Patrick (or Pat) Rich is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who represented

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

in the

Northern Ford Premiership The Rugby Football League Championship Second Division was founded in 1902 and was the second tier of professional rugby league in the UK until 2003. During the 1990s a third division was established and there is automatic promotion between ...

(later National League One in the National Leagues).

Playing career

Started his career as an amateur playing for Durham Tigers RLFC in the North-East of England, outside of the sport's traditional heartland. He played stand off for the club who had some success as a junior side in the early 90s dominating the other junior teams in the North East and also having successful forays against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

teams. He began his senior professional career as loose forward at

Keighley Cougars The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Cougar Park and compete in RFL League 1, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, British rugby le ...

, Pat subsequently moved to Oldham where his biggest impact came during the 2001 season and, in particular, his contribution with the boot which helped his side to the Northern Ford Premiership semi-final win 39–32 over

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...

when he kicked nine out of nine

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

attempts. In the Grand Final he was unable to secure the points needed with Neil Kelly's

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...

running out victors 24–12. During his first spell at Oldham, Pat was the club's most consistent goal kicker since the 1960s. At various times he held a number of club records including, goals in a season (146, 2000 to 2001) goals in a career (303, 1999 to 2004) and points in a career (682, 1999 to 2004).Oldham Rugby League Heritage Trust - Club Honours & Records
/ref> After a short period at Oldham, Pat left the North Western club to pursue a career in the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

. Although he returned for brief spells with

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They play home games at the Olympic Legacy Park and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Sheffield's on ...

London Skolars The London Skolars are a rugby league club based at the White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre, New River Stadium in Wood Green, London Borough of Haringey, Haringey, North London. Founded in 1995, the club operated as a semi-professional team ...

, and finally Oldham for some 14 games in 2004, he no longer plays competitive

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. Rich's seven-year-long record for points scored for Roughyeds in a single season (320) was eventually beaten by

Mick Nanyn Mick Nanyn (born 3 June 1982) is a former Scotland international rugby league footballer. He played as a and was a specialist goal-kicker. He set point scoring records at several of the clubs he played for. Nanyn started his career at Swinton ...

(362) in 2008. In 79 appearances (2 as substitute) he scored 682 points (303 goals and 19 tries).

References

External links

Oldham R.L.F.C. Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, Patrick Living people English rugby league players Keighley Cougars players London Skolars players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Place of birth missing (living people) Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Sheffield Eagles players Year of birth missing (living people)