Dad of England fly-half leads consortium takeover of Oldham’s rugby league team

Mike Ford, father of England fly half George, has led a consortium to buy his hometown rugby league club.

Oldham, one of the sport’s storied names, announced this morning that Ford senior, former player and manager of the club, had taken control with a group of local businessmen.

Ford, 57, promised an “exciting future” for the former Super League team that is falling on difficult times.

Known as the ‘Roughyeds’, they currently play in League One, the third tier of the sport, in front of crowds of less than 1,000 at a local football club.

But from next season they will return to Boundary Park, home of Oldham Athletic, where a new £1m dual-purpose field will be installed.

They will play matches at Boundary Park, home of Oldham’s football team, from next season

“We are very excited about the future of the Roughyeds,” said Ford, a former Wigan, Castleford and Great Britain player.

“He is close to all of our hearts and we know the importance of a vibrant and thriving Oldham Rugby to the city and its people.

“We certainly do not take our responsibility as custodians of the club lightly and our vision is to give the people of Oldham a rugby league club they can be proud of. A club that excites and inspires them and with which they can identify.

‘We can’t wait to get started.’

Ford was a player coach for Oldham before crossing codes. In union, he worked with several teams, including Ireland, England and the Lions.

Oldham were one of the founding clubs of the league, having been formed in 1876 and enjoying an illustrious history, winning four top-flight titles and three Challenge Cups.

However, in 1997 they closed after selling their stadium, Watersheddings.

A reformed club was born and, in 2001, it was one game away from returning to the Super League.

He is the father of England flyhalf George Ford (left), seen being trained by his father in 2021

But for the last 20 years, they have largely been in a steady decline and in several seasons have played on out-of-town grounds in front of dwindling attendances.

Ford will be joined on the board by longtime fans Mick Harrington and Gary Kershaw. Harrington, whose grandfather played for the club in the 1960s, added: “This is a historic day for a historic club.

‘We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and we know there is a lot of hard work ahead, but we feel we can do something special here.

“Oldham continues to be a hotbed of rugby league and we believe the potential, especially with Boundary Park now our home, is huge.”