IN case you hadn’t noticed, Oldham are building an impressive roster for the 2024 League One season.
Under new ownership fronted by former player Mike Ford, the Roughyeds have been able to put together a side including ex-Super League players Jordan Turner, Joe Wardle and Elijah Taylor.
Moving forward, Ford has explained that the stars “have aligned” for the club in a number of areas after completing the recruitment for next season.
“We’ve finished our recruitment drive now, we have got 28 players. There is still a bit in the budget should a thunderbolt occur but we are quite happy,” Ford told League Express.
“We meet up Tuesday 7. There are some players that came to us near the end of the season and we kept on four players but the rest are all new. There are 19, 20 players that need to gel pretty quickly.
“I’ve been in the game 40 years, a few stars have aligned for us in terms of Boundary Park and the million pound pitch being put in, the football club being owned by a local businessman and we are too. Bill Quinn, our chairman, has come back into the game after being the chairman here previously. He is more ambitious and wiser with a different way of attacking things.”
The new pull of Oldham has been made evident by the revelation that just one player has turned the club down in the Roughyeds’ recruitment drive.
“That all goes into our vision of what we want and we have just been authentic and honest to the players about what we want to achieve. We think it will be exciting and enjoyable.
“In the last few months, only one person has turned the club down and said ‘I will come but only if you are in the Championship’ but everyone else hasn’t cared, they can see our journey.”
For the short and long-term future, the passion in Ford’s voice is clear: he wants to build Oldham from the grassroots up.
“The short and long-term go hand in hand. Our under 15s and under 16s play against Leigh on Saturday and for the first time in 20 years we will play in Oldham colours.That will be a proud moment when the kids play.
“We understand that we have got to go hand in hand with what goes on on the pitch but we are pretty sensible and respect all the opposition that we will come across.
“We want to be the best we can be on the ground, we want to win every game but it’s about reconnecting to this rugby town which has got a lot of history.
“In three years time we are 150 years old. We have changed our name back to Oldham RLFC 1876 because that’s when we were founded. We want to celebrate our rich history.
“We are not just here to throw money at players or buy a way to Super League. We want to build a club. In ten years time or whenever it is when we leave, we want to leave a legacy and for me that legacy would be a very competitive getting Oldham to where it should be in the history of rugby league which is in the top division.
“The kids and the pathway from 11s to the first-team, we have got kids wanting to play for Oldham. We are not going to keep everyone but I want that.
“We have got a great chance to develop a training facility so the club has something it can call home and we can base out of there. We have very exciting plans.”
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