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.
Phil Larder and Mike Ford were presented with their ‘Hall of Fame’ certificates at a brief ceremony in the Broadway suite before the match against Wigan at Boundary Park last Sunday, January 19th.
Phil (Heritage Number 705) and Mike (HN 934) received their certificates from club vice-president, John Chadwick and both spoke fondly about their time with the Roughyeds.
Above: Phil Larder, John Chadwick and Mike Ford. Below: Phil and Mike in their playing days with Oldham. (Photo Dave Murgatroyd)
The Heritage Trust were saddened to learn of the death of former Roughyed, Ken Gwilliam (Heritage Number 838), who passed away on January 2nd aged 77. St Helens born, Ken began his rugby league career with Blackbrook before signing for Salford in 1967 and was the youngest member of the team that lost to Castleford in the 1970 Challenge Cup Final when he played at full-back.
He signed for his hometown club in 1974 and made 151 appearances for St Helens before making the move to Watersheddings in 1979. He made his Oldham debut on November 11th in a narrow 6 – 5 victory over Barrow. All of Ken’s matches for Oldham were in the scrum-half position. He made a total of 33 appearances for the Roughyeds scoring six tries and a drop goal.
The sincere condolences of everyone connected with Oldham RLFC goes out to all of Ken’s family and friends.
Ray Hill has continued his trek ‘Down Under’ as far as New Zealand where he met up with Roughyeds’ legend Charlie McAlister in Auckland. Ray presented Charlie with his Heritage certificate during a week-long stay and they took the opportunity to have lunch with the former Wigan star, Frano Botica.
Ray will be homeward bound soon with, no doubt, many stories to tell of his adventures in Australia and New Zealand and his meetings with the Roughyeds stars of yesteryear.
Left: Charlie receives his Heritage Certificate from Ray. Right: Lunch with Frano Botica. Looks good! Below: Charlie during his Oldham playing days.
The induction of John Hough into the club’s ‘Hall of Fame’ at the Fox and Pine yesterday (Sunday December 22nd) was a great occasion with a good turnout of supporters and people from right across the Roughyeds spectrum.
A brief film was screened highlighting John’s career with the Roughyeds accompanied by a slide show of images taken during the ‘Hough Years’ of 1998 – 2007. A real fans favourite, John, who is over on holiday from Perth, Western Australia, was a model of consistency at hooker playing 228 matches over nine years. Included in that total was a consecutive run on of 82 matches between Feb 1st 1999 and April 16 2001. He scored 53 tries, a great return for a number nine, many of which involved a classic dash from acting half-back.
Mike Elliott presents John Hough with his Hall of Fame certificate at the Fox and Pine flanked by Kevin Fitzpatrick (left) and Steve Brown of the Oldham Rugby League Heritage Trust. Photo – Dave Walker.
The upstairs rooms at the popular town centre venue were packed out to witness MC Kevin Fitzpatrick introduce existing ‘Hall-of-Famer’, Mike Elliott who presented John with his ‘Hall of Fame’ certificate.
The Hough family were out in force, as were representatives from the Heritage Trust, the Players Association, Rugby Oldham, the Yeds supporters group and the parent club represented by Managing Director, Mike Ford who presented John with his Heritage certificate. Mike of course was one of John’s team-mates and was in good company with Jason Clegg, Wes Rogers, Neil Roden and Steve Molloy also in attendance along with local rugby personalities including; Shane Tupaea, John Watkins, Ray Hicks and Joe Warburton.
Special thanks must be given to Chris and Michelle and the staff at the Fox and Pine for their continuing support for all things relating to the Roughyeds.
Roughyeds fan Bernie Allen was in for an unexpected surprise when he visited the NRL museum in Sydney earlier this week.
While visiting relatives ‘Down Under’, Bernie called in at the museum to drop in a spare copy of the Oldham RL Heritage Trust book, “Kangaroos, Kiwis and Roughyeds”. The book was gratefully and enthusiastically received and although the museum is actually closed for refurbishment at the moment, Bernie in company with son-in-law, Brian were afforded a quick trip round the facility by Luke Scifleet who is the Content Operations & Media Assets Lead at NRL Central in Sydney.
Left: Bernie hands over the book to Luke at the NRL museum. Middle: Bernie with the World Cup. Right: Brian and Bernie in their Oldham colours at the Allianz stadium.
Later on, proudly wearing Roughyeds shirts, they visited the Allianz stadium and were taken on an official tour.
