Oldham chairman Bill Quinn, presents the Heritage Certificate to Patricia and Andrew Whittle, also in the photo are Michael Turner from the Heritage Trust and Mike Elliott of the Players Association.
At the recent home match against Cornwall on April 14th the ORL Heritage Trust were delighted to present the Heritage Certificate to Patricia and Andrew Whittle, the great granddaughter and great, great grandson of the Oldham winger from the Edwardian era Tommy Cash. Patricia kindly brought in to show the Heritage Trust, an Oldham shirt of Tommy’s along with a Lancashire shield medal from 1908-09 and an Oldham cap.
Left: Tommy with the Lancashire Shield in 1909. Right: The winners medal.
Tommy (Heritage number 80) played for the Roughyeds between 1902 – 1909 and later went on to be a decorated war hero in World War 1.
Tommy was born on Ashton Road, Oldham and was first introduced to Rugby football at the local St Pauls school. A diminutive, figure he went on to play for Oldham Edge Recreation and Glenby at half back. He made his Oldham debut at centre in the 7 – 2 win at Hull Kingston on September 27th, 1902. He made 21 appearances that season, all the rest were on the wing, this being the position where he would become a great favourite with the Oldham crowd.
He topped the Oldham try list in 1904-05 with 13 and 1905-06 with 21 and irrespective of his slight stature, Tommy was well known for his courage and would take on the heftiest of opponents. Once he received his marching orders, to the amusement of the crowd, after an entanglement with a burly Leeds forward. Along with several of his team mates, he left to assist the newly formed Coventry club in 1910.
In total he made 139 senior appearances for Oldham in which he scored 63 tries.
During the First World War he joined the King’s Royal Rifles and earned the Military Medal and bar for heroism. A brief description of the action as reported in the local press is below.
‘For great gallantry at Olive trench near Hollebeke on June 14th 1917, when he rushed forward
with the first wave and bombed the enemy’s dug-out and, being an orderly to an officer who had
been wounded, attended him with great devotion under heavy shell fire in the open.’
Then three months later he was awarded the bar …
‘At Passchendaele Ridge on September 20th, he led his section, the NCOs having become
casualties, against a strong point where he personally killed three of the enemy and after capturing
his objective showed great coolness under heavy shell fire and was of great assistance.’
The “Brian Walker” – Player of the month awards have resumed with the winners for February and March 2024 being Matty Wildie and Adam Lawton.
Matty received the award for February after a tremendous opening to the season with his prize of £250 being donated to the “Wakefield Hospice”.
Likewise Adam has had consistent good form and his March award prize was given over to the “Macmillan Cancer Support”. Both players are seen receiving their cheques from club chairman Bill Quinn.
OLDHAM RLFC’s forthcoming mid-season dinner promises to be an evening highlighting the club’s accomplishments over the past twelve months, as well as looking to the future.
It has just been over a year since the club was taken over by a five-strong consortium headed by Mike Ford on March 24th 2023.
The main purpose of the purchasing of the club – as revealed to the rugby league world at a press conference at Boundary Park by Ford – was to “provide Oldham with a team that everybody can be proud of”.
It all started in early 2022, fresh from the club’s first ever loss to an amateur club.
Playing in the third division, and being the lowest ranked heartland club in the whole of rugby league, Ford felt the need to act.
Fast forward to now, the club has secured its long-term future at Boundary Park, a venue which would rival many Super League grounds. Enthusiasm for Oldham Rugby has massively increased with sales of season tickets more than tripling and average attendances seeing similar increases.
On the field, a championship calibre of squad has been amassed, spearheaded by a first class coach in Sean Long, with the ultimate goal of reviving Oldham’s prominence in the sport.
The event, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on April 26, will serve as celebration of the above, as well as a reflection on the past, while also providing an insight into what is to come for the club.
John Chadwick, Sean Long and Mike Ford will speak about the Past, Present and perceived Future for Oldham RLFC.
MD Mike Ford will share where he envisages the club going in the next few years, including growing the club’s boys’ and girls’ pathways, as well as further increasing attendances and building the Melrose training base into a first-class facility for use of the club and the community at large.
Cross-code rugby star Jason Robinson will be speaking at the event, which will have Michael Bradshaw as MC with entertainment throughout the night provided by comedian John Gillam.
Tickets are priced at £48 per head, which includes a three course meal.
There will also be a raffle, plus an auction on the night.
Mike Ford said: “We hope to have a brilliant turnout for what promises to be a fantastic night. “It’ll be great to hear the stories Jason Robinson has to share. I coached him when he was captain of the England side which reached the 2007 World Cup final – I loved coaching him because he was a lot smaller than me. There are not many more decorated players in both codes than Jason and it’ll be a real treat. We have come so far in twelve months as a club, both on and off the field, with the dinner recognising that.”
Guests are asked to arrive by 7pm to allow a prompt start at 7:30pm with the event expected to run until late.
Venue details: The Queen Elizabeth Hall, West Street, Oldham, OL1 1QJ
It is with the deepest sorrow and sympathy to the whole family that we report the death of our former winger John Etty, who has died in a Blackpool hospital at the age of 97.
He was the last surviving member of what is generally known as Oldham’s ‘great side of the 50s’ the team that won the Lancashire Cup in 1956, 1957 and 1958 and were Rugby League champions in 1957 when they beat Hull 15-14 in the play-off final at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, on a day that will forever be etched in the annals of Oldham sport.
They’ve all gone now, but anyone old enough to remember May 18, 1957 will never forget that day and that match or Etty’s two tries in a memorable triumph.
Back: D. Vines, W.B. Ganley, S. Little, C. Winslade, D. Turner, K. Jackson, J. Keith, F. Daley. Front: F. Pitchford, D. Ayres, J. Etty, A. Davies, R. Cracknell.
For the record, Oldham trailed 6-5 at half-time and then went 11-5 down, but the brilliant boot of Bernard Ganley and tries by Etty (his second) and centre Denis Ayres did the trick.
After originally playing at centre, John was switched to the wing, after a dozen or so matches, to great effect. His barnstorming runs down the flank made him a great favourite of the Watersheddings fans. The 1956-57 season was a personal triumph for John when he established the Oldham post-war try record with 43 touchdowns, which included two in the Championship Final against Hull and one in the Lancashire Cup Final triumph over St Helens.
The golden streak of form that John found that year was a major contribution to the Championship coming to Oldham.
John, a Yorkshireman, played for Batley, Oldham and Wakefield and won every domestic honour the game had to offer and was capped by Yorkshire county.
The sincere condolences of everyone at the club go to John‘s family and friends.
It is with great sadness that the Heritage Trust was informed of the death of our former player coach Bill Francis aged 76.
Bill (Heritage Number 829) was born in Featherstone and played for Wigan, St Helens, Oldham and Salford at club level, and Yorkshire, Wales (who he qualified for through heritage) and Great Britain at representative level.
Rated as one of the Wigan ‘all time greats’ with 400 appearances for the cherry and whites, he joined Oldham in 1979 as player coach, with Graham Starkey as manager, after a successful spell at St Helens where he was a try scorer in the 1978 Challenge Cup final.
Bill was a utility back renowned for his deceptive pace, passing skills and a great sidestep. He came to Oldham with a view to his experience helping to bring on the young, up-and-coming talent that was at the club in the colts team of the late 1970s. He made 49 appearances for the Roughyeds scoring four tries before moving on to Salford.
The sincere condolences of the Oldham RL community are extended to all of Bill’s family and friends.
There was a tremendous following of Oldham supporters at the 3rd round Challenge Cup tie at Barrow last Saturday (February 10th).
Jordan Turner celebrates with the supporters after the match.
Two coach loads travelled up early and were there to welcome the team when they arrived and were delighted by Oldham’s 22 – 10 victory. The transport was organised by the ‘Yeds’ supporters group and was heavily subsidised by club chairman, Bill Quinn. A fantastic gesture which was really appreciated by the fans.
A big thank you also to Chris and Michelle at the “Fox and Pine” which once again, was the centre of operations.
This year’s Standard Cup Final will be played at Boundary Park on Easter Saturday, March 30th with the kick off at 11.45am.
Events at Boundary Park on Finals Day, will start at 10.30am with the Johnny Blair under-11s memorial match in memory of the former Oldham stand-off – a player of some repute.
It’s great to see this grand old competition which dates back to 1904 played on a ground with such fabulous facilities.
It is with sadness that Heritage Trust learned of the news of the death of former Oldham player Colin Hawkyard at the age of 65.
Colin (Heritage Number 818) signed for Oldham in 1978 from the Bradley amateur club in his native Huddersfield after playing a few trial matches in the ‘A’ team. He made his debut on December 17th of that year playing in the second-row and scored two tries in a 25 – 13 victory away at Huyton. Mostly remembered as a tireless back-row forward who ALWAYS gave 100% effort, Colin played 189 first team matches for the Roughyeds scoring 32 tries. He did however make well over 30 of those appearances playing as a back in the three-quarters.
Colin was a “players player” who never shirked the hard work, either driving the ball in or making tackle after tackle in the Oldham cause. While the limelight usually went to one or other of his team-mates, he did contribute an everlasting memory for those of us lucky enough to be there, when he scored against the almighty 1986 Australian touring team in a never to be forgotten night at Watersheddings. The Kangaroos were destroying the cream of the English clubs examples being: Hull KR 46 – 10 / Leeds 40 – 0 / St Helens 32 – 8 / Hull FC 48 – 0 but a dogged Oldham performance restricted the tourists to a 22 – 16 victory, the closest margin of the tour. Colin’s try was the result of excellent backing up following a break by Mick Worrall. Two years later it was Colin himself who split the Featherstone defence which set up a second try for Des Foy in that dramatic victory for Oldham over Rovers at Old Trafford.
The sincere condolences of everyone at the Oldham Rugby League Heritage Trust are sent out to Colin’s family and friends.
It is with deep sorrow that we report the death of former Oldham centre Malcolm Price (Heritage Number 644) aged 86. An international at both Rugby League and Rugby Union, he was selected for the 1959 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand playing in five of the six test matches where he scored two tries in the second test against the Wallabies and two more in the first test against the “All Blacks”. He subsequently became a hot property pursued by many Rugby League clubs but it was Oldham who lured him north early in 1962.
A proud Welshman from Pontypool, Malcolm was a stylish centre with a good turn of pace. He made a try-scoring debut for the Roughyeds in a 13 – 7 victory at Liverpool on February 3rd 1962 and repeated the feat on his home debut the following week in a 32 – 16 victory over Hull in the Challenge Cup. However, after only four games he sustained a leg injury that ended his season and worse was to follow when he was seriously injured at Rochdale early in the following season on September 29th 1962. Malcolm suffered serious internal injuries to the pancreas that many thought would end his rugby career. He did not play again for well over twelve months but battled back to fitness to once again take the field for Oldham against Dewsbury on December 28th 1963.
All in all he played 23 games for Oldham in which he scored 14 tries. In 1966 he signed for Rochdale and by 1967 he was in the Great Britain team playing in two tests against the touring Australians.
In later life Malcolm kept himself incredibly fit and was a successful badminton player in the Rochdale district until well into his 60s. He was also very actively involved with the Rochdale Ex-Players association and took part in the 2017 theatrical production of “Rugby in the Blood” which looked at various aspects of rugby life in the Oldham and Rochdale area.
In 2019 Malcolm was inducted into the Welsh Rugby Union ‘Hall of Fame’ in a ceremony down at the SWALEC stadium in Cardiff. It was a very proud day for Malcolm and the Price family who turned out in force for the event.
A true gentleman who will be sadly missed in both codes of rugby, the condolences of the Heritage Trust and all of the Oldham RL community go out to all of Malcolm’s family and friends.
In the run up to the match to be played in Rochdale on January 21st, the Law Cup was put on show at the Fox and Pine on Tuesday January 2nd.
Mike Ford, new coach Sean Long and assistants, Jordan Turner and Joe Wardle were there to represent the club and there was a good atmosphere as Sean handed the trophy over to hosts, Chris and Michelle.
The popular, town centre, award winning pub was filled with Roughyeds fans for the event with representation from the Heritage Trust, Rugby Oldham, the “Yeds” supporters group and a good turn out from the Players Association.
Sean Longs hands the Law Cup over to Chris and Michelle Riley at the Fox and Pine.
