BP fast becoming a mecca for Rugby League

Boundary Park may be well known as one of football's longest-established and most famous venues, but the combination of Frank Rothwell, his vision to make BP a sporting hub for the whole of Oldham, his love of Rugby League, and the go-ahead nature of Oldham RLFC (1876) Ltd, is rapidly turning the stadium into a mecca for Rugby League.

Bobby Johnstone, Jimmy Frizzell, Bert Lister, Joe Royle and Co might wonder what the hell is going on, but the fact remains that this famous old ground is fast becoming a new home for teams with 13 players and four subs – the Watersheddings of 2025 if you like.

There was once a time when the folk who lived up on the hill, or who crowded into that iconic old stadium on the eastern, or Yorkshire, side of town would have frowned on what's going on now, but more than a quarter of a century after the loss of Watersheddings, the old, traditional thinking that rugby league people came from Watersheddings, Derker, Waterhead, Lees, Saddleworth or all points east of Mumps and that Chadderton folk and those who lived in Failsworth, Hollins, Broadway etc on the west of the town were Mancunians or, at least, football fans is a thing of the past.

City's move from Maine Road to just a few miles down the road hasn't helped, but the RFL's move from Leeds to the Etihad campus, the fantastic development of Melrose, the birth and growth of Limehurst Lions, the establishing of rugby league in Limeside thanks to Oldham RLFC (1997) Ltd has changed the view that the twain should never meet.

Time is a great healer. Most people on the Manny side of town might still follow football, but the fact remains that relationships between Latics and Oldham Rugby have never been better; that there was once a time when the thought of the Rugby having a corner of the Latics shop would have been unthinkable; and that TWO major RFL events would take place at BP in the space of a few weeks would be crazy.

Not long ago, the RFL chose the Joe Royle Stand and BP for it's big women's day. The other day, RL Commercial launched the Championship and League One seasons at the same venue and did the draw for the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup. Wasn't it great to see Tony Sutton and other RFL 'top brass' in the Broadway Suite ?

I also understand there are unconfirmed reports that the RFL, impressed by the facilities at BP and its geographical situation near the Lancashire-Yorkshire border and just off the M62, with the M627 running to within a few hundred yards of the stadium, inquired about the stadium's availability for one of last year's Challenge Cup semi-finals.

Throw in the fact that the Standard Cup is also back at BP; that Paul Green, head coach at St Anne's, lives only a good goalkick's distance from BP, as do keen fans and voluntary workers John and Lynda McAndrew, and the evidence that the town is no longer divided down the middle is overwhelming.

As for Melrose, the jewel of the club's crown is deep in the heart of Chaddy, the very area that strict rugby league fans used to consider to be "out of bounds" but now regard it as an area rich for plucking. "You've only to go on the tram from Oldham to Manchester to get a view of the brilliant job that's being done there," said former prop Ray Hicks at the last Players Assn' meeting which was attended by Mike Ford and the man who has recently been taken on by the club as its new Foundation CEO, Chris Chamberlain.

Talking of the Players' Assn, the affinity between the "old boys" and the parent club has never been closer. It helps that Fordy is a genuine "old boy" himself; and that Ray Hicks is particularly well versed in this type of thing, but for me the man who does most to foster camaraderie between them is Joe Warburton, another man with a foot in both camps.

Joe doubles up as Players Assn secretary and the man in charge of the club's Pathway programme. As such, he has major responsibility for young and old alike and he hopes to be allocated one of the four portacabin offices now in place at Melrose where the club has spent the best part of one million pounds to convert the former home of Hollinwood ARLFC into a community hub and for training by the club, complete with new floodlights, revamped dressing rooms, a fenced-off main pitch, a secondary pitch and the removal of tons of Knotweed.

Said Mike Ford:

"We are now talking with Oldham Council about acquiring a piece of adjacent land. No stone will be left unturned as we work hard for the young people of the town."

Joe points out too that Players Assn subs are due at £10 for the year.

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Boundary Park, Oldham

16th Feb 2025 | 3.00pm
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