A fevnut special: Fev at Christmas and Easter

 

You know that BBC quiz programme where you get endless repeats of the phrase ‘We asked 100 people’.

Well, we didn’t manage to ask 100 people, but we still managed a fair few with the question ‘What can you tell me about rugby league matches at Christmas and Easter?’

Common responses included:

1. Matches were regularly played on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
2. Over Easter, matches were played on Good Friday and Easter Monday.
3. Holiday period matches were almost always against nearby clubs and usually Castleford or Wakefield.
4. The ‘Summer Era’ has deprived us of competitive matches over Christmas.

So, we set about taking a real scrutiny of Fev’s matches over Christmas and Easter. What it revealed is an essence of truth in the beliefs of people we spoke to but there were also a few surprises.

CHRISTMAS

The biggest surprise was that up until 1959 Fev often played on Christmas Day. Hard to imagine that happening nowadays. It’s surprising that fans turned up for Christmas Day matches and it seems to have been very harsh on the players. And even harsher is that in 12 seasons Fev had matches on both Christmas and Boxing Day.

The New Year’s Day match is rather rarer than many people imagine with Fev playing in only 20 of the 100 seasons.

Of course, since 1996, the Summer Era has virtually put an end to the Christmas games but nevertheless, from 2000 to 2002, during the so-called Summer Era, the Northern Ford Premiership began in December and Fev did have competitive fixtures over the Christmas Period. In 2000 Fev had a game on Monday Jan 3^rd which was the New Year’s Day bank holiday because Jan 1^st was on a Saturday. 2001 was the last time when Fev had competitive matches on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day

EASTER

As we began perusing the relevant matches we soon realised that the Easter matches often included re-arranged matches from earlier in the season that had been postponed from earlier in the season. Taking the ‘Easter Period’ as stretching from the Thursday to the Tuesday there were 5 seasons (1926/27, 1930/31, 1947/48, 1948/49 and 1965/66) when fans were treated to and players suffered from 4 matches over Easter.

In contrast, in 1942/43 and 1980/81 there were no Easter matches because Easter was late and the season finished before it. No Easter matches are shown for 1995/96 because that short season before the ‘Summer Era’ began ended in January but fans didn’t miss out because by Easter 1996 the first ‘Summer Era’ season was in full swing.

It was quite a surprise to see that Good Friday has not been anywhere near an ever-present day in the RL calendar. From 1950 through to 1962 Fev had no Good Friday matches. Matches on the Saturday have been nearly as common as those on Good Friday. There have been 21 seasons in which Fev played on both Good Friday AND on the Saturday. An Easter Monday fixture has figured in 82 of Fev’s 100 seasons.

The big surprise for us is the 3 Easter Sunday matches (1980, 1984 and 1988). We would most likely have been at these games and no-one we spoke to mentioned matches on Easter Sunday!

PLAYING AGAINST NEIGHBOURS

It’s certainly true that holiday period matches very often featured Castleford and Wakefield. When it wasn’t them, then more often than not the fixtures were against other Yorkshire clubs.

Nevertheless, there is a significant number of matches that were against teams from outside the Yorkshire area. In our second season we played Wigan Highfield at home on Christmas Day and then played them away on Boxing Day.

THE BEST OF TIMES

Traditionally the Christmas period has not been the best of times for Fev, but it was a really good one in 1923 when Fev beat Hunslet 9-0 at home on Christmas Day. On Boxing Day they went to Belle Vue and won 10-5. On December 27th they were back at home beating Batley 3-0. That's 3 matches in 3 days, 3 wins and only one try conceded.

For Easter games the three years from 1954 to 1956 were remarkable! Each year we played Leeds, Wakefield and Huddersfield. Of those 9 games we won 8 and drew one!

fevnut's musings #01: Getting Desperate, 2021 Squad and Offload

Getting Desperate

The way we feel at the moment, if Fev announced that they were going to play a match in Timbuktu in February and that spectators would be allowed if they quarantined for a month on their return we would do almost anything to get there!

 

Our 2021 Squad

There have been some very impressive signings for 2021 and we are quite excited at the prospect of seeing some of those new players. The only worry we have is that we make so many changes every season that makes it difficult to blend a team together. There’s so little opportunity for the players to gain in-depth experience of playing together. This year the ‘new boys’ amount to a total of 14 although two of them (Tom Holmes and Connor Jones) have played for played for Fev before.

A really big benefit is that we now have many players who can fill different positions and that will mean less disruption to the team if and when we suffer injuries amongst the squad.

It is symptomatic of the way the game has changed that there are now far fewer players who are real specialists in one particular position. It is a bit ironic that one position, hooker, has lost most all the skills that used to be associated with their position in the scrum, but nevertheless the skills required in the dummy-half role are still absolutely crucial and we looked very light there in what existed of the 2020 season. There are a number of players in the squad who have occasionally filled in at hooker but have been nowhere near as effective as they have been when playing in what one would describe as their natural position. So the prospect of having two decidedly specialist hookers in Connor Jones and Dean Parata is great. And we also have Tom Holmes and Fa’amanu Brown who are more than capable of doing minutes at hooker if required.

The pack is beginning to look really strong and experienced although maybe, for us, too many are in their thirties.

We have a lot of faith in those putting our squad together and are particularly looking forward to seeing how the younger recruits develop.

Our biggest anticipation revolves around the greatest of the unknowns – Fa‘amanu Brown. Where will he play and is he really as good as the videos of him seem to indicate. It’s always difficult for a young man to settle in a very different environment to that he is accustomed to but he does look to be a really exciting prospect. We know that Fev fans will give him the customary warm welcome to overseas players arriving in our little town and hope that he quickly feels the warmth of that welcome and it helps in his acclimatisation. What a pity that the present situation will make that a bit difficult.

We have drawn up a chart of the possibilities in each position. For now, we are foregoing any predictions of our first choice 13. We simply list them in alphabetical order and have put players in bold font in their most accustomed position.

 

Game Time

We do hope that the club are able to ensure that all our squad get some proper game time. Whether that be playing in the first team, out on loan, or friendlies against other teams, it must be really difficult for lads to spend a season without fulfilling their dreams of playing. It must be pretty despondent for them if they are not getting a chance to play and it makes it difficult to keep up morale. As soon as it becomes possible the return of reserve teams should be a high priority.

 

Offload

 

It has been a very difficult few months for the Foundation with so many of the activities that they organise curtailed by the pandemic. One of the activities that has been running is ‘Offload’ which is running in conjunction with Rugby League Cares. The sessions are designed to help with men’s mental health issues and is run by former and current rugby league players who have received special training to enable to guide the programme. It’s a brilliant contribution to our community and congratulations to all involved.

Fev through the Ages: Loose Forwards

 

Here are the 10 Fev players who have made the most appearances at Loose Forward. 

Can you spot the player who is in both the Top 10 Loose Forwards and the Top Ten Second Rows?

Please note that the 'Fev Years' column' refers to the first and last years that the player appeared in this position.

In our records the Loose Forward, Tommy Smales, is listed as Tommy{2} Smales. This is to distinguish him from the other Tommy Smales, who played predominantly at scrum half between 1952 and 1955.