The Phantom Horseman

I think part of the reason things look from the outside like they have gone cold is that there have been virtually no leaks. This probably isn't surprising when you consider that the Administrator's only responsibility is to his creditors and NDAs and a desire for confidentiality are probably hindering disclosure of interested parties. There's also the fact that the likeliest intended buyers of the land pulled out a couple of months ago and there are also possibly complications because of the nebulous situation between the company and RVL developments, which the Administrator stated might be necessary to resolve prior to the sale of the land to any third parties. I think there are a lot of moving parts in the whole situation and I doubt it's been a straightforward one to resolve, and there was never likely to be a running commentary. There are a few people who post on this forum who are very well connected and often get to know the ins and outs at the club, but even they seem quite unsure about how this situation might end up.

The council is certainly discussing the future of the club, at the very least. All it specifies at the moment is "For Cabinet to receive a report on the future of Featherstone Rovers Rugby League Football Club." We'll have to wait and see the nature of their involvement, if any. https://mg.wakefield.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=98471&Opt=0

I think a lot of people will agree with this, providing the bolded bit is a key and well-delineated component. As an aside, I would make the league leaders the team promoted (assuming only one goes up). That's usually the sign of the strongest, most SL-ready team, and IIRC the main reason we started having a Grand Final to decide the team going up when P & R returned was because Sky wanted it, but they don't show the play-offs any more.

I hear you, I fully understand the issue. Whether being unable to promote London because Barrow rank higher than them, and thus potentially jeopardising major NRL investment, counts as "improving the standard" might be open to question though.

Well yes that is absolutely true, but I would say one of the drawbacks of the system is that it isn't able to take account of relatively sudden massive changes in clubs' circumstances.

John Davidson in his "Chicken Wing" piece today on rugbyleaguehub.com states that one thing that needs to be done before the NRL investment offer comes into fruition is that "the RFL needs to support the changes of promotion and relegation, including blocking Barrow Raiders' promotion" - ie Barrow are ranked more highly via IMG than London. Barrow are an admirable and likeable club in many ways, but I don't think anyone connected with them thinks they're in any way ready for SL and although the problem is presumably the fact that they're rated higher than London, rather than that they actually have a lofty IMG score themselves, it's another example of the drawbacks of the IMG system - once you have it, any deviation can be seen as grossly unfair.

From the ever-reliable Fevarchive website Australian youngster John Strange arrived early in the 1997 campaign with very little weight of expectation on his shoulders, as he was largely an unknown quantity. He turned out to be a useful acquisition though, seeing off challenges from both Steve Lay (signed from Halifax) and Lee Maher (signed from Leeds) to establish himself as first choice full-back throughout the year. He did a sound job during a difficult phase for the club, playing 23 games, and scoring seven tries, but his contract was not renewed and he left for York, and then later Sheffield. https://www.fevarchive.co.uk/players/john-strange/954/

Only rumours really. It looks likely that the land and the stadium will be sold, with a possibility of the stadium being leased back - there is definitely at least 1 interested party (and possibly more than 1) who have applied to the RFL to run a team in 2027. There don't seem to have been many leaks (hence why few journos have discussed Fev much), there are a few rumours flying around but concrete info is thin on the ground. One group that has put its head above the parapet is a consortium led by long-time Fev fan Ged Connolly-Thompson, they put a few posts on LinkedIn, my understanding is that this group is putting in a bid just to run the club and lease the stadium, not buy it and the land. https://www.linkedin.com/company/featherstone-rovers-phoenix/posts/?feedView=all It's quite a complex and murky situation, am not going to try and interpret it all on here but if you're interested there are two quite detailed reports from the Administrator on the gov.uk website at https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03165021/filing-history

Nah, I don't know any Fev fans who would want Cas to beat Wakey. The other team apart from Cas that Fev fans tend not to like is Bradford, not Wakefield. There were a couple of threads on the FB pages recently that illustrates that, one was a debate over whether the fans disliked Cas or Bradford more, the other was a bunch of people saying how pleased they were Wakey had made it to the final. As for Jill H's question - a fair number of Rovers fans will have watched Fev Lions this year especially with Gaz Gale/Josh Hardcastle/Johnny Davies/James Lockwood/Luke Cooper, all massive fan favourites, playing for Lions. There have also been a fair number of social events organised by the True Blue fundraising group which have been a rallying point for a lot of fans. Hard to say how many will have walked away from the game and obviously to a degree it will depend on whether the club comes back, and also how that looks if it does happen and who ends up owning the land. There's a lot of disillusionment about a lot of things, as you can imagine.

A second yellow card for Drinkwater on his final appearance. A sad end to a fine career.

When are players going to learn that they aren't going to get away with mouthing off at Tara Jones? Josh Drinkwater yellow carded today, Bailey O'Connor received a red card for dissent for Dewsbury this year and Ben Reynolds did too for Fev last year.

With Wakefield in the SL Grand Final, it's hard to believe this was just the season before last.

So that's ok then? I really hope the club's defence will be something better than "yes we owe him £10k but he was a contractor, not an employee." He states that he was told he'd have to wait until the "money came in", which presumably took many months. And again, if/when London reply to the accusations, I'm not sure "ah, well he should have taken us to an employment tribunal/small claims" is going to cut much ice. I think most of us are open-minded about this case and seeking enlightenment, so what have you seen in that article that the rest of us have missed?

At the very least, London are going to have to come up with a response.