“Times are tough at the minute and some people will have had to choose one night over the other so we’re really grateful to those that chose to come and visit us.”
AWALK down Wembley Way, Abide With Me, colour, noise, drama and excitement – all things that go hand in hand with a trip to the Challenge Cup Final.
But for a small band of rugby league fans their Wembley weekend starts the evening before with a trip to the north of the city for London Skolars’ now annual Friday Night Lights event.
It’s hard to believe that this concept has now been running for well over a decade, with the first game taking place, almost by accident, back in 2006.
Traditionally Challenge Cup Final weekend has always been free from any other fixtures taking place, but when Workington Town’s trip to Skolars that year needed to be rearranged due to the Cumbrians’ run in the Northern Rail Cup, the only weekend available to play was Cup Final weekend. With other events scheduled on the Sunday, Workington agreed to travel down on the Friday.
The Skolars heavily advertised the game to the wider rugby league community, in the hope some would choose to start the weekend with a match to whet the appetite for events at Wembley.
It worked, with over 1,000 people turning up to New River Stadium, compared to that season’s previous highest attendance of 648 for the visit of Featherstone.
A new concept was born, and in the years since crowds have continued to turn up in numbers to see the likes of York, Whitehaven, Toulouse, North Wales, South Wales, Keighley, Hunslet and Oldham play under the floodlights.
That meant this season’s crowd of just over 500, which included a couple of members of the Rugby League World editorial team, might have been seen as a disappointment to some, but for Skolars general manager Kev Flanagan, what the crowd lacked in numbers was made up for with enthusiasm, despite the home team going down to a 60-0 defeat to Doncaster.
“It was another great night down here,” said Flanagan.
“We had a nice mix of people down here, fans from the north, our own fans, some Broncos fans and even an ex-coach in Jermaine Coleman and some former players.
“We had expected a bigger crowd, but if people chose not to come down for the Friday night as well as the Saturday night then there’s not much more we could have done.
“Times are tough at the minute and some people will have had to choose one night over the other so we’re really grateful to those that chose to come and visit us.
“The Capital Challenge and this are our two biggest events of the year, but this one caters more for the fans and allows us to show the club off in a positive light to them. In some ways that’s probably more valuable than the extra finances the Capital Challenge brings in.
“The crowd wasn’t as big as we’ve had in the past, but the crowd we did get was quality and they enjoyed the night and kept partying well after the final hooter.”
For Skolars coach Joe Mbu, who has also played in a number of them, Friday Night Lights is an event he always looks forward to and believes it is an important chance to show new supporters that there is life in rugby league in London.
“No matter which team is coming down for it, everyone looks forward to this event,” said Mbu.
“The players always buy into the importance of this game.
“It’s a nice way for fans coming down from the north to warm up for the Saturday and it also allows people from outside of London to see that the game down here is thriving.
“People often hear about rugby league in London and what is happening down here, but never see it for themselves. The club putting this event on lets those fans do that and gives the game down here some great exposure.
“We had a lot of London lads playing out there (against Doncaster) and again that is a testament to all the work that is being done down here.”
The game itself was typical of winless’ Skolars season to date. They were able to create some chances but were unable to find the final clinical finish to see them over the line, with Doncaster then going to the other end of the pitch and scoring.
For Skolars, who have lost a whole host of players in the last year or so, 2023 was always going to be a transitional season, so Mbu is not too downbeat about their position at the bottom of League One, understanding that better times can be just around the corner if the club do things right.
“All season we’ve had to keep changing the side and this game was no different with different half-backs out there compared to the previous week,” added Mbu.
“With that, you don’t have any continuity and lack the cohesion the players need week in, week out.
“Heads did start to drop in the last ten minutes or so and we leaked a few points, but up until then, the boys got stuck in. Ultimately we were beaten by a better team.
“We were disappointed with the result, but what I wasn’t disappointed with was the discipline we showed in the game. We never started to turn on each other, we kept our heads and tried the best we could. We just came across a Doncaster side who were on fire after a couple of disappointing results for them.
“Apart from this year, most of the Friday Night Lights games I have been involved with as a player or coach have been close and really competitive.
“We understand where we are as club at the moment, we’re going through a bit of a transitional period and the players are doing the best they can. All we can do is stick together, see the season out and move forward going into the next couple of years.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 488 (September 2023)
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