Round-the-world mystery of Roughyeds memorabilia

Dave picked up the cufflinks for £39.49, including postage

Dave Murgatroyd, Oldham Rugby League Club's official photographer, is an avid collector of Roughyeds memorabilia, but imagine even his surprise when he saw club cufflinks up for auction in Australia on Ebay.

Said Dave: "They looked amazing. I had to have them and to make sure they came home to Watersheddings, where I live.

"They were in the original box above the inscription, 'Oldham Football Club' so it's no surprise the seller, an Aussie, thought they represented a soccer club. Little did he know what they would mean to rugby league people in Oldham.

"I had to get them, but I didn't know what it would cost and I feared my wife Julie wouldn't be too keen if I offered a lot of money."

Dave got them for £39.49,including postage.

He added: "It's a mystery how they came to be in Australia. Did they go with a player? Or with a fan? We'll probably never know, but if anyone can shed any light on them or knows anything about their history, we'll be delighted to hear."

Roughyeds asked Mike Turner of the Oldham RL Heritage Trust if he knew anything about the cufflinks and he didn't. Said Mike: "I've never come across them which would indicate they were earlier than the Championship-winning fifties side and possibly made to recognise the club's magnificent achievement of reaching four consecutive Challenge Cup finals in the 1920s."

The Murgatroyds have decided to loan them to the Heritage Trust so they can go on display at the Oldham RLFC exhibition currently up for viewing in Gallery Oldham.

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