Mike Ford, new managing director of Oldham Rugby League Club, has described tomorrow morning’s sponsors’ breakfast at Boundary Park as a ‘very important’ event in the Roughyeds’ story, moving forward, writes Roger Halstead.

It starts at 8.30am and is expected to run for about three hours.

Ford said: “While a return to Super League would be a fantastic long-term achievement, our more immediate objective is to make the town aware of us again with special attention on getting local youngsters wanting to play for Oldham, as I did many years ago.

“Our sponsors’ breakfast will double up as a networking session, too, so the more businessmen we get there, the better it will be for all concerned.”

Full details are available to download on the Roughyeds’ website, including details about how to let the club know if potential 2024 sponsors plan to attend.

An open invitation goes out to anyone who thinks they might want to help the club by taking out a sponsorship package for 2024, but it will be helpful all round if people let Leanne Corkery know in advance.

If that’s not possible, because the event is only 24 hours away,people can turn up anyway rather than not go at all.

By way of introduction, Corkery, from Liverpool, is employed full time on commercial matters by club chairman Bill Quinn and his various companies, but she is now working part-time for the club in a similar role as part of her full-time work for the club chairman. This will be her first big event.

Potential sponsors will be given a presentation about the club and its future; told all about the many and varied sponsorship packages available; given breakfast; shown images of next season’s kit; and will be given a guided tour of the quality facilities available in the new Joe Royle Stand at Boundary Park where Roughyeds will play home games next season thanks to an agreement with Frank Rothwell, the owner of Oldham Athletic FC, and his board.

A new £1M state-of-the-art pitch has been installed by Oldham Council and Roughyeds say they are indebted to the council and to Oldham Athletic for their co-operation and goodwill in the talks to get all this to happen.

Frank and Mrs Rothwell were chief guests of Oldham RLFC at one of the rugby club’s recent home games at the Vestacare Stadium and are known to see Boundary Park as the nerve centre of Oldham sport in years to come.

On visiting Roughyeds to see them play, Rothwell took the opportunity in advance to welcome Roughyeds fans to Boundary Park next season and to say how much he was looking forward to seeing Oldham Rugby stepping out at the stadium and on to the new pitch.