Full name Watersheddings Opened 1889 Capacity 9,000 | Built 1889 Record attendance 28,000 Closed 1997 | |
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Oldham bears v swinton lions 19 01 1997 at watersheddings
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.
Contents
- Oldham bears v swinton lions 19 01 1997 at watersheddings
- Dji phantom 3 drone flight over watersheddings oldham
- Origins
- History
- Closure
- Australia and New Zealand
- References
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.
Dji phantom 3 drone flight over watersheddings oldham
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 its east side and a lawn tennis ground was constructed on its north side.
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.
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. In the 1914/15 season Watershedding was selected to host the Challenge Cup final
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. 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.
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. 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.