After Featherstone Rovers were denied RFL membership and entry to the Championship, a solution has been found to resolve the imbalanced fixture list.
Rovers, who filed for administration in December, were denied RFL membership by the governing body on the grounds that there were too many ties to the former ownership.
Abi Ekoku of the RFL spoke to media including Serious About Rugby League at the Championship season launch this week, explaining that decision whilst also expressing a belief that Featherstone Rovers will compete in 2027.
As for 2026, their removal from the competition has created an imbalance in an already complicated fixture list. The Championship and League One competitions merged to create a 21-team Championship, meaning playing home and away was not an option.
Instead, teams would play 12 opponents home and away, meaning they would not play eight other clubs in the league, however, with Featherstone dropping out some sides have been left with 22 fixtures and others 24.
That’s now been resolved with Oldham taking to social media to provide an update.
Championship club share update after Featherstone withdrawal
The Roughyeds will play in the season opener against Salford RLFC on Friday night but they had been slated to play Featherstone in rounds six and 15.
They’ve now taken to social media to state that their home game, which was scheduled for round six on the 6th of March, will be rescheduled with an alternative opponent to be put forward.
Oldham made no mention of the away fixture and confirmed that further details will be announced in due course.
It’s a priority for the RFL to sort out club’s home fixtures against Featherstone and find replacement opponents as teams earn gate money from their home games, something that is essential for clubs to survive.
It’s yet to be seen what happens to the away games as those fixtures will surely need to be filled otherwise half of the league will play 23 games compared to 24.
Serious About Rugby League have reached out to the RFL for further details in the midst of Oldham’s statement, which can be seen below.
“Roughyeds can confirm that our scheduled home fixture against Featherstone Rovers will be replaced with an alternative opponent, following Rovers’ withdrawal from the league.
“Further details will be confirmed in due course.”
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Roughyeds can confirm that our scheduled home fixture against Featherstone Rovers will be replaced with an alternative opponent, following Rovers’ withdrawal from the league.
Further details will be confirmed in due course. pic.twitter.com/RUsxdNqyLH
— Oldham RLFC (@Roughyeds) January 14, 2026
