This week we look at the long and eventful life of Rochdale Hornets. The club may not have been the most successful rugby league team but they are an exemplar of the sport's struggles and culture.
We talk to Jim Stringer and Mark Wynn, the authors of a brand new history of the club - Triumph and Disaster : 150 Years of Rochdale Hornets about the club's origins in Victorian England, how its fate was tied to the fortunes of the cotton industry, why the town became a colony of Fiji in the 1960s, its time as a supporter-run club, and its future in the post-Covid world.
But the book is more than just a history. Jim and Mark are lifelong fans who have been involved in the running of Hornets, so it also offers an insiders' perspective on the last thirty years, especially the period when the club was run as a supporters' co-operative.
You can buy the book direct from the publishers, London League Publications, or from the Rugby League Journal website.