Council forces club to “substantially reduce the capacity” for weekend clash

Featherstone Rovers have announced that their Challenge Cup clash at home to Wakefield Trinity will be forced to have a reduced capacity.

A statement was shared by Featherstone Rovers on their website confirming the news.

It read: “We are disappointed to announce that we have received in the last 24 hours an instruction from Wakefield Council to substantially reduce the capacity of Post Office Road Terrace for this weekend’s game.

“We remain in dialogue with the Council about the improvements which they wish to see, and will assess these improvements in accordance with our budget plans moving forward.

“Whilst we fully expect to accommodate all supporters on Sunday, we will have to deal with a first come first served basis on the Terrace. The message will be therefore that if the terrace is your preferred option, please get to the ground early. The main stand, the community stand and the Stable will all be available for home fans so there will be no issues in terms of accommodating all supporters from both Clubs.

“In terms of car parking, there will be extremely limited car parking on site due to the Fairground being based on the car park so the message will be to park away from the Stadium. We will have a limited number of blue badge parking spaces close to the main gates but they will only be available on a strictly first come-first served basis.”

Featherstone Rovers suffer huge blow

It’s a major blow for Featherstone Rovers that they will have a reduced capacity, and for rugby league in general, with the Challenge Cup tie between Rovers and their rivals Trinity set to be very well-attended.

It would have marked the first time the two sides had met since the iconic game in 1998 that ultimately saw Trinity earn Super League status, something that Rovers have never managed to do.

With the huge wave of positivity around Wakefield Trinity at the moment it would have been expected that they would have taken a large away following on the short trip to Post Office Road.

However, fans are now left in what could be a race to arrive at the ground due to the club installing a “first come first served” policy for the Terrace Stand.

The game will kick off at 3pm on Sunday afternoon with coverage being provided by The Sportsman YouTube channel for those fans who cannot attend the game.

Today’s announcement comes less than 24 hours after the major boost that Featherstone had managed to sign Paul Turner from the NRL with the half-back set to replace Ben Reynolds.