It seems ages now since we had the Awards Evening. Nevertheless, it would be remiss if I didn’t give the view that it was a terrific event, enjoyed by a capacity attendance at a full-house White Hart, where the hosts looked after us admirably.
It helped considerably that for about the first three hours, until 10pm, the bar was FREE, well FREE to everyone in the body of the hall, so a big THANK-YOU to whoever paid for that.
For me, writes ROGER HALSTEAD, it was the reunion of the 1989-90 boys which made it something special and I have to say what an absolute pleasure it was to spend time with my heroes of yesteryear.
In attendance were a good number of personalities from back then and one of the evening’s highlights was the introduction of those members present of the 89-90 Premiership Final team which came back from 29-6 down to win 30-29 at Old Trafford against Hull KR plus a big-screen re-run of the highlights.
I was privileged to share a table with, among others, Leo Casey, Richard Russell, Gary Hyde, coach Tony Barrow and the incomparable John Watkins (plus some of their wives where appropriate) and on the next table were two more members of THAT side — hooker Andy Ruane, who had travelled all the way from his home in Spain to meet up again with his comrades-in-arms, and workaholic back-row man Keith ‘beefy’ Newton, who scored the vital, match-clinching try in that memorable win at Naughton Park, in his home town, against a Widnes team that, back then, were club champions of the world.
There were many highlights that season and, for me, the best of the lot was that win at Widnes. I vividly recall watching the draw on TV and throwing my pencil down in utter dismay when we were paired with Widnes at Naughton Park! “That’s that then,” said I to my three sons. “We won’t win there.”
Luckily, I wasn’t going to be playing. Tony Barrow, beefy Newton etc thought otherwise and that was one win I won’t forget until my dying day.
By the time we played at Old Trafford on the last day of the season there were a few changes, but two things were constant — the captaincy of Mike Ford from scrum-half and the chairmanship of John Chadwick.
Both were at the White Hart on the night under review — Mike now as managing director, John as vice-president and close friend of, and mentor to our chairman Bill Quinn.
I see and speak to both of them on a regular basis these days so I am sure they will forgive me for not putting them in the same bracket, for purposes of this article, as Leo, Richard, Gary, Beefy, Andy and Tony, all of whom I hadn’t seen for years.
But back to the Awards Night. There was something special too in seeing Dave Walker doing the rounds, taking pictures which he was planning to send to his pal Brett Clark in Australia.
This was a gathering of the clans all right and what a pleasure it was to see so many old faces and to hear chairman Bill Quinn telling the gathering that the club was approaching 150 years old and had a history that would for ever be its anchor. He personally thanked, on behalf of the board, club volunteers and sponsors, not only naming them individually but paying special tribute to two of the club’s longest-serving sponsors, Shirley and Keith Mullaney, skip hirers and waste specialists of Mossley, who were top-table guests.
H Mullaney and Son, perhaps better known as HMS, had an advert in the brochure on the various tables, as did Rugby Oldham, the Oldham Amateur League, the Players’ Association, the YEDS Supporters Group (partners of Oldham RLFC), together with Wino’s and Saddleworth Wine Vault, Swans Travel, Kobe Coffee of Uppermill, Amari Plastics (the club’s main sponsors in 2023 and 2024 and the club’s main sponsor for the evening, RCE, civil engineers, of Widnes.
Nicola Robinson of Amari Plastics, who is becoming quite a fan, was there in person, of course, having driven from her home in St Helens, as large as life, as ever, and eager to lend her support and that of Amari Plastics Manchester, which is based in Middleton Junction and which employs the club’s official photographer David Murgatroyd, another larger-than-life character, who was also present taking pictures.
The main event of the evening, of course, was the presentation of trophies to this season’s individual winners – the Brian Walker award as coach’s player of the year (Martyn Ridyard); the players’ POY (Matty Wilkinson); the Iain Taylor family award as Unsung Hero (Sam Bardsley); the Clubman of the Year (Sam Doyle); and the Supporters’ Player of the Year (Jordan Paga). All were popular choices, especially those to Sam B and Sam D,, the former a player who was said to be an outstanding squad member and the latter a jack-of-all-trades member of the backroom team who wasn’t only happy to do any job that needed doing. But had the ability to do it.
It was worth being there just to see the sheer joy and pride on the faces of the two Sams when they were announced as prize winners.
A suggestion before I sign off — the reunion of the Old Trafford comeback kids was so successful, such a magnificent entrée to the main dish, that I would like to suggest we do it every year for the foreseeable future. Ian Wilson has reminded us, in his excellent dinner-brochure article, that there have been several outstanding seasons in the last 40 years or so, so why not go for a big match in a big season and have a reunion every year to sit alongside that season’s awards?
Oh ! Nearly forgot. I spotted Jimmy Rochford there too. Now I know it was a place for the good and the great.
