Peril of comparing Hull KR eras is clear but one factor stands out in 2024

Hull Kingston Rovers eras are tricky to compare, on the pitch, but the size of crowds in 2024 cannot be overlooked, according to the author of a new Rovers book.

Rovers supporter Dan Crowther has written The Rise of the Robins, which tells the story of the 2024 season and can now be accessed through Kindle or paperback, available via Amazon. He paid tribute to the club's attendances this year - which have averaged close to 10,000 - after being asked to reflect on how historically significant Rovers' current era is.

Asked how special a time he thinks this is, Crowther said: "It's a good question. It's layered, I feel. In many ways, you can't compare it to any other era that's come before it for so many reasons. People would love to compare it to the 1977 through to 1986 period, naturally with it being the closest, most successful.

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"But quite a few things have changed. The club was once renowned for being a production line of great young talent and that's waned for a long time. A lot of the success has been built around the right strategy in terms of signing players and tactically, so there are similarities in that way.

"In 1977, when Rovers really kick-started what was that golden age, they won the Floodlit Trophy and that competition does not even exist now so you are looking at a smaller pool of silverware that you can win that can perhaps inspire you on to greater things, so they have to overcome a large hurdle to get that monkey off their back in terms of silverware.

"Another thing - and I feel that the club has to be given a lot of credit for this - is that we are living in the age of fragmented media. So many people have got so many options. So for the club to be so well supported and selling out so many games is an achievement that we can't overlook. Whereas back even when the club was doing so well in the Eighties, there weren't as many options, media was way more basic. And it's another reason why we can't compare the two.

"I think we are living in very exciting times. Paul Sewell's tweet about moving on to the next phase after laying down the 3G pitch for the present generation and ones to come speaks volumes about the plans that the club have. It's really exciting."

Discussing his new book, he added: "I hope that it's got a lot of value in terms of posterity. I hope that future generations are going to really enjoy it. Because as a historian of the club, I would have loved a similar title from the 1920s, let's say, when the club was undergoing its first golden era, but it didn't exist or not that we know of."

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