Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship.
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33 Facts About Featherstone Rovers
2.
Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "small town teams" which were common in rugby league in the early 20th century.
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3.
Featherstone Rovers voted to join the Northern Union in 1898 and became the town's first rugby league team.
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4.
Featherstone Rovers played in the following competitions the Charlesworth Cup, the Dunhill Cup.
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5.
New club, Featherstone Rovers, was formed in the Railway Hotel in 1902, reformed in 1906 and joined the Northern Union in 1907.
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6.
Featherstone Rovers became a semi-professional club on 14 June 1921, beating Bradford Northern in their first game as a senior club.
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7.
The 1930s were a poor decade for Featherstone Rovers, finishing in the bottom half of the league in every season, and finishing bottom three times.
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8.
From rock bottom strugglers, Featherstone Rovers were gradually transformed into a fit and competitive side, capable of matching the best in the league on their day.
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9.
Featherstone Rovers' first visit to Wembley Stadium was in the 1952 Challenge Cup Final, the first to be televised.
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10.
Harold Moxon took over and Featherstone Rovers finished 8th in the league, up from 15th the previous season.
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11.
Featherstone Rovers managed four Challenge Cup semi-finals in five years but lost all of them.
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12.
The next seasons Featherstone Rovers finished 15th and Malpass quit as coach after a heavy defeat by St Helens in the play-offs.
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13.
Featherstone Rovers featured in a 1969 BBC documentary 'The Game that Got Away' which profiled the state of rugby league in 1969 and the on and off-field fortunes of Featherstone Rovers.
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14.
Featherstone Rovers won only six games of his first 22 in charge but Rovers recovered to finish seventh in the league the following season.
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15.
Featherstone Rovers persuaded veteran forward Terry Clawson to take on the player-coach's role.
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16.
Featherstone Rovers was replaced by former club loose forward Tommy Smales.
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17.
Featherstone Rovers won promotion from the Second Division in 1980 under coach Paul Daley.
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18.
Daley resigned in January 1981 despite Featherstone Rovers winning ten of their opening 16 fixtures and in came Vince Farrar.
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19.
Featherstone Rovers did just enough to stay up in the end finishing just two points ahead of relegated Halifax.
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20.
Featherstone Rovers made a poor start in the league were facing relegation when Vince Farrar was sacked in November 1982.
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21.
Paul Daley came in as coach for the second time but failed to turn the team around mid-season and Featherstone Rovers were relegated in April 1987 for the second time in their history.
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22.
Featherstone Rovers sold Post Office Road to the local council in February 1988.
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23.
Featherstone Rovers were asked to merge with local rivals Castleford and Wakefield Trinity to form a new club, Calder, which would compete in the Super League.
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24.
Trinity's shareholders voted 2:1 in favour of a merger but Featherstone Rovers's members voted against by a large margin and this was resisted.
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25.
In 1995 Featherstone Rovers finished 11th in the 16-team First Division but were effectively relegated to make way for London Broncos and Paris Saint-Germain.
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26.
Steve Simms came in as coach and after finishing 7th in 1997, Featherstone Rovers went within a whisker of gaining Super League status in 1998.
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27.
Featherstone Rovers finished 8th on their return to the second tier of Rugby League.
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28.
Featherstone Rovers did apply for the first round of licences though with the popular view this would not be successful and could be used as a learning experience for future bids.
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29.
In 2016, Featherstone Rovers finished in the top 4, although they lost all 7 games in the qualifiers.
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30.
Featherstone Rovers again reached the top four in 2017, however Sharp was sacked with one game remaining in the regular season.
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31.
On 10 October 2021, Featherstone Rovers reached the Million Pound Game with the opponents this time being French side Toulouse Olympique.
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32.
Featherstone Rovers are in a rare situation, that they own an expanse of land around the current stadium.
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33.
Featherstone Rovers used the town's coat of arms as their badge until 2009 when a new club crest was introduced.
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