Castleford Tigers postpone Featherstone friendly as Rovers file for administration

Ben Olawumi
Castleford Tigers players in 2025

Castleford Tigers celebrate a try in 2025

Castleford Tigers have confirmed their friendly with Featherstone, scheduled for later this month, has been postponed after Rovers filed for administration.

Championship outfit Fev had been set to visit The Jungle for a festive pre-season clash on Saturday, December 27.

But Rovers have been in financial turmoil for a number of months and on the eve of their High Court appearance, they submitted an application for an Administration Order.

With an unpaid tax bill believed to be in the region of £120,000, if the Flatcappers were to enter administration, it would pause the immediate threat of liquidation.

Appointed administrators would then have the opportunity to attempt a restructure or find a path forward for the club’s operations.

Their future remains unclear, but for now, it’s at least been confirmed that they won’t be in action against Super League foes Cas later this month.

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Castleford Tigers postpone Featherstone friendly as Rovers file for administration

This is the second pre-season friendly that the Tigers have been forced to postpone. They had been set for a trip to Spain where they were scheduled to face Championship side Oldham in the Benidorm Bash.

That event was cancelled last week though, with details including venues and tickets still unconfirmed by its organisers.

Cas and Oldham are still expected to face each other in a friendly on UK soil, but details of that re-arrange fixture are still to be confirmed.

Accordingly, the only pre-season outing that Ryan Carr’s side still have booked in their diary is a trip to fellow Super League side St Helens on Saturday, January 24 as they take part in Matty Lees’ testimonial.

Fev only had their trip to The Jungle booked in, so now have no scheduled friendlies before their competitive fixtures are set to begin in 2026 as they enter the Second Round of the Challenge Cup over the weekend of January 24/25.

Their opponents in that tie will be either Brighouse Rangers or Lock Lane.

As things stand though, there’s no guarantees that Fev will make it to the start line to compete in 2026, with a further update awaited.