Oldham Roughyeds

Oldham Roughyeds

Club information
Full name	Oldham Roughyeds Rugby League Football Club
Website	www.roughyeds.co.uk
Colours	Red      White      Blue
Founded	1876
Current details
Ground(s)	Whitebank Stadium‎, White Bank Road, Oldham, OL8 3JH
Coach(s)	Tony Benson[1]
Competition	Championship One

Oldham Roughyeds is an English professional rugby league club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Championship One. Oldham is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895.

Formed in 1876 as Oldham Football Club, they played from 1889 to 1997 at Watersheddings. They have won the Championship four times and the Rugby League Challenge Cup three times.

The team's traditional strip consists of red and white hooped shirts, navy blue shorts and red socks. They play their home games at Whitebank Stadium in Limeside.^[2]

'Roughyed' is a nickname for a person from Oldham, derived from the rough felt used in the hatting industry which once employed many people.

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, William Chadwick, Chief Constable Charles Hodgkinson, mill owner Fred Wild, eminent local Quaker and Lord to be Alfred Emmott and three brothers of the Fletcher family.

A playing field was organised at Sugar Meadow, Gartside Street adjacent to Glodwick 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. After two seasons they joined Oldham Cricket Club at the new Clarksfield ground before finding a more permanent home in 1889 at Watersheddings .

Oldham were one of the twenty-one clubs that left the Rugby Football Union 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 after beating Hunslet 19-9 in 1899. Batley had won the first two finals.

Oldham finally won their first Championship title in 1904–05, just edging out Bradford Northern by three points. Oldham won the Lancashire League in 1897–98, 1900–01 and 1907–08 as well as the Lancashire Cup in 1906–07. Another title success followed in 1909–10 as they beat Wigan 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 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 on 7 May 1921. Having lost in the 1907, 1912 and 1924 Challenge Cup finals, they finally won the trophy again in 1925 when they beat Hull Kingston Rovers 16-3 at Headingley, Leeds.

They beat the visiting Australasian team of the 1921-22 Kangaroo tour 15-5.

The club's last Challenge Cup final was in 1927 when they beat Swinton 26-7 at Central Park, Wigan, 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 glory days of the 1950s, Oldham won the Championship and a host of other trophies with a side that boasted players such as; Alan Davies, John Etty, goalkicker Bernard Ganley, Jack Keith, Sid Little, Frank Pitchford, Derek 'Rocky' Turner, Don Vines, 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, Manchester against Warrington.

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 KR, 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 mid-way through the second half due to bad light, and the third game was won by Hull KR 12-2 at Fartown, Huddersfield. Despite reaching four more semi-finals during the 1980s & 1990s Oldham still remain, one of the most famous names never to grace the Wembley turf.

Oldham were Division Two champions in 1963–64, 1981–82.

Dave Cox 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 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, 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.^[3]

Oldham plead with the local council for a financial bail-out in April 1987. Oldham decided to float as a public limited company and sold their ground to council in May 1987. Oldham win the 1988 Division Two title and the Division Two Premiership but lose £135,000. They would win the Premiership again in 1989–90.

Peter Tunks took over as captain-coach role with Oldham. Tunk's brief was clear: avoid relegation at all costs, but with the club languishing at the bottom of the league table he resigned in February 1994. Bob Lindner took over as captain-coach following the departure of Peter Tunks and successfully averted the team's relegation to the Second Division.

Oldham Bears club logo

When a Rupert Murdoch funded Super League competition was proposed, part of the deal was that some traditional clubs would merge. Oldham were supposed to merge with Salford to form a club to be known as Manchester which would compete in Super League. This was resisted and instead they adopted the name Oldham Bears and were founder members of the new league (1996).

Relegation came in the second year of the new summer season, 1997, when they finished below Paris Saint-Germain. Later that year, under Chairman Jim Quinn, they went bankrupt with debts of over £2m.^[4] A new team Oldham Roughyeds was then formed in December to play at a lower level.^[5] 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. To many loyal fans' dismay, the club sold the dilapidated Watersheddings in 1997 and moved to Oldham Athletic's Boundary Park stadium on the nearby Chadderton/Royton boundary.

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. Oldham put Mark Knight in temporary charge of the first team.^[6] After a successful 2001 season, they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Super League, losing to Widnes 12-24 in the Northern Ford Premiership Grand Final.

During the 2002 season they played at Ashton United's Hurst Cross ground, Ashton-under-Lyne, due to a dispute with Oldham Athletic over the use of Boundary Park.

Steve Molloy took charge of the Roughyeds after former boss John Harbin left to join Oldham Athletic as fitness conditioner and sports psychologist in July 2002.^[7] Under Molloy, Oldham won seven and drew two of their last 14 games.^[8] In doing so Oldham finished high enough to gain entry into National League 1 when the Northern Ford Premiership was split into two. In the first season of National League 1, 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.^[4]

John Pendlebury 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 2, 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.^[9]

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.^[10]

On Friday 4 May 2007, Oldham took part in the first ever National League 2 match broadcast live on British television, on Sky Sports. They won 34-26 away to the Crusaders in Bridgend, having trailed by 20 points after 45 minutes. The match was considered a warm-up for the Millennium Magic weekend in Cardiff the following day and, due to fans of Super League teams attending, attracted NL2's highest ever attendance of 3,441.

That NL2 attendance record was broken in the return fixture on Thursday, 30 August 2007 between Oldham and Crusaders, again in front of the Sky Sports cameras, when 4,327 fans turned up at Boundary Park beating the old record by 886. it was also Oldham's largest attendance since the early 90s. The event also raised around £8,000 for local charities and the rugby league players' benevolent fund.

Oldham Roughyeds finished their most successful season in recent years in 4th place on the National League 2 table, they then played and won games against Swinton at home then Barrow away in the play-off to reach the National League 2 grand final, but the game seemed a step too far for Oldham going down to an inspired Featherstone Rovers team at Headingley.

2008 season summary

Northern Rail Cup - Oldham enjoyed reasonable success in the Northern Rail Cup, achieving a win over National League One favourites, Salford at Boundary Park 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 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 - 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 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 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 and like 2007 Oldham again lost to miss out on promotion to National League One losing 18-10 at Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium, as a result of not gaining promotion to National League One coach Steve Deakin did not have his contract renewed.

2009 season summary

2009 Championship 1 - 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. That set up a final eliminator against the York, 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, who finished second in the table.

Roughyeds were told they would no longer be able to use Oldham Athletic's Boundary Park 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.^[11]

The 2010 season saw a transition with the five home games were played out of town at Sedgley Park, Whitefield. Roughyeds' first game at Whitebank took place on 9 May 2010 with the opposition being York City Knights. The first time Oldham had played on their own ground in Oldham borough since 1997. The rest of the home games were played at Whitebank. Home crowds were nearly double at Whitebank compared to Sedgley Park.

2011 squad

No	Nat	Player	Position	Former Club
1		Ben Heaton	Full Back
2		Lucas Onyango	Wing
3		Marcus St Hilaire	Centre
4		Jack Bradbury	Centre
5		John Gillam	Wing
6		Neil Roden	Stand Off
7		Michael Diveney	Half Back
8		Jason Boults	Prop
9		Danny Whitmore	Hooker
10		Dave Ellison	Prop
11		Andy Isherwood	Second Row
12		Ben Wood	Second Row
13		Valu Bentley	Loose Forward
14		Chris Clarke	Hooker
15		Luke Sutton	Prop
16		Liam Gilchrist	Second Row
17		John Clough	Prop
18		Alistair Williams	Wing
19		Scott Mansfield	Prop
20		Johnny Walker	Prop
21		Mark Brocklehurst	Centre
22		Tom Wood-Hulme	Second Row
23		Matt Ashe	Half Back
24		Paul Noone	Loose Forward
25		Martin Roden	Hooker
26		Matthew Fogerty	Centre

Honours

• Championship: 1904-5, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1956–57 (4 times)
• Rugby League Challenge Cup: 1898–99, 1924–25, 1926–27 (3 times)
• Division Two Championship: 1963–64, 1981–82, 1987–88 (3 times)
• Lancashire Cup: 1906–07, 1909–10, 1912–13, 1918–19, 1923–24, 1932–33, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58 (9 times)
• Lancashire League: 1897–98, 1900–01, 1907–08, 1909–10, 1921–22, 1956–57, 1957–58 (7 times)
• Divisional Premiership: 1987–88, 1989–90 (2 times)

Players earning international caps while at Oldham

Abel Ashworth won a cap for England (RU) while at Oldham 1892 1-cap Paul Atcheson won caps for Wales while at Oldham 1995 ?-caps Albert Avery won caps for England while at Oldham 1910 Wales (2 matches), 1911 Wales, Australia (2 matches), and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1910 Australia, New Zealand, 1911–12 Australia (2 matches) Ambrose Baker won caps for Wales while at Oldham 1925–1928 2-caps David Beynon won a cap for Wales while at Oldham 1908 1-cap Charles "Charlie" Bott won a cap for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1966 against France Edgar Brooks won caps for England while at Oldham 1939 France, 1940 Wales, 1941 Wales Albert Brough won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1924 against Australia, and New Zealand Frederick "Fred" Brown won caps for Wales while at Oldham 1921–1923 2-caps Terrence "Terry" Clawson won caps for Great Britain while at 1962–74 14-caps while at Featherstone, Leeds, Oldham 1973 Australia? Joseph "Joe" Corsi won a cap for Wales while at Oldham 1923 1-cap Richard "Dick" Cracknell won caps for England while at Huddersfield 1951 France, 1952 Other Nations, 1953 France, Wales, while at Oldham France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Huddersfield 1951 New Zealand (2 matches) Alan Davies won caps for England while at Oldham 1953 Wales, 1956 France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1955 New Zealand, 1956 Australia (3 matches), 1957 France, Australia, France (2 matches), 1958 France, Australia (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), 1959 France (2 matches), Australia, 1960 New Zealand, France, Australia, 1960 France (World Cup 1957 2-caps, 1960 3-caps, 3-tries) David B. Davies won caps for Wales while at Merthyr Tydfil, Swinton, and Oldham 1908–1913 9-caps Evan Davies won caps for Wales while at Oldham 1912–1923 3-caps, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1924 against New Zealand (3 matches) Joseph "Joe" Ferguson won caps for England while at Oldham 1904 Other Nations, 1905 Other Nations, 1908 New Zealand, 1909 Wales Terrence "Terry" Flanagan won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1983 against France (2 matches), and in 1984 against New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea Des Foy won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1984 against France and Australia, and France in 1985. He later represented Ireland, including matches against Morocco, Moldova and the Cook Islands in the 1995 Emerging Nations World Cup William "Bill" R. Francis won caps for Wales while at Wigan in 1975 against France, England, in the 1975 Rugby League World Cup against France, England, Australia, New Zealand, England, Australia, New Zealand, and France, in 1977 against England, and France, while at St. Helens in 1978 against France, England, and Australia, in 1979 against France, and England, while at Oldham in 1980 against France, and England, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1967 against Australia, and in the 1977 Rugby League World Cup against New Zealand, Australia (2 matches) George Frater won caps for Other Nations while at Oldham 1904 England Bernard Frederick won a cap for Wales while at Oldham 1913 1-cap Bernard Ganley won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1957 against France, and in 1958 against France (2 matches) Alex Givvons won caps for Wales while at Oldham 1936–1939 6-caps Bryn Goldswain won caps for Wales while at Hull Kingston Rovers, and Oldham 1947–1953 16-caps Andy Goodway won caps for England while at Oldham 1984 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1983 France (2 matches), 1984 France, Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), Papua New Guinea, 1985 France, while at Wigan 1985 New Zealand (3 matches), 1986 Australia (3 matches), 1987 France, Papua New Guinea, 1989 New Zealand (3 matches), 1990 France David Gwynn 2-caps for Wales (RU) while at Oldham 1891

Billy Hall won caps for England while at Oldham 1914 Wales, 1921 Australia, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1914 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand Norman Harris won caps for Wales Oldham, and Rochdale Hornets 1947–1953 7-caps Reginald "Reg" Hathway won caps for Wales while at Oldham 1932 2-caps George Hesketh won caps for England while at Oldham 1925 Wales Alfred "Alf" Higgs won a cap for Wales while at Oldham 1928 1-cap Herman Hilton won caps for England while at Oldham 1921 Wales, Other Nations, Australia, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1920 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), 1921–22 Australia David Hobbs won caps for England while at Featherstone 1984 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Featherstone 1984 France (2 matches), Australia, Australia (sub), New Zealand (3 matches), Papua New Guinea, while at Oldham 1987 France (2 matches), while at Bradford 1989 New Zealand, New Zealand (sub) David "Dave" Holland won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1914 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand Thomas "Tom" Holliday won caps for England while at Oldham 1928 Wales Adam Hughes won caps for Wales in 2002 against New Zealand, in 2003 against Russia, and Australia, in 2004 against Ireland. and Scotland, in 2005 against Scotland, and France, in 2006 against Scotland, in 2007 against Papua New Guinea, Scotland, and Lebanon Robert "Bob" Irving won caps for England while at Wigan 1975 Wales, France, Australia, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1967 France (2 matches), Australia (3 matches), 1970 Australia (sub), New Zealand, 1971 New Zealand, 1972 France (sub), New Zealand, Australia (sub) (World Cup 1972 2-caps) Kenneth "Ken" Jackson won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1957 against France (2 matches) Bill Kilpatrick won a cap for "Other Nationalities" while at Oldham in 1930 against England Ernest Knapman won caps for England while at Oldham 1925 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1924 New Zealand David J. Lewis won caps for Other Nations while at Oldham 1904 England Sidney "Sid" Little won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1956 Australia, 1957 France (4 matches), Australia, New Zealand, France, 1958 France (World Cup 1957 4-caps) Thomas "Tom" Llewellyn won caps for Wales while at Oldham in 1908 2-caps, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1908 against New Zealand (2 matches) James "Jim" Lomas won caps for England while at Salford 1904 Other Nations, 1905 Other Nations, 1906 Other Nations, 1908 New Zealand, Wales, 1909 Australia (3 matches), Wales, 1910 Wales, while at Oldham 1911 Wales, Australia (2 matches), and won caps for Great Britain while at Salford 1908–09 Australia (2 matches), 1910 Australia (2 matches), New Zealand, while at Oldham 1911–12 Australia (2 matches) William "Bill" Longworth won caps for England while at Oldham 1908 Wales, 1909 Australia (3 matches), and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1908–09 Australia (3 matches)

William "Billy" McCutcheon 7-caps for Wales (RU) while at Oldham 1891–1894 Leonard "Len" McIntyre won a cap for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1963 against Australia Joseph "Joe" Mahoney won caps for Wales while at Oldham, and Dewsbury 1948–1950 5-caps Rothwell Marlor won caps for England while at Oldham 1921 Wales, Other Nations Christopher "Chris" Morley won caps for Wales in 1996 against France (sub), and England, in 1999 against Ireland, and Scotland, in 2000 against South Africa (sub), in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup against Lebanon (sub), New Zealand, Papua New Guinea (sub), and Australia, in 2001 against England, in 2003 against Russian, and Australia, in 2006 against Scotland. Martin Murphy won caps for England while at Oldham 1975 France Tony Nuttall won caps for Ireland while at Newsome Magpies, and Oldham Bears 1995…1997 2-caps + 1-cap (sub) Terrence "Terry" O'Grady won caps for England while at Oldham 1952 Wales, 1955 Other Nations, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1954 Australia (2 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), while at Warrington 1961 New Zealand John "Jack" Oster won caps for England while at Oldham 1929 Other Nations, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1929–30 Australia David "Dave" Parker won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1964 against France (2 matches) Douglas "Doug" V. Phillips won caps for Wales while at Oldham and Belle Vue Rangers 1945–1951 9-caps, and won caps for Great Britain while at Broughton Rangers in 1946 against Australia (3 matches), and while at Belle Vue Rangers in 1950 against Australia Frank Pitchford won caps for England while at Oldham 1955 Other Nations, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1958 New Zealand, 1962 France Norman Pugh won caps for Wales while at Oldham 1935–1938 6-caps Lewis "Lou"/"Lew" Morgan Rees won a cap for Wales (RU) while at Cardiff on 11 March 1933 against Ireland, and won caps for Wales (RL) while at Oldham 1935–1938 5-caps Tommy Rees won a cap for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1929 against Australia Sidney "Sid" Rix won caps for England while at Oldham 1924 Other Nations, 1925 Wales, 1926 Wales, Other Nations, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1924 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), 1926–27 New Zealand (3 matches) Rob Roberts won caps for Wales while at Huddersfield, unattached, Leigh, and Oldham 2002–present 6(7, 8?)-caps + 2-caps (sub) 2-tries 8-points Iva Ropati won caps for New Zealand while at Oldham 1993 Wales, Great Britain (2 matches), France Thomas "Tommy" Rostron won caps for England while at Oldham 1945 Wales Edward "Ted" Sadler won caps for England while at Oldham 1933 Australia Robert "Bob" Sloman won caps for England while at Oldham 1923 Wales, 1924 Other Nations, 1925 Wales, 1926 Wales, 1928 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1928 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches) Arthur Smith won caps for England while at Oldham 1906 Other Nations, 1908 New Zealand, Wales, 1909 Australia (3 matches), and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1908 New Zealand (3 matches), 1908–09 Australia (3 matches) Ike Southward won caps for Great Britain while at Workington Town in 1958 against Australia (3 matches) and New Zealand, while at Oldham in 1959 against France (2 matches), and Australia (2 matches), and in 1960 against France (2 matches), and New Zealand, and represented Great Britain while at Workington Town in 1956 against France (1 non-Test match).[2] Frank Spottiswoode won caps for England while at Oldham 1904 Other Nations Colin Standing won caps for Wales while at Wigan, and Oldham 1969–1970 2-caps

Kevin Taylor won caps for England while at Oldham 1968 Wales Dai Thomas won caps for Other Nations while at Oldham 1904 England Edward "Ned" Thomas won a cap for Wales while at Oldham 1923 1-cap Leslie "Les" M. Thomas won caps for Wales while at Oldham in 1947 5-caps, and won a cap for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1947 New Zealand William Trevor 'Ocker' Thomas won a cap for Wales (RU) while at Abertillery RFC in 1930 against England, and won caps for Wales (RL) while at Oldham, and Wigan 1932–1940 3-caps David Treasure won caps for Wales while at Oldham 1975–1977 5-caps 1-try 3-points, including while at Oldham in the 1975 Rugby League World Cup against England, Australia, New Zealand, and England (World Cup 1975 4-caps, 1-try) Derek 'Rocky' Turner won caps for England while at Wakefield 1962 France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1956 Australia (2 matches), 1957 France (5 matches), France, Australia, New Zealand, 1958 France, while at Wakefield 1959 Australia, 1960 France (3 matches), New Zealand, Australia, 1961 France, New Zealand, 1962 Australia (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), France (World Cup 1957 3-caps, 1960 2-caps) George F. Tyson won caps for England while at Oldham 1908 Wales, 1909 Australia (2 matches), Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1908 New Zealand, 1908–09 Australia (3 matches) Hugh Waddell won caps for England while at Blackpool Borough 1984 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1988 France (2 matches), Australia, New Zealand, while at Leeds 1989 France Ian Watson won caps for Wales while at Salford, Swinton, Widnes, Rochdale Hornets, Oldham, and Leigh 1996–present 19(17?)-caps + 3-caps (sub) 3(4?)-tries 1-goal 14(18?)-points Thomas "Tom" White won caps for England while at Oldham 1908 Wales, 1910 Wales (2 matches), 1911 Wales, Australia, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1907–08 3-caps Thomas "Tom" Williams won a cap for Wales while at Oldham 1913 1-cap Charles "Charlie" Winslade won caps for Wales while at Oldham and Warrington 1952–1963 6-caps, and won a cap for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1959 against France Alfred "Alf" Wood won caps for England while at Oldham 1911 Australia, 1914 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham 1911–12 Australia (2 matches), 1914 Australia, New Zealand Michael "Mick" Worrall won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1984 against France, and Australia (two matches)

Other notable players

These players have either; received a Testimonial match, are "Hall of Fame" inductees, played during Oldham Bears' two Super League seasons, were international representatives before, or after, their time at Oldham, or are notable outside of rugby league.

Les Anthony Darren Abram Raymond "Ray" Ashton 1984 Great Britain Tourist Fred Ashworth Keith Atkinson (Testimonial match 1993) Adrian Belle Ben Beynon circa-1920s David Bradbury Gary Burns Joseph "Joe" Collins [1] John Clarke circa-1996/97 James "Jimmy" Cowan Martin Crompton Paul Crook Paul Davidson circa-1996/97 Paul Deacon

Michael "Mike" Elliott Thomas "Tom" Helm 1910 Great Britain Tourist John Etty, for British Empire XIII while at Batley 1951 Wales XIII Joseph "Joe" Faimalo [2] circa-1996/97 Reginald "Reg" Farrar Vince Fawcett Frank Foster Stephen "Steve" Gartland Ian Gildart Brett Goldspink [3] circa-1996/97 Luke Goodwin circa-1996/97 Danny Guest Reece Guy Howard Hill Viv Huzzey Shaun Irwin

David Jones [4] circa-1996/97 John "Jack" 'Bedwellty' Jones John "Jack" Keith (Testimonial match 1960) Allan Kellett Phil Larder (Testimonial match 1979) Arthur Lees Peaufai "Afi" Leuila [5] circa-1996/97 Gary Lord Francis Maloney circa-1996/97 Christopher "Chris" McKinney xMatt Munro Robert Myler Harry Ogden Micheal "Mike" Neal Paul Norman

Andrew Patmore John A. Power circa-1993/95 Malcolm Price Scott Ranson Jack Read Craig Richards Ian Russell Ian Sherratt George William Smith 1908–1916 Peter Smith S. Jack Stephens captain circa-1935 David Stephenson Paul Stevens Frank Stirrup Jason Temu Paul Topping [6] circa-1996/97 Donald "Don" Vines

The Law cup

The Law cup is an annual match between Oldham & Rochdale, first contested on 7 May 1921. Including the 2008 fixture, Oldham have won 36 to Rochdale's 22 with 3 drawn games.[7]

Club records

• Attendance for a league match: 28,000 v Huddersfield - 24 February 1912 at Watersheddings.
• Attendance in a cup match: 25,000 v Huddersfield - 23 March 1912. (Challenge Cup 3rd Round.) at Watersheddings.
• Record Attendance (All games) : 62,217 v Hull - 18 May 1957. Championship Final at Odsal Stadium, Bradford.
• super league attendance record : 7,709 v Wigan - 30 March 1996 at Boundary Park
• national league 2 attendance record : 4,327 v Celtic Crusaders - 30 August 2007 at Boundary Park
• Biggest Win: 67 - 6 v Liverpool City - 4 April 1959
• Worst Defeat: 0 - 84 v Widnes - 25 July 1999
• Most Season Goals: Bernard Ganley - 224 goals in season 1957–58
• Most Season Tries: Reginald "Reg" Farrar - 49 tries in season 1921–22
• Most Match Points: Bernard Ganley - 28 points v Liverpool City, April 1959

Source: Napit.co.uk Sports Database

References

1. ^ "Future looks positive". Oldham Advertiser (M.E.N. Media). 16 December 2009. http://menmedia.co.uk/oldhamadvertiser/sport/rugby_league/oldham/s/1186207_future_looks_positive. 
2. ^ "New home for Roughyeds". Oldham Advertiser (M.E.N. Media). 17 February 2010. http://menmedia.co.uk/oldhamadvertiser/sport/rugby_league/oldham/s/1192931_new_home_for_roughyeds. 
3. ^ Marsden, Carl (11 February 2009). "Managerial merry-go-round left rugby faithful in a spin". Oldham Advertiser (M.E.N. Media). http://menmedia.co.uk/oldhamadvertiser/news/s/1096096_managerial_merrygoround_left_rugby_faithful_in_a_spin. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Cash-strapped Oldham on brink". BBC Sport. 17 March 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/4360033.stm. 
5. ^ "Ford pushes Oldham's claims". BBC Sport. 23 May 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/1347183.stm. 
6. ^ "Knight rescues Oldham". BBC Sport. 31 December 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/1736450.stm. 
7. ^ "Molloy takes charge of Oldham". BBC Sport. 3 July 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/2087720.stm. 
8. ^ "Molloy signs new deal". BBC Sport. 10 October 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/2317903.stm. 
9. ^ "When hoit seats became hotter". Oldham Advertiser (M.E.N. Media). 27 December 2006. http://menmedia.co.uk/oldhamadvertiser/sport/s/521604_when_hoit_seats_became_hotter. 
10. ^ http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/SPORTT01.html
11. ^ "Roughyeds set to sign up new home". Oldham Advertiser. 26 March 2010. http://menmedia.co.uk/oldhamadvertiser/news/s/1201919_roughyeds_set_to_sign_up_new_home. 

External links

• Official site
• Rugby Oldham Community Trust
• Oldham Rugby League Heritage Trust
• Oldham Roughyeds forum on rlfans.com