IAN WILSON writes about Oldham’s 150th birthday celebration.
I WAS privileged to attend the recent Oldham RLFC 150th anniversary dinner – and what a splendid occasion it was.
Huge thanks are due to Michael Turner and his wife Mary, alongside Kevin Fitzpatrick, of the Oldham RLFC Heritage Trust, who were the prime movers in getting the event organised, though with notable assistance too from Mike and Sue Kivlin and Iain Taylor of the Supporters Trust, Rugby Oldham, Joe Warburton of the Players’ Association and Kasey Smith and Lisa Lord from the club in particular.
There were over 250 people packed into a new venue, the Loom, in Oldham town centre, including what seemed like large numbers of former players as well as lots of other Rugby League aficionados from the traditionally powerhouse Rugby League town. The whole evening focused on the game, and there was an incredibly positive atmosphere around the proceedings.
New Chairman Terry Flanagan – himself a distinguished former player and member of the club’s Hall of Fame, of course – was the first speaker on the evening, and he was extremely upbeat both about Bill Quinn, Mike Ford and their colleagues who had begun its recent revival, and the future, when the new board’s aim was to take a long-term approach in bringing the whole town together in progressing the professional club’s position.
In addition to being a celebration of 150 years of rugby in the town, the event served to induct six further members into the Oldham RLFC’s Hall of Fame. Kevin Fitzpatrick, a well-known broadcaster, and Michael Turner explained the justifications for the inductees’ inclusion, supported by very well-chosen large-screen video footage, and in the case of two of them, Mick Worrall and Neil Roden, on-stage interviews with highly-regarded MC for the evening, Michael ‘Braddy’ Bradshaw.
The others were a third relatively recent player, Des Foy, who appeared in a video clip from his home in Ireland, and who, like Flanagan and Worrall, was a member of Frank Myler’s 1984 GB squad down under; two historic players with both Oldham and Great Britain pedigree, fullback Alf Wood from the classic 1914 ‘Rorke’s Drift’ Test match and Devonian Bob Sloman, a second-row star from the club’s successful era in the 1920s; and finally club administrator Joseph Platt, who was Secretary of the Northern Union, later the RFL, for 25 years from its breakaway in 1895.
Although past Chairman John Chadwick’s brief historical contribution was very well received too, the evening’s emphasis on the people who have mattered most in the club’s up-and-down history since it was a founder member of the RFL, the players, was also stressed in several ways.
There was the viewing of some clips from former favourites from Australia, such as Mal Graham, John Cogger, ‘Bruiser’ Clark and Stuart Raper, as well as quite a few famous tries from several eras.
There were also career-related chats with Braddy on stage talking to past players Adrian Belle, Neil Flanagan and Phil Joy, as well as one looking forward with current coach Alan Kilshaw.
Lots of other ex-players too got call-outs from the floor, including one, Paul Lord, whose most renowned contribution to Oldham’s history, the disallowed Challenge Cup semi-final try from 1990 that famously prevented the club yet again from reaching Wembley, that was undoubtedly the element of the evening’s entertainment that generated the greatest unanimity! It was one of those nights!
*Terry Flanagan will be appearing on this week’s League Express Podcast, which will be online on Wednesday afternoon at 4.45pm.