Featherstone Rovers’ eye-watering debts revealed including RFL loan questions

Featherstone Rovers owed creditors collective debt approaching £3million at the time of their demise at the end of last year, Love Rugby League can reveal: with over £300,000 in unpaid Covid loans from the RFL among the debt.

Rovers’ parent company went into administration in December on the eve of a winding-up hearing in the courts which had been filed by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

Administrators were appointed but a bid to take fresh ownership of the company from a consortium which included previous chair and owner Mark Campbell was dismissed by the RFL, effectively leaving the parent company in limbo and the town of Featherstone without a rugby league club.

But Love Rugby League has seen the full list of creditors that are still owed money by Featherstone Rovers Rugby League Football Club Limited which totals a staggering £2,851,329.

Perhaps most importantly for the sport, that includes a sum of £320,558 to the RFL for the money the club borrowed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The sport secured a £16million rescue package at the height of the pandemic in summer 2020 to ensure clubs at all levels were able to survive. Each club was allowed to submit an application based on the revenue they would lose due to the impact of Covid-19.

Those loans are now repayable to the governing body, who in turn repay it to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. But at the time of their administration, Featherstone still owed in excess of £300,000 – leading to questions about whether or not the RFL will now have to inherit that debt to ensure it is repaid to the Government.

Love Rugby League has contacted the RFL for clarity on the matter. A bounce back loan of over £40,000 is also owed to Virgin Money.

Other huge creditors include former chairman Paddy Handley, whose PMJ Masonry company are listed as a creditor owed an eye-watering £596,000. Campbell himself is also owed £229,284 with another former director, Chris Brereton, owed £74,000.

Another notable creditor is The Peoples Pension, a workplace pensions company who Featherstone used to handle their players’ pension contributions. They are owed over £115,000 in unpaid contributions. There are also over £100,000 in unpaid energy bills, with Wakefield Council owed around £48,000.

Several high-profile rugby league agencies are also owed five-figure sums. They include Distinct Rugby Limited, the agency run by Iestyn Harris, which is owed £21,090 and Show Me The Money UK, run by Craig Harrison, which is owed £11,639.

HMRC, who filed the winding-up petition in the first place, were owed over £88,000 at the time of the club’s demise. Many of Featherstone’s former players are listed, though their debt is not clarified – but former star Elijah Taylor is still owed over £5,000 despite having not played for the club since 2023.

Former coach James Ford left Featherstone last February – but he is still owed £26,404.