A great night of Rugby League memories and nostalgia is guaranteed at the next major Oldham Rugby League Heritage Trust event at the Broadway Suite on Thursday July 10th.
Oldham stars of the 1960s, 80s and 90s will be there in the shape of John Donovan, Mick Worrall and Neil Flanagan.
Listen to the stories of how John signed in the bleak mid-winter of the 1962-63 season, making his debut in the only match Oldham would play between December 62 and March 63 on a frozen pitch at Widnes. Later that season he played in the last 20,000 plus crowd at Watersheddings against Wigan before going on to play in those epic Challenge Cup semi-finals against Hull KR a year later.
How Mick graduated for the “all-conquering” academy team in the company of the likes of Terry Flanagan, Andy Goodway, Ray Ashton and Paddy Kirwan to become a full Great Britain International and go on the 1984 tour to Australia and New Zealand. He also played a starring roll in the 1986 match against the mighty Kangaroos when the Roughyeds gave the Aussies the fright of their lives under the ’Sheddings lights before going down 16 – 22, the smallest winning margin on the tour.
Teenage Neil had a stern introduction to first team football on his Oldham debut against the star-studded Widnes team including Martin Offiah, Jonathan Davies, Phil McKenzie, Darren Wright and many more top-class names of the era. The match was played on a freezing Watersheddings night in a snow blizzard! After that ‘baptism of fire’, he would go on to be the Oldham captain just two years later and resume as club skipper to lift the Law Cup at the emotional first match for the reformed club on New Year’s Day 1998.
Tickets are £20 and can be booked on 07801 741070 for the event at the Broadway Suite, Boundary Park, including a pie and peas supper, starting at 7.30pm.
The Oldham RL Heritage Trust is sad to learn of the death of the former Oldham player Mick Martindale who has died at the age of 50. He was part of the Roughyeds team at the beginning of the reformed club in 1998 where his powerful frame and skilful hands saw him pose an attacking threat every time he had the ball.
The loose forward had made his debut as a teenager at Halifax Panthers and then had a spell at Wakefield before arriving at Oldham in time for the second competitive match of the 1998 season against Widnes Vikings.
Mick played 26 games, including the Trans Pennine Cup final against Batley, and scored seven tries in his season at the club before moving on to Rochdale.
He later helped Oldham St Anne’s to win the National Cup and remained a popular and well-known figure in the amateur game.
The Heritage Trust send sincere condolences to all of Mick’s family and friends.
The Brian Walker Awards are now up and running again for the 2025 season with the January / February award going to Matty Ashurst who donated the £250 to ‘Cancer Research UK’. The cheque was presented by Mike Kivlin of ‘Rugby Oldham’ along with the club M.D. Mike Ford.
Tim Hughes and club chairman Bill Quinn presented the March award to Josh Drinkwater with his donation going to the ‘Children’s Rainbow Charity’.
Finally, the April award was given to Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e with the donation going to the ‘Talk Your Walk Foundation’. The two Mikes, Kivlin and Ford made the presentation.
Tomorrow, April 25th 2025, it will be 100 years since Oldham defeated Hull KR in the Challenge Cup Final at Headingley.
Oldham won the match 16 – 3 with an inspired performance from winger Reg Farrar at the heart of the Roughyeds victory. The Oldham left wing scored a try, made two more and kicked two goals before a crowd of 28,335 to pave the way for the Roughyeds captain Herman Hilton to raise aloft the famous trophy to the delight of the travelling Oldham supporters. The other points came from tries by Albert Brough, Joe Corsi and Evan Davies.
This was the second in the run of four consecutive Challenge Cup finals with defeats to Wigan in 1924 and Swinton in 1926 only for Oldham to gain revenge against the ‘Lions’ in 1927, when Tom Holliday scored a hat-trick of tries in a 26 – 7 victory at Central Park, Wigan.
It is well documented that two years later the final was moved to Wembley and Oldham have never quite made it to play in the showpiece in the capital suffering semi-final heartbreak on several occasions.
The 1925 Rugby League Challenge Cup winning squad.
Now in this 100th anniversary year the Roughyeds are again just one game away from fullfilling the dream of their supporters when Featherstone come to Boundary Park on May 18th in the semi-final of the 1895 cup. That date itself looms large in the history of the club with it being on May 18th 1957 that Oldham last finished as Rugby League champions with the famous victory over Hull FC at Odsal Stadium, Bradford.
What better way to celebrate the 100th anniversary than to go down to Boundary Park on Friday and cheer on the Roughyeds against the Bradford Bulls. Kick off is at 7.45pm with tickets available with a saving of £4 if booked today! See link below.
(Many thanks to Roger Halstead for the following article)
The prestigious Standard Cup Final takes place this Saturday, April 19 at Boundary Park — a first-class venue that is rapidly becoming synonymous with rugby league and other sports.
The ambitious, multi-million pound ‘Sportstown’ project, the launch of which was attended by top Oldham RL officials Bill Quinn (chairman) and Mike Ford (managing director), says a lot about sport in this town, the future of this stadium, it’s superb location on the edge of the motorway system and with Lancashire to the west and Yorkshire to the east and, of course, Oldham Council’s blossoming relationship with Oldham Athletic, Oldham Rugby and other sporting organisations in this great town.
This final, kicking off at 12.30pm, is between Waterhead of NCL premier division, who were beaten by Mayfield in this final last year, and Oldham St Anne’s of NCL division one.
Back in the day, a final like that –the Oldham Amateur League’s blue riband event of the year — would have been watched by several thousand at Watersheddings.
Wayne Hubbard, new secretary of the Oldham Amateur League, had this to say about his organisation’s big day: “Hi everyone. Many of you may already be aware that this Saturday, April 19, sees the prestigious Oldham Standard Cup Final being held, once again, at Boundary Park after a very successful 2024 final. Although it was a tough decision to take the final away from Manor Park, where it had been held successfully for many years, it was a decision that was voted for by all the local amateur clubs.
“I feel that it was a good decision, and even though the Oldham League didn’t have much time to organise things, the attendance figures last year were excellent. This year’s final is Oldham St Annes v Waterhead Warriors with kick off at 12.30pm. This will be preceded by the John Blair Memorial game between the under 11s teams from Oldham St Annes and Waterhead, which will kick off at 11am. “Admission costs £5 for each adult, but under 16s go free so this can be a great family day out. “I hope many fans of Rugby League, no matter which team they support, will come along and enjoy what will hopefully be a great day of Rugby.”
WITH TEAMS LIKE WATERHEAD AND OLDHAM ST ANNE’S GOING HEAD TO HEAD IN SUCH A BIG MATCH AND WITH SO MUCH LOCAL KUDOS ATTACHED, THE OLDHAM AMATEUR COMMUNITY IS SURE TO TURN UP IN FORCE, BUT THE LOCAL LEAGUE HOPES TO ATTRACT MANY OTHERS TOO.
The Heritage trust were saddened to hear of the death of ex-Roughyed Derek Whitehead aged 81. Derek passed away on Saturday, 5 April at Fountain’s Nursing Home in Swinton having been admitted shortly before Christmas 2024.
He signed for Oldham from Swinton at the start of the 1968-69 season and went on to play 49 matches for the Roughyeds scoring two tries and 139 goals. In his first season he topped the goals and points charts for Oldham with 115 goals and 236 points.However, the club couldn’t resist an offer from Warrington the following season and so Derek left to join the ‘Wire’ in October 1970.
At Warrington he notably lifted the Lance Todd Trophy after he kicked seven goals in the 1974 Challenge Cup final as Warrington beat Featherstone at Wembley.
He returned to Oldham in 1988 as assistant coach to Tony Barrow.
The condolences of the Heritage Trust and all of the Oldham RL community go out to all of Derek’s family and friends.
The Oldham RL Heritage Trust ‘Hall of Famers’ night held at the Broadway Suite at Boundary Park on Friday March 28th proved to be a great success with over 100 people in attendance.
The event was there to coincide with the launch of Kevin Fitzpatrick’s re-vamped Hall of Fame audio documentary, updated to include all 22 of the current members.
The evening opened with a witty introduction from Kevin followed by a discussion regarding the members from the early era of the club with contributions from John Chadwick, Michael Turner and the renowned Rugby League historian and author, Professor Tony Collins. Excerpts from the audio tracks were played which features much of Kevin’s original audio work from the first release over 20 years ago but now includes all 22 of the Roughyeds legends.
Mike Elliott, Phil Larder, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Terry Flanagan and Mike Ford at the ‘Hall of Famers’ event. Photo by Dave Murgatroyd.
The undoubted highlights of the evening were the interviews with the ‘Hall of Famers’ in attendance with Mike Elliott, Phil Larder, Terry Flanagan and Mike Ford each giving an interesting and sometimes amusing insight regarding their time with Oldham RLFC.
There was representation at the event from the RFL, the Rugby League Record Keeps Club and also a good turnout from the Oldham Players Association, all of whom mingled with the regular supporters. There was a selection of memorabilia on show including three of Jack Read’s medals brought in by grandchildren, Donna Hewitt and John Hartley and an Alex Givvons cap from his Rugby Union days brought in by his son Trevor.
The cost of the documentary which runs for four hours is £20.
A new documentary telling the stories of Oldham rugby league’s Hall of Fame members is to be released. It’s being produced by BBC reporter and former Roughyeds player, Kevin Fitzpatrick, and will focus on the careers of the 22 players considered among the best in the club’s nearly 150 year history, as well as the memorable team moments they were involved in. The players range from Arthur Lees and Joe Ferguson who played from the late 1800s up to John Hough who was the first signing for the reformed club in 1997. The audio documentary will be downloadable and feature interviews with all the living Hall of Famers as well as Alan Davies, Bernard Ganley, John Etty and Frank Stirrup from the legendary team of the 1950s. These interviews were part of an earlier project about the first ten members of the Hall of Fame in 2002. Kevin, who recently joined the Oldham Rugby League Heritage Trust, said; “It’s been a privilege talking to the Oldham players who had such an impact on the team and the fans. I’m trying to discover what made them the players they were and capture their memories of the ups and downs during their time with the club.” The documentary will also feature teammates, rugby league historians and relatives of older players who are no longer with us. A launch event is being planned for the Broadway Suite at Boundary Park on Friday 28th March with tickets available in due course.
TOP ROW: Alan Davies, Arthur Lees, Derek Turner, Bob Irving, Joe Ferguson, Terry Flanagan, John Etty, Herman Hilton. MIDDLE ROW: Mike Ford, Mike, Elliott, Fred Ashworth, Phil Larder, Alex Givvons, John Hough, Jack Read, Kevin Taylor. BOTTOM ROW: Harry Ogden, Frank Stirrup, Martin Murphy, Sid Little, Andy Goodway, Bernard Ganley.
Oldham retained the Law Cup after a mighty struggle against Rochdale Hornets which saw them winners 16 – 14 in the rearranged match at Boundary Park on Wednesday January 22nd. After Oldham had gone into a ten points to nil lead, Hornets hit back to leave the home supporters much relieved to hear the final hooter with the Roughyeds only two points to the good. In the absence of regular skipper Jordan Turner, it was Pat Moran who had the honour to lead the team out and lift the cup.
Owen Farnworth receives the Heritage Trust Trophy from Michael Turner and club chairmanBill Quinn.
Owen Farnworth was a worthy winner of the Heritage Trust Trophy with a typical non-stop performance. He was run close by several of his team-mates but his all round effort in defence and the ability to make the extra yards after impact swung the vote in his favour. A good example of this was the ‘drive’ into the Rochdale defence just prior to Kieran Dixon’s try which proved to be the match winner.
Pat Moran, captain on the night, lifts up the Law Cup after the narrow victory over Rochdale Hornets.
