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