Featherstone chased by former players over unpaid wages
Featherstone Rovers are being chased for money by a group of players and staff over unpaid wages.
i understands that a group of at least eight former players and staff are trying to get the club to pay money they are allegedly owed, with some claiming outstanding wages dating back over a year. All are no longer at the Championship club.
It is believed that former coach Brian McDermott is among the group allegedly owed cash. McDermott, now an assistant coach with NRL side Newcastle Knights in Australia, left Featherstone at the end of 2022. He has been approached for comment.
i has been told one ex-employee even took Featherstone to the small claims court to ensure he received what he was owed. Others have approached the RFL for assistance but say they have received little help from the governing body.
A number of individuals who have been badly affected have spoken to i on the condition of anonymity.
“The club seems to have a habit of not paying players at the back ends of contracts, specifically ones from abroad,” one said.
Another said he is owed £5,000 by Featherstone and said the late or non-payment issue is “pretty common” at the club.
“They completely ignored all my phone calls,” he said. “They owe me five grand. My partner almost had to leave the country because they were delaying to pay for her visa. They stopped paying my rent to the real estate. It wasn’t all they did, there was a lot of other stuff too. It’s madness.”
One affected player said: “We went through Christmas without being paid. We’ve been assured by the club we’ll be paid this month, but I’m not holding my breath. We’ve gone to the RFL and the RFL are talking about special measures.”
The total amount the club allegedly owes to former players and staff is unknown.
Australian prop Ben Mathiou took the West Yorkshire club to court last year to try and get back money owed.
Mathiou, who was signed by Featherstone in January 2022, won the sum of £3,116.66 after an employment tribunal in Leeds in July 2023.
At the tribunal, judge R S Drake awarded Mathiou unpaid wages for two months and unpaid win bonuses for five matches.
Rovers have a history of late payment of wages. Last November the club publicly admitted there had been a delay in the club’s payroll.
In late January, the issue had not been resolved. At the time, the RFL confirmed it was aware of the problem and described it as “ultimately a club matter”. Featherstone have not responded to several requests for comment. When approached this week the RFL said it would not be commenting further.
Rovers failed in their promotion bid for Super League last year. The alleged financial issues have not stopped them from signing new players for the 2024 season, with the club recently bringing in NRL half-back Paul Turner. When approached recently about the growing concerns of players and staff seeking money, the RFL responded with a statement: “We understand that outstanding payments have either recently been made or are about to be made. The Rugby League Players Association [RLPA] has a dispute resolution role.”
The RFL declined to confirm or deny if the club had been placed in special measures. The RLPA has been approached for comment.
Featherstone’s alleged payment issues come at a contracting time for English rugby league financially, with the sport’s television rights deal with Sky Sports almost halving, from £40m a year in 2021 to now around £22m a year.
The club has a habit of not paying players at the back ends of contracts, specifically ones from abroad