ROUGHYEDS are delighted to announce that Martyn Ridyard, one of the most experienced players in Betfred League One, will again be with us in 2023, having signed a new deal to the absolute joy of head coach Stu Littler, who played alongside him at Leigh and was his boss at Swinton.
For most of the 2021 campaign they were together at Swinton and when Littler joined Oldham as head coach for 2022 and 2023 it was no surprise when Ridyard followed him and was ultimately invited to be club captain.
He accepted that role, for the first time in his long and illustrious career, and led the team through 2022, guiding it into the end-of-season play-off thanks to a consistent run of five wins from the last seven games in the regular season.
It culminated in a nail-biting finish in which Roughyeds met Hunslet at home in the final game with the result determining which of those two teams would finish sixth and thus earn the right to go to Rochdale for an Elimination Play-Off.
In the event, Roughyeds beat Hunslet 30-18, but then lost at Rochdale 38-24.
Stand-off Ridyard figured in 19 of Oldham’s 22 games in cup and league, scoring one try, 80 goals and a drop goal (165 points) and reaching the milestone of 2,500 career points, for which he received a Special Recognition award at the end-of-season Presentation Night.
At the age of 36 he now looks forward to another season of leadership rugby under the watchful eye of the man who respects his many skills and who knows him inside out — Stuart Littler.
Asked for his thoughts on his fellow Leyther, Littler said:
“I can’t say enough. On second thoughts, what can I say that hasn’t already been said ? Last season he was our captain, leader, standard setter, decision-maker, goalkicker.
“He worked well with Shez and I and he was our voice on the field. He didn’t miss many games or goals. We usually scored in sixes rather than in fours and that’s very significant and very important.
“He’s a winner, but he also shows a lot of humility and he has a natural desire to help others, which is the mark of a great player.
“His concerns are more for others and for the team as a whole rather than for himself. This is a big day for Oldham RLFC — not the first this close season, but one of many more to come.”
