The Thoughts Of A Grazing Ram - Friendly Edition
By David Hyomes

Christmas comes round with every passing year and the visit by Batley today marks the start of what has almost become a separate season.  The friendly match season for professional clubs starts at Christmas and goes through to the end of January.  Pre-season games have taken on a different complexion from years past.  There was a time when you played your local rivals and all the proceeds went to a local charity.  Now these games for National League clubs have become a vital part of their salary cap.  The playing requirements of the club coach may come secondary to the demands of the Chief Executive.  The Featherstone Rovers coach David Hobbs said recently that he did not really want the friendly games his club have arranged but accepted that financially lucrative fixtures against Castleford, Leeds and Wakefield were vital to club coffers and his own recruitment plans.

I once read a book by the Birmingham City Football Club executive Karen Brady who said she had to meet financial targets from her clubs pre-season games.  Hence fixtures against the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Rangers.  If the Rams have a target to reach in pre-season they could not have picked game more carefully!  Big crowds always come to the Boxing Day derby whilst after today Bradford Bulls and Hull visit our theatre of dreams.

|Hull have not been here for many years and there seems to be a big level of interest over on the East Coast.  The black and whites have already been on our fans forum enquiring about decent drinking venues near our ground.  Hopefully they will sample the Royal Suite, Bailey Bar and South Stand Bar during their visit.  I am sure they will find the Badger Bar!

Finally we make a Friday night visit to Castleford in late January with a shared gate again likely to be lucrative.  With the night time restrictions on standing on our grassed ends it is no doubt better to play this one away.

Neither team will be at full strength today but that will not dilute the festive Heavy Woollen spirit.  Good luck to the Rams - give our Christmas that extra edge!