The Phantom Horseman
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Posts posted by The Phantom Horseman
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There's another record that remains a Fev one despite the player also playing for Doncaster...Luke Briscoe's consecutive try-scoring record, he's just announced that he's retiring at the end of the season after a fine career.
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5 hours ago, Griff said:
Too many sulky teenagers on this forum claiming "it's not fair".
29 minutes ago, Griff said:You just need to read and be able to count to ten.
I don't accept that either is hard.
Can you perhaps explain that to the chairman of Championship club on this very thread who states that he has "asked them (the RFL) to put out a statement because there's confusion amongst coaches, players and CEOs." Or are the coaches, players and CEO's sulky teenagers too?
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10 hours ago, Mark T said:
Fair play—you’ve raised some really solid points there, and playing devil's advocate is useful when everyone is feeling so frustrated.
You're completely right on a couple of legal realities: NDAs are standard practice in commercial takeovers, and the Administrator's statutory duty is strictly to the creditors, not the supporters. Expecting the Administrator to hold our hands through the process was probably a bit unrealistic on my part.
That said, I still think there’s a middle ground between "breaking an NDA" and "complete radio silence," and a few things still don't sit right to be honest,
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NDAs vs. Selective Updates: If NDAs are so restrictive that they prevent basic engagement with supporters, how is it okay to drop corporate updates onto LinkedIn? You don't need to leak commercially sensitive figures or reveal bid specifics to give fans a high-level roadmap of where things stand in the process.
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"Parties Connected to the Company": This is the exact point in the Administrator's report that gives most supporters cold sweats. After years of missing AGMs, financial opacity, and losing our 2026 season, the mere mention of legacy figures or "connected parties" putting in asset bids is why fans are so on edge. If our old management is hovering around, asking for transparency on governance isn't being harsh—it's basic self-preservation for the club’s future.
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Multiple Bids & Expectations: If Ged’s group is just one of several bids lodged with the RFL, that actually makes fan communication even more crucial. Supporters need to know what kind of governance model any prospective owner is proposing so we don't end up right back in administration twelve months down the line.
I'm not expecting open-book accounting or live updates from behind closed doors during delicate negotiations. But given everything the fans have been put through, a bit of direct, honest communication about the process—rather than corporate teasers—would go a long way in giving people something to actually get behind for 2027.
A couple of questions about your comments - "If our old management is hovering around, asking for transparency on governance isn't being harsh—it's basic self-preservation for the club’s future." Who are you asking for transparency from? The Administrator has given us that information ie that the "parties connected to the company" have put in a bid, I doubt we'll hear any more from him as that's not his job and will presumably be bound up in confidentiality clauses anyway.
The this comment - "Supporters need to know what kind of governance model any prospective owner is proposing so we don't end up right back in administration twelve months down the line." You seem to be implying that supporters have some sort of say or influence in the decision when clearly we don't. And even if we did, implying that there is one unique set of Featherstone supporters with a common view that could be relayed to, say, the RFL is well wide of the mark - the Campbell/Handley situation saw a split in supporters and I'm not sure much has changed in that regard.
Also further to the above comment about knowing what kind of governance model is being considered -
Well the Featherstone Phoenix LinkedIn page did put out this comment a few weeks ago which literally covers that question:
"For anyone looking at the kind of model that we have in mind for a refreshed Featherstone Rovers RLFC, the growth and stability of Leeds Rhinos but on and off the pitch provides a perfect case study.
This article eloquently demonstrates many of the structures and programmes that we intend to bring to Featherstone Rovers to reproduce success on the pitch, to develop a sustainable underlying business model and work with local partners to help bring services into the community."
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leeds-rhinos-dual-engine-behind-commercial-r4tre/?trackingId=VRAYxjoTRvIoN2CbGK%2BRPQ%3D%3DAs I've said previously, this whole process is immensely frustrating for all of us supporters, but we were never likely to receive many updates on the process, the blunt truth is that as fans we have no skin in the game at all for the moment.
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2 hours ago, Sidi Fidi Gold said:
In the second year at middle school, I would have probably been about 11 year old, there was a saying, it said that if a girl stuck her tongue out at you, it meant "kiss me now, me later", I don't know if this was a local saying or something common up and down the country, anyway, we were sat in the small classroom library, the teacher was sat in his chair with his back to the window, talking to us, when a girl in the playground knocked on the window and stuck her tongue out at him, a girl in our class said "Sir, you know what it means when a girl sticks her tongue out at you, don't you, it means kiss me now, man on top of a woman later" the teacher said "ooooh" and started sticking his tongue out at several girls, the whole class cracked out laughing. Now I'm sure it was totally innocent but you just never know.
When I was at high school, 1982-85, there was an English teacher, he didn't teach me but sometimes he would fill in as a PE teacher if we were short, you could have a laugh with him but he wouldn't take no nonsense, anyway, earlier this year I was talking to a woman who left high school in 2004, we were talking about school and about teachers who may have taught us both, I mentioned this English teacher and her reaction was "Oh, him, he was a right pervert" she didn't elaborate but literally 3 days later he was in the news, charged with sexual offences against teenage girls in the 80s and 90s. Since then I've spoke to a lot of people, both male and female who would have been taught by him and was surprised by how many of them had an idea that he was like this, it just totally shocked me.
This is not the same thing as you describe above, but it's hard to believe now that relationships between teachers and school pupils (over the age of 16) weren't made illegal until 2003. I remember in my first job in the late 1980s a female colleague, who was a smart and well-balanced person, telling me that she had been in a relationship with a teacher pretty much throughout 6th form, that everyone (teachers and pupils) knew about it, and that it wasn't considered a big deal.
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44 minutes ago, Featherstonerovers2000 said:
Why do people keeps talking about an announcement today ?? Anybody heard anything or is it just rumours as normal
Here's how this works.
Person 1 puts on Facebook "Surely there'll be some news soon, hoping for an announcement on Monday.
Person 2 the next day writes on Facebook "Did I see something about an announcement on Monday?"
Person 3 adds on Facebook,"Do we know what time to expect this announcement on Monday?"
Person 4 chips in:" I've seen loads of stuff about an announcement on Monday"and so it continues.
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I think the general feeling is spot on though about what a frustrating situation it is.
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1 hour ago, Mark T said:
Not sure what to make of these posts, however what a sad state of affairs! 2nd week in September and nothing official.
Don't know about everyone else but I’m genuinely frustrated with everything going on—or not going on—at the minute, so here’s my take on the current state of play. If I’m getting any of this wrong, or if anyone with better info can shed some light or positivity on the situation, please jump in and put me right!
I'm not sure about "putting you right", but I'll play devil's advocate on some of your points.
Firstly, it's likely that NDAs severely limit what any prospective consortium can say about their bid, or the circumstances around the club. To be honest, I'm a bit surprised they have released as much information about themselves as they have.
Secondly, the Administrator in his most recent report stated that over the course of the Administration "several parties" had indicated an interest in submitting an application for the club's membership of the RFL in 2027. It seems a bit harsh to have a go at Ged when it's very possible there is at least 1 other application, possibly more, lodged with the RFL that we know nothing about. It seems that, to escape criticism, Ged should have simply said nothing, in which case we all might be thinking there was nobody even interested in taking over the club?
Thirdly, saying the Administrator needs to "step up" shows a misunderstanding of his role imo. His concern is the creditors, not us; as it happens, he has published a couple of sizeable updates with a fair bit of information about the processes he is going through.
Another issue might be that, given we had reports fairly recently that the original preferred bidder had dropped out, the only other bid that the Administrator revealed he had received for the company's assets came from "parties connected to the company". It's possible to think that this development may have complicated any decision the RFL were trying to make.
Now the point you make about "everything we've put up with over the years" ie no AGMs, the apparent lack of proper accounting, yes that's absolutely fair comment. And yes it's a horrible situation for us all as fans having sat a year out and having little idea of what's going to happen. But all the discussion for something like this is surely going to happen behind closed doors.
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Sidi Fidi Gold - with apologies to other readers for making this too personal about the location - but which school are you referring to? I'm probably 4 or 5 years older than you, I went to Regent Street and then St Thomas's Junior School which at the time was across the road from Jubilee Steps, neither of them exist any more but like you we were sometimes taken to Purston Park for "games" which ended up with the (female) teacher taking the 16 or so girls to one side of the park to play rounders, and tossing a football to the boys and telling us to go to the other side of the park to sort out a game (jumpers for goalposts and all), you can imagine how that worked out.
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Amazing CC game at The Oval with Surrey beating Yorkshire by 1 wicket. I went yesterday and saw parts of all of all 4 innings (23 wickets in the day). Yorkshire very unlucky having beaten the bat all afternoon and having two pretty plumb-looking LBWs turned down, but Surrey batted extremely gamely in difficult conditions. Great game and the tension over the last hour was huge.
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38 minutes ago, wasginger said:
Thank you. Bloody senior moment.
I wouldn't worry, a full-time RL journalist made the same error a few weeks ago, in fairness, there's a confusing line on Companies House which seems to suggest that his name is Colm Gerard, Gerard is his middle name.
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1 hour ago, tuutaisrambo said:"@TheRFL have advised that they will continue to welcome submissions for a new@FevRoversRLFC membership until the end of Sept 2026"So we've got a few weeks yet.
That was posted in January though wasnt it?
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4 hours ago, gazza77 said:
I'd suggest coincidence. Working in Keighley, and speaking to Cougars fans over the season, I'm surprised he made it to 1st Sept.
Oh, I'm sure you're right, I was just being a bit mischievous. 1st Sept just happened to come straight after their final league game. And Keighley tend to part companies with their coaches more frequently even than we have done.
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One for the conspiracy theorists!
RFL:"In our head we've always looked at the end of August as a bit of a target to get clarity on what's going on," he said.
"I'm still optimistic that we'll meet that. There's still a lot of stuff to go through, but I'm optimistic we'll do that because I think it's only fair on whoever takes on the club; they have from the 1st of September onwards to plan coaches, assistant coaches, players, and then preseason will soon start.
"So that's in our head, the kind of target that we're working towards."
1st September announcement: "Keighley Cougars can confirm that Head Coach Ian Hardman will leave the club following the conclusion of the current season by mutual agreement."
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Prior to the winter of 2011 - an Icemaster 2000 deluxe* Snow Shovel. I live in the south of England, and it's never left my shed.
*I may have invented the brand name. -
2 hours ago, Blind side johnny said:
Do you read this as a target for the RFL or a deadline for prospective owners?
I read it as them adjudicating on applications(s), having also been in consultation with the administrator about their feasibility in relation to what's happening with the land and ground. But that's just my guess.
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1 minute ago, JonM said:
Their initial response to people not being able to buy tickets was 'oh it's a technical glitch, try again later' and it took quite some time (days) to spot that it was in fact due to all of tickets having been sold. I wish I shared your faith in the RFL
I assume there's a certain amount of mucking about going on to try to persuade people to not leave it to the day to get tickets - hence claiming there's only 400 on sale in a stand which holds thousands.
I think you're probably right, and I'm not sure I have much more faith in the ticketing process than you do, but I remember as a Fev fan rushing to buy seats for last year's 1895 Final at Wembley because I didn't want to be too close to the front & there weren't many seats left at the back of the bottom row, only for the whole section above to be opened to Fev fans a few days later.
Enjoy it anyway, I can't tell you how long ago now last year's 1895 final feels like to a Fev fan!
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2 minutes ago, JonM said:
They're playing funny games with ticket sales. Four sections in one stand were allocated to Widnes, three sections in the same stand were assigned to London. Different links were given to fans of each club. So when the Widnes section was sold out, it appeared as if no tickets were available. After some time, this was brought to the attention of the RFL, and Widnes fans were then able to buy tickets in the London end of the stand, which a lot have done. They've now added a number of tickets in three sections of another stand that are available to Widnes fans - but it's a number far below what that section can actually hold. All very strange.
This has happened with Wembley games in the past, ie some sections show as being unavailable and then mysteriously go on sale later, I have always assumed it was to try and get fans of the same team grouped roughly together but I'm not sure.
I suppose in the early stages of sales they had to allocate a reasonable section of the stands to London supporters as they can't just go along the lines of "ok there are 2,000 seats in this stand, let's allocate 1800 to Widnes and 200 to London."
My point really was that they will surely have a plan C to make more seats available to Widnes fans nearer the day, they're not going to be turning people away.
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3 hours ago, Widnes1989 said:
I imagine those two middle sections are reserved for RFL/Players families etc.
There's loads of us going and none of us have tickets yet, we're waiting for payday on Friday before ordering ours.
5x coaches going from our local pub, I'd expect a big Widnes turnout on the day.
26 minutes ago, Widnes1989 said:... And once they're gone, there'll be no more.
So it's likely that fans from Widnes who would like to attend, won't be able to.
Don't the RFL keep the profits from these tickets sales? Aren't they skint? Why are they potentially doing themselves out of money? The mind boggles.
I'm struggling with this...in the second post you seem to be saying that tickets are going to sell out and some Widnes fans are going to be unable to attend...but in the first post you're saying loads of coaches have been booked but nobody's buying tickets until Friday.
I don't get it. This isn't going to be a sell-out, why would any fans from Widnes not be able to go?
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I'd also add that the most recent administrator's report stated that correspondence relating to RVL Developments had been passed to Freeths (the legal company that are being used for this administration) "to determine what interest if any RVL have in the relevant land and buildings", adding "It will likely be necessary to determine and/or resolve such interest prior to the sale of the assets to any unconnected third parties." So in theory that could hold things up.
That said, other than the previously-mentioned Proposed Purchaser, the only offer to purchase the assets (as opposed to offers to run the RL club) that the administrator mentioned in that latest update was "parties connected to the company". Whether there are any other offers out there, who knows, but that's the only one he mentioned.
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1 hour ago, Derwent said:
I think he’s called David Dickson, comes from an extremely wealthy family. I’m sure someone on here will know the full story about him.
Think I've heard of him, did he make his fortune through antiques?
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5 hours ago, Expatknight said:
I would like to bet, but there is no way in knowing, that if Wigan, St Helens, Leeds or any of the other establishment clubs had done what York has done with Newcastle there wouldn't have been a quarter of the negativity that this has attracted.
Nah - if Wigan, St Helens or Leeds had done it, including using the loophole to basically allow themselves endless overseas players, the online RL world would have gone crazy. The York/Newcastle situation didn't even get mentioned in the RL media until weeks if not months after a few of us had been discussing it on here.
York probably have more goodwill and are "less unpopular", if that makes sense, than just about any other SL team, other than perhaps from some Bradford fans.
I'm not surprised that the RFL got some complaints from other teams regarding the overseas player loophole - as I said at the time, I think the RFL were wrong to allow it, but equally, if they did bring in a mid-season ban, I don't agree with that either.
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On 23/08/2026 at 12:11, Monkeymagic22 said:
Seems to have gone very quiet as we head towards September.
It's possible the reported withdrawal of the Proposed Purchaser (see story from a couple of pages back) will have set back procedures.
Rhodri Jones from the RFL was quoted in an interview published on RugbyLeagueHub.com Long Reads on August 11th - it's unclear whether this interview preceded the reported withdrawal of the Proposed Purchaser.
Interim Rugby Football League CEO Rhodri Jones told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads that there is "no guarantee" that a Featherstone club will compete in the Championship next year, but the RFL "feels like there are enough conversations going on that there will be a solution".
Jones said the RFL will look to make a decision on Featherstone by the end of this month.
"In our head we've always looked at the end of August as a bit of a target to get clarity on what's going on," he said.
"I'm still optimistic that we'll meet that. There's still a lot of stuff to go through, but I'm optimistic we'll do that because I think it's only fair on whoever takes on the club; they have from the 1st of September onwards to plan coaches, assistant coaches, players, and then preseason will soon start.
"So that's in our head, the kind of target that we're working towards."
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1 hour ago, DEANO said:
Ok that’s fine but other established clubs have had maulings this season too
Yes, which illustrates the point I was making - it's best not to draw conclusions based on one or two isolated games.
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20 hours ago, DEANO said:
So last years win it all champions and this years world club challenge champions beaten by two of the promoted sides on half funding. Think it’s working!!!!oh and not enough talent to support 14 clubs lol
If you think it's ok to pick a couple of isolated games to prove it's working, you risk looking a bit foolish when two of the promoted teams ship over 60 points on the same weekend.
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Administration 2026 & Featherstone Rovers 2027
in Featherstone Rovers
Posted
Fair enough. We're all desperate to hear some positive news.