Oldham RLFC boss ‘stepping aside’ over dispute with Oldham Athletic in update about club debts

The chair of Oldham’s rugby club is ‘stepping aside’ over a dispute with local football team Oldham Athletic.

Chairman Bill Quinn announced his decision in a video statement shared on Facebook. 

The decision comes after the Roughyed’s boss was banned from Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park stadium for 12 months following undisclosed allegations he describes as ‘totally unfounded and untrue’. The accusations allegedly relate to a financial dispute between the two clubs. 

In his statement, Quinn made clear he would not be leaving the club entirely, but intends to take a back seat while he focuses on an apparent legal battle against Latics directors.

Mr Quinn said: “I will be stepping to one side and that will give us the opportunity for me to focus on the legal action I must take against Oldham Athletic [but also] so that Oldham Rugby league can focus on getting back to Boundary Park. 

“[We want to make sure] that Oldham Athletic come to mitigation and all money matters can be settled. They say we owe them money, we say they owe us money. That’s where the mitigation comes in. 

“Whatever the mediator’s findings are, we’ll stand by that. If we have to pay the monies, we have to pay the monies. But we’re not going to be bullied into paying monies. We’re not going to be blackmailed into paying monies.”

Oldham Athletic did not respond to a request for comment. But in a previous statement, the club noted it ‘will continue to engage with ORLFC constructively through the proper channels whilst respecting the duties of confidentiality required by the Ground Share Agreement’. 

His choice to step aside comes just days after club director Mike Ford announced his shock departure on Sunday, February 1. Ford shared on social media he felt ‘the direction of travel of the club over the past months is not something he feels he can be a part of’.

Meanwhile Alan Kilshaw has taken over as the club’s new head coach.

Oldham RLFC also seemed to be facing financial struggles earlier this week, when the Gazette issued a winding-up order from HMRC. The order meant if the club’s debts weren’t cleared, they could be forced to go bust. 

But in his statement Quinn claimed the debt had been ‘dealt with’. 

“It’s been paid and will be dismissed,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of bills come in in the last two weeks or so that we weren’t aware of and we will deal with it. We’re trying to catch up with our creditors and find out who owes what and is being dealt with in the proper manner through our offices and everybody will be paid.”