BRAD DAY will be hoping it’s third time lucky after signing with Oldham for the rest of this season.
It’s the third club he’s agreed terms with after the first two lost their places in the Championship.
Day was contracted until the end of 2027 with Featherstone Rovers, who went into administration in December.
The 31-year-old forward then signed for Halifax a month ago, only for the Panthers to be wound-up over tax debts last week.
Day, who has more than 220 career appearances to his name – chiefly with Batley Bulldogs and Featherstone – has quickly secured his future with Oldham.
The Roughyeds have themselves faced reports of financial difficulties including unpaid medical bills and pension payments which have been denied by the club, with chairman Bill Quinn insisting they are in a “strong financial position”.
A winding-up order brought by HMRC, over what Oldham said was a historic debt, was dismissed last Wednesday.
“It has been a funny old month,” admitted Day.
“What happened at Halifax obviously wasn’t the best situation, but I am glad to get something sorted pretty quickly.”
While Featherstone’s difficulties were well known, Halifax had claimed to be improving their financial position and their winding-up order came as a shock to those both inside and outside the club.
“At Featherstone we were just left in the dark,” Day told BBC Radio Leeds.
“Halifax emailed to tell us what had happened, followed by a meeting on Tuesday when people asked questions.
“That seemed pretty positive and they seemed to have a clear indication of the path to take (the club reportedly wanted to transfer RFL membership to another company), but on Wednesday that got rejected by the RFL.”
While Halifax have lost their membership, efforts at a revival continue ahead of a deadline for expressions of interest today (Wednesday).
Meanwhile Oldham have undergone changes at the head of the club, with David Bottomley promoted to chief executive from head of operations and commercial, a role he had held since last March, while Simon Winnard has returned to the board.
Winnard was part of the Mike Ford-fronted consortium who took over the club in March 2023, but left the board eight months later.
“Simon has always demonstrated a genuine passion for the club and, even during his time away from the board, continued to help myself and the club whenever asked without question,” said Quinn.
“Anyone who knows Simon will know that he has great business acumen and will be a real asset to the board. I firmly believe this will prove to be an important appointment for the club, and we are thrilled to be working with him again.”
Bottomley is a former chief executive of Rochdale Football Club.