The Oldham Roughyeds currently played in League Two of the National Leagues. They are located in Royton and Chadderton in Oldham, part of Greater Manchester. They play at the Boundary Park ground, which they share with Oldham Atheletic AFC. The "Roughyed" part of their name refers to a slang term describing a person from Oldham. The team can trace their roots back to 1876 when they were first formed as Oldham FC and played at the Gartside Street ground. They relocated to the Clarksfield area in 1880 before finally settling at Watersheddings in 1889. Oldham Roughyeds were one of the founding members of the Northern Union in 1895 and were the second club to win the Challenge Cup after beating Hunslet 19-9 in 1899. Oldham were fourth in the first title race of 1895-96 and second a year later, they finally won their first title in 1904-05 just edging out Bradford Northern by three points. Oldham won the Lancashire League in 1897-1898, 1900-1901 and 1907-1908 as well as the Lancashire Cup in 1906-1907. Oldham Roughyeds took success in 1909-1910 when they took victory against Wigan in the Championship final. They also took victory in the Lancashire League and Lancashire Cup.

Oldham saw a tremendous amount of success in the glory days of the 1950's when they took the Championship and a whole swathe of other trophies with a record breaking side. Oldham also went on to take the Championship title in 1956-1957, then the Lancashire League in 1956-1957 and the following season, and the Lancashire Cup for three years. Oldham were pipped to the post by Wigan in the 1966 Lancashire Cup Final 16-13. When the Super League competition was announced Oldham were intended to merge with Salford to form a Manchester side. This was resisted by both the club and the fans and after adopting the name Oldham bears the team were founding members of the new league. Unfortunately in their second year they were relegated, finishing underneath Paris St Germain. In 1997 Oldham declared themselves bankrupt with debts in excess of £2,000,000. This was when the Roughyeds were formed to play at a lower level, making official a colloquial name for the club.

Oldham went on to win seven and draw two out of fourteen games, and won promotion to National League One reaching the last four of the play-offs. Oldham entered a creditor's voluntary agreement with debts of £325,000 in 2005, and the team announced in 2007 that they would stay at the Boundary Park grounds after reaching an agreement on the rent. In 2007, the excavation and demolition firm, The William Quinn Group, acquired a 52% stake in the club.that stake was later increased to 75%. Bill Quinn became the club's new chairman, with previous owners Chris Hamilton and Sean Whitehead remaining as directors. On the 4th May 2007 Oldham took part int he first National Leage Two match broadcast live on British TV. They took victory from the Celtic Crusaders 34-26 at Bridgend, having trailed by 20 points after 45 minutes. Oldham Roughyeds have recently finished their most successful season in recent years by topping the tables at 4th place, they then played and won games against Swinton Lions at home and then against Barrow Raiders away in the play-off to reach National Leage Two grand final, unfortunately Oldham lost out to Featherstone Rovers at headingly.