fevnut's musings 2023/#20: Our Special Table, Whitehaven and Leigh

Our Special League Table

A few years back fevnut devised a special league table that not only shows all the usual information but also lists possibilities and decisions on what could happen between the current moment and the end of the league season.

There is no point whatsoever in looking at it until we are about two thirds of the way through the matches. That will be the case after this weekend’s round has been completed with 18 out of 27 games played by every club.

It is pretty obvious that there are no definite results yet but when we looked earlier this week they were some possibilities that are no longer available to clubs.

There are now two clubs who, even if they won every remaining game, could not get to the top of the table and there is good news that there is one club that are already at a points level whereby, even if they lost every remaining game, could not end up in the relegation places.

We make no pretence that, at this stage, this is a predictor of what will eventually happen, but we find it fascinating to see how more and more possible outcomes are reduced as each round passes.

Here is our Special Table as it stands now and a few weeks further on we will be posting it (updated, of course) on our Championship Table page.

Whitehaven

Our results over Whitehaven in the last two seasons have been amazing. Their fans must be praying that we get promoted and that, as a result, they don’t have to face us in 2024. The other possibility for them avoiding Fev in 2024 would be if they got relegated but I don’t think that is likely to happen. They are currently in ninth place. Of course, their points difference is pretty terrible and that is largely due to their games against Rovers!

As we wrote last week, traditionally Fev have found trips to Whitehaven challenging since they joined the professional ranks for the 1948/49 season. It was not until our eighth trip up there that we managed to record our first win.

fevnut recalls some fairly miserable games. One where one of the corners was almost impossible to get out of because of deep mud making it really difficult to clear their lines. That day it was raining hard and it was impossible to find any cover so we ended up driving back in a sodden condition. Another miserable excursion came in the 2004 play-offs. We had finished in fifth place, so all matches in the play-offs were going to be away games. Nevertheless we managed to beat Oldham and then Hull KR which took us to the ‘final eliminator’ at Whitehaven. We seemed to be on a good run of form and Fev fans were confident of winning that one and getting to the grand final. But it wasn’t to be and we were never in the match losing 30-2. At least we weren’t nilled although avoiding that ignominy by kicking a penalty wasn’t much recompense.

In the following season we were well and truly beaten in both league games but any resentment against Whitehaven was allayed by the fact that they finished at the top of the table beating Castleford by two points. Sadly they lost in the grand final to Cas.

Before last Sunday the highest number of points Fev had ever scored at the Recreation Ground (now called the LEL stadium) was 48 so to score 60 was a remarkable result, raising the record by a mammoth 25%.

Leigh and progression up the rankings

One of the reasons that the Championship is such a good competition is that it hasn’t suffered the fate of Super League with just a small group of clubs dominating their competition year after year.

Since Super League began in 1996 only four clubs have become champions, although four other clubs have managed to win the league leaders shield. In the second tier (first division, Northern Ford Premiership, National League 1 and Championship) 3 different clubs have ended the season at the top of the table. Three more teams have won the Grand Final without ever winning the League Leaders Shield.

It has become incredibly difficult for any promoted teams to survive and become competitive in Super League.

In all honesty, Leigh are one of those clubs that we usually really dislike. A legacy from their hugely unsporting tactics for several years in the 2010s. Nevertheless, their performance this year so far has been a real tonic for our sport.

So, grudgingly, we congratulate them and wish them well for the rest of the season and hope that Fev can get promoted and then follow the example that Leigh have set.

Before the days of Super League which opened up a huge gulf between the haves and the have nots, rapid rises were not so rare and there are three examples involving Fev.

In the 1927/28 season, only seven years after joining the Northern Rugby League, Fev finished 3rd in the table above clubs such as St. Helens, Wigan, Huddersfield, Warrington, Wakefield and Hull. And they went on to get to the Championship final too, defeating Leeds to get there.

After finishing in 20th place in the 1970/71 season they climbed to 7th in 1971/1972 and then to 2nd place in 1972/73. It was a year that is now largely remembered for our win at Wembley in the Challenge Cup final but that second place in the league also deserves to be remembered.

After that the clubs were split into two divisions. At end of 1986/87 we were relegated from the top tier, but then won promotion back to the top division the very next year and we finished in a very creditable 6th place in the 14-club top tier and followed that up with getting to the semi-final of the Premiership Trophy after defeating Leeds at Headingley in the first round.