Michael Turner, of the Oldham RFLFC Heritage Trust has provided us with the information that the ‘Murphy, Elliott, Larder’ trio were the first names on the Oldham team sheet for more than ten years.
They first appeared as such in a derby clash at Rochdale on September 6, 1968 and were still the first three — for the last time — on April 22, 1979 at Hunslet.
They didn’t appear as 1,2,3 in every game between those dates, obviously, but the fact that they were still together more than a decade after it first began shows the longevity of the partnership.
Reproduced here, courtesy of the Heritage Trust, are the programme cover and team page for the first time they were 1,2,3 and also for the last time.
Said Mike Turner:
“Murphy, Elliott, Larder” were pretty constant, but otherwise it is interesting to see how the Oldham team changed over the decade in question.
“You can also see that Mick Parrish was still playing for Hunslet in 1979.”
Thanks to Mike Turner for this info — yet another indication of the impact Martin, Mike and Phil had on rugby league in this town of ours during the 1970s.
