott, of Brookfield, Oldham, he was e ...
and three brothers of the Fletcher family.
A playing field was organised at Sugar Meadow, Gartside Street adjacent to
Glodwick
Glodwick is an area of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It is south-east of Oldham town centre.
Glodwick is a multi-ethnic residential area in the south of Oldham, home particularly to a large community of Pakistanis and British Pakistanis.
...
Spinning Mill and changing facilities were provided by the nearby Shakespeare Inn. The club's headquarters were at the Black Swan Hotel, Bottom O'th Moor, Mumps. Their first match at Sugar Meadow was held on 21 October 1876 against
Stalybridge
Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 23,731 at the 2011 Census.
Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east of Manchester city centre and no ...
. After two seasons they joined
Oldham Cricket Club
Oldham Cricket Club is a cricket team based at The Pollards in the Watersheddings area of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England.
In 1892 Oldham were one of the founding members of the Central Lancashire League and currently run teams in the First ...
at the new Clarksfield ground before finding a more permanent home in 1889 at
Watersheddings
Watersheddings was the site of a former rugby league stadium in the Watersheddings area of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. Historically it was in Lancashire, lying on the A672 (Ripponden Road) approximately 2 miles north east of Oldham ...
.
Oldham were one of the twenty-one clubs that left the
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...
to form the
Northern Union in 1895. Oldham were fourth in the first title race of
1895–96 and second a year later. They were the second club to win the
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
after beating
Hunslet
Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past.
It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...
19–9 in 1899.
Batley had won the first two finals.
Oldham finally won their first
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
title in 1904–05, just edging out
Bradford Northern
The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predomi ...
by three points. Oldham won the Lancashire League in 1897–98, 1900–01 and 1907–08 as well as the
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
County Cup
The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...
in 1906–07. In the 1907–08 season, Oldham finished as league leaders but Hunslet were crowned champions in their historic all-four cups season after winning the Championship Final 12–2 in a replay after an initial 7–7 draw.
Another title success followed in 1909–10 as they beat
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
in the Championship final. Also in that same season they managed to win the Lancashire League and Lancashire Cup. The following season, 1910–11, they beat Wigan again in the Championship final.
Oldham's record attendance was set in 1912 when the visit of
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
for a league match drew 28,000 spectators.
Oldham won the Lancashire League in 1921–22 and the Lancashire Cup in 1912–13, 1918–19 and 1923–24. The annual Law Cup was first contested against neighbours
Rochdale Hornets
The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...
on 7 May 1921. Having lost in the 1907, 1912 and 1924
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
Finals, they finally won the trophy again in 1925 when they beat
Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...
16–3 at
Headingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...
,
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
.
They beat the visiting
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
n team of the
1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain 15–5.
The club's last Challenge Cup final was in 1927 when they beat
Swinton 26–7 at
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
,
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
, their fourth consecutive final and revenge for their 9–3 defeat when the same teams met in the previous year's match. In 1932–33, Oldham won the Lancashire Cup again.
Post-war
In the 1950s, Oldham won the Championship and other trophies with a side that included
Alan Davies
Alan Roger Davies (; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is best known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only perm ...
,
John Etty
John W. Etty is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played between 1944 and 1961. He played at representative level for British Empire XIII and Yorkshire, and at club level for Batley, Oldham ( Heritage No. 585), and Wake ...
, goalkicker
Bernard Ganley
William Bernard Ganley (27 January 1927 – 26 June 2009), also known by the nickname of "The Maestro", was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played at representative level for Great Britain a ...
, Jack Keith,
Sid Little,
Frank Pitchford,
Derek 'Rocky' Turner,
Don Vines
Donald "Don" George Vines (6 February 1932 – 17 September 1989) was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s, and a Heel (professional wrestling), heel wrestler in professional wrestling ...
and
Charlie Winslade.
On Monday 15 September 1952, record receipts were taken from a gate of 19,370 at Watersheddings to watch Oldham take on the
Kangaroo tourists. The Australians lost only one of twenty-two club matches in Britain during that tour, but came close to defeat at Oldham, where the Roughyeds held them to a 7–7 draw.
Oldham played in the 1954–55 Championship Final at
Maine Road
Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...
, Manchester against
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
. They also lost the Lancashire Cup final in a 2–12 defeat by
Barrow in 1954.
Oldham's success in the 1950s also included a Championship title – in 1956–57; the Lancashire League 1956–57 and 1957–58 and the Lancashire Cup 1955–56, 1956–57 and 1957–58. Oldham lost 16–13 to Wigan in the 1966 Lancashire Cup Final. In 1964, Oldham reached the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup against
Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...
, the tie is remembered for taking three games to find the winner, the first match at Headingley finished 5–5, the replay at
Station Road,
Swinton finished prematurely 17–14 in Oldham's favour when the game was abandoned midway through the second half due to bad light, and the third game was won by Hull Kingston Rovers 12–2 at
Fartown,
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
.
Oldham were Division Two champions in 1963–64.
At the end of a disastrous 1969–70 season, when Oldham finished 29th out of 30 clubs in a single division, the committee was voted out of office en bloc and replaced by nine new officials and a new chairman in Arthur Walker. They brought in Graham Starkey as player-coach.
Dave Cox
David E. Cox (February 20, 1938 – July 13, 2010) was an American politician from Holdenville, Oklahoma. A Republican, he served as a California State Senator, representing the 1st district from December 2004 until his death in July 2010, and ...
coached Oldham for 18 months until December 1978.
In the 1983–84 season, Oldham lost just two of their opening 11 Division One fixtures but collapsed around Christmas. After four defeats in five games, January's home game against
Leigh
Leigh may refer to:
Places In England
Pronounced :
* Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan
** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency)
* Leigh-on-Sea, Essex
Pronounced :
* Leigh, Dorset
* Leigh, Gloucestershire
* Leigh, Kent
* Leigh, Staf ...
descended into a mass brawl before the referee abandoned the match. Both clubs were fined £1,000 and coach Peter Smethurst decided to quit. The club committee asked his assistant, Frank Barrow to step into the breach. His first game was against rock-bottom
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...
, winless after 22 matches. But the Cumbrians ran in seven tries, handing Oldham a 42–8 mauling, and prompting
Barrow to resign minutes after the game. He was replaced on a temporary basis by Brian Gartland.
Oldham pleaded with the local council for a financial bail-out in April 1987. Oldham decided to float as a public limited company and sold their training ground to the council in May 1987. Oldham won the 1988 Division Two title and the Division Two Premiership but lost £135,000. They would win the Premiership again in 1989–90.
Peter Tunks took over a coaching role with Oldham. Tunk's brief was clear: He had to sell most of his first team squad that had been relegated twice in 3 years, help to pay a tax bill of over 1 million pounds and sign promising players from the junior ranks. He narrowly missed promotion in the first year and took the team to the grand final where they were narrowly beaten. Over the next 2 years he got promotion to the top level for all the Oldham teams whilst getting young players like Chris Joynt, Barrie McDermott, David Bradbury, Gary Christie and Tommy Martyn to international level but due to the clubs massive debts run up by the previous management, Tunks was forced to sell his best players.
Bob Lindner
Bob Lindner (born 10 November 1962) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s. An Australia national and Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he is on ...
took over as captain-coach. The club sold the dilapidated Watersheddings in June 1994 for £1.25m to pay-off debts and moved to
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
's
Boundary Park
Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively.
Bound ...
stadium on the nearby
Chadderton
Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester.
...
/
Royton
Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 21,284 in 2011. Close to the source of the River Irk, near undulating land at the foothills of the South Pennines, it is northwest of Old ...
boundary.
When a
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
funded Super League competition was proposed, part of the deal was that some traditional clubs would merge. Oldham were supposed to merge with
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
to form a club to be known as ''Manchester'' which would compete in the
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
. When Salford visited Oldham for a match on Good Friday, 14 April, supporters of both clubs demonstrated against the unpopular idea by invading the pitch during the interval. This merger was resisted and instead they adopted the name Oldham Bears and were founder members of the new league.
Relegation came in the second year of the new summer season, 1997, when they finished below
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
. Later that year, under chairman Jim Quinn, they went bankrupt with debts of £2,000,000.
A new team Oldham Roughyeds was then formed in December to play at a lower level. The new club was created by Chris Hamilton and a band of three directors. The ''Roughyeds'' tag had been a long accepted nickname for the old club. It is however generally accepted that the new club (Oldham Roughyeds) is a legal continuation of the old club formed in 1876.
The Millennium
Mike Ford retired as player-coach of Oldham in 2001 and in January the following year took up a post as defensive co-ordinator with the
Irish Rugby Football Union
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...
. Oldham put Mark Knight in temporary charge of the first team. After a successful 2001 season, they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Super League, losing to
Widnes
Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464.
Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...
12–24 in the Northern Ford Premiership Grand Final.
During the 2002 season they played at
Ashton United's
Hurst Cross ground in
Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...
, due to a dispute with
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
over the use of
Boundary Park
Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively.
Bound ...
.
Steve Molloy took charge of the Roughyeds after former boss John Harbin left to join
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
as fitness conditioner and sports psychologist in July 2002. Under Molloy, Oldham won seven and drew two of their last 14 games. In doing so Oldham finished high enough to gain entry into
National League One when the
Northern Ford Premiership
The Rugby Football League Championship Second Division was founded in 1902 and was the second tier of professional rugby league in the UK until 2003.
During the 1990s a third division was established and there is automatic promotion between ...
was split into two. In the first season of
National League One, 2003, Oldham reached the last four of the play-offs. Although they still made the play-offs for the next couple of seasons trouble was waiting in the wings. Those troubles surfaced in March 2005, Oldham entered a creditors' voluntary agreement (CVA) with total debts of £325,000.
John Pendlebury
John Devitt Stringfellow Pendlebury (12 October 1904 – 22 May 1941) was a British archaeologist who worked for British intelligence during World War II. He was captured and Summary execution, summarily executed by German troops during the ...
resigned after three games as coach in March 2006 and was replaced by Steve Deakin, with very little money to spend and a poor squad the team finished the 2006 season with only one league win and were relegated to
National League Two, the season ended on a high note though because the club paid its final payment of the CVA and would start the next season debt free. The Roughyeds also announced that they would stay at Boundary Park for the 2007 season after reaching agreement on a sliding scale rent.
2007 – new ownership
In 2007, a few games into the new season, the excavation and demolition firm, the William Quinn Group, acquired a 52% stake in the club. That stake was later increased to 75%. Bill Quinn became the club's new chairman, with previous owners Chris Hamilton and Sean Whitehead remaining as directors.
On Friday 4 May 2007, Oldham took part in the first ever
National League Two match broadcast live on British television, on
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
. They won 34–26 away to the
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
in
Bridgend
Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...
, having trailed by 20 points after 45 minutes. The match was considered a warm-up for the
Millennium Magic weekend in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
the following day and, due to fans of Super League teams attending, attracted
National League Two's highest ever attendance of 3,441.
That
National League Two attendance record was broken in the return fixture on Thursday, 30 August 2007 between Oldham and
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
, again in front of the
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
cameras, when 4,327 fans turned up at
Boundary Park
Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively.
Bound ...
beating the old record by 886. it was also Oldham's largest attendance since the early 1990s. The event also raised around £8,000 for local charities and the rugby league players' benevolent fund.
Oldham finished their most successful season in recent years in 4th place on the
National League Two table, they then played and won games against
Swinton at home then
Barrow away in the play-off to reach the
National League Two Grand Final, but the game seemed a step too far for Oldham going down to an inspired
Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...
team at Headingley.
2008 season summary
Northern Rail Cup
The Championship Cup, (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), and previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Rugby League Championships. Although the F ...
– Oldham enjoyed reasonable success in the Northern Rail Cup, achieving a win over
National League One favourites,
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
at
Boundary Park
Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively.
Bound ...
to enable them to make it through the group stage of the competition into the knockout stages where they faced and beat another
National League One team in
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...
to progress to the quarter finals against
Batley at
Mount Pleasant, in a see-saw battle Oldham's challenge died thanks to a dubious referee call followed up by a quick fire Batley try.
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
– Oldham were the last non-Super League club to be knocked out of the
2008 Challenge Cup, going as far as the quarter finals before being beaten by
Wakefield Trinity
Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...
at
Belle Vue.
National League Two – Despite winning more games and losing less games than
Barrow but only winning 1 bonus point (to Barrow's 5 points) all season Oldham finished 3rd in
National League Two on points difference behind Barrow who came 2nd and
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
who won the league, Oldham would again have to face the route of the play-offs and like the previous year Oldham again reached the
National League Two Grand Final, this time against
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
and like 2007 Oldham again lost to miss out on promotion to
National League One losing 18–10 at Warrington's
Halliwell Jones Stadium
The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, ...
, as a result of not gaining promotion to
National League One coach Steve Deakin did not have his contract renewed.
2009 season summary
Tony Benson became head coach of Oldham.
2009 Championship 1
2009 Championship 1 was a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the United Kingdom, the third tier of the sport in the country. The winner of this league will be promoted to the Co-operative Championship. There is no releg ...
– Oldham finished fourth in the 2009 Co-operative Championship One table with a record of 10–1–7. The Roughyeds won 31–26 at home to
Swinton in the first round of the play-offs before winning 54–30 at home to
Hunslet Hawks
Hunslet R.L.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in Hunslet, South Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, who play in Betfred League 1. The club was founded in 1973 as New Hunslet, they became Hunslet in 1979 and the club were the Hunslet Hawks ...
. That set up a final eliminator against
York City Knights
The York Knights are the men's professional rugby league team of York RLFC (known as the York City Knights from 2002 to 2022) based in York, England. The Knights played their home games at Huntington Stadium before moving to Bootham Crescent. ...
, who finished third in the table, and the Roughyeds upset the hosts by winning 44–14 to reach the Grand Final again. But Oldham were beaten in the Grand Final for a third straight year, losing 28–26 to
Keighley
Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish
in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...
, who finished second in the table.
Roughyeds were told they would no longer be able to use Oldham Athletic's
Boundary Park
Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively.
Bound ...
in November 2009. The club went to Oldham Council for help. Oldham Council bought Whitebank Stadium from
Oldham Boro F.C. and then entered into a lease agreement with Oldham Roughyeds RLFC.
The 2010 season saw a transition with the five home games were played out of town at
Sedgley Park R.U.F.C.'s
Park Lane
Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from ...
ground in
Whitefield. Roughyeds' first game at Whitebank took place on 9 May 2010 with the opposition being York. This was the first time that Oldham had played in a ground within Oldham borough since 1997. Home crowds are nearly double at Whitebank compared to Park Lane.
2010s
Oldham suffered relegation to League 1 at the end of the 2017 Championship season.
In 2019, they earned promotion back to the Championship after defeating
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
in the League 1 play off final.
2020s
In the 2021 Championship season, Oldham finished second bottom on the table and were relegated back to League 1 having just won two matches all season.
Past coaches
Also see ''
:Oldham R.L.F.C. coaches.''
*
Harry Varley
Henry "Harry" Varley (25 November 1867 – 21 November 1915) was an English rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1880s and 1890s, and coached rugby league in the 1890s. He played representative level rugby unio ...
1897-1899
*
Graham Starkey
*
Peter Smethurst
*
Gerry Helme
https://www.rugbyleaguerecords.com/
Gerard "Gerry" J. Helme (4 April 1923 – 19 December 1981) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, and coached. He played at representative level for Great Brit ...
*
Frank Barrow
*
Dave Cox
David E. Cox (February 20, 1938 – July 13, 2010) was an American politician from Holdenville, Oklahoma. A Republican, he served as a California State Senator, representing the 1st district from December 2004 until his death in July 2010, and ...
1977-1978
*
Frank Myler
Frank Myler (4 December 1938 – 27 March 2020) was an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. A Great Britain and England national representative or , he ...
1980–87
*
Eric Fitzsimons 1988
*
Tony Barrow
Anthony F. J. Barrow (11 May 1936 – 14 May 2016) was an English press officer who worked with the Beatles between 1962 and 1968. He coined the phrase "the Fab Four", first using it in an early press release.
Life Early life
In the late 1 ...
1988–90
*
John Fieldhouse 1991
*
Peter Tunks 1993
*
Bob Lindner
Bob Lindner (born 10 November 1962) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s. An Australia national and Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he is on ...
1994
*
Andy Goodway 1994–97
*
Matt Munro 1997
*
Mike Ford 1997–2001
*
John Harbin 2002
*
Steve Molloy
Stephen John Molloy (born 11 March 1969) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and coached in the 2000s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and England, and at club level ...
2004
*
Steve Deakin 2007–08
*
Tony Benson 2008–12
*
Scott Naylor
Scott Naylor (2 February 1972) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and has coached in the 2010s and 2020s. He played at representative level for England, and at club level for Wigan, the ...
2013–2019
*
Matt Diskin
Matt Diskin (27 January 1982) an English professional rugby league coach was the head coach of Oldham in the Betfred Championship, and a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 2000s and 2010s.
He played at represen ...
2019–2021
*
Brendan Sheridan Brendan may refer to:
People
* Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577) was an Irish monastic saint.
* Saint Brendan of Birr (died 573), Abbot of Birr in Co. Offaly, contemporaneous with the above
* Brendan (given name), a masculine given na ...
(interim) 2021
*
Stuart Littler 2021-present
2022 squad
2021 transfers
Gains
Losses
Players
Seasons
Super League era
Honours
*
Rugby Football League Championship
The Rugby Football League Championship First Division was the top division of rugby league in England between 1895 and 1996, when it was replaced by the Super League.
History
1895–1904: Foundations
The first season of rugby league (189 ...
champions: 4
**1904–05, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1956–57
*
Rugby Football League Championship
The Rugby Football League Championship First Division was the top division of rugby league in England between 1895 and 1996, when it was replaced by the Super League.
History
1895–1904: Foundations
The first season of rugby league (189 ...
runners up: 5
**1906-07, 1907–08, 1908–09, 1921–22, 1954–55
*
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
winners: 3
**1898–99, 1924–25, 1926–27
*
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
runners up: 4
**1906-07, 1911–12, 1923–24, 1925-26
*
Lancashire League champions: 7
**1897–98, 1900–01, 1907–08, 1909–10, 1921–22, 1956–57, 1957–58
*
Lancashire League runners up: 9
**1895-96, 1896–97, 1898–99, 1899–1900, 1908–09, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1923–24, 1954–55
*
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
County Cup
The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...
winners: 9
**1907–08, 1910–11, 1913–14, 1919–20, 1924–25, 1933–34, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59
*
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
County Cup
The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...
runners up: 9
**1908-09, 1911–12, 1918–19, 1922–23, 1954–55, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1986–87, 1989–90
Records
*Attendance for a league match: 28,000 vs.
Huddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sh ...
– 24 February 1912 at
Watersheddings
Watersheddings was the site of a former rugby league stadium in the Watersheddings area of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. Historically it was in Lancashire, lying on the A672 (Ripponden Road) approximately 2 miles north east of Oldham ...
,
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
*Attendance in a cup match: 25,000 vs.
Huddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sh ...
– 23 March 1912, Challenge Cup 3rd Round at
Watersheddings
Watersheddings was the site of a former rugby league stadium in the Watersheddings area of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. Historically it was in Lancashire, lying on the A672 (Ripponden Road) approximately 2 miles north east of Oldham ...
,
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
*Record attendance (all games) : 62,217 vs.
Hull F.C.
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...
– 18 May 1957. Championship Final at
Odsal Stadium
Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley ...
,
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
*Super League attendance record : 7,709 vs.
Wigan Warriors
The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League.
Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...
– 30 March 1996 at
Boundary Park
Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively.
Bound ...
,
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
*National League Two attendance record : 4,327 vs.
Celtic Crusaders
Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the ...
– 30 August 2007 at
Boundary Park
Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively.
Bound ...
,
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
*International tour match attendance record : 19,620 vs.
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
– 15 September 1952 at
Watersheddings
Watersheddings was the site of a former rugby league stadium in the Watersheddings area of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. Historically it was in Lancashire, lying on the A672 (Ripponden Road) approximately 2 miles north east of Oldham ...
,
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
*Record victory: 102–6 vs.
West Wales Raiders
The West Wales Raiders were a semi-professional rugby league club based in Llanelli, Wales. They competed in RFL League 1, League 1, the third tier of the British rugby league system, from 2018 until 2022.
The club was founded in 2015 as an ama ...
- 8 July 2018
*Record defeat: 0–84 vs.
Widnes Vikings
The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two rug ...
– 25 July 1999
*Most all-time appearances:
Joe Ferguson
Joseph Carlton Ferguson Jr. (born April 23, 1950) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Arkansas.
Early year ...
- 627 from September 1899 - April 1923
*Most consecutive appearances:
Joe Lawton
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
- 134 from September 1897 - November 1902
*Most goals in a season:
Bernard Ganley
William Bernard Ganley (27 January 1927 – 26 June 2009), also known by the nickname of "The Maestro", was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played at representative level for Great Britain a ...
– 224 goals in season 1957–58
*Most tries in a season: Reginald "Reg" Farrar – 49 tries in season 1921–22
*Most all-time tries: Alan Davies - 174 from 1950 to 1961
*Most points in a match: Bernard Ganley – 28 points vs. Liverpool City, April 1959
*Most points in a season: Bernard Ganley - 412 points in season 1957-58
*Most drop goals in a season: Ray Ashton - 9 in season 1979-80
The Law Cup
The Law Cup is an annual pre-season friendly match between Oldham and
Rochdale Hornets
The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...
, first contested in 1921 as the Infirmaries Cup and later renamed after the
Rochdale MP Alfred Law
Sir Alfred Joseph Law (31 May 1860 – 18 July 1939) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.
Born in West Bromwich, he was elected at the 1918 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Rochdale constituency in L ...
who had originally donated the trophy. Oldham have won 45 to Rochdale Hornets' 20 with 2 drawn games.
Notes
References
External links
Official siteRugby Oldham Community TrustOldham Rugby League Heritage TrustOldham Roughyeds forum on rlfans.comOfficial Rugby League Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oldham rflc
Sport in Oldham
Super League teams
1876 establishments in England
Rugby clubs established in 1876
Founder members of the Northern Rugby Football Union
Rugby league teams in Greater Manchester
English rugby league teams