IT is with deep sadness and sincere condolences to his wife Sue and his large extended family that we confirm the death of former Waterhead ARLFC chairman Kevin Hobson at the age of 75.
Although he had recently returned to his home in Wilkes Street, Moorside after a long hospital stay in Manchester, his passing in the Royal Oldham Hospital shocked the local rugby league community and especially all his many friends at the Waterhead club.
Kevin devoted much of his life to the Waterhead club where he had connections for about 40 years, including a long spell as chairman, which spanned more than a decade.
Roger Halstead, now media manager at Oldham RLFC, was the rugby league writer for the much-loved and long-gone Oldham Evening Chronicle throughout the years Kevin was the Waterhead chairman.
Said Roger:
“Back then, things were very different on the local rugby league scene, not only in the life and times of the Oldham-area amateur clubs, many of which are no longer, but in the presence of a local evening paper which always tried to give the amateurs the coverage they deserved on a regular basis.
“In local media terms, Kevin was known as ‘Mr Waterhead’. He was devoted to the club and to rugby league, but especially to everything that happened ‘on the park’ behind Watersheddings.
“During his chairmanship, lots of local lads received a grounding in the sport which not only enabled them to reach the upper echelons as players but which taught them core values for which rugby league is renowned, such as teamwork, hard work, sportsmanship. loyalty, courage and comradeship.
“Kevin, whose personal handicap was never, ever seen as that, displayed all those qualities in abundance. I was privileged to know him, first in a professional capacity but in more recent times as a friend and fellow rugby league fan.”
Phil Bradbury, secretary of the Oldham Amateur Rugby League, added:
“Kevin used to be a steward at the Waterhead club before he took over as chairman at a time when the club was really struggling and needed a leader with the right qualities.
“Under his command, the club began to move forward and to establish the roots for the strong club it is today.
“A key element of the club’s development was the refurbishing and re-organisation of the clubhouse and Kevin had a lot to do with that before he finished.”
Kevin and his wife Sue have also supported Oldham RLFC, as members of its Club Cash lottery, for many years,
A devoted and much-loved husband, dad, grandad, father-in-law and friend, Kevin is survived by Sue, his wife of 50 years; son Kevin; daughters Suzanne, Claire and Kate and ten grandchildren, comprising of a big family. He was never happier than when he was surrounded by them.
His funeral will be at St Thomas’s Church, Moorside on Friday, September 16 at 1pm; then at Oldham Crematorium at 2.30pm; then back at the Waterhead club, of course!
