OLDHAM RLFC (1876) Ltd is at least as proud of what has been achieved in the last 19 months off the field, as it is at what the team did so magnificently on it in the never-to-be-forgotten 2024 season.
Head coach Sean Long, who says he has never been happier or more content in Rugby League than he is at Oldham, steered the side to automatic promotion as outright winners of League One with stunning victories, only one league defeat all season and a defensive record that made the whole of the Rugby League look on with awe and sheer disbelief.
Senior management were blown away too but, despite that, they still insist the club’s main claim to fame is the work they’ve done to upgrade Melrose and the way they’ve created a Pathway for local kids and got lads and lasses in the town talking Oldham Rugby again and feeling proud to drag the Oldham jersey over their heads, be it a replica or the real thing.
Long and managing director Mike Ford, himself a former Oldham player and coach, know at first hand what it means to kids to have heroes to admire.
It was always their intention to reverse a trend and to get the youth of the town interested in Roughyeds again. This they have achieved in the 19 months they have been in charge.
Said Ford: “I see Oldham shirts around town now and that was always my priority. Results and performances on the field are a major boost, obviously, but there’s more to it than that. We are going places with youth development and as far as I can see it that’s the best and most important legacy we can have.
“Youngsters are the fans and players of tomorrow and it doesn’t need me or anyone else to say what a wonderful record this area has in producing top players. Eventually, they will want to come to Oldham, as I did all those years ago, but in the meantime we will get local lads and lasses interested in the club again, and that is already happening.”
There are Pathway teams at Oldham now, from under-11s to under-18s, and the long-term plan is to have an Academy side.
Former player Joe Warburton has joined the club with the express purpose of working alongside the likes of Long and his new assistant coach Joe Wardle in bringing along the Pathway boys, whose latest games at Featherstone were a joy to watch, resulting in two wins out of two with Wardle heavily involved with everything that was going on.
Plans are well advanced too for the launch of a women’s team under the watchful eye of Beth Sutcliffe, but with Warburton involved with that as well while Beth is on maternity leave.
As a former hooker with several pro clubs, starting at Oldham alongside such as Andy Goodway, Terry Flanagan, Mick Worrall, Alan Platt, Ray Ashton and Paddy Kirwan, and then working for years as a police officer while coaching England women, Joe is the perfect choice to shoulder such responsibility.
As secretary, too, of the Oldham Players’ Association, he thrives on rugby work and is an integral part of what is going on behind the scenes at Oldham.
All this — and Melrose too. The development there is chairman Bill Quinn’s baby. He and his demolition company, Total Demolition, have done a lot of work there, as have well-known development company. Connolly’s of Wigan, who do work on a national basis and, as it happens, work regularly in Oldham.
Said Ford: “One of their directors, Liam Norbury, deserves a special mention. He lives in Oldham and is an Oldham fan, as were his father and grand-father before him. Liam has done his best for us and Connolly’s have done a great job at Melrose, which is a terrific facility now where we have two pitches, one of which is fenced off. There are good floodlights too.
“We will train there and the women and the Pathway teams will play there. One pitch is fenced off and I would love to rekindle the days when fans would watch us train, like they use to at Watersheddings. You can get a coffee too — and that’s always a draw.
“We have had a fair bit of help, too, from fans, sponsors and from friends of the club. All will be acknowledged eventually but I would like to mention here Iain Taylor of Shaw, who has provided us with goal posts, and Mark Shaw. Iain is a great fan. Hen has a bit of Watersheddings turf in his garden - that’s what this club means to such a lot of people.”
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