Watersheddings

Watersheddings
Full name Watersheddings
Location Oldham, Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
Capacity 9,000
Record attendance 28,000
Construction
Built 1889
Opened 1889
Closed 1997
Tenants
Oldham Rugby League Club (1889-1997)

Watersheddings was the site of a former rugby league stadium in the Watersheddings area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire and lying on the A672 (Ripponden Road) approximately 2 miles north east of Oldham town centre.

Reportedly the highest professional RL ground in the UK at 770 ft above sea level, which would also list it as the highest ground of any professional sport in the UK.[1]

Origins

The stadium known as Watersheddings named after the area of Oldham that it was located in was built in 1889. It was constructed on the east side of a reservoir, Ruby Mill and Longfield Mill and north of Longfield Lane. At the same time the Oldham Cricket Ground was built adjacent to the stadium on it's east side and a lawn tennis ground was constructed on its north side.[2]

History

Oldham Football Club (more commonly known as Oldham Rugby League Football Club) moved from their Clarksfield Ground and played their first match at the new Watersheddings stadium on 28 September 1889 against Swinton.[1]

In 1904 Watershedding was selected to host the very first Rugby league International between England and Other Nationalities on New Year's Day 1904 but the game was cancelled due to a frozen pitch,the game was moved to April and Central Park, Wigan and in 1912, the stadium achieved its highest ever attendance of 28,000 against Huddersfield.[1] In the 1914/15 season Watershedding was selected to host the Challenge Cup final

year Teams Score Team Venue Attendance
1914–15 Huddersfield 37–3 St Helens Watersheddings, Oldham 8,000

In 1933 the cricket ground was demolished making way for the Oldham Greyhound Stadium; the south stand and kennels were erected next to the south-east corner of the Watersheddings ground.[3] The Watersheddings floodlights were used for the first time on Wednesday 20 October 1965, when a crowd of 6,333 attended an under-24 international between Great Britain and France.[1]

Closure

The club left Watersheddings in 1997 and, now called Oldham Roughyeds, moved to Oldham Athletic AFC's Boundary Park stadium before they moved to Whitebank Stadium in 2010.[4] The Watersheddings site was redeveloped into housing now called Watersheddings Way and Hutchins Lane.

Australia and New Zealand

The stadium, in its time, played host to many Australian and New Zealand national teams who played tour games against Oldham, the first being against the 1907 touring New Zealand team, the last being against Australia in 1986.

game Date Result Attendance
1 23 November 1907 Oldham def. New Zealand 8-7 12,000
2 26 December 1908 Oldham def. Australia 11-5 15,000
3 11 November 1911 Oldham def. Australia 14-8 10,000
4 26 November 1921 Australia def. Oldham 16-5 15,344
5 16 January 1922 Oldham def. Australia 15-5 6,000
6 23 October 1926 Oldham def. New Zealand 15-10 16,000
7 2 November 1929 Australia def. Oldham 18-10 19,284
8 9 September 1934 Australia def. Oldham 38-6 5,000
9 6 November 1937 Australia def. Oldham 10-6 12,265
10 25 October 1947 New Zealand def. Oldham 18-8 17,239
11 4 December 1948 Australia def. Oldham 27-7 14,798
12 29 September 1951 Oldham def. New Zealand 21-18 15,174
13 15 September 1952 Australia drew. Oldham 7-7 19,620
14 29 October 1955 New Zealand def. Oldham 15-13 14,700
15 7 November 1956 Oldham def. Australia 21-2 8,956
16 3 October 1959 Australia def. Oldham 25-14 17,621
17 4 September 1961 Oldham & Rochdale XIII def. New Zealand 10-8 8,795
18 5 October 1963 Australia def. Oldham 12-4 11,773
19 31 August 1965 New Zealand def. Oldham 5-2 10,333
20 11 November 1967 Australia def. Oldham 18-8 3,329
21 27 October 1971 New Zealand def. Oldham 24-13 1,872
22 19 October 1973 Australia def. Oldham 44-10 2,770
23 4 November 1975 Australia def. Oldham 20-10 3,675
24 4 November 1986 Australia def. Oldham 22-16 5,678

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Blue plaque unveiled to mark birthplace of rugby league in Oldham". Manchester Evening News.
  2. "OS County Series Yorkshire 1894". old-maps.co.uk.
  3. Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. p. 295. ISBN 0-948955-15-5.
  4. "Records". Oldham Rugby League Football Club.
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