MIKE FORD has taken interim charge of Oldham following the dismissal of head coach Stuart Littler.
Former England and Great Britain star Ford, who had two spells with his hometown Roughyeds as a player, led a consortium that took ownership of the League One club back in March.
Oldham are currently fifth in League One, in the play-off positions, but have lost three of their past four games, against the division’s top three.
Chairman Bill Quinn said the decision to remove Littler, who was recently linked with the head coach role at Championship side Widnes Vikings, was made to give the club the best possible chance of success in the play-offs.
“We’d like to thank Stuart for all his hard work and commitment since joining the club,” he said.
“However, recent results and performances have been disappointing and fallen short of our expectations.
“We strongly believe that our playing group is more than capable of achieving our goal of promotion.
“With the play-offs fast approaching, the board felt that the time was right to take a new direction to give us the best possible chance of achieving that goal.”
Assistant coach Brendan Sheridan will remain in post and support interim boss Ford, who has extensive coaching experience in both codes but especially rugby union.
After coaching Bramley and Oldham at the end of his playing career, he worked in various prominent coaching roles in the 15-a-side code with Saracens, Leeds Carnegie, Newcastle Falcons, Bath, Toulon and Leicester Tigers.
Ford has also worked in international rugby union, heading up the defence of Ireland and England, plus the British and Irish Lions on their 2005 tour of New Zealand.
Departing coach Littler had been at the helm of Oldham since October 2021, having previously been in charge at Swinton Lions. He also coached Ireland on the international stage from 2018 until April last year.
