Well I’m not singling Fev out for their undesirable element – just saying they have one, which is undeniable. I also said we do too and I didn’t see anyone on this thread cite that as a reason they shouldn’t be promoted. As for Fev “being around” long after “some rich folk get bored” well what can I say? If you take that attitude to its logical conclusion we should turn down anyone with any money unless they’re from an area that played RL since at least 1889. RL has been played in France for nearly 100 years now so they’re hardly “johnny come latelys”. In fact they have shown more commitment to the game than many over here when you look at how their game was banned during the war, had all its assets seized and couldn’t even call itself “rugby league” until the 1990s. Now they’ve got their act together on and off the field they should be fairly rewarded.



Salford have won plenty in their history – more than Fev in fact. However they’re both yo-yo teams if you look at the past 40 years so not completely dissimilar in terms of playing record. Ironically Salford were the leading club off the field in the 1960s and 1970s when the game was in the doldrums (like now). They diversified their business and were commercially successful. So much so that the RFL used them as an example for others to follow. If either Salford or Fev or the British game is going to thrive they need to look outside their immediate traditional audience as well as old fogeys like you and me.

Feath need to take pride in what they are not lament at it or be defensive. They are a team in a town small enough to be called a village, but they can rightly point out how irrelevant it is. Their catchment area is way beyond that village, taking in many similar places and the sizeable town of Pontefract. It's not dissimilar to Hull KR drawing fans from the villages to the East of Hull all the way to the coast. Aggregated support from multiple places in the broader area.

On Pickersgill I'd say he was at his right level with us. I wish him well but it seems an odd move by Featherstone. They must see a scale of developmental potential that I don't.

I think it's offensive to call them that (and I have no great love for them).

As you say, the article assumes that a club can only attract fans from the town/city it's in, which given the number of loiner shirts I see round here we know isn't the case.

Just follow that through to it's natural conclusion and you'll see how utterly ridiculous it is. TV revenues are falling and the leagues outside SL have had their funding slashed. If the league goes to 10 teams, we're looking at 8 British clubs receiving TV money. It's a slow motion plane crash.

Well I didn't even realise there was a England match today, that's how poor the marketing of our sport is, dreadful.

Exactly the point I've made a few times. I'd have gone to this game had I known about it in advance.