MAIN bPt)NSORb ▲ ELLE \ 'accident 'A ;"#ASSiSTANCE ■% v^' 'J^^r Official Matchday Magazine Northern Ford RFL Premiership 't_ v*3» ,'k" F 1*1< i* NortWern ForoRFL Premiership^ VDoncaster Dragons ^At Spotland, Rochdale iFriday 30th July 1999 K.O. 7A5pm ^AssociateMatch Sponsor ROYAL &SUN ALLIANCE 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 n W E A R E O F F E R I N G SUPPORTERS... PREMIER ACCIDENT r 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 TONIGHT we entertain Oldham Rugby League Doncaster, in what has Football Club (1997) Limited become agame of vital 64 Union Street, Oldham OLl IDJ importance for the Oidham Telephone: 0161 628 3677 club. Our last five games Fax: 0161 627 5700 have been nothing short of Club Shop: 0161 627 2141 disastrous culminating in Sunday’s embarrassing Chairman performance and score C h r i s t o p h e r H a m i l t o n line against Widnes. That Vice Chairman was the lowest point since Meivyn Lord the club was re-formed Directors and it gave me immense Stewart Hardacre displeasure to be at the Sean Whitehead helm of the club on such a Media &Marketing Manager (Mon) humiliating day. Brian Walker There are now two Ciub Secretary ways the players can go. Louise Wilson F i r s t l y t h e y c a n t h r o w i n L o t t e r y M a n a g e r the towel or secondly (and I’m sure this is the option they Scott Claber will take) they can regain the pride and commitment they Head Coach showed earlier in the season when we proved that we M i c k C o a t e s weren’t outclassed in this division. The end of the season Assistant Coach/Aiiiance Coach probably can’t come quickly enough for many of you but Graeme Bradley there is no way that Iwill raise the white flag and the board, Physiotherapists coaching staff and players should all be looking to win every Alison Boyd (1st Team) game between now and the end of the season. Johnathan Thomas (Alliance) By the time you are reading these notes some very T r a i n e r - C o n d i t i o n e r important decisions will have been made about the future of Tony Ogden the game. These will involve News Corporation funding for Kitman the next few years, the structure of the division, and Neil Haughton probably most important of all for you the fans, when the season will start and finish. Timekeeper John Barrett Ihave been heavily involved with the production of the strategy document which will have been presented to the Ciub Doctor D r P h i l K e r s h a w clubs by Neii Tunicliffe and Ifeel that if clubs accept that we are now at awatershed in the game then we have achance Ciub Dentist to make afuture -let’s hope so. Neil GIbbIson Finally, please get behind the team tonight. We are Statistics starting afive game season and Iwant to give you John Blair something to shout about. Programme Editor Thank you for your support. Geoff Cooke Christopher Hamilton Ciub 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 lEFLECT THOSE OF THE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF OF OLDHAM RLFC (1997) LTD. Country Oven (m/c) Ltd. Wholesale Bakers Beech House, Weigley 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 CLUBS in the Northern Ford Premiership, which met this afternoon for what was expected to be aliveiy and provocative debate on key issues affecting next season, are bracing themseives for tough times ahead. Many changes are already taking place in the boardrooms of several clubs -and finance, or a lack of it, is the key issue. The casualties include some of the biggest names in the game, notably two Hull KR directors in Colin Hutton and Phil Lowe. In total, five directors of the Craven Park club have been ousted by the administrators, but it will be the loss of Hutton and Lowe, two men who have devoted years of service and hard work to the Robins, which will be felt most by those of us who have been in and around Rugby League for the past 30 to 40 years. Idon’t know Phil Lowe as well as Iknow Colin Hutton, asincere and true gentleman of Rugby League who, quite by chance, helped to shape the destiny of professional rugby league in Oldham in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As Hull’s full-back in the 1957 championship final at Odsal he missed an all-important penalty which gave Oldham anarrow one-point win -and the championship trophy. Seven years later he was coach of Hull KR when the red, red Robins went bob, bob bobbing along to Wembley courtesy of that controversial cup semi¬ final replay at Station Road when the tie was abandoned for bad light with Oldham ahead in the first period of extra time. Colin and Irecalled that crucial turning point in Oldham’s history only afew weeks ago when the Rovers were here at Spotland. Little did we know then that this elder statesman with alifetime’s experience and know-how would soon be lost to the game. To many of us Colin Hutton WAS Hull KR in much the same way that we probably find it hard to imagine atrip to Widnes without bumping into Frank Myler or big Jim Mills. They were still there, as large as life, when the Roughyeds took something of ahammering at the Autoquest Stadium last Sunday -two great servants of club and game who have seen the good times and the bad times and who, somehow, continue to represent the very foundations of the club to which they have devoted much of their lives. To the new, younger breed of club administrators, whose business, academic and professional skills are essential at aperiod of the game’s evolution when the balance sheet is perhaps more important than the tackle bag, the old-timers are worth their weight in gold as sounding boards on rugby matters. Anyway, that brings me back to where Icame in -balance sheets. York Wasps may be the subject of atakeover bid by aformer chairman o1 Halifax, Ron Dobson, and Keighley Cougars are looking for anew chairman after the resignation of Howard Carter. It's all to do with money. Well, not quite all. Listen I what Dobson has to say about his proposed bid for ; fork. "I would run atight financial ship and Iwould W have my accountants look through everything first. 1^ would want to be hands-on and Iwould want Maurice ^ The Travel Centre, Bamford involved, not as acoach, but as afootball-J Cobden Street, type manager. His experience and knowledge would jl be Invaluable.” . | Maurice Bamford ...another Colin Hutton, “ nother Frank Myler, another Jim Mills. Food for jght, yes? o Amega Lansaowne L a b e l s L t d Roofing Manufacturers of Computer Barcodes and High Quality Self Adhesive Labels SuDolies 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 ^5- REDDISH ‘i o 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 Manufacturers 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 O l d h a m R L F C Joinery: 0161 627 4237 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 0161 633 0074 Trade Welcome 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 Doncaster.