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) | |
Until 1998 Watersheddings was the site of a rugby league stadium which also housed a greyhound racing track. Located in the Watershedding 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.
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. (Oldham lost)
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 Wigan.
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 Roughyeds def. New Zealand 8-7 | 12,000 |
| 2 | 26 December 1908 | Oldham Roughyeds def. Australia 11-5 | 15,000 |
| 3 | 11 November 1911 | Oldham Roughyeds def. Australia 14-8 | 10,000 |
| 4 | 26 November 1921 | Australia def. Oldham Roughyeds 16-5 | 15,344 |
| 5 | 16 January 1922 | Oldham Roughyeds def. Australia 15-5 | 6,000 |
| 6 | 23 October 1926 | Oldham Roughyeds def. New Zealand 15-10 | 16,000 |
| 7 | 2 November 1929 | Australia def. Oldham Roughyeds 18-10 | 19,284 |
| 8 | 9 September 1934 | Australia def. Oldham Roughyeds 38-6 | 5,000 |
| 9 | 6 November 1937 | Australia def. Oldham Roughyeds 10-6 | 12,265 |
| 10 | 25 October 1947 | New Zealand def.Oldham Roughyeds 18-8 | 17,239 |
| 11 | 4 December 1948 | Australia def. Oldham Roughyeds 27-7 | 14,798 |
| 12 | 29 September 1951 | Oldham Roughyeds def. New Zealand 21-18 | 15,174 |
| 13 | 15 September 1952 | Australia drew. Oldham Roughyeds 7-7 | 19,620 |
| 14 | 29 October 1955 | New Zealand def.Oldham Roughyeds 15-13 | 14,700 |
| 15 | 7 November 1956 | Oldham Roughyeds def. Australia 21-2 | 8,956 |
| 16 | 3 October 1959 | Australia def. Oldham Roughyeds 25-14 | 17,621 |
| 17 | 4 September 1961 | Oldham Roughyeds & Rochdale Hornets def.New Zealand 10-8 | 8,795 |
| 18 | 5 October 1963 | Australia def. Oldham Roughyeds 12-4 | 11,773 |
| 19 | 31 August 1965 | New Zealand def.Oldham Roughyeds 5-2 | 10,333 |
| 20 | 11 November 1967 | Australia def. Oldham Roughyeds 18-8 | 3,329 |
| 21 | 27 October 1971 | New Zealand def.Oldham Roughyeds 24-13 | 1,872 |
| 22 | 19 October 1973 | Australia def. Oldham Roughyeds 44-10 | 2,770 |
| 23 | 4 November 1975 | Australia def. Oldham Roughyeds 20-10 | 3,675 |
| 24 | 4 November 1986 | Australia def. Oldham Roughyeds 22-16 | 5,678 |
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 1912, the stadium achieved its highest ever attendance of 28,000 against Huddersfield
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. Great Britain recovered from a 5–2 half-time deficit to win 12–5.
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
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