How far can Featherstone go this year?

[Smudger06]

9 hours ago, Lounge Room Lizard said:

Featherstone like most teams have a good 20 CHAMPIONSHIP players but after that the strength depth is missing in a big way. Much depends on injuries and keeping the form going-similar to Leigh in fact. Both are quality teams that have the potential to run Toronto close if not beat them in one off games. But neither have the Quality of Toronto, who even if not playing too wel,l are way too strong for the rest normally.

On and Off the field Fev, Leigh and virtually everybody outside Toronto are not ready for SL and would struggle big time. Most Clubs including Fev need a host of Volunteers to help the Club function properly on match days, nevermind during the week. My thoughts are they would turn SL down as they dont have the backroom staff, money etc to make a SL-the same for the rest. The Risk is one season in Sl but would potentially see them then struggle off the field for a few years becuse of it. London have a money man and were FT when they went up. Fev are Part time like many Championship Clubs and dont have somebody that can put in the Millions need for SL. I think for Fev, Leigh even Bradford going in to SL in the next couple would be a huge risk that could cause more damage than good.

People conveniently forget the £1.825m Super League Funding becoming available + at least an extra 1,500 people through the gates on matchday. 

[Chris Taylor]

9 hours ago, paulwalker71 said:

It's not 'nonsense' as far as SL is concerned. They are looking for clubs that add value, specifically with regards to future TV revenue. Whether we all admit it or not, replacing London with Featherstone isn't going to make SL more attractive to Sky. Sorry, it just isn't.

As for Featherstone running an Academy and Reserves, didn't you struggle be fielding a full 17 towards the end of last season? Maybe things have changed now? If so, that's a tick in your box (although they'd possibly want to see it over a longer period of time)

Also, what's wrong with London having a money man? Most SL clubs have one, because you need a lot more than the Sky money to run a SL club. You might be able to field a team with that money, but you still need someone to put in extra for all other expenses. Ask Derek Beaumont about that? So you are going to need 'an investor' - believe me, I understand that as a Bradford supporter. It's our consistent lack of an investor that's caused problems for us, and why we aren't ready to seriously challenge for SL at present.

I don't disagree with your first point Paul. Featherstone isn't as attractive as London. But to deny a club of being promoted due to a location is ridiculous.

Yes, the club has brought back the reserves system after withdrawing it because they had nobody left to play barring Halifax, Keighley and maybe 1 or 2 others.

Nothing wrong with London having a money man - good for them, good for any team. I was just pointing out why they were still full time in the Championship.

 

[Lounge Room Lizard]

9 minutes ago, Smudger06 said:

People conveniently forget the £1.825m Super League Funding becoming available + at least an extra 1,500 people through the gates on matchday. 

People forget most Clubs still lose money and dont have enough fully trained staff to Run the club properly. Do Fev even have a plan for life as a FT team or life in SL? I doubt just like most Championship Clubs they have made any steps towards this.

[Harry Stottle]

48 minutes ago, paulwalker71 said:

We've already been here though, haven't we? Talk to Keighley fans about being unfairly denied entry into SL.

Did the Keighley episode cause 'untold damage to games credibility'? Or was it quickly forgotten (except in Keighley obviously)?

Didn't  it also happen to Dewsbury also?

But, and I think it's a big but, previously it was the RFL making the decisions for all and the financial difference regards funding (if at all it happened back then) is now immense below SL.

[paulwalker71]

26 minutes ago, Smudger06 said:

People conveniently forget the £1.825m Super League Funding becoming available + at least an extra 1,500 people through the gates on matchday. 

You do realise that it costs a LOT more than £1.8 million to run a SL club don't you?

I believe that the turnover at Saints and Warrington is in the region of £7million, and more than that at Leeds.

Where would Featherstone (or Bradford for that matter) get the difference? We know where Toronto will get the difference, but I don't see people lining up to throw in money at the likes of Fev and Bradford.

That's one reason why I actually don't want us to get promoted at the moment. That might sound strange to you aspirational Featherstone supporters. But I'd rather be a strong, healthy sustainable Championship club, until and unless we ever get a money man, than get promoted and then go bust (again) trying to stay there.

Or were you looking to go up, spend no more than about £2m, lose every game and come straight back down again. And then have players on daft contracts that you can't afford (see Leigh for example). What would even be the point of that?

TL:DR You're better off NOT getting promoted unless you've got a moneybags

[David Shepherd]

1 minute ago, paulwalker71 said:

You do realise that it costs a LOT more than £1.8 million to run a SL club don't you?

I believe that the turnover at Saints and Warrington is in the region of £7million, and more than that at Leeds.

Where would Featherstone (or Bradford for that matter) get the difference? We know where Toronto will get the difference, but I don't see people lining up to throw in money at the likes of Fev and Bradford.

That's one reason why I actually don't want us to get promoted at the moment. That might sound strange to you aspirational Featherstone supporters. But I'd rather be a strong, healthy sustainable Championship club, until and unless we ever get a money man, than get promoted and then go bust (again) trying to stay there.

Or were you looking to go up, spend no more than about £2m, lose every game and come straight back down again. And then have players on daft contracts that you can't afford (see Leigh for example). What would even be the point of that?

TL:DR You're better off NOT getting promoted unless you've got a moneybags

Pretty much agree with that.  

I would guess that if and when the plans for the land come off, then the situation will be very different.  But we're about 3 years minimum from that happening.

That said, if we did find ourselves in the unlikely position of being grand final winners, the emotional part of me we soon override any sensible thought.

[Chris Taylor]

18 minutes ago, Lounge Room Lizard said:

People forget most Clubs still lose money and dont have enough fully trained staff to Run the club properly. Do Fev even have a plan for life as a FT team or life in SL? I doubt just like most Championship Clubs they have made any steps towards this.

You'd hope so! But I don't think any sort of strategy would be made public.

[Smudger06]

What other costs are significantly greater than a Championship Club must pay out? Away Travel?.....Probably about the same.....Playing and Training facilities?.......already own both. 

Many SL Clubs central funding goes on servicing debt & buying in marque players, hence why they need the money man to pay the salary cap instead. 

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

19 minutes ago, paulwalker71 said:

You do realise that it costs a LOT more than £1.8 million to run a SL club don't you?

I believe that the turnover at Saints and Warrington is in the region of £7million, and more than that at Leeds.

Where would Featherstone (or Bradford for that matter) get the difference? We know where Toronto will get the difference, but I don't see people lining up to throw in money at the likes of Fev and Bradford.

That's one reason why I actually don't want us to get promoted at the moment. That might sound strange to you aspirational Featherstone supporters. But I'd rather be a strong, healthy sustainable Championship club, until and unless we ever get a money man, than get promoted and then go bust (again) trying to stay there.

Or were you looking to go up, spend no more than about £2m, lose every game and come straight back down again. And then have players on daft contracts that you can't afford (see Leigh for example). What would even be the point of that?

TL:DR You're better off NOT getting promoted unless you've got a moneybags

Erm have you see how London are doing this year? They are competing and certainly not spending £7M

[Smudger06]

Yes probably operate in SL spending about £2m to avoid 12th place and sticking the other £1m into a Futures Fund

[Damien]

It would actually be very interesting to see what budget London are operating under. It is obviously a shoestring and there cant be many costs associated with playing at their ground.

[hrtbps]

The point about attendances is interesting. For me, we punch above our weight. We average about 2200 per game which, as a percentage of the town's population (15000) is about 15%. The same stat for Leeds would be about 2.5%, and 5% for Wakefield.

[Agbrigg]

Am I dreaming that prior to this season there was a clear route to SL with no strings attached and yet fev never even came close to making it. The only thing you can say about fev is that they continue to bleat year after year that the should be in SL and yet never get there. 

[hrtbps]

I agree with what a few others have said in that I'm wary of the boom and bust of a season in the SL. However, if we were to win the Championship it'd be difficult as a fan to turn promotion down!

[hrtbps]

1 minute ago, Agbrigg said:

Am I dreaming that prior to this season there was a clear route to SL with no strings attached and yet fev never even came close to making it. The only thing you can say about fev is that they continue to bleat year after year that the should be in SL and yet never get there. 

The era in which we dominated the Championship (league leaders from 2010-2013) only one of those years saw promotion/relegation and it was Widnes who went up.

[David Shepherd]

1 minute ago, hrtbps said:

The era in which we dominated the Championship (league leaders from 2010-2013) only one of those years saw promotion/relegation and it was Widnes who went up.

While some other clubs lied, cheated and bashed out the occasional artist's impression of an impressive stadium to maintain their place in the top division.

But there's no point dwelling on the injustices of the past.  We need to keep doing what we're doing, gradually improving, while trying to eliminate cock-ups like last season.

The land could be the game changer for us. If that comes off, we've got a big chunk of outside income to look forward to.

[Smudger06]

The only time you'll hear the Super 8 system described as clear will be to discredit Featherstone Rovers 

[Agbrigg]

20 minutes ago, hrtbps said:

The era in which we dominated the Championship (league leaders from 2010-2013) only one of those years saw promotion/relegation and it was Widnes who went up.

So what happened in those seasons when we had the middle 8's . The door was wide open for a few seasons but fev never even came close. 

[David Shepherd]

6 minutes ago, Agbrigg said:

So what happened in those seasons when we had the middle 8's . The door was wide open for a few seasons but fev never even came close. 

Long story short.  Feisal Nahaboo. It's taken 4 years or more to recover from that fustercluck.

[sentoffagain2]

1 hour ago, David Shepherd said:

Long story short.  Feisal Nahaboo. It's taken 4 years or more to recover from that fustercluck.

I think the players realised that the team was nowhere near good enough to achieve promotion.As a result players energy levels and determination dropped,we only really played not to fiish bottom of the eights.Feisal was a nightmare i am just getting over looking back we may have been lucky to severe ties with him,the future looks more promising than we could expect after our past troubles.

[Agbrigg]

As far as I am aware only 2 teams in sl are self sustaining . One is well knackered and on death row. The other is Leeds.

 

[Steve Slater]

6 hours ago, Wollo Wollo Wayoo said:

Really? You are much younger than your picture suggests.

Young enough (or old enough) to remember watching the great Wakey side of the early 60's in front of 18K crowds when Fev were playing away in Lancashire, and watching the demise and decay of the club and stadium throughout the 70's. I admire them very much nowadays because they are a small time outfit holding their own against the modern big boys - in fact you could call them the new Fev! Comparing the two clubs ( a club is far more than just a team) from 1970 on right up to when Wakey went into SL it's pretty obvious that anything Wakey can do, Fev can do better - Given the chance! 

[Agbrigg]

No way, wakey have already over stayed their time. In the next couple of years there will be no more than 8 English clubs in SL and fev will not be one. It would not surprise me in the slightest to see no teams at all from the wmdc region.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

2 hours ago, scotchy1 said:

They are almost certainly losing money hand over fist to do so though. 
 

Scale matters. 

London’s team is very similar to the team they had in the Championship, I think I read 10 of the players that beat Saints were in the Championship last year.

While London may well run at a loss this year, covered by David Hughes. I expect their losses to be greater in the Championship than in Super League, I just can’t see where they have spent an extra £2 million.

[David Shepherd]

I think a lot of people are still suffering from the delusion that there's still a massive gap between SL and The Championship.

There really isn't.  The championship has grown in quality in recent years.  The gap between the bottom of SL and the top of The championship is quite manageable these days.

11 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

London’s team is very similar to the team they had in the Championship, I think I read 10 of the players that beat Saints were in the Championship last year.

While London may well run at a loss this year, covered by David Hughes. I expect their losses to be greater in the Championship than in Super League, I just can’t see where they have spent an extra £2 million.