The step up to the Championship is a big one.

From what I saw in the Keighley vs York NRC Quarter Final this season. They'd need to improve significantly to have any chance of staying up.

We beat them easily that day and we weren't good enough to stay in the Championship.

Either way Championship 1 is going to lose one of the clubs with the best away followings in the division, for that I wish both clubs luck

I agree, but York were a different side then, the Coach was killing the team and the team was just going through the motions so to speak and we still suffered after nearly every single player leaving to go to Hunslet Knights, sorry i mean Hunslet Hawks, things have taken time and with Dave Woods in Charge and with him coaching his way the Knights have shown a good improvement, yeah not perfect but that will come in time.

It will probably dawn on whoever wins how big the task ahead of them is when they see the main event afterwards.

Championship players are just so much bigger, faster, stronger and more disciplined than their Championship 1 counterparts.

There are 4 or 5 teams that can play to the standard of Fax and Fev and the rest of the teams would probably stroll through Championship 1 undefeated.

4000 minimum capacity for a start. Floodlights have to be a higher standard etc etc...........

Funny enough I have aways had a soft spot for Hull KR! We'll give it our best shot Sunday.

Fev don't seem to be doing too badly

I have never heard this mentioned before.

Or Barra last year

... but they beat Halifax.

Which is what Fev might well do as well

Quite likely I would have thought.

Seems a bit random. CC1 clubs can play Barrow, Fev, Halifax, Leigh, Widnes etc in the Northern Rail Cup, but magically need a better ground to play them in the league? Barrow's floodlights provide a romantic candlelit meal feel to a game of rugby - it's hard to see how they could be considered "a higher standard".

Dave Woods has a fantastic coaching record in the championship - Cas, Gateshead and now York. Could be three jobs, three promotions.

But CC1 clubs can also play Wigan, Hull and Huddersfield in the challenge cup, doesn't mean they have SL quality grounds?

I wouldn't want Oldham to be knocked back for their stadium though, would be a real shame.

Dave Woods has a fantastic coaching record in the championship - Cas, Gateshead and now York. Could be three jobs, three promotions.'"

My thoughts exactly Jon. I have never head anything about ground standards in regards to championship promotion.

I know the RFL have siad York have to but Barriers up at one end of the Stadium. So there must be some difference in standards, Higher LUX floodlights I think as well.

Surely the Barrier thing is more of a health and saftey issue on the premise that promotion means more people through the gate, rather than adhering to a set of standards to that division?

I thoguht I could remember there being a set of "standards" required for the Championship (or whatever the division was called at the time) but cant seem to find a reference to it anywhere. They werent that ground breaking but it had never really come up til now.

The problem would be at the moment where would everyone go when they play the likes of Widnes etc. I tend to remember there not being enough room for everyone to get a view of the pitch when we played there and we're hardly a local team with hordes of travelling fans. Having said that, there did seem to be plenty of room for development and improvement around it

Does anybody have any pictures of oldhams ground?

Google images for "whitebank stadium oldham" will get you a few.

There's not much to take a photo of - it's not much more than a field with a clubhouse and a small stand. The away team changing facilities were a portacabin when I was there. Fair play to the oldham fans who have put in the work to paint stuff, create a car park, move the fence at the ground, put up a couple of hundred old seats from Wilderspool and presumably loads of other things.

I think they've added another Portacabin. No disrespect as I really feel for Oldham but most amatuer teams have better stadia

we are'nt complaining.....we've waited 13years for a place to call home....

For some reason I actually care far more about Oldhams final than I do about the Grand Final in my own teams league. Probably because there is a promotion spot at stake for the CC1 Final.

Come on Oldham!!