No offence taken at all! Just your opinion and it is appreciated. Until the last two seasons I had given up all hope of seeing fev return to the top tier, but some great steps are being taken off field...in particular the new stands acquired from Scarborough fc to improve our stadium.

Our junior set up is great - I think only us and Sheffield compete with the super league teams in the academy league. Zac hardaker is proof that we can bring new stars to the game even on a championship budget.

The club is well managed and financially sound having lost something like 3 league games in 2 years so we are seeing success on the pitch without a 'sugar daddy' (love that phrase!)

Attendances are an issue but it's hard to improve this when you have been in the @rse end of rugby league for so many years. Only fax & Leigh bring anything like the number of away fans to fill our stadium (which we own)

If the door slams shut on us after all this, how do you think it will affect the sport in the championships? Fans will become even more disaffected and stay away IMO as the lack of a frankly fairytale stint in the league above a la Blackpool (in football) becomes increasingly more unlikely.

Just to add to my post I am in the group of people (don't know if it's a minority) that promotion and relegation should exist in super league. Clubs in super league who consistently don't make the top 8 (which should also be a top 6) have absolutely nothing to play for, they are just existing season in and season out. I think Huddersfield are the perfect example of a club that got relegated, managed to get their together and are now one of the top clubs in super league which IMO proves that relegation is not a nail in the coffin for clubs. If fev played like that a lot then they would be in super league in no time with promotion and relegation. And I'd have no problem with that.

The grounds the real issue because the team certainly looks like it needed less work then Widnes needed this time last year.

Issues with the ground-

1- Floodlights aren't good enough for night matches
2- The majority of the lights round the ground don't work
3- The way to the away section is a complete bog in bad weather with me even seeing one police van having to tow another out of it near halftime
4- The toilets consisted of a urinal for 4 people behind a temporary fence


These things wouldn't be that hard to fix to be honest and I understand if it's a money issue. Hopefully the club may have made a bit of cash from this cup run and can get some of these issues sorted ASAP.

When Huddersfield were relegated they remained a full time professional team , went unbeaten all season and won everything. They came straight back up and had Tony Smith as coach.

I don't know if the free agent player rule existed then but any team getting relegated these days stands far more of a chance of emulating the Crusaders rather than repeating the Huddersfield scenario.

You say emulating crusaders but that happened without promotion and relegation. So what is the franchise system actually doing? Who has it actually benefitted? Crap clubs are still crap and one of the big teams is in danger of emulating crusaders. You could say Catalan have done well but they were immune from relegation anyway without the franchise system.

Agreed

Rovers are in a unique position in the game, we own our ground and 17 acres of land surrounding it, there are plans in place for us to earn regular income from this land that could put us in the top bracket. Were not just coming into super league to make up the numbers sunshine, were coming to win it, we have as much right as you or saints to be in the top division, its discrimination pure and simple

Rovers are in a unique position in the game, we own our ground and 17 acres of land surrounding it, there are plans in place for us to earn regular income from this land that could put us in the top bracket. Were not just coming into super league to make up the numbers sunshine, were coming to win it, we have as much right as you or saints to be in the top division, its discrimination pure and simple

Doing it in a one off playoff game is different, u also got beat the other week 40-60 against sheffield. Yes your good in NL but would get batter in SL just like any side that comes up and the gulf is even bigger now so you would get religated straight away.
Sort your ground out and facilities then apply again. If youve got the full package then you deserve a chance. Its not just how you are on the field now.

Well if owning your own ground was the only criteria to be in super league I'm sure you and your 17 acres would be right up there

No. Not until you can attract a crowd in excess of 10,000, which neither Cas or Wakey can.

10k crowd is not a criteria

I don't know why youre trying to argue with me, my view is that promotion and relegation should exist which would probably give fev an opportunity in super league. Under the franchise system you wouldn't stand a chance because your ground is rubbish and you're not getting the attendances you need. We also own a ground which is probably in the same condition as post office road but we just use that as a training ground. That is the level of things expected in super league.

No. Not under the current ownership/management, or whoever was responsible for match arrangements, specifically:
1. Dangerous and muddy access to the ground along a cart track, which got much worse in darkness after the game. (for visiting fans only).
2. Insultingly poor toilet facilities (for visiting fans only).
3. Barmy segregation policy, with some seats unaccountably declared out of bounds (for visiting fans only).
4. Overzealous stewards, one of whom blocked the view of our first try, by following silly stewarding instructions (for visiting fans only).

I would like the club management to 'sample' those toilet facilities for themselves next time they play. Utterly disgusting, probably illegal, almost certainly in breach of local authority licence.