Barrie McDermott: Back where it all began

There’s something about seeing Barrie McDermott back at Waterhead that just feels right.

He sits there with that familiar ease, not as a guest, not as a former professional, but as someone returning to the place that built him. “It’s our favourite place,” he says, glancing around the clubhouse. “I’m sat with my son and there aren’t many family parties that we haven’t had here.”

It’s not nostalgia; it’s belonging.

On Saturday he was there as part of a sponsorship organised by his old under 19s team-mates - a group he remembers fondly.

“My under 19s team that I played with in 19 whatever whatever it was, 80 odd… we’re sponsoring it. There’s five of us actually. We set off with about 10, but inevitably at 50 odd year olds, we get pulled from pillar to post.”

And when the lads can’t make it? “We as a family will sponsor it and take all the mums and grandmas and daughters and sisters.”

That’s Waterhead in a sentence: if the rugby lads can’t do it, the families will.

What strikes you listening to Barrie is how deeply he values the people who’ve kept the club moving. He doesn’t start with trophies or promotions. He starts with his mates.

“One of my really good pals, one of my best pals, Jon Perks, along with Keith Brennan, have done an amazing job with Waterhead, the way that they’ve turned it round.” He pauses, because he means it. “You look at the results and you look at promotion after promotion…they’re doing a really good job, they’re a good team to watch. But it’s throughout the club - there’s more kids playing, there’s more touch points for the local community.”

Waterhead sits in a part of Oldham where rugby league is almost stitched into the streets. “Waterhead, Watersheddings… whatever you want to class this part of Oldham, it’s steeped in rugby.”

Kids grow up with dads, granddads, uncles who’ve played for Saddleworth, St Anne’s, or Waterhead, if they’re good enough!" But Barrie is honest about the challenges. “You’re dealing with a certain demographic…not always mums and dads together, sometimes it’s single parent families. So you have to start with what’s going on away from the rugby pitch.”

That’s what Perks and Brennan understood. “That 10-years they’ve put into this club will stand it in great stead for years and years.”

Inside the clubhouse, the shirts on the wall tell their own story, some big names: Sinfield, Sculthorpe, Sneyd, O’Carroll, but Barrie refuses to let the narrative stop at the famous names.

“They’re the markers people look at… but it’s the other people. I was probably one of 20 lads that played at this time, and I’d say the majority of those blokes are doing really well. They’re stable, they’ve got good family backgrounds, good jobs.”

That’s the real legacy of a community club.

He arrived early, as he often does, and saw the same scene that he’s seen for decades. “You see everybody out already getting the pitch ready.”

People assume it just happens. It doesn’t. “There’s always somebody marking the pitch out or marking the sidings out…there’s a team behind the team.”

And then the line that only someone who’s spent a lifetime around community rugby could deliver: “Usually it’s dog dirt patrol, and making sure there’s no objects on the field that can hurt or harm players.”

Waterhead Park is just that, a public park with a rugby field contained.

The club’s growth isn’t just on the men’s side. “The youth section is thriving, there’s a connection with the girls’ team, and quite a few of the girls that started off here are playing at Oldham now.”

Even the town’s professional side gets a nod. “Oldham is always a roller coaster…but Terry Flanagan and the new consortium know how to do it. Flan’s a Saddleworth lad, but he actually coached me at Waterhead.”

And then there’s Billy - Barrie’s son - who carries the same affection for the place. Now a primary school teacher, he’s stepped away from playing but not from Waterhead. “No matter how many times I come back here, it’s like I’ve never been away. It’s that club that’s always been with me and my family.”

He talks about the faces, the same ones, week in, week out. “You’ll see lovely faces…people you know and love from past and present.”

By the end, Barrie sums it up the only way he knows how: “It’s always a team effort. It’s always about the team behind the team.”

Waterhead isn’t just thriving. It’s living proof of what happens when a community backs its club, and when its famous sons never forget where they came from.

 

National Conference League Results

Premier Division 

Hunslet ARLFC 46–6 West Bowling

Rochdale Mayfield 6–62 Wath Brow Hornets

Waterhead Warriors 10–36 West Hull

Wigan St Judes 14–38 Siddal

Division One

East Leeds 24–16 Wigan St Patricks

Egremont Rangers 10–24 Dewsbury Moor Maroons

Leigh Miners Rangers 24–32 Oulton Raiders

Oldham St Annes 12–36 Stanningley

Pilkington Recs 20–46 Kells

National Conference – Yorkshire A

Bradford Dudley Hill 16–26 Beverley

Keighley Albion 26–10 Drighlington

Myton Warriors 32–10 Moldgreen

Thornhill Trojans 50–26 King Cross Park

National Conference – Yorkshire B

Fryston Warriors 6–34 Featherstone Lions

Kippax Welfare 18–30 Newsome Panthers

Milford 12–32 Skirlaugh

Normanton Knights 38–6 Hull Dockers

Siddal Academy

National Conference – North West

Ince Rose Bridge 50–18 Crosfields

Saddleworth Rangers 28–12 Leigh East

Clock Face Miners 4–28 Blackbrook

National Conference – Cumbria

Distington 14–14 Hensingham

Hindpool Tigers 20–46 Dalton

Maryport 40–10 Barrow Island

Ulverston 32–34 Seaton Rangers

National Conference – South

Bedford Tigers 46–10 Eastern Rhinos

Bristol All Golds 58–16 Wests Warriors

 

By Dave Parkinson

Photo Credit: 13 Pro Am Community RL