Featherstone's quiet Sundays: a rugby league town's financial crisis
Featherstone Rovers, one of rugby league's storied clubs, faces a serious financial crisis and has been excluded from the RFL Championship this season. The West Yorkshire town built on rugby league is now uncertain about the sport's future in its community.
Club’s financial crisis meant exclusion from the RFL Championship this season, and it could be a long way back for one of the sport’s storied namesSunday afternoon in Featherstone. The first shoots of spring are creaking through the skyline and the Railway pub is bustling with rugby league supporters as the town’s pride and joy, Featherstone Rovers, prepare to face Swinton Lions.Or at least, that is what should have happened last weekend. Instead, streets of this West Yorkshire town built on coal mining were deserted. The Railway, just a few hundred yards from Rovers’ Post Office Road home, was largely empty and the gates of the stadium chained shut. Continue reading...