Nearly 6,100 fans watched our crucial 16-14 win at Whitehaven on Sunday night — the third highest ever.
Delighted members of the Roughyeds’ management team were told this week that the exact figure was 6,088, a hugely-encouraging figure for Oldham, for Whitehaven, for the RFL and for the game as a whole.
The hope from Roughyeds’ point of view is that many of those who watched Matt Diskin’s boys win at Whitehaven for the second time in their last three visits will turn up at Bower Fold to watch our next Betfred Championship game against Bradford Bulls on Sunday, March 1 (3pm kick-off).
The win, in which Dan Abram starred with four goals and a penalty try, lifted Oldham to ninth place above Bradford Bulls, Dewsbury Rams, Whitehaven, York City Knights and Sheffield Eagles but that was to change 48 hours later when Dewsbury won 18-16 at Halifax to go above Roughyeds on for-and-against difference.
Nevertheless, Oldham remain above Bradford who, like Roughyeds, are involved in Coral Challenge Cup action this weekend and will therefore come to Bower Fold on March 1 still seeking their first league win of the campaign.
Roughyeds, meanwhile, are encouraged by their increasing social media activity across all their platforms.
The club’s Twitter followers have gone up from 8,048 in January to 8,239 currently — up 191 in the space of a few weeks.
They have 2,722 followers on Facebook and 976 on Instagram, but the biggest success stories are on Twitter and OuRLeague in which they are placed 12th out of 25 Championship and League 1 clubs in the table of OuRLeague membership figures, which stands at 2,275.
Whitehaven are one place above Roughyeds with 2,355 and Dewsbury one rung beneath them with 2,193.
In the days leading up to the Whitehaven game 115 signed up as Oldham followers on OuRLeague and 98 joined on the night.
Conscious that a lot of the club’s older fans might appreciate assistance in signing up, Roughyeds will have a special stand at the home game against Dewsbury Rams on March 8 at which management committee members Jenny Travis and Ben Whisker will be available to help if anyone wishes to sign up on their smartphones.
They will be in the room which is used as a game-day shop and is situated in the area close to the turnstiles inside the ground.
