OLDHAM RUGBY League Club’s close season thus far has been dominated by the uncertainty surrounding where they will play home games in 2016.
The euphoria created by a magnificent 2015 season, in which red-hot Roughyeds won each of their last 14 games to surge to promotion into the Championship, is still fresh in the memory.
Twenty players are so far contracted to the club for next season or beyond and it’s ‘as you were’ behind the scenes with head coach Scott Naylor and his backroom boys still there, including ace fitness guru Kane Daniels, who has been re-signed on a new one-year agreement.
The squad so far includes four new faces in winger Jamel Chisholm, from York City Knights, stand-off Danny Grimshaw, (Hunslet Hawks), second-row forward Craig Briscoe (Barrow Raiders) and prop Jack Spencer (Halifax).
Spencer, who has previously played for Salford and Barrow as well as clubs in Australia and France, is the son of Naylor’s No 2, Lee ‘Spanner’ Spencer.
Among the players on new deals are club captain Lewis Palfrey, who kicked more goals and scored more points than anybody else in League One last season and was ultimately named the division’s player of the year and joint club players of the year for the second season in a row, Josh Crowley and Danny Langtree.
The fixtures are out and everything is moving along swimmingly, but with one massive worry . . . where will the Championship new boys call home ?
They might be going up in the world, but where to ?
The Whitebank Stadium in Limehurst Village, their home since 2010, doesn’t meet the RFL’s minimum standards for Championship rugby and until such time as it does, Roughyeds have to find an alternative venue for home games.
Having previously experienced a nomadic existence, the last thing Roughyeds want is to be hitting the road and staging home games out of town.
Obvious solution ? Well, of course, SportsDirect.com Park. But that’s easier said than done , judging by the latest edict from Oldham RL chairman Chris Hamilton, who has had meetings with Oldham Athletic owner Simon Corney about the possibilities of Roughyeds playing there, as they have done in the past.
Hamilton says he “remains hopeful” but also spotlights the difficulties surrounding agreement on a ground share.
He says talks will continue “as the clubs attempt to work through various matters which need to be addressed before any agreement can be concluded”.
It’s eight weeks since that memorable day at Whitebank when Palfrey and Co received the League One championship rose bowl from RFL chairman Brian Barwick, and Hamilton says he fully understands why fans are getting frustrated and fidgety with all the uncertainty about next season’s venue.
He added: “The club would love to be announcing details of prices and season tickets for 2016, but that’s not possible until we know for sure where we’ll be playing.
“I hope supporters can appreciate that we are not now in control of things. There are issues that Simon (Corney) has to ensure are covered before any kind of formal agreement can be settled.
“Among other things there are potential issues with wear and tear of the pitch during the winter months.
“We are continuing to move forward though and we remain hopeful.”
So there you have it. Watch this space.
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