MIKE Ford has confirmed that he will drop the curtain on his coaching career when Oldham’s 2023 season comes to an end.
Irrespective of how and where Oldham end up, with three regular-season games and then the play-offs to come, Ford told members of the Oldham Players’ Association last night:
“I will NOT be in the running for the job beyond the end of this season,” writes ROGER HALSTEAD.
As interim boss, following the board decision last week to “relieve Stuart Littler of his services”, 57-year-old Ford will manage, coach and pick the team for the remainder of this season, having served the club years ago as player, captain, coach and player-coach.
For the last 20 years or so he has coached and managed at the highest level in Rugby Union, but as a former scrum-half in League with Wigan, Leigh, Oldham, Castleford and Great Britain, he has never lost his love for League, for his roots and, especially, for the Oldham club.
Now back in this area, and living in Diggle, he’s on the board, works as full-time managing director of Oldham RLFC and sees his future in that role rather than in coaching.
When announcing the big change last week, the club immediately said that Mike was an interim boss and that the search for a new head coach, to take over from the start of next season, would start right way.
Lots of fans, though, believed Oldham-born Ford would be in the running for the job — a possibility he has now — firmly rejected publicly.
Indeed, with fellow directors Bill Quinn (chairman), Jim Minton, Haydn Walker and Simon Winnard — and, one imagines, club vice-president John Chadwick, Bill Quinn’s close friend and a former chairman of Oldham Rugby — Ford will be part of the selection process, which is ongoing.
Talking of his first game in charge of the squad — the 56-4 win at Cornwall — Ford said:
“The players did themselves proud. Players generally are pretty resilient. I was particularly pleased at the way we defended to restrict Cornwall to one try.
“Defence is always a good marker. In defence, you have to work hard and look out for your mate. If your defence is good you are more than half-way there.”
He added:
“We feel we have a good chance of promotion. To a man, the players responded really well. There’s more to Cornwall away than meets the eye. It’s a long way down there; we had an overnight stay at a uni, different bed; we had different food to what the lads get at home; early kick-off too.
“Throw in changes behind the scenes at our club and the players must have found this a very different experience, but they did great to put on one of their best all-round performances for a while.”
Oldham scored 11 tries in total, four by outstanding young centre Connor Carr, who is on long-term loan from Huddersfield Giants, and others by winger Joe Hartley, second-row man Callum Cameron, centre Kian Morgan, second-rower George Hirst, winger Nick Rawsthorne, replacement hooker Sean Slater and on-loan half-back Kieran Tyrer.
Oldham lined up like this: McNally; Rawsthorne, Carr, Morgan, Hartley; Ridyard, Tyrer; Meadows, Wilkinson, Johnson, Hirst, Cameron, Whittel. Subs: Slater, Ah Van, Moran, Blagbrough.
It was a great day for Oldham and the fans who travelled down there, including a large party of youngsters from Oldham St Anne’s. Well done to all concerned ! It was great to see you so far from home and to know you were rooting for Roughyeds !
As the catchword says: ‘IT STARTS NOW — YOUR TOWN, YOUR TEAM.’
Mike Ford got another tonic when his middle son George, a talented fly-half for Sale Sharks, was named in England’s 33-man squad for the Rugby Union World Cup in France, to be played in September and October. He’s already a seasoned England international with more than 80 caps.
England’s first game is against Argentina in Marseille on September 9.
