Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "small town teams" which were common in rugby league in the early 20th century. The club has produced many junior players who have gone on to play for Super League clubs. Their local rivals are Castleford and Wakefield Trinity, and in the Championship, Halifax. The club have won the Challenge Cup three times, in 1967, 1973 and 1983, and been League Champions once, in 1977. History 1889–1902: Origins Featherstone Trinity RUFC were formed in 1889. Featherstone Trinity played their first game on the New Inn fields against Castleford Mill Lane Rovers. The following season in 1890, Featherstone went 19 games without defeat. They dropped the Trinity to become simply Featherstone RUFC in 1894. Featherstone voted to join the Northern Union in 1898 and became the town's first rugby league team. Featherstone played in the following competitions the Charlesworth Cup (1889 to 1905), the Dunhill Cup. (1890 to 1894) and the Yorkshire Second Competition (1898 to 1902). They folded in 1902. 1902–1945: Foundation A new club, Featherstone Rovers, was formed in the Railway Hotel in 1902, reformed in 1906 and joined the Northern Union in 1907. Initially the club played in the Dewsbury, Wakefield & District League (1919 to 1921) as well as the Yorkshire Combination (1905 to 1912) and The Yorkshire Junior Cup (1909 to 1921). The club was originally made up of local miners and between 1912 and 1913 played at the Featherstone Main Colliery Welfare Ground. In 1913 Featherstone Rovers merged with Purston White Horse. To bolster the ranks of the war time league, Featherstone Rovers along with Brighouse Rangers and St Helens Recs were promoted from district leagues to join the senior clubs for the duration of the conflict, although Featherstone only lasted one season. After the First World War, Featherstone took part in the Leeds & District League (1913 to 1921) and the Wakefield & District League (1919 to 1921). Featherstone became a semi-professional club on 14 June 1921, beating Bradford Northern in their first game as a senior club. Their first game at Post Office Road attracted 4,000 fans. The finished 24th in their first season. They then finished 12th, 23rd, 17th, 15th, 11th and 3rd in