Season 1987/88

16 game unbeaten run which got Rovers back in promotion contention

Promotion achieved but it was a battle with only three promoted and with four sides relegated from the first division the previous season.  After a stuttering start, losing 4 games out of the first 8, it took a 16 unbeaten league game run to get Rovers back in contention.  By the final run in Rovers were in sparkling form and finished second behind Oldham.  In the second division premiership final at Old Trafford, Rovers again lost out to Oldham in a pulsating final where Rovers came back to lead from a 22 point deficit only to see the game snatched away from them in the final minutes.

Quinn, Steadman, Fox, Bibb and Pete Smith all had good years.  New recruits from the amateur game, John Bastian and Paul Hughes, added some pace and power to the pack to complement the ever improving Karl Harrison.  In February, the ground was sold and leased back from Wakefield Council.  This would allow the club to remain afloat and competitive, despite the ever increasing requirements and escalating costs arising from the Safety of Sports Act.  Featherstone was also faced with the downturn in the local economy following the miners strike and the ongoing pit closure programme.