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Oldham Roughyeds are a British Rugby League club, currently playing in the League Two of the National Leagues . They are based where Royton meets Chadderton in the Oldham Borough of Greater Manchester , England . The team strip consists of the traditional red and white hooped shirts, navy blue shorts and red socks. They play their home games at Boundary Park , a ground which is best known as the home of Oldham Athletic A.F.C. . Roughyed is a nickname for a person from Oldham. HISTORY Early years They were founded in 1876 as Oldham FC and played at Gartside Street. They moved to Clarksfield in 1880 before finding a more permanent home at Watersheddings in 1889. Oldham were one of the twenty-one clubs that left the Rugby Football Union to form the Northern Union in 1895. They were the second club to win the Challenge Cup after beating Hunslet 19-9 in 1899. Batley had won the first two finals. Oldham were fourth in the first title race of 1895-96 and second a year later, they finally won their first title in 1904-05 just edging out Bradford Northern by three points. Oldham won the Lancashire League in 1897-98, 1900-01 and 1907-08 as well as the Lancashire Cup in 1906-07. Title success followed in 1909-10 as they beat Wigan in the Championship final. Also in that same season they managed to win the Lancashire League and Lancashire Cup. The following season, 1910-11, they beat Wigan again in the Championship final. Oldham's record attendence was set in 1912 when the visit of near neighbours Huddersfield for a league match drew 28,000 spectators. Oldham won the Lancashire League in 1921-22 and the Lancashire Cup in 1912-13, 1918-19 and 1923-24. Having lost in the 1907, 1912 and 1924 Challenge Cup finals, they finally won the trophy again in 1925 when they beat Hull Kingston Rovers 16-3 at Headingley, Leeds. The club's last Challenge Cup final was in 1927 when they beat Swinton 26-7 at Central Park, Wigan, their fourth consecutive final and revenge for their 9-3 defeat when the same teams met in the previous year’s match. In 1932-33, Oldham won the Lancashire Cup again. Post War In the glory days of the 1950s, Oldham won the Championship and a host of other trophies with a side that boasted players such as Alan Davies, John Etty, Frank Pitchford, Derek "Rocky" Turner and Bernard Ganley. Oldham’s success in the 1950s also included two further Championship titles - in 1954-55 and 1956-57; the Lancashire League 1956-57 and 1957-58 and the Lancashire Cup 1955-56, 1956-57 and 1957-58. Oldham were Division Two champions in 1963-64, 1981-82 and 1987-88 while also winning the Divisional Premiership in 1987-88 and 1989-90. took over as captain-coach following the departure of Peter Tunks and successfully averted the team’s relegation to the Second Division. When a Rupert Murdoch funded Super League competition was proposed, part of the deal was that some traditional clubs would merge. Oldham were supposed to merge with Salford to form a club to be known as ''Manchester'' which would compete in Super League . This was resisted and instead they adopted the name Oldham Bears and were founder members of the new league. Relegation came in the second year of the new summer season, when they finished below Paris St Germain . In 1997 under Chairman Jim Quinn, they went Bankrupt with debts of over £2m. A new team ''Oldham Roughyeds'' was then formed in December to play at a lower level. The ''Roughyeds'' tag had been a long accepted nickname for the old club. To many loyal fans' dismay, the club sold the dilapidated Watershedding in 1997 and moved to Oldham Athletic AFC's Boundary Park stadium in nearby Chadderton / Royton. The millennium Mike Ford retired as player-coach of Oldham in 2001 and in January the following year took up a post as defensive co-ordinator with the Irish Rugby Football Union . Oldham put Mark Knight in temporary charge of the first team. After a successful 2001 season, they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Super League, losing to Widnes Vikings 12-24 in the Northern Ford Premiership Grand Final. During the 2002 season they played at ''Hurst Cross'' in the nearby town of Ashton-under-Lyne , due to a dispute with Oldham Athletic over the use of Boundary Park . Steve Molloy took charge of the Roughyeds after former boss John Harbin left to join Oldham Athletic as fitness conditioner and sports psychologist in July 2002. Under Molloy, Oldham won seven and drew two of their last 14 games, clinching promotion to National League One and reaching the last four of the play-offs. In March 2005, Oldham entered a creditors' voluntary agreement (CVA) with total debts of £325,000. In 2007, the excavation and demolition firm The William Quinn Group acquired a 52% stake in the club. Bill Quinn became the club's new chairman, with previous owners Chris Hamilton and Sean Whitehead remaining as directors. {Link without Title} On Friday 4th May 2007, Oldham took part in the first ever National League 2 match broadcast live on British television, on Sky Sports . They won 34-26 away to the Celtic Crusaders in Bridgend , having trailed by 20 points after 45 minutes. The match was considered a warm-up for the Millennium Magic weekend in Cardiff the following day and, due to fans of Super League teams attending, attracted NL2's highest ever attendance of 3,441. 2007 SQUAD HONOURS
CLUB RECORDS
''Source:'' ''Napit.co.uk Sports Database'' REFERENCES
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