IAN WILSON is a long-term supporter of and reporter on Oldham RLFC. In this article he charts the frustration of backing a club that has never been to Wembley and speculates on what the future holds for the Roughyeds.
ON May 7,1927, Oldham RLFC appeared in their fourth consecutive Challenge Cup final, defeating Swinton 26-7.
The RFL then, very bravely – and, of course, successfully – took the final to Wembley two years later – and founder-member club Oldham have never been to a national cup final since.
They have been close, of course. In fact, there have been eight cup semi-final defeats since that win in 1927, excluding one during emergency arrangements during WWII; as it happens, I have been one of the faithful present for seven of them! I was also a spectator at a defeat in filthy conditions in the second. round in 1957 at Leigh. This was the year when Oldham actually won the Championship and were generally acknowledged as the best side around, and certainly the most attractive, with most experts viewing the already 28-year-old Wembley hoodoo on the club as very likely to be overcome. [As an aside, less than six weeks later, also at Hilton Park, virtually the same side scored 40 points, with eight goals for the incredibly accurate Bernard Ganley, and a hat-trick for great centre Alan Davies].
Semi-final misery
The seven semi-final defeats prior to the latest in the 1895 Cup are a tale in themselves.
The first was in the distant past, 1934, when it seems a controversial referee decision resulted in a narrow win for Widnes.
The last two in the Challenge Cup – in ‘91 and ‘95 – were inevitable at the time, both against the all-conquering Wigan side of the era, and in 1960, a narrow defeat to Hull was not shrouded in controversy either. But the other three are still spoken about with a degree of heartache when Oldhamers of the relevant generations get together.
In 1986, during a yoyo period for the club, Castleford were the opponents as second division Oldham performed miracles to get to the semis – but a Bob Beardmore try that would undoubtedly have been ruled out with modern technology set the Yorkshire side on their way to victory.
And only four years later, another refereeing call that modern technology shows to have been incorrect prevented the flying winger Paul Lord’s touchdown – from a Mike Ford grubber kick, it is interesting to note – bringing the scores level with a kick to come.
Which brings us to the greatest heartache of all! Hull KR were the opponents in 1964, and a 5-5 draw at Headingly took the sides to a Wednesday afternoon replay at Station Rd., Swinton. 14-14 at full-time, then a try in extra time for Oldham’s big Cumbrian forward Geoff Robinson – and then a decision by referee Don Davies to abandon the match because he deemed the light unfit for further play! Inevitably, Oldham lost the second replay on the following Monday at Fartown, Huddersfield!
1895 disappointment
So here we are now, and a cracking performance by Paul Cooke’s Featherstone this time removed the possibility of a 2025 Oldham appearance at Wembley.
There are so many households in Oldham, not to mention those in its ‘diaspora’, who are yet again currently feeling the hoodoo, that one wonders whether there might be any consequence for the future prospects of the Mike Ford/Bill Quinn revival.
Two years a Super League side before loss of its own ground, liquidation, and a generation spent largely grubbing around the lower reaches of the professional game, with few resources, and ever-dwindling crowds, Oldham RLFC has been dramatically revitalised since the Mike Ford- led takeover in May 2023.
The average league crowd of 1,614 during the club’s successful 2024 League One campaign was already significantly raised from the 672 it averaged during the last decade of the old regime, and this season has already averaged over 1,700 in the Championship, as well as over 2,800 being attracted for the 1895 semi-final.
But, of course, these figures are way short of the sort of attendances that would be required to enable the long-term aim of Super League to be sustained. The real question is whether there is any realistic prospect of the so-far impressive upward trajectory being continued and to a high enough level.
The Leigh comparison
There was some feeling around the club that a first-ever Wembley appearance in 2025 might give a dramatic one-off boost to support for the club, from sponsors as well as spectators. Such a boost could move it into, in effect, a higher category when it comes to developing into an elite club once again, whether that be in IMG terms or, more important in the long-run, in the eyes of the rest of the game as well as on the field. Whether or not that would have been the case will now never be known. However, the aim undoubtedly remains the same; it is just that the club will have to tread probably a slower path to try to get there.
Leigh was mentioned earlier, and in some ways is an interesting comparator for Oldham, given the towns are often bracketed together as ‘traditional Rugby League towns’, with strong community and youth rugby, and some successes at top level in their history. And of course, Leigh have now ‘made it’, in terms of on-field performance as well as attendances now not so far away from the five figures that probably denotes what perhaps should be the standard for a genuine Super League club within the European environment.
It is interesting to note that, although like Oldham last season, Leigh moved to a modern new stadium in 2009, that did not in itself give the impetus to greater successes. They remained essentially a Championship-level club, with just two very disappointing one-off Super League seasons, and crowds averaging below 3,000, over the period 2009-2022.
It was only when they re-launched as the Leopards, with much fanfare but also in the face of a fair amount of initial opposition from some of the more traditional supporters, that things really took off. The on-field success is well-known, and attendances in ‘23 and ‘24 were over 7,000 and over 8,000 respectively; so far this season, they are up again.
The blueprint?
Nothing in sport is ever permanent, of course; but, given that, it does seem that Leigh have now traversed the huge gap that separates solid second-tier level clubs from the elite, whatever the longer-term future may hold.
So could this example provide the blueprint for the new Oldham club to follow, or are the circumstances too much individual ones for each to be looked at entirely in its own terms?
One thing that is certainly relevant is a bit of historical perspective. Oldham’s 1956-7 title-winning season saw an average attendance for league games of over 13,000 – but that was another era!
Perhaps more relevant is the period of relative playing success leading up to and during the two years in Super League, pre-liquidation. Oldham’s average league attendance over the 13 elite-Division years out of the 18 between 1981 and liquidation after 1997 was just under 4,200, with a peak of 5,800 in 1988-9, and falling to 3,700 in the two Super League years. So it was some way from five figures even then.
What conclusions can be drawn?
Mike Latham, Leigh’s popular chairman and a man utterly committed to the health of the game as a whole, recognises some similarities between the two clubs – but also some crucial differences, that might act as extra barriers to a successful Oldham resurgence to the same extent as that of his beloved Leigh, much as he would love to see it.
“For one thing, the IMG promotion criteria make Super League harder for a club like the Roughyeds”, he pointed out.
“And with a reviving pro football club in the town, and a lost generation of supporters, as well, Oldham has a few obstacles to overcome that maybe we didn’t.”
There is certainly no doubt about the ambitions of the new Ford-Quinn regime. These are in the realm of development in the town, where there have already been huge positive strides made, especially considering how brief has been the new regime’s period in charge so far, as well as, on the field, to join the game’s elite again, but this time in a manner that gives a realistic chance of it being sustained.
But I would suggest that the comparison with Leigh has some validity.
The vital first steps on the ladder have been by the shift to play long-term at Boundary Park, and early progress on the field and in the stands is encouraging. BUT, in order to attract the numbers required, which has to involve getting to the attention of far more people in Oldham and surrounding areas than just the long-time Roughyeds aficionados, maybe it is a dramatic rebrand that will be needed.
“The addition of ‘1876’ into our club’s title was a first element of a rebrand, to reflect the history of the club more”, said chief executive Mike Ford, “though a longer term rebrand is perhaps for someone cleverer than me!.”
Perhaps a long chat with Derek Beaumont and Mike Latham is the best recipe!