Ex-scrumhalf

Wilf Briggs was indeed a really good player but he also had the ability to frustrate at times and I recall many conversations at work on Mondays after a match when half the group said he was brilliant and the other half found reason, often unfounded, to complain. I liked him anyway

I first started supporting Oldham rugby in 1954 when my father took me to my first game. I was immediately hooked and have followed ever since. During my time I have been fortunate to see the great team of the fifties and many more through the following decades and although I have been told stories about many of the players who wore the Oldham shirt long before I started watching them this is the first time I have ever heard of the other George Tyson. Given that we have a George Tyson currently playing for us I am surprised that no one has mentioned this before as we have many historians who support the club. Anyway with apologies to all those to whom this is not news I will tell you about the other GT. George Tyson was born in 1879 in Oldham. He is described as a speedy and elusive winger who topped our try scoring list in 1907, 1908 and 1909. He played at County and international level and scored the winning try against the Aussies in 1908 at Villa Park in Birmingham. In his 246 appearances for Oldham he scored 111 tries and 4 goals. He became landlord of the Farmers Boy on Huddersfield Road in 1910 and was also known as a ferocious tackler. I hope the current George Tyson sticks around as long and scores many more tries like his predecessor. Anyway just a bit of information which I hope you will forgive me for introducing on this very interesting forum.

Too many to put them all down on here but the funniest for me was watching Oldham play Wigan from the Hutchins stand upstairs on a very foggy day with a good friend. We couldn't see the other end of the pitch and followed the game by listening to the groans and cheers from the crowd up there and also watching the Wigan fullback, Colin Tyrer I think it was, pacing side to side across the halfway line. Oldham were losing by one point at the time when drop goals counted two. Suddenly out of the mist appears Frank Foster, realising he didn't have the pace to go round Tyrer he attempted a drop goal from 30 yards out but it fell short then then ran over the dead ball line. The referee was nowhere to be seen and I and my mate, followed by a few others raised our arms and all shouted "Yeeessss" The referee then appeared through the mist and hearing our shout raised his white handkerchief and assuming our shouts suggested the ball had gone over he awarded the goal putting Oldham in the lead which somehow we held on to, to win the game. I will always remember Tyrer arguing with us and calling us all sorts of unsavoury names. That was the day me and my mate beat Wigan, with Frank Fosters help of course, and also helped by a blind referee.

When will Chapell be available or has he just come to sit out the season. I am (was) expecting him to be one of our major players this year but it has all gone very quiet about him.

It is one of the main reasons why I fell out with rugby league. What happened to Oldham and what has happened to subsequent clubs is absolutely disgraceful and is nothing short of total mismanagement. The RFL have no idea at all. Rugby League does not need Bradford any more than it needs Oldham, Swinton, Dewsbury, Whitehaven and Workington etc. The problem is it in't about history or tradition its all about whether your face fits or not . It has become a Mickey Mouse sport and is therefore the main reason for my lack of interest and until there is more consistency and fairness in the game I will find it difficult to find the passion that I once had for the game. There is no doubt in my mind thst the only fair thing to have done was to allow Bradford into Championship 1 with no central funding or the first year and let them work their way up the ladder as we have had to do

Personally I hate the name Roughyeds and would welcome a change to something more modern or even as some have said simply Oldham FC. It has served Hull well enough. As a kid I remember all the nicknames clubs had like Widnes The Chemics, Leeds The Loiners etc but I still cannot remember Oldham being called Roughyeds. Oldham FC will do fine for me but if a new modern name will attract younger fans then so be it but Roughyeds is terrible and I don't think anyone in or outside the game has a clue what it means except Oldhamers.

It would be good if the club could broker a deal with a travel agent for a reasonably priced package deal to include coach from Oldham to airport and back, similar at the other end and a nights accommodation. Some sort of sponsorship deal to help the club take as many fans as possible at a reasonable rate.

Best wishes to Lewis but can someone please explain, without anything silly from the Cornets fans why so many of our players , when they leave, go to Rochdale, surely there are lots of other clubs they could go to, or is it a lack of ambition perhaps?

I have waited until things have calmed down a bit before putting this on the forum but here goes. I met some really nice people from Whitehaven on Sunday , rugby League fans through and through. In terms of who won I was pleased it was us but it saddened me to see such nice loyal supporters having to travel a long way home having been relegated. I am so sorry for teams like Whitehaven and Workington et al because they are the bread and butter of rugby league and it pains me to see French teams being gifted a way into Super League while the real rugby people of this world are being denied. I wish the supporters and the teams from all of these clubs all the very best and I look forward to seeing you all again in the higher division and hopefully seeing off the French and the Canadians though the way the RFL works I am not holding my breath. Good luck Workington and Whitehaven and all the other bread and butter clubs of this great game of ours.

Thank you CCR

Don't go as often as I should but can anyone tell me why, after two rave reviews Turner has been left out. Everyone seems to be pleased that Chisholm has signed for another season but on today evidence he dropped a lot of ball and seemed to run sideways instead of forwards. Surely after Turners recent games he should have been on the team sheet before Chisholm. I left the ground early due to the long delay over the Sheffield players injury. It looked nasty and I hope he is OK. In consequence I missed Oldhams last two tries and have come away deeply disappointed having looked forward to the game for some time.

I thought it was a very strange game today. It was almost as if someone took off the whole team and substituted it with another one. From the kick off we defended well and looked lively with ball in hand and at 12 nil up it looked like we were onto an easy win. Then a huge blunder as two Oldham players appeared to leave a high ball to each other and the result was Sheffield fielded it and scored their first try. It proved to be big game changer as in no time at all we were behind 12 - 14. Soon after Lepori was sent off and no one seems to know why yet but what had seemed to be a good game for us turned around and we found ourselves on the wrong end of a drubbing. Too many dropped balls and wrong options together with some sloppy tackling and it was game over really, despite a spirited start to the second half when we could easily have come back into the game but two disallowed tries put an end to that. All I can say is that with Workington and Whitehaven both losing we look to be reasonably safe with three games left one of the cumbrian sides would have to win all three and we would have to lose all three which I doubt the Cumbrians managing that as I think they have to play teams well above us and we of course still have to play Whitehaven at home. So despite disappointment today I am still onfident of staying up, which we would all have settled for at the start of the season.

This may be coming from the heart rather than from the head but losing yesterday could be a blessing in disguise. We know we have a three point cushion between ourselves and the cumbrian clubs so a couple of wins against them should be enough to make us safe. Naylor now knows exactly what he is up against and should be able to sort things out accordingly or he is not the coach we think he is. The team should be well fired up for both games knowing that we should have beaten Workington had we turned up for the game so I take Oldham to beat both cumbrian sides at home and Swinton away we are good enough for that and that will ensure survival in my opinion.

I'm sure there must be a good reason but can anyone tell me why Palfrey keeps being left out and why a man we brought here as a halfback with experience (Grimshaw ) keeps being played in the centre. We were woeful at halfback today and in my view we were crying out for someone to come in and take control and take out the opposition halfbacks. As most seem to say we play far too much one man rugby but from the coaching side does Naylor not coach any open play into the team and does anyone agree with me that he often makes strange choices when picking the team. I also think that allowing Roper to leave was a grave error he has the experience we are now lacking and would have been good to have around at this end of the season.

Just shows how long its been since I have been to a match and despite asking a mate who stood with us and who goes regularly he never enlightened me to that fact Never having seen Grimhaw myself I would never have known so thanks for the info