Fans to pay to leave game!

Unique plan to help charities

OLDHAM Roughyeds are to become the first ever club to let fans in for free — but charge them to get out.

The fund-raiser for local charities Link4Pink and Dr Kershaw’s Hospice is to be built around the televised Co-operative Championship One game between the Roughyeds and London Skolars at Boundary Park next Thursday, August 6 (7.30pm kick-off).

The cost for ‘release’ will be a minimum of £1, but there will be plenty of collecting buckets around for additional contributions with all proceeds split between the two charities.

The initiative follows up similar ground breaking schemes in the past two seasons, which saw the visit of Celtic Crusaders attract a record 4,327 fans in 2007, with 2,806 supporters coming through the turnstiles as pink-kitted Oldham welcomed Doncaster last year.

“We hope we don’t get a stampede by half-time!” said a tongue-in-cheek Roughyeds chief executive Chris Hamilton.

“It is no secret that the club is passing through difficult times, both financially and otherwise, but even in the current economic climate Roughyeds are fully committed to supporting these two very worthy local charities.

“This will be the third year in a row that the club has demonstrated its support for worthy causes by linking a televised game to a one-off fund-raiser. Each time, we have tried to come up with something different to highlight the work we are doing and to put the spotlight on the charities.”

Meanwhile, Roughyeds owner Bill Quinn is to appear at a meeting tonight at Chadderton FC (7.30pm). All fans are invited, but a ban on the media has been imposed.

Quinn, who said last week that he wanted “nothing more to do with the club”, now seems ready to stay on.

In addition to reiterating his position that he had “nothing to do with the (four) players leaving” to join Barrow last week, he said in an official statement on the club website: “I also want to confirm for the fans that I told Chris (Hamilton) last week that under no circumstances would I just up and leave the club and that if Chris needed money for the future I would look at that with a view to helping the club out on an ongoing basis.”

Thomas Coyle has been handed a one-match ban and fined £50 by the RFL’s disciplinary committee for a dangerous tackle against Keighley.



FORMER Roughyeds assistant coach Mark Cass is being investigated by the RFL over allegations that he backed his own side to lose against Dewsbury on Sunday.

It is understood that Cass was sacked by Oldham for gross misconduct after an online bookmaker contacted the club over an unusually large bet that was placed on the match.

The case is now to be looked at by the governing body’s compliance commissioner, Blake Solly, and Cass is likely to be handed a lengthy ban if he is found guilty.