THE SIGNING of 18-year-old Marcus Geener from Waterhead has been described as a major step forward for Oldham by managing director Mike Ford, writes Kasey Smith.

The up and coming second-rower has earned a one-year deal with his boyhood club after training with the first team throughout last season one day a week.

And for Ford, the signing is the first sign of Oldham retaining and developing its own talent – something which has been seldom seen in the town for decades.

“This underlines that our number one purpose as a club is our pathway,” he said.

“We lost three of our best under 15 players who have signed for other clubs. Good luck to them and we will keep track of them but that is what I want to quickly eradicate.

“We are never going to have a team of 18 Oldham lads in the squad but I want to just give them the opportunity and everyone in the town the opportunity to play for their club in front of their fans in the stadium.

“There is a lot of growth in our pathway and we are pushing it as much as we can.”

As part of the deal, Greener will train throughout the season with Oldham while featuring for Waterhead who will play in the NCL after last year’s promotion.

He represented the England Community Lions this summer in their under-19s European Championship victory in Belgrade.

“I have always wanted to play for Oldham and said that to my dad since I was a little lad,” said Geener. “I used to be a ball boy here, I have been down watching for years so as soon as I got the call from Mike Ford to say we want to sign you professionally it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made.”