Featherstone Rovers 1902 to 1906

The birth of Featherstone Rovers by Ian Clayton

In the winter of 1902 George Johnson, a member of a sporting family who had migrated to Featherstone from Shropshire and Staffordshire, was working as a barman at The Railway Hotel. Johnson along with his friend the sprinter Ernest Jordan was keen to start a new Featherstone Rugby Club. The landlord at The Railway Hotel Charles Umpleby owned some fields in Post Office Road which he suggested could be used as a home ground. On November 26 1902 the newly formed Featherstone Rovers played their first game there and beat Wakefield Bridge End 17-0. The club managed to organise five more friendly games before the end of the season and won them all.

The following season 1903/04 Featherstone Rovers became members of the Wakefield and District League. They won all but one of their games and were champions in their first competitive season. The following year they were elevated to the Yorkshire Senior Competition, which meant they would face the best of the junior clubs. They had another tremendous year and were crowned champions. After just three years in existence the club had built a remarkable team that included the athlete Will Hoyle and the outstanding forwards Will Hoyle, Jack Randall and John Willie Higson.

For season 1905/06 Featherstone Rovers were invited to play in the Yorkshire Combination, now they would be up against the very best of the junior teams as well as the second teams of the senior professional clubs from Leeds, Huddersfield, Wakefield and Halifax. They went through the league campaign losing just one match and easily won the league, ten points in front of their nearest rivals York A Team. It was in the Challenge Cup that Featherstone Rovers really covered themselves in glory. They trounced Woolley Colliery 61-2 in a qualifying round and then won at Otley. In the first round they drew Brookland Rovers and beat them 16-5 in front of a crowd of over 1,000 spectators. The second round brought stiff competition in Widnes one of the elite professional clubs. The match was played at Post Office Road in front of a record crowd of more than 3,000. The Rovers shook the Rugby world with an incredible 23-2 victory to progress to the last eight of the sport’s premier cup competition. Their reward was an away fixture at Keighley, who that year finished fifth in the professional league. The Keighley club sent a banner to Featherstone emblazoned with the slogan 'Are we downhearted? Never!' Featherstone attached it to the front of the train that carried them to Keighley. The game was a dour tussle and became a real rough house. Keighley prevailed 3-0. At a tea after the game the Keighley Captain congratulated the Featherstone players and said that if the game had been a draw he wouldn't have fancied travelling to Featherstone for a replay. It remains the only time that a club from outside of the professional elite teams has reached the quarter final of the competition.

After their exploits that season there was a mass exodus of the best players who were all enticed away by offers from bigger clubs. Mottram moved to Broughton Rangers, Walker, Banks and Shaw moved to Hull and Hunslet snapped up Will Hoyle, Jack Randall and John Willie Higson. They had already taken Billy Jukes the previous season. To add to this, George Johnson the founding father of the club, moved to Pontefract to become landlord at The Black Boy Hotel. Featherstone Rovers failed to field a side for the 1906/07 season and the club lay dormant until Boxing Day 1908 when they played a friendly at home to Hunslet Albion. They recommenced activities in the 1909/10 season and this is the famous club that continues to this day.