Forty-20 Magazine - League 1 Scene - What's going on at Oldham?

[Gav Wilson]

Hey guys,

 

Not sure if you've read it but I do a regular feature in Forty-20 magazine focusing on life in League 1, and I've noticed that there is an air of quiet unrest at Oldham between the fans and the club. From what I've read the situation is quite similar to the one at York!

 

I would like to hopefully give your situation a bit of attention if I may, but I need to know more first! Any help explaining the situation would be greatly appreciated...

 

1. Whats the relationship currently like between the fans and Chris Hamilton?

 

2. In your opinion, is CH doing everything he can to improve the club?

 

3. I read that CH has recently held meetings with fans, how did they go? Has action happened off the back of these meetings?

 

4. Are there any developments at Whitebank in the offing?

 

5. Oldham are doing well on the pitch this season, are you happy with the squad/coaching?

 

6. Why doesn't the Oldham Chronicle appear to carry any news on the club?

 

7. Are there any other issues I should know about/highlight?

 

My deadline is Friday so if I could have any answers ASAP that would be great!

[Antisuperleague]

Taking each one in turn.

1.Extremely poor. CH does not talk to the spectators and he is in most ORFC fans minds destroying the club. He has complete control and as a despot hedoes not listen to anyone because he is answerable to no-one. This has been the situation for many years so alienating supporters to the extent they stay away.To raise extra revenue, last season he told stewards that if anyone leaves the ground at half-time for a smoke they have to pay to get back in.

2. Definitely not. As above. He does not realise that it is spectators who make a club he has no interest in the supporters. Apparently, he threw out a local junior side because they were not bringing in any money.

3.You need to read the blog. It appears he has only paid lip service to these meetings, he hasn't replied to emails and has prevented any publication of what has been said. Like I have said read the blog ie talks with Mr Hamilton.

4. No. They are only half down the one tin of paint he bought three years ago!

5. Fanastic effort from all of the coaching and playing staff. It is a shame CH has driven the fans away because these lads deserve a lot more.

6. The Chron and the council love the Latics and good luck to them. The council gave ORLFC a cabbage patch and donated about £5M to the Latics for a new stand. The ORLFC reports are anonymoously written. There is never a name against any of ORLFC reporting be it matches or day to day stuff - could be CH who is writing them!

7.1. CH is an events manager at Leigh Sports' Village. This means if ORLFC and Leigh are at home he goes to Leigh. There have been several occasions this season that this has occurred. Coventry came up for their first game in RL and the only person from ORLFC to meet them was the coaching staff and the ground cat. The same has happened at a friendly at Swinton and a recent home game.

7.2.Reading the Customer Charter and other RL demands fo grounds and spectators I feel CH is not complying with anything that the RL demands.

7.3. I have written to Karen Moorhouse at the RL about what is going on and she asked us to speak to CH. A group has and nothing has changed. Surely, the RL must do something.

7.4. From the blog it states three ways that the supporters can take control:

           1. Buy Ch out at a cost of £300,000. (a big tin of paint)

           2. Hope that Rugby Oldham and the supporters make some headway with CH.

           3. The club ceases to operate and then is allowed to be reborn.

                                                                  

 

Sadly, after 54 years I have decided that I cannot support CH anymore and will no longer attend anymore games until he leaves.

[clifford]

In the first meeting he embraced the process and was open and honest with each of the 5 independent supporters

Second meeting with all feel a little gagged and we haven't been able to report the result save for the fact that rugby Oldham and ch talked for the first time in years

Whitebank is the worst ground in rl and frankly I'm embrassed by it

We are supposed to have access to the old willows stand can't see it going up anytime soon

Fantastic team brilliant coach and the players genuinely care about the supporters

I will continue to go but we need ch to move on he is aloof at the best of times

[AmigoTopping]

I really can't argue with what Antisuperleague has stated Gavin. It's a very fair reflection of our current situation. After 18 years in charge it's time for CH to sell up and move on.

[andykenny]

I have attended the recent meetings which were a long time in coming.

Over the years their have been a litany of events and crisis which have only served to take the club into a

continuing downward spiral.

The discussions on here have got very heated and even reached the point of fans threatening eachother.

Some of us wrote to the RFL and CH offered to meet a group of fans.

I have established at the meetings that CH and those around him are very much old school.They prefare the Local paper as their news feed and have a club website as something of a chore.Their IT capabilites are not the best.This does not mean they are not trying.

However This does not come across to the fans.

Being accustomed to this old school way of reporting things is perhaps the reason why the supporters group felt they were gagged.Meaning CH was starting to feel out of his comfort zone.The idea of others reporting what he said perhaps was too much.He needed to get control back.In so doing the doubts are creeping back in.I agree with Clifford on this.

The point is if you are stuck in the old ways and as CH himself states not IT savvy, then in this era you are in trouble.

Do nothing to sort it then you will appear aloof and not bothered.

A classic CH thing is the selling of Shirts and polo shirts.Even lower league clubs have online stores.Yet we in oldham stick em in the burger van.

No one would criticise for not knowing how to set that lot up but not getting it set up is unacceptable.

If thats one issue there are dozens similar.

In amongst them is this endless debate about the ground.The longer it drags on the more spectators are lost.

I would not say CH is not trying but I would say that his lack of IT skills and old school ways are out of place.They could easily and should easily be fixed.The fact that they as yet have not and were allowed to go on so long makes you wonder about other things.Include the ground in this.

In the end you could be a great survivor who can go from crisis to crisis and get through by the skin of your teeth but will this grow the club?.At the very least we should be like Keighley ,Barrow,Hunslet,In terms of grounds and websites.If feel once we are back to that level we can push on.

I am struggling to see how it can happen at Oldham..

The coach and players are doing well .They deserve a better ground and larger crowds.

[HomeOfTheTubularBandage]

As the person who instigated the recent contact with CH I feel uncomfortable answering these questions without CH and ROs knowledge.

But unfortunately if the club refuse to communicate this dissatisfaction will spread. My last email to the club warned of just this very breakdown of trust and engagement.

Gav, I will say some of the grievances against CH are personal and the initial communication with the club through our current process was very positive.

However the two main factors remain:

1) the club's blinkered intransigence regarding the stadium. It's the wrong location. The lease agreements stifle development and facilities for players and fans are the worst of any professional sports venue I have ever come across. Supporters have voted with their feet, their patience at an end with empty promises. Attendances have halved in the last two years and are scarcely ten per cent of what they were 15 years ago. Yet the club will not even explore alternative venues as a long term home for the club.

2) A total lack of modern supporter communications or a marketing/business development plan.

If we don't secure promotion this year, next season more fans will abandon ship and there won't be enough revenue to retain our coach and best players. We will become uncompetitive, haemorrhage more fans and sponsors...and I fear the club could go out of business at the end of next season.

[moorside roughyed]

Hi Gav.Unfortunately we have big problems at our club.I pretty much agree with all the posts that are on this thread.This is not a reflection on our players and backroom staff.They are fantastic. If you can give this subject any attention at all I would be most grateful. I love my club very much and really do fear for its future. The thought of no Oldham rugby is one I don't want to think about.

[exiledyed]

I think Gav , if you want to discover the frustration of the supporters you need to  to try and get into some sort of communication with Chris Hamilton himself . An interview from him would go along way to reassure the little support we have left , but I wouldn't hold your breath .

[thecrab]

Gav, our once great club is on its knees.

I've no doubt CH's heart is in the right place but he is clearly failing to manage the club as we are in the biggest decline and in the biggest hole in our entire history, both pre and post 1997.

I was one of a number of fans who wrote to the RFL to voice my concerns and took heart at recent events with the supporters group and Rugby Oldham meeting CH.

At the moment it's way too early to comment how successful those meetings are and will be but it's a big move in the right direction. Don't forget here, these meetings were fan driven from despair at the way the club is being run and credit should be given to those fans who instigated them.

My personal opinion is we need a fresh start with CH out of the way and a fans owned club like Rochdale but I worry that this may never happen as CH has money tied in the club and wants recompense for a change of stewardship. As there are appear to be no means of buying CH out we will continue down the spiral of poor management, poor crowds, less income until CH calls it a day.

With regards to the players and coaching staff, they are excellent and do the club proud. Personally I think we'll be close but won't achieve promotion (again) purely on squad size. I also share HOTTB's concerns that if we don't go up this season, it may be our last.

[geoffcooke]

Hi Gav, nice of you to take an interest in affairs at ORLFC and hope the responses so far give you an idea of feelings around the club at the moment.

 

As Chairman of Rugby Oldham Supporters Trust I don't feel we can make an official comment at this stage. Our next meeting with Chris Hamilton is due to take place on July13th and there could be a clearer picture once that has taken place. The Trust is always careful not to publicly criticise ORLFC which can be counter productive. That position frustrates many but is the only responsible position to take if we are ever to have any serious input to the club.

[eclecticsheep]

I agree wholeheartedly with this posting above.

My view is at this time that we may well be making things more difficult than they already are by not waiting it out at least till after the next scheduled meeting before posting anything good or bad.

I personally want to give Chris every chance I can to explain/respond or make a statement on the last meeting that he is happy with as a matter of courtesy and dare I whisper it... expediency on my part!

[Gav Wilson]

Its not going to be any kind of witch hunt or hatchet job, I just though there are some issues worth highlighting in the RL media.

 

Thank you all for your responses both on this thread and via PM, much appreciated!

 

I tried ringing the club a couple of times today but didn't get through, I'll try again in the morning but the feature has to be off by the afternoon!

 

Cheers again

[Roughyedz]

Its not going to be any kind of witch hunt or hatchet job, I just though there are some issues worth highlighting in the RL media.

 

Thank you all for your responses both on this thread and via PM, much appreciated!

 

I tried ringing the club a couple of times today but didn't get through, I'll try again in the morning but the feature has to be off by the afternoon!

 

Cheers again

 

 

Yoy didnt get through on the phone .............well all i can say is that its a complete waste of a telephone line @ £25 per month , they could spend that on toilet rolls for the team ............as what use is it if nobody ever answers it ...........see the umpteen other posts on Total RL Forum Oldham about unanswered telephone calls to the club .....

 

Most RL fans in Oldham now go to Leeds , Bradford , Wigan , St Helens , especially those with a car ......... us without have to do ...............

[KPW]

You can't knock the lads on the pitch the next month is very big in our quest for promotion see you all Sunday at whitebank be loud and pride for the 17 players in red and white

[roughyedspud]

No one as ever questioned what happens on the pitch,they've been amazing this season...infact its the only aspect of running a RL chris seems to be good at..so much so keeping him on in a director of rugby role has been mused over...

[eclecticsheep]

Well said spud...dealing with players, hiring and firing, wages ,injuries, representation and goodness knows what else...Chris knows his way round the game and the RFL wouldnt have made him chairman a few years back if he didn`t...That area you highlight is definitely his strength in my view.

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

It's a chicken and egg scenario I'm afraid. If we take the online presence as an example. It needs to be updated and manned on a full time basis in order to keep fans updated and to sell the products that will make money. But it needs money in the first place. The club hasn't got any. So we end up in a cycle of decline. Same with the ground. We need a decent ground to attract paying customers, but weneed paying customers to pay for the improvements.

[clifford]

CH is the best at hiring players, looking after players. Having spoken to most of the former players over the last 6 months this comes across loud and clear. The players love playing for Oldham they love the fans.

So if I was buying the club I would try and hire CH as a director of rugby with him training an apprentice

I would also splash some cash on a quality commercial manager

[Hollinwooder]

CH is the best at hiring players, looking after players. Having spoken to most of the former players over the last 6 months this comes across loud and clear. The players love playing for Oldham they love the fans.

So if I was buying the club I would try and hire CH as a director of rugby with him training an apprentice

I would also splash some cash on a quality commercial manager

There are plenty of ex players who would disagree with you there Clifford. As for hiring CH as Director of Rugby, you must be having a laugh!.

[HomeOfTheTubularBandage]

I expect the reason we kept our better players this year is because the youth team was scrapped to stump up extra cash for those players.

The last full year accounts available are 12-13, when we made a loss of 26k. Back then we had more fans, more sponsors, more rfl/tv money too.

What do you reckon this year's balance sheet looks like?

[The Main Man]

In response to Anti super league fan. Could I please point out that the junior club was NOT asked to leave the ground by Mr Hamilton for not making enough money.

[clifford]

Why am I having a laugh he's got the contacts he is the only man to have run a rugby club in Oldham he's been the chair of the rl

And he's respected

I've made mistakes in my job so have all of us, did I say it was permanent no but for a transition period yes

[clifford]

Why am I having a laugh he's got the contacts he is the only man to have run a rugby club in Oldham he's been the chair of the rl

And he's respected

I've made mistakes in my job so have all of us, did I say it was permanent no but for a transition period yes

[Hollinwooder]

Why am I having a laugh he's got the contacts he is the only man to have run a rugby club in Oldham he's been the chair of the rl

And he's respected

I've made mistakes in my job so have all of us, did I say it was permanent no but for a transition period yes

Respected by who Clifford???. Not by anyone I know. We've all made mistakes in our jobs but if I'd made as many as CH has, I would have been sacked long ago.

[clifford]

Well players are drawn to Oldham not by the facilities are they now we can agree on that can't we?

I can't imagine that they are on massive contracts I assume they are on pay as you play contracts. So it can't be financial reasons why they come and stay.

The only reason they come is that when they meet ch they are sold his dream.

Therefore if there is any supporter take over and until the new board have in place key staff you keep him

Whether you like him or not in the short term he is the most qualified person in Oldham

But I would ensure that there were limits on input on the new business model ensuring that he would be limited to rugby matters and thats why there would be a strong commercial manager

But if there was a better candidate outside Oldham with a strong cv he would be placed in charge straight away

Finally for the record I'm not a ch supporter I want the best for professional rugby in Oldham

I want a club that fans of every club in the league would not avoid I want a club to be proud of on and off the field because the players are putting in a shift this season with the smallest squad to boot