Ray Hatton dies in Australia, aged 93

The death in Perth, West Australia, of former club chairman Ray Hatton, at the age of 93, will come as a shock to the many people in Oldham who remember him as the man who was in charge at the time of the great scratchcard boom when the club became famous for its money-making venture and signed the likes of Terry Flanagan, Ray Ashton, Andy Goodway and Mick Worrall on the back of it.

They were among the best kids around and they went from unknown boys to fully-fledged internationals and Great Britain tourists in next to no time — all down to the money raised on the famous scratchcards.

They were the days of town-centre booths, of long lines of people hoping to win a fortune, of cash swelling the Watersheddings coffers — and of Ray Hatton, the boy from Limeside, who became the man of the moment as chairman of Oldham RLFC with a rags-to-riches story to tell in the bargain.

"He was a great guy — a revolutionary. A man who knew where he wanted to take the club, and what he needed to do to take it there.." said John Chadwick, who worked alongside him at the club, went with him to Hull to sign Brian Lockwood and Clive Sullivan, and who affirms what we all say: Rest In Peace, Raymond, you ran the race, won the race, and Oldham RLFC was all the better for your input.

My personal memories of Ray Hatton are numerous. He was a prominent member of the infamous ginger group that swept all before it at the annual members' election of 1970 after Oldham had finished 29th out of 30 clubs in a single-division set-up called the Northern Rugby League in 1969-70. Only Blackpool Borough finished lower than Oldham, the club's worst position since the formation of the Northern Union in 1895.

Huyton were above us, Oldham losing 28 of their 34 games. Members were shocked and saddened. They demanded change and got it with nine knew committee men, a new chairman in Arthur Walker, a new coach in Graham Starkey, a new pools organiser — and lots of new ideas.

Progress was steady, with the Roughyeds climbing from 29th to 16th, to 13th, to 9th in Starkey's first three years, but it wasn't fast enough bearing in mind the promises made by the new men and in early 1972, the Oldham Evening Chronicle headlined my story: "A trip to the moon that ended at Mumps."

What I didn't know, of course, was that the great Frank Foster was on his way from Barrow and with Foster organising the forwards and that magnificent ball handler Cliff Hill looking after the backs, with Starkey in overall control, Oldham had a great run and found themselves in the First Division when the 30 clubs were split into two in 1973/74.

From memory, Ray Hatton was Arthur Walker's vice-chairman in those early days of the ginger group. It was certainly Ray who took me on one side after my "trip to the moon that ended at Mumps" story, admonished me, and pointed out that if I wanted the club to do right by me, then I had to do right by the club.

He was right, of course. He never once mentioned that hiccup again and we became firm friends, especially so when he was club chairman from 1977 to 1983.

Under Ray's leadership, Starkey returned to the club for a second spell as team manager, the lottery went through the roof, Brian Gartland and Derek Foy came in to oversee a youth policy and the famous colts were formed in season 79-80. In his book, ' Roughyeds - The Story', Brian Walker wrote: "For years boys with potential had been going out of town to play the pro game, but now the traffic was coming in the opposite direction."

Havn't we heard that before somewhere? Locally, we got Terry Flanagan, Paddy Kirwan. Pasquale D'Adamo, and Joe Warburton, but from further afield came Ray Ashton, Mike Cowley, Les Cook, Alan Platt, Mick Coombes, John Walls, Steve Littler, Andy Goodway and Mick Worrall.

Another Oldhamer, Des Foy, came in from Widnes, and as the likes of Flanagan, Kirwan, Ashton, Foy, Goodway and Worrall hit the big time, Oldham won the Colts Cup, won the Second Division Championship in 81-82 and in the following year, with Ray as chairman, finished eighth in the First Division — their best year since 1960-61.

Eventually, Ray Hatton left the club, settled in Perth, West Australia, via Portugal, but never forgot his Watersheddings days or the many friends he made in Rugby League.

In 2001, he and his wife, Janet, met up with me in Queensland. I told him my youngest boy David, an Oldham mascot in his youth, was in New Zealand and later the Hattons dropped in on him to talk about the Roughyeds.

That was typical of Ray Hatton — a man we will NEVER forget.

His son Wayne, who also lives in Perth, sent me the following eulogy which will be delivered at Monday's funeral.

Raymond’s Eulogy

Raymond was born in Oldham, Manchester, England on Monday the 28th of September, 1931 the first child to his parents James and Hilda Hatton and later older brother of Alan and Freida who both survive him.

Raymond’s father was a mill worker and, as it was in those days, his mother looked after the children and the home. Raymond grew up on Limeside Estate and was educated at Hollins School. He was very clever academically and at the age of 15, he passed the examinaton to attend Oldham Grammar School, unfortunately, his parents couldn’t afford the costs associated with an extended period of schooling.

During his school years Raymond also showed great promise at football and cricket and captained both teams. Raymond entered an apprenticeship as a sheet metal worker, not only did it give him a trade but his pay helped supplement the family income during those difficult times in post war Britain.

Raymond’s apprenticeship was interrupted by his National Service which was obligatory in those days. During this time he continued playing football and cricket, once again becoming captain of both teams. Returning home after his service was over, Raymond resumed and completed his apprenticeship.

A Sunday evening at the Savoy Dance Hall, in Oldham was to change Raymond’s life forever, it was there he met Janet; he was very eager to let her know that he was getting a motorbike the following week. The rest as they say is history, Raymond and Janet married at St George’s Church, Mossley in 1956 and would have celebrated their 69th anniversary in January of 2025.

Raymond continued with his job and together with Janet they welcomed their son Stephen followed 2 years later by Judith. Raymond was always looking for ways to make a better life for his family and so they bought a corner store in Blackburn, and Raymond still kept his regular work.

He then had a total change of career and Raymond joined John Bloom’s, Rolls Company as a washing machine salesman, it wasn’t long before he was one of the top salesmen in the country, selling 6 washing machines in one day. Financially this was very beneficial for Raymond and his family. Sometimes Raymond and Janet would be flown down to London to attend awards presentations. During this time Raymond met Ray Potter and in 1962 they decided to set up Heatsways LTD. The company installed central heating into homes, which became extremely successful.

In 1964 with the birth of Wayne, the Hatton family was complete. Raymond was a good husband and father and provided well for his family; he loved them all in his own way, but wasn’t given to great shows of affection, they knew of his love through what he did for them.

The business went from strength to strength; at some time Raymond had completed the forms necessary to apply to immigrate to Australia, believing it to be the land of opportunity for his family; but there was no letup in the success of the Heatsways company which made it impossible for them to leave England.

By this time, Raymond and Ray Potter, had a pretty cushy lifestyle and were very well organized, they had started playing golf and so their ‘business hours’ were carefully worked around when they wanted to play a game and travelling overseas.

In the 1970’s Raymond was invited on to the committee of the Oldham Rugby League Football Club, he had regularly attended the games with his dad when he was a young lad and always looked back on these times with great fondness. The greatest honour was bestowed upon him in 1977 when he became the chairman and brought the club out of the doldrums of financial ruin into and enjoying some long awaited success.

Raymond was very well-known in the town of Oldham. This was a particularly happy time for the Hatton family as everyone enjoyed the involvement with the club.

Raymond continued to expand his knowledge and given the regular trips across the channel he studied French and Spanish attaining both ‘O’ and ‘A’ level certificates in both.

In 1980, wanting to pack up the business and move to Portugal, Raymond kept it going as Wayne joined the company as an apprentice. Sadly his partner Ray died very suddenly on a golf course in Spain.

In 1985 Raymond retired, he and Janet finally moved to Portugal having holidayed there regularly for years. They had built a villa on the Algarve complete with a pool, bbq and bar where they lived very happily and enjoyed a good life for many years and where Raymond kept himself busy. His love of golf never waned, Raymond was a member of the Vilamoura Golf Club and went on to become the captain.

In 1988, Raymond’s sons Stephen and Wayne came to Australia, Raymond and Janet holidayed a couple of times and then applied for residency and immigrated in January of 1997. They settled well and embraced the Australian lifestyle; Raymond especially enjoyed the fact he could play golf regularly in a more conducive climate and joined a couple of clubs and of course made many new friends.

Raymond & Janet purchased their first Perth home in Carramar only to discover that new neighbours a few doors down were actually former neighbours from the UK, Ken, Ena and their daughter Nicky – just goes to show how small the world is.

A highlight for Raymond and Janet was the birth of their two grandchildren Sarah and George. This led to many happy days caravanning, with holidays in Yallingup and Coral Bay.

Raymond and Janet enjoyed many happy years here in Australia until his diagnosis with Alzheimer’s and so Raymond and his family embarked on the journey often referred to as the long goodbye. As the illness progressed, Raymond required specialized care and moved into Leighton Nursing Home in West Perth until his passing on Sunday the 10th of November.
There will only ever be one Raymond.

Ernest Hemingway said, “Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” Today we can say quite unreservedly that Raymond Hatton is a man who proved that greatness is not reserved for those who achieve importance or celebrity; for in his unique way, he was, and still is to all he knew, a great man.

You lived your life to the fullest Raymond, you will be greatly missed, may you rest in peace.