OLDHAM’S clash with North Wales Crusaders at the Vestacare Stadium this Sunday (July 9) takes on added significance given that we dropped to fourth in the table last week when our game was postponed and Hunslet climbed above us courtesy of their 28-8 win against Doncaster.
In short, its a “must win” game for Roughyeds — and players from yesteryear such as Fred Hall, his elder son Martin and Mick McCone will be there to receive their Heritage Certificates along with members of that well-known Watersheddings family, the Bowdens, receiving on behalf of their grandad, Welsh forward Billy Moores.
It will be a nostalgic occasion for Fred Hall, who made nearly 200 appearances for the club in the 1970s before he was involved in a road accident and suffered serious injuries which confine him to a wheel chair. It will be his birthday on Sunday too. He will be accompanied, with many others, by his elder son Martin, who played for Oldham ten times in the late 80s as a very young hooker before going on to enjoy an illustrious playing career with Rochdale, Wigan and Great Britain.
Mick McCone, a clever scrum-half, came from Doncaster and scored 27 tries in 118 games, also in the 70s.
Although last Sunday’s home game against Workington wasn’t played, members of the old guard were at the ground early, among them former director Melvyn Lord, whose firm, Reddish Demolition, was to have sponsored the match and former players Richard Russell, Jason Clegg and Paul Topping plus regular Old Boys like Joe Warburton, Ray Hicks, Mike Elliott and David Walker in their capacities as members of the Players’ Association.
Former assistant coach Iain MacCorquodale was there, as was Ollie Russell, young half-back star at Huddersfield Giants and the son of Richard Russell, whose Heritage Certificate from Oldham will now be presented at a later date.
The only action on the pitch was an under-11s game between Waterhead and Blackpool Scorpions. It should have been played ahead of the Oldham-Workington match but the postponement of that game meant it was billed as the curtain-raiser that wasn’t.
Former chairman John Chadwick, now vice-president, told the gathering:
“The new directors are trying like mad to get the club back to where it should be.”
