IT’S the best part of 50 years since full-back Martin Murphy, right-wing Mike Elliott and right-centre Phil Larder were strutting their stuff across Watersheddings, but they were re-united at the Vestacare Stadium on Sunday to talk about games gone by, tries scored, opponents remembered and, in Larder’s case, to receive his Heritage Certificate.
Back in the 60s and 70s, they were fixtures in the Oldham team at 1, 2,and 3, amassing more than 1, 200 games between them with Murphy’s share a post-war club record 462 games, but only 16 more than Welshman Elliot. Born and bred in Oldham, Larder played in 328 games for his home-town club before becoming a top coach. Leading Great Britain to a World Cup Final, he later switched to Rugby Union and was defence coach of England when they won the World Cup in Sydney in 2003, also working for the British and Irish Lions.
He was awarded the MBE for his key role in Clive Woodward’s coaching team in 2003.
Other former players at the North Wales Crusaders game, some of whom received Heritage Certificates at half time, included Stuart Bottom, Jason Clegg, Sean Tyrer, David Gibbons, Eddie Barton, Mick McCone, Steve Whitmore, Tommy Leyland jnr., Fred Hall, Martin Hall, Mike Ford, Dave Walker, Ray Hicks and Joe Warburton
Said former scrum-half McCone, who scored 27 tries in 118 games in the 1970s:
“They were fabulous days. I’ll never forget my time at Oldham. I still have lots of Oldham Chronicle cuttings in the drawer and now I’ve got my Heritage Certificate. Wonderful!”
The Hall family was there in force as were the Bowden girls to receive their grandad Billy Moore’s Certificate.
Sean Tyrer’s son Kieran (20) played for Roughyeds at scrum-half, on dual-reg from Wigan Warriors, as did Harvey Wilson, grandson of the legendary Ken Wilson, in the forwards.
The son of David Gibbons, also called David, played stand-off for Crusaders.
