fevnut's musings 2025/#22: 1895 Final, Wembley and Fev matches with no tries

  

We felt really down after the match although our spirits did lift a bit on the journey home due to convivial company on the coach returning home.

We have got used to matches with loads of tries being scored and it came as a shock to watch 85 minutes of play with none at all.

In retrospect, however, we can think back and admire the tremendous defensive performance of both teams. On watching the video of the match, we were reminded that there were some very good breaks in the second half from Connor Jones, Clay Webb and Caleb Aekins but the York defence managed to scramble back each time and prevent us from scoring. 

 

The one thing that we simply cannot understand occurred very close to the final hooter. Fev were close to the York line and it got to the fifth tackle and Ben Reynolds rushed into a position to receive the ball and have a go at winning the game with a drop goal but the ball was sent in the opposite direction from dummy-half and yet again the York defence was strong enough to hold firm. There are always many moments in a match when you think ‘What if?’ but this was a crucial one and had a good quick pass have gone to Ben we might well have been celebrating winning the 1895 Cup!

 

WEMBLEY and ‘Major Events’

The first time we ever went to Wembley was way back in 1955. It was a trip from our London primary school to see a soccer match between England Schoolboys and Scotland Schoolboys. At half time England were winning 2-0 and we felt sorry for the Scottish lads and with a group of school friends we began to cheer them on in the second half. It worked! Scotland won 3-2.

We have been to Wembley to watch all the Fev Challenge Cup matches except the one in 1952 and, of course, the 1895 Final in 2021.

For some years we represented the local authorities in England and Wales on the Sports Council Major Events Group. Members of the group were regularly invited to ‘big occasions’ and we did see an England International soccer match at Wembley, but it was so boring that we cannot remember who they were playing or what the score was.

We were fortunate to be invited to several 2000 RL World Cup matches. Never to be forgotten was the match between Australia and Russia at The Boulevard in Hull. We were sat just in front of the non-playing members of the Aussie squad. As the annihilation of the Russian team built, the Aussies started to cheer every time Russia got the ball and shortly before the end Russia scored and there was jubilation behind me! But you couldn’t call the Russian try the beginning of a comeback, the Aussies won by 110-4! We also went to the World Cup Final that year at Old Trafford. First of all, we were welcomed as a VIP(!!) and had a very nice buffet meal before the match. Then we were escorted to our seats and we will never forget that moment when we realised that we were being taken into the Manchester United directors’ box!

We had another extraordinary day in Manchester as a member of the Major Events Group. This time it was at the Manchester Velodrome. We enjoyed watching the amazing fitness of the cyclists. As the day wore on we were taken to tables laid out on the inside of the track for a meal. Just imagine this - trying to watch the races from the inside of the track!

Back to Wembley, but this time not for a match. We were asked to give a speech there in support of ‘Kick it Out’, the organisation formed to campaign against racism soccer. At the end of the conference, we had to pose for a photo. We have never felt so small as we were lined up for the photo in between Tony Adams and Ruud Gullitt. Two absolute giants.

Forgive the reminiscing but it has been in our mind because last Saturday has to be our very last trip to Wembley. Nowadays, mobility problems make it difficult to go up stairs or slopes. A sad state of affairs for someone who used to enjoy mountain climbing in Scotland, the Lake District and in the Alps. Wembley is a venue totally unfit for people with mobility problems. The walk from the coach park was bad enough but then when we got to the stadium itself, we were faced with goodness knows how many steps to get up to the actual entrance. We asked whether there was a way to get up to the next level without climbing the stairs only to be told that we would have to walk a considerable distance to a ramp, but walking up a long ramp would have been just as bad as climbing the stairs. Finally got to the top of the stairs and had to sit for about ten minutes to use an inhaler and try and get breathing back nearer to normal only to find that on that first floor level we had a long walk to the entrance that we had to use to get to our seat. It was a terrible experience and the national stadium should be ashamed to put elderly people through that.

After the Challenge Cup final we wanted to get something to eat only to find all the food outlets either closed or closing. Obviously they don’t think that Championship supporters deserve to be able to get some food. We did, then, spy a stall advertising rolls with Cumberland sausage and onions. Very expensive, of course, but the sausages looked good so I got out my card ready to pay and asked for one only to be told that they, too, were closed and their card machine was turned off and packed away. Forlornly I turned away only for the lady to tell me that I could have one, but they wouldn’t be able to charge me for it! At last, my luck was in. A freebie at Wembley and she even gave me a second sausage! It was delicious and not just because I didn’t have to pay for my double Cumberland sausage and onions roll. Did it make up for losing the 1895 Cup Final? Not quite but it really was very, very good.

 

 

Matches with no tries

The next day we sorted out fevnut’s match details page, posted it, and then got a message asking us whether we knew whether Fev had ever previously been involved in a match with no tries. Well, we knew the answer to that because we could remember being at such a game and there is the fascinating history of our first round challenge cup tie in 1925. We were also aware that in earlier times there had been a few 0-0 draws.

At present we can’t be sure how many try-less matches Fev have had because we don’t have the opposition scorers for some of the games pre-1996. Something we hope to garner in time from the work of the RL Record Keepers Club.

If a game in the 1930s, for example had finished with a score such as 6-2, the ‘2’ couldn’t have been a try but the ‘6’ could be either 2 tries or 3 goals. We have compiled a list of 17 Fev games in which there couldn’t have been any tries, because both teams scored less than 3 points, and one game where Fev won 6-2 but we know for certain that Fev kicked 3 goals to make the 6 points.

When you look at the chart you will see Fev have actually played in eight 0-0 draws. 

 

The most recent try-less match wasn’t as long ago as you might imagine. In the days of the Northern Ford Premiership between 1999 and 2002 the summer(?!) season used to begin in December and Fev’s opening match of the season was away at Hull KR on Boxing Day. It was freezing cold and windy with snow blowing all the way into the back of main stand. All the teams could manage to score were one penalty each. Fev’s penalty was kicked by Jamie Rooney who had started on the bench. Look who our starting scrum-half was! 

Without doubt  the most extraordinary try-less matches were in the first round of the Challenge Cup in 1925. Fev were drawn away at Halifax and the game was not only try-less but also point-less. 4 days later Halifax came to Post Office Road for the replay and the game ended in another draw, this time 2-2 with Jim Denton kicking Fev’s 2 points. A second replay had to be arranged at a neutral venue and it was played at Headingley 5 days after the first replay. This time Fev won the tie 6-2 with 2 goals from Jim Denton and one from Jimmy Williams. That is 240 minutes of play without a single try! The next season Fev went to Halifax for a league match and it finished …. 0-0! At least in the home match that season Fev won 10-8 with the teams each scoring two tries but the clinching factor was that Fev managed to kick two goals to only one from Halifax.