MAIN SPONSORS A ELLEN 'ACCIDENT^^ ASSISTANCE I! GMR ^ ROADSHOW Seeinside for jdetails 3 Northern Ford RFL Premiership . CHARITYCRlCKEr MATCH.V mOLDHAMATHLEm h\ ^See inside for fS^'- m 1 w 'M /. Northern Ford RFt'Premiership”’ .V VBrantley 7t- At Spotland, Rochdale ft u Friday 13th August 1999 ILO. 7.45pm /! AssociateMatch Sponsor PRESTIGE BEDROOMS A S M A I N S P O N S O R S O F T H E U K ’ S //T H E R O U G H Y E D S // W E A R E O F F E R I N G SUPPORTERS... PREMIER ACCIDENT f FREE 4 ASSISTANCE MEMBERSHIP TO COMPANY ELLEN ACCIDENT ASSISTANCE. TO CLAIM YOUR membership call ELLEN 0161 345 5544 rACCIDENT! ASSISTANCE CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON Chairman’s Chatter THERE’S a d i s t i n c t l y Oldham Rugby League negative f e e l i n g t o Football Club (1997) Limited everything associated with 64 Union Street, Oldham OLl IDJ the club at the present Telephone: 0161 628 3677 time. The feeiing of Fax: 0161 627 5700 disappointment at how the Club Shop: 0161 627 2141 s e a s o n h a s g o n e h a s transformed itself into one Chairman C h r i s t o p h e r H a m i l t o n of total despair which goes far beyond that. Let me Vice Chairman Melvyn Lord make one thing clear -we are all suffering because Directors Stewart Hardacre things haven’t gone our Sean Whitehead w a y b u t t h e r e i s n o w a y that events this year will Media &Marketing Manager (Hon) Brian Walker detract from what we are trying to achieve and that Ciub Secretary Louise Wilson is asuccessful Oldham Rugby League team. That L o t t e r y M a n a g e r m e a n s s u c c e s s O N t h e fi e l d a s w e l l a s o f f i t . Scott Claber Although it is not always noticeable to you the Head Coach supporters, alot of work goes on seven days aweek by the M i c k C o a t e s staff at the club, and it is hard for them to keep motivated Ailiance Coaches when all they see and hear is negative statements about the John Blair club. At the risk of repeating myself we also have to keep in Tony Ogden perspective exactly where we are in our development AS A Physiotherapist BRAND NEW CLUB. We have done LESS than two years and Johnathan Thomas although we have struggled this year, for avariety of T r a i n e r - C o n d i t i o n e r reasons, it is not all doom and gloom. Tonight we welcome To n y O g d e n Bramley who have had agood season so far with only one or Head Kitman two hiccups such as last weeks defeat at bottom club Neil Haughton Doncaster and it will be agame which both sides will be Timekeeper looking to win. John Barrett Today will have seen further debate on the APC strategy Club Doctor document and hopefully we will soon be in aposition to D r P h i l K e r s h a w make decisions about the medium term future of the game Club Dentist at Premiership level. This is acrucial time for the game Neil Gibbison below Super League and we must not fail to seize the Statistics opportunity to rectify some of the inherent problems that John Blair years of apathy have brought. Programme Editor Keep the faith. Geoff Cooke C h r i s H a m i l t o n Club Honours AJLaw Cup Winners 1998 Tr a n s P e n n i n e C u p The views expressed in this matchday magazine do not necessarily F i n a l i s t s 1 9 9 8 REFLECT THOSE OF THE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF OF OLDHAM RLFC (1997) LTD. Country Oven (mic) Ltd. Wholesale Bakers Beech House, Wrigley Street, Oldham, Lancs OL4 IHW Tel. 0161 652 2376 !Fax. 0161 633 2691 Bakers of Morning Goods, Speciality &Flavoured Breads o OLDHAM EVENING CHRONICLE'S Roger Halstead SLOWLY but surely the decision-makers for the future of the game outside Super League appear to be heading back towards winter rugby. First we had the idea of ARC chairman Bob McDermott to start next season on Boxing Day with three chief objectives -to aiiow ciubs to play traditional Christmas and New Year fixtures, to test the popularity of winter rugby in January and February without going all the way and to create a season in which Northern Ford Premiership clubs had at least two months without Super League competition. While clubs were getting their heads around that little lot, it emerged that RFL chief Neil Tunnicliffe was preparing astrategy document with proposals on several issues designed to safeguard the future of Premiership clubs over the next few years. This official 16-page document appears to have replaced McDermott’s suggestions ...and, lo and behold, it calls for next season to start on D e c e m b e r 1 . My view -and Ihave expressed it before in this programme -is that if we are going to tinker about once more with the timing of our season we MUST take advantage of the three best months for rugby in the UK calendar, namely September, October and November. Ican sympathise with those who will inevitably argue that it is inviting trouble to start anew season on December 1, just as the worst of the winter i s a b o u t t o h i t u s . Iwonder, however, if this is aclever move which could be the forerunner*;# of agradual return to afull winter season over the course of the next few years. Given anything like ahint of encouragement by attendances in J December, I’m sure the winter-rugby lobby would push to start on November 1in 2000, October 1in 2001 and September 1in 2002, by which time we would be back where we said farewell to the traditional winter season in 1995. Oldham chairman Christopher Flamilton, incidentally, also had amajc input on Tunnicliffe’s strategy document, which was due to be discussed b APC clubs in Dewsbury today. Tunnicliffe also wants to abolish the top-five play-off system in thf Premiership and replace it with aconventional and truly English-style top-eight play-off to be decided by astraight knock-out format. That makes sense, too, because as we know only too well from the experience of the Roughyeds, this season for far too many teams in the Premiership was effectively over little more than half way through the programme. Tunnicliffe was also proposing afixture formula which would require all clubs to play each other home and away, giving a34-match league programme. For the first eight weeks of the season the clubs would be split into tv, geographical groups of nine, based on asplit between Yorkshire as one groi and Lancashire and Cumbria as the other. The clubs will play other clubs in their region and t lub from either side of the Pennines would pla ms Pennine Cup final some time in late January In Luxury Also proposed is aNFP knock-out tournar K' Coach Travel and plans to limit clubs to part-time profess! apart from one overseas player, whom clubs be allowed to put on afull-time contract. The Travel Centre, Apart from that, NFP players would be lin Cobden Street, amaximum winning bonus of £175 amatch, Chadderton, 'to £100 in the 2001 season as the clubs ii k\ Oldham OL9 9LE y j |\ Tel:0161 633 3870 from News Corporation begins to run out. Fax: 0161 345 9347 A M It all makes sense ... but I’ll bet it was 3eting in Dewsbury today! o Amega Lansaowne L a b e l s L t d hoofing Manufacturers of Computer Barcodes and High Quality Self Adhesive Labels SuDDlies Ltd. Secondhand tiles and slates bought and sold Demolition work undertaken Unit El Brookside Business Park All materials can be picked up Greengate and delivered Middleton M a n c h e s t e r M 2 4 I G S Lansdowne Road, Chadderton, Oldham 0L9 9EF Tel 0161 626 0896 and 627 4231 Tel 0161 655 4041/3783 Night 0161 633 4252 F a x 0 1 6 1 6 5 5 4 0 4 3 Proprietor: Sean Whitehead REDDISH DEMOLITION LIMITED ALBION HOUSE W E ’ R E A L L S E T . UNDER LANE, CHADDERTON OLDHAM -to provide afirst class building Tel 0161 682 6660 contracting business - F a x 0 1 6 1 6 8 2 5 2 5 2 there’s ‘mortar’ us than meets the eye... All types of demolition work undertaken Geany Developments Ltd Demolition, Dismantling and Asbestos General Building Contractors Removal Specialists New Willow Mill P R O U D S P O N S O R S A N D Bell Street, Oldham OL1 3PY S U P P O R T E R S O F Tel: 0161-665 1199 !Fax: 0161-627 1409 O L D H A M R L F C ( 1 9 9 7 ) o LEVER’S Oldham Joinery Nanufacturers FISH Ff CHIP Windows, Doors, Porches, RESTAURANT Conservatories, Made-to-measure Softwood, Hardwood, uPVC Supply only or supply and fit Best Wishes For prompt &personal attention TO Joinery: 0161 627 4237 O l d h a m R L F C uPVC: 0161 624 4447 Evenings: 0161 652 0602 U n i t s 2 & 3 !Market Hall Oldham BRITANNIA MILL WILLOW STREET ! OLDHAM Mon-Sat 11.00 -5.30 Trade Welcome 0161 633 0074 DRONSFIELDS DELPH NEW ROAD, DELPH, OLDHAM OL3 5DE TELEPHONE: 01457-871717 FAX: 01457-871940 New &Used Mercedes Vehicles &Spares O M I C K C O A T E S Game On WELCOME to Fordy and his Bramley team! Well, one of the goals at the start of the season was to finish higher up the division than the teams that would have made up the 2nd division.