fevnut's musings 2024/#03: Batley, Amateurs in Challenge Cup and other 'Miscellaneous' Matches

Batley v Fev

Despite the trouncing of Hunslet the previous week, we arrived at Mount Pleasant without anywhere near as much confidence as was being expressed by many Fev Fans.

Let’s explain. You need to build a team. It matters little how great the quality of your individual players, they won’t perform anywhere near their potential until they have had time to blend into a team. This can be masked by playing a much weaker opposition and that was what we felt had happened in the previous match against Hunslet.

Looking at the Batley teamsheet it was obvious that we about to face a much stronger team. Of the seventeen players appearing for Batley, 13 had played for them last year. And for Fev only 7 had been with us in 2023.

We have to have patience and only time will reveal how good our new look team becomes. The fact that we only lost by a single drop goal ought to be something that provides hope.

Reading some, so called Fev fans, comments on facebook you would have thought that we had lost by 50 points. There were postings saying that it was Fev’s worst ever performance and others saying that our coach should be sacked. Rude and absolutely inane. If they think they are supporters then they should start supporting the club.

 

Amateur Clubs in the Challenge Cup

Between 1997 and 2013 Fev faced amateur clubs in the Challenge Cup on 16 occasions and yet Sunday’s match with Thatto Heath Crusaders will be the first time since 2013. That’s partly down to the luck of the draw and partly down to restructuring of the competition.

Unlike many other professional teams, we can proudly claim never to have lost a match against amateurs. I did once watch an amateur team winning a Challenge Cup match at Post Office but that was Sharlston Rovers beating Dewsbury Rams in 2004.

Here is a chart showing all our Challenge Cup Matches against Amateurs since 1921:

 

Despite the fact that there have almost always been Amateur Clubs in the Challenge Cup, it was not until 1964 when Rovers drew an amateur club for the first time.

Although the Chart only shows one previous game against Thatto we also played them in a John Player Preliminary Round tie in 1987 but with a much narrower margin (34-16) than the Challenge Cup tie in 2013.

Other Matches of interest

Having researched Fev matches against amateurs in the Challenge Cup we thought we would take a look at the matches when the boot was on the other foot and searched out the matches that Fev played before they became a professional club in 1921-22 season. Here is what we have: 

You will notice that one match is highlighted in a purple font. That’s the game against Widnes in 1906. It has to be right up there as one of the greatest achievements by a Featherstone Rovers team. That year Widnes finished in the top half of the Northern Rugby League table so the scoreline by which we beat them is extraordinary. How we wish there had been a film of the match for us to view! Featherstone Rovers – the giant-killers!

There have been a number of other occasions when Fev met non RFL teams.

Back in 1924 we beat Wyke 19-3 away in the first round of the Yorkshire Cup.

We have played French Elite teams on 6 occasions. One of those you will find in the chart showing matches against amateur teams in the Challenge Cup. It was against Villeneuve Leopards and was a brutal game! Strictly speaking, that shouldn’t have been included as a match against an amateur team but we are not going to re do that chart now. In 1998 there was a ridiculous tournament called ‘Treize Tournoi’ which was played after the Grand Final and Fev and Wakefield who were both involved weren’t really bothered. We played both Limoux and St. Estève home and away and unsurprisingly lost 3 of the 4 matches. The only English club who took it seriously were Lancashire Lynx who got to the final. The only thing of note was that Jamie Peacock played for Fev (on loan from Bradford) in two of the matches.

In 2012 we met Pia in a match designated as the European Club Championship and became the Champions by winning 48-22. The competition has never been played since so we are still the reigning European Club Champions.

Finally, there have been 6 matches against international touring teams. Three against Australia, 2 against New Zealand and 1 against Papua New Guinea. To beat Australia is an amazing achievement, but to do it twice has to rank as fantastic. 

 

There are also two unofficial matches against international opposition. In 1982 we lost 5-13 to France in a match that was played as part of Mick Gibbins testimonial. Further back in 1961 a combined Featherstone Rovers and Castleford team (yes, it really happened) lost 20-31 to New Zealand. We wonder if there were any skirmishes between members of the combined team!

 

The flags above represent all the nations that, under current rugby league rules, members of the 2024 Fev squad have played for, or are eligible to play for.