Club information | |
---|---|
Full name | Oldham Rugby League Football Club |
Nickname(s) | Roughyeds |
Short name | Oldham |
Website | roughyeds.co.uk |
Colours | |
Founded | 1876 (as Oldham FC) |
Departed | 1997 (as Oldham Bears) |
Readmitted | 1998 (as Oldham RLFC (1997)) |
details | |
Ground(s) |
|
Coach(s) | Scott Naylor |
Manager(s) | Christopher Hamilton |
Captain(s) | Gareth Owen |
Competition | Kingstone Press Championship |
2016 RFL Championship | 10th |
Records | |
Premierships | 4 (1904–05, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1956–57) |
Minor premiership | 2 (1987–88, 1989–90) |
Challenge Cups | 3 (1898–99, 1924–25, 1926–27) |
Lancashire Cup | 9 (1906–07, 1909–10, 1912–13, 1918–19, 1923–24, 1932–33, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58) |
Lancashire League | 7 (1897–98, 1900–01, 1907–08, 1909–10, 1921–22, 1956–57, 1957–58) |
Second Division | 3 (1963–64, 1981–82, 1987–88) |
Most capped | 627 - Joe Ferguson |
Most points | 2,761 - Bernard Ganley |
Oldham R.L.F.C. (often referred to as Oldham Roughyeds) is a semi professional rugby league club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club currently competes in the Championship, the second tier of British Rugby League.
Formed in 1876 as Oldham Football Club, Oldham are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895.
The club became known as Oldham Bears from the 1996 season until financial difficulties led to liquidation in 1997. A new club formed as Oldham RLFC in time for the 1998 season, maintaining the former club's traditional nickname of The Roughyeds. Roughyed is a nickname for a person from Oldham, derived from the rough felt used in the hatting industry which once employed many people.
Oldham played from 1889 to 1997 at Watersheddings in the north east of the town. Oldham's modern-day home ground is at Whitebank Stadium in Limeside. Following promotion to the Championship in 2015, Whitebank's failure to meet stadium minimum standards meant that Oldham played 2016-season home games at Bower Fold in Stalybridge and will continue to do so in 2017.
Oldham have won the Championship four times and the Challenge Cup three times.
The team's traditional strip consists of red and white hooped jerseys, navy blue shorts and red socks.
Local rivals include Huddersfield Giants, Rochdale Hornets, Salford Red Devils, Halifax, Bradford Bulls and Swinton Lions.