Featherstone
Rovers Rugby League Club
by Ron Bailey
(Images of Sport Series - Tempus Publishing)
Told
largely through photographs with accompanying words this is the 80 year
history of the Featherstone Rovers Rugby League Club. This book
is part of a Tempus Publishing series "Images of Sport" which
includes releases on many other English rugby league clubs.
Featherstone
is one of the less-fashionable clubs that has struggled the whole of
its existence with the limited support of its small local town community
- at times their ground capacity exceeded the Featherstone population
of 14,000.
The competition from nearby Wakefield and Castleford has meant that
Featherstone has always been in the shadow of the these larger clubs.
But each is fiercely independent, which was demonstrated no better than
in 1995 when all three clubs rejected a proposed "Calder"
merger to create a Super League team. Featherstone were denied a place
in the initial Super League at the expense of the ill-fated Paris team
- one wonders what Rovers would have achieved over recent seasons if
they had received the funds and opportunity instead.
Like
many rugby league clubs that don't feature in the Super League or NRL
they are struggling to survive, but their spirit which has seen them
survive through nearly a century sees them prevail.
Featherstone
was not without its successes and great players - through the extensive
photographs in this book with its supporting words, the story of this
club's fairytale fight for glory and honour provides an interesting
and revealing history.
The
author, Ron Bailey, makes a very good observation as a result of his
research: "What interested me in my research was the number of
players and supporters who, like myself, consider that the modern game
has lost its edge. Undoubtedly, the players are fitter and stronger
athletes, and consequently the game is faster. Yet it has become, in
comparison, more stereotypical and predictable and many Rovers stars
of the past do not watch it. Be that as it may, it is still a great
game, and one must not forget that many of today's supporters have known
nothing else."
This
series by Tempus Publishing provides a magnificent contribution to the
growing rugby league literature available - importantly they include
studies of clubs, like Featherstone, outside of the current Super League.
Published
by Tempus Publishing - ISBN 0 7524 2295 2
