MORE than six and a half thousand people watched the Oldham v Bradford Bulls game on OuRLeague last Sunday to keep us in third place for viewing figures for a Betfred Championship game.
The exact figure was 6,534 — an increase of 440 on the figure for the previous third-highest, which was 6,088 for the Whitehaven-Oldham game on Sunday night, February 16.
We can now boast the third and fourth highest viewing Championship figures, so many thanks to all concerned for that.
As has been reported many times, the club benefits directly from the work it does in building up interest in rugby league generally — judged on attendance figures, OuRLeague membership and viewing figures etc — and we repeat our request to local people with internet access, whether regular visitors to Bower Fold or not, to please sign up for the FREE OuRLeague service and, in doing so, to include the information that OLDHAM is your favourite club and the one you support.
Our home game against York City Knights on Sunday, March 29 (3pm kick-off) will also be streamed by OuRLeague so if you can’t be with us at Bower Fold that day — and that’s the better option, obviously — what better time than now to sign up for OuRLeague in good time for that very important home game.
With that in mind, and armed with the knowledge that some of our supporters might require assistance, two members of our management team — Jenny Travis and Ben Whisker — will be available tomorrow (Sunday), at the home game against Dewsbury Rams, to help anyone with a smartphone, tablet etc to sign up for OuRLeague, to get started and to answer any queries some of you might have.
Jenny and Ben will be stationed near the small facility we use as a game-day shop inside the ground and close to the turnstiles at the town end from 2pm to 2.45pm and they will be more than happy to help anyone who requires assistance.
There’s a lot more to OuRLeague, of course, than just watching Roughyeds. Lots of other games are streamed live too and the app, run by the RFL for all followers of the game, is growing all the time and constantly increasing its content of interviews, news items, features etc.
The RFL is working hard on producing a medium to be loved by ALL rugby league people and if we, as a club, can help and play our part in that we will more than happy to get stuck in.
In terms of growing our club and making advancements, however, there is nothing more important than increasing the size of our attendances which, for the two home league games so far, have been 1,726 for the visit of Widnes Vikings — our best home league gate for many years — and 1,189 when Bradford Bulls were at Bower Fold last Sunday.
In both instances, especially at the Widnes game, there was a sizeable following from the opposition and while we are always delighted to welcome as many fans as possible wearing opposition colours, the best and real answer for Roughyeds, as chairman Chris Hamilton pointed out on Friday in his regular interview on Oldham Community Radio, is to build up local support and to get the people of Oldham with an interest in Oldham RLFC and in rugby league generally to turn up at Bower Fold and back the boys on match days.
We are trying hard to maximise the game-day experience for all our fans in a highly-competitive division which produces high-quality rugby league in a neat, compact and tidy little stadium which is ideal for our needs and which is fan-friendly in all weathers with covered spectator accommodation on all four sides.
We are finding it tough on the pitch, but we always knew that would be the case in a higher division. We have won the right to be there, we want to be there and the lads need all the support and backing they can get as they strive to stay in the division this year and thus give the club the opportunity to consolidate, build and grow from there.
We hope to see you tomorrow, giving Roughyeds all the support you can muster!
