Favourite player

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

49 minutes ago, jroyales said:

It has to be Charlie McCallister. I saw him as ANO at Wigan's Springfield park. He was unstoppable and it was a trait he carried on employing until Bishop stopped him with a deliberate foul breaking his jaw. I don't think he was even cautioned

Charlie was never the same player again.

I was there at Springfield park. We were chanting "sign him up sign him up sign him up"!!!

[saints10coach]

I think we have over the years had some excellent 2nd Row forwards. Already mentioned are Andy Goodway, Bob Lindner and Mick Worrall. But in my opinion, my favourite of them all was Bob Irving.

[jroyales]

I remember being at the Boulevard when Bobby was being touted by Wigan. Some Airlybirds being me kept slagging him off saying" whose this Bobby Irving?". He made a brilliant break, then another and I shouted "that's Bobby Irving!" losing my voice in the process. An enormous hand appeared on my shoulder, I thought my time was up!. In his other hand was a bottle of whiskey. He said" Here tek a sup I thinks thee needs a it lad."

 

[m brooksy]

Sibson was my first favourite player. Then Roden and Lucas and Adam Hughes even if it was for one season. Then Langtree easily for the last decade. 

[chiefgeneral]

1 hour ago, m brooksy said:

Sibson was my first favourite player. Then Roden and Lucas and Adam Hughes even if it was for one season. Then Langtree easily for the last decade. 

Adam Hughes was brilliant for us. Remember the interception try v Barrow at Craven Park. I think that might have been a playoff game

[sheddingswasus]

That was a great game. 

[saints10coach]

On 07/01/2024 at 20:27, chiefgeneral said:

Adam Hughes was brilliant for us. Remember the interception try v Barrow at Craven Park. I think that might have been a playoff game

Agree the partnership between Adam Hughes and Lucas Onyango was good.

 

[john in oz]

On 04/01/2024 at 22:20, Bert Street said:

Frank Foster for me.

I’m with you Bert.

For that short period he was with us the level of performance of the whole team rose due to his leadership.

Hard as nails and skilled with ball in hand or at foot, he could turn any game on his own.

[Pigeon Lofter]

Frank Foster was an absolute legend of the game, fearless, and fully respected by all (players, opponents, fans, referees, journalists). I will always remember when he scored a long-distance field goal from 40 metres out against Great Britain at Watersheddings in the 70s. A mercurial character if ever there was one. Did we win that game, or was it a draw? 

Johnny Blair was another player I admired, probably the best kicker I ever saw in an Oldham shirt (I am too young to have seen Ganley play). Why JB only got occasional games was a mystery to me. I think he played stand-off or fullback, and Martin Murphy and Cliff Hill were the first choice options. Again, my best memory of him was a phenomenal drop goal from the halfway line at Knowsley Road when Oldham beat the Saints 8-7 in the 70s. I didn't go down too well with the locals, and they bricked our coach on the way home.

Another fans favourite was Norman Hodgkinson, a winger who impressed tremendously in his first season only to lose all confidence the following term, when he couldn't even catch the ball. From hero to zero, it was tragic to see his downfall and he was never heard from again.

Mick McCone at scrum half. A tiny, thin bloke who had the heart of a lion. When scrums were dangerous places to be.

There was some great players at Oldham in the 1970s.

[Bert Street]

19 hours ago, Pigeon Lofter said:

Frank Foster was an absolute legend of the game, fearless, and fully respected by all (players, opponents, fans, referees, journalists). I will always remember when he scored a long-distance field goal from 40 metres out against Great Britain at Watersheddings in the 70s. A mercurial character if ever there was one. Did we win that game, or was it a draw? 

Johnny Blair was another player I admired, probably the best kicker I ever saw in an Oldham shirt (I am too young to have seen Ganley play). Why JB only got occasional games was a mystery to me. I think he played stand-off or fullback, and Martin Murphy and Cliff Hill were the first choice options. Again, my best memory of him was a phenomenal drop goal from the halfway line at Knowsley Road when Oldham beat the Saints 8-7 in the 70s. I didn't go down too well with the locals, and they bricked our coach on the way home.

Another fans favourite was Norman Hodgkinson, a winger who impressed tremendously in his first season only to lose all confidence the following term, when he couldn't even catch the ball. From hero to zero, it was tragic to see his downfall and he was never heard from again.

Mick McCone at scrum half. A tiny, thin bloke who had the heart of a lion. When scrums were dangerous places to be.

There was some great players at Oldham in the 1970s.

That was the first team that really caught my imagination.

Some great players and characters. No one has even mentioned Mike Elliott, Ken Wilson and Kevin Taylor yet.

Agree about McCone. Very quick and rate him the best all round scrum half I have seen for us.

[Pigeon Lofter]

3 minutes ago, Bert Street said:

No one has even mentioned Mike Elliott, Ken Wilson and Kevin Taylor yet.

Mike Elliot was a natural, a true speedster and a very reliable pair of hands, and always made the line-up. He was known as "Flash" back in the day (for his superb acceleration, not for anything else ).  He always looked much older than he actually was. A real gentleman on and off the pitch. A winger who came from Union in the Welsh valleys.

Tug Wilson and Kevin Taylor were in the front row, again seeming  playing every game, year in and year out. Some props came and went (Terry Clawson, Billy McCracken, Barry Kear, Frank Foster etc) but these two were stalwarts in the Oldham pack. Tug had boxed for England, but never threw a punch in anger on the pitch. Kevin, a local plumber, was the hooker when hooking was a dangerous occupation, and was well respected by everyone. Both local heroes.

You are right to have mentioned these guys Bert, they were very much a part of ORLFC in the 1970s!

Phil Larder was of course another legend. He became Oldham's goal kicker, and then Frank Foster used to kick for touch. This always surprised me, it should have been the other way round. When Phil Larder started kicking the goals, he lined the ball up like a torpedo and toe-poked it towards it's target. Soon after, he adopted the round-the-corner style that had become popularised by David Watkins at Salford. Pretty soon, everyone's copying Watkins and the old style went out of the window. Phil taught PE at a local school, I remember one time he refereed my school in a soccer match, he was a man of the people. He went on to coach England RU and was significantly involved in their World Cup win in 2003 in Australia.

[tandle]

oldhams best ever scrum hallf the great frank pitchford kept out of the great britain team by alex murphy.

but when we played st. helens he alwavs outplayed murphy.

[Pigeon Lofter]

Oh, and Bob Irving in the second row. A regular in the Great Britain pack. 

We had some good 'uns back then. Even the coach, Jim Challinor, had coached Great Britain.