Homeless Oldham facing race against time

Oldham still don’t know where they will play their first home game of the season, against Rochdale, on Sunday.

The Roughyeds opened up their Northern Rail Cup campaign with a 24-12 defeat away at Leigh yesterday, but still find themselves homeless after moving out of Boundary Park at the end of last season.

Chairman Chris Hamilton told their official club website: “We are as frustrated as everyone else that we cannot confirm exactly what is happening regarding a ground for this season.
 
“We stress, however, that a lot of work is going on behind the scenes and that it has been going on since last year when it was confirmed that we would have to find a new home.
 
“Uppermost in all this is our desire to remain in the borough. It would have been easy to do what we have done previously and find a venue out of town but if we had done that it would have compounded the financial issues that have hamstrung the club for the past 12 years.
 
“What we are working on now is striving to find a long-term solution to the club’s ground situation.
 
“We are working very closely with Oldham Council and with a number of other parties, while also keeping the Rugby Football League up to speed about exactly where we are up to in our efforts to secure a home ground.”

Oldham are due to play Rochdale on Sunday before an away game at Hunslet the following week. Their next home game is scheduled for February 21 when they will host Sheffield Eagles in their final Northern Rail Cup group game.