Roughyeds gear up for crunch play-off tie

Image courtesy of ORLFC

Oldham's win-or-bust, sudden-death play-off thriller against Halifax Panthers will take place this Friday, September 19, under the Boundary Park floodlights (kick-off 8pm).

Mike Ford's revival club, currently rugby league's big spenders, have put in a formal bid to join Super League  after waltzing  away with the third tier League One title in 2024 and finishing fourth, thus earning Friday's floodlit spectacular at Boundary Park, in the second-tier Betfred Championship in 2025.

Halifax, coached by Oldham lad Kyle Eastmond, pipped Featherstone for fifth place after winning at Doncaster, but play-off success against Panthers, whom they beat home and away in the league, would clearly help Oldham's Super League bid.

"They don't come any bigger than Friday night at Boundary Park," said Ford, who played and coached at Oldham years ago before going into Rugby Union; hitting the top as a coach at club level and internationally before returning to Oldham as managing director and linking up with wealthy chairman Bill Quinn, whose financial input has put Oldham back on the Rugby League map.

Added Quinn: "We have a compelling case for inclusion in a new 14-club Super League in 2026.

"What we have achieved on and off the field since we took over in 2023 is remarkable and I would like to thank Mike Ford and others at the club for putting together such a brilliant application." 

Ford has revealed that one of his biggest motivations was to reconnect with the town again and that the RFL's Pathway programme for youngsters, which targets boys and girls, has gone from strength to strength since the club invested heavily in upgrading facilities at Melrose playing fields in Chadderton, now heavily sponsored and re-named the Netpar Training Centre for use by the club and by the local community.

Further developments are expected soon at Netpar  which is unrecognisable from its Hollinwood ARLFC days.

"We have gone big not merely on results but on building the club again and re-igniting the passion for Oldham RLFC," said Ford, who, in a rich breeding ground like Oldham and its districts, would like nothing better than to see the area's young folk interested in the club again.

Top players like Kevin Sinfield, Paul and Danny Sculthorpe, Iestyn Harris, Barrie McDermott, Des Foy, Terry Flanagan and Ford himself all cut their rugby teeth in Oldham, as did Marc Sneyd more recently, and Ford would love to see local talent playing for Oldham again.

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