1994-95 - Eagles are in the Play Offs Yet Again

The departure of the experienced David Plange, Bruce McGuire David Fraisse and Mark Aston left big holes in the squad, gaps that needed to be filled with players of similar skills and experience, if the club were to push on from their sixth place in the previous year. Those departures meant that Gary Hetherington’s core First Team squad contained the following players, still a mixture of youth and experienced professionals:

• Paul Broadbent
• Michael Cook
• Mark Gamson
• Ian Hughes
• Dale Laughton
• David Mycoe
• Daryl Powell
• Karl Randall
• Lynton Stott
• Alex Thompson
• Andy Young
• Paul Carr
• Anthony Farrell
• Brad Hayes
• Lee Jackson
• Dave Mann
• Richard Picksley
• Richard Price
• Ryan Sheridan
• Darren Summerill
• Darren Turner

To that squad Hetherington added a mixture of players from both other clubs and the Eagles own Alliance throughout the season:

• Alan Boothroyd (Bradford)
• Richard Chapman (Alliance)
• John Glancy (Hull KR)
• Laurent Lucchese (Huddersfield)
• Glen Reilly (Alliance)
• Bright Sodje (Hull KR)
• Carl Briggs (Alliance)
• Matt Crowther (Alliance)
• Rob Hutchinson (Hull KR)
• Scott Martin (Leigh)
• Keith Senior (Alliance)
• Darrell Trindall (South Sydney)

He also added to his coaching team bringing experienced coach Peter Regan, previously of Paramatta and Rochdale, who joined Glen Knight, Paul Daley and Mike Makin. He also strengthened the commercial side of the club, recruiting Jane Dolby and Mike Turner. Turner’s brief was to develop new fundraising initiatives and corporate hospitality schemes.

As part of Daryl Powell’s Testimonial Year matches were organised against Castleford at Academy, Alliance and First Team levels at the start of August. Powell did not play in any of these games as he was recovering from operations to remove scar tissue from both achilles tendons which meant he would miss the start of the new season.

Whilst the Eagles lost their Academy game 27-14 with Keith Senior scoring two tries, followed by a defeat for the Alliance side, 20-14, after being level at eight points each at the interval, they beat the Castleford first team 17-14. Keith Senior also played in this game, in front of a crowd of 2,043, as did Bright Sodje, who in the previous Alliance game had also scored two tries.

Commenting on the games, Daryl Powell felt that:

Another pre-season warm up game was the annual David Durie Trophy game against the SW Yorkshire Amateur side. A mixture of Alliance, Academy and First Team players turned out for the Eagles. Leading 192 at half time, the final result, 31-6 was the closest the amateurs had ever come to Eagles in a number of years.

As the Eagles prepared for the opening game of the season their aim was clear, to rebuild a successful team and progress further in the Championship, securing a play-off place as the bare minimum.

The Eagles first five games of the season pitted them against the top four teams of 1993/94 and after their opening game at Don Valley on August 23rd , a mid week game, they would be on the road for the next three games. In the opening fixture they faced last season’s runners up Bradford Northern, without three key players, Powell Cook and Gamson, who were all sidelined due to injuries. Whilst the Eagles managed to keep their visitors lead to just six points by half time, 14-8, with a solitary try from Paul Carr and two goals from David Mycoe, they were unable to close the gap, losing at the final whistle 26-8.

The following Sunday they had to travel to Champions Wigan, who they had never beaten at Central Park. The outcome was no different, although they were only behind 18-12 at the interval, with the sending off of Richard Price the 12 mean could not halt the Wigan attack who ran out 40-16 winners. The Eagles points came from tries scored by Hayes, Broadbent and Mycoe, with Mycoe converting two of them.. At the end of August, Sheffield found themselves bottom of the league.

A couple of days later, the Rugby League Council released the 'Framing the Future' report to all clubs which would start a chain of events that would fundamentally change the future of Rugby League.

The following weekend, Sheffield had a long trip up to Cumbria to play newly promoted Workington Town. It was a game that the Eagles dominated with particularly strong performances across the park, which converted a half time lead, 9-2, to a full time victory 31-6. Both Paul Carr and Anthony Farrell scored two tries apiece, whilst debutant, Darrell Trindall, in his only ever game for Sheffield, scored three goals. The victory moved the Eagles up to eleventh place. After the game Trindall who had been eager to join the Eagles, returned to Australia under mysterious circumstances.

The Eagles next away trip was to Castleford who they had beaten in a preseason friendly. Although they played well for a good part of the game, they made too many errors at crucial stages, so there was no victory that day. Castleford, who led throughout the game took the points, 28-9 to ensure that their visitors were consigned to the lower end of the table. Sheffield’s only points came from tries from Broadbent and Hayes and a single drop goal from Carl Briggs.

After five weeks away, the club had a home fixture against fourth placed Warrington. The game saw the return from injury of Powell and Glancy, but Dale Laughton and Ryan Sheridan were now out injured. The injuries to key players, meant that a number of Alliance players had had to step up.

The game saw the return of Eagles stalwart Bruce McGuire to Don Valley, who scored a try for the visitors. However the crowd of over 3,000 witnessed the Eagles second victory of the season. Ahead 13-6 at the break, they went on to comfortably defeat their opponents 29-8, scoring five tries to Warrington’s single one. Sheffield’s performance had been a blend of aggressive defence and controlled play, with the return of Powell providing a vital ingredient that had been missing in previous games. The victory moved Sheffield back to eleventh in the Championship.

Reflecting on the start to the season so far, Daryl Powell believed that:

Recognition of Gary Hetherington’s coaching skills by the Rugby Football League led to him being appointed as the Great Britain team’s Assistant Coach to Ellery Hanley for the forthcoming three Tests against the visiting Australian side. The Eagles had also doubled the size of their Board of Directors welcoming Terry Sharman, Michael Lee and Peter Sephton to the fold.

Despite the victory, the team ended September with yet another defeat at St Helens, a team they had done the double over the previous season. The 26-10 defeat meant that they had lost four out of the first six games of the season, hardly play-off winning form. 

October started with a visit from Widnes, who like the Eagles were in transition and had had as shaky a start as their hosts in terms of performance and results. As they were on a run of three successive defeats, the bookies had made Sheffield the favourites to win and start moving up the division. The game marked the debut First Team appearance of Keith Senior, but the team was also with out both Daryl Powell and Dave Mycoe. Widnes were the better side on the day, winning 22-0 and creating an unwelcome record for their hosts. It was the first time that any Eagles team had been nilled in a competitive game since their birth in 1984. The consequence was that they dropped into the bottom four.

This was followed by a much better performance in their next home fixture against Hull. Their visitors had only managed a single point in their opening seven fixtures, secured in the opening game of the season. Only 2,1064 attended the 38-14 victory, with Paul Carr securing another brace of tries, whilst winger Bright Sodje scored his first try for the club. Leeds were the next opponents at Headingley. Placed sixth in the Championship, they secured their sixth victory of the season, 30-18.

The Eagles played hosts to the Australian touring team ten days later. In their previous encounter, two years earlier they had been beaten 52-22. The tourists had lost their First Test to a Great Britian side that included both Daryl Powell and Lee Jackson, 8-4.

Having beaten all their previous Championship and County opponents the Australians were nailed on favourites for the game. Playing in front of a record crowd for a rugby league game at Don Valley, 7,423, including over 200 representatives of the media, the Eagles were still in touch with the tourists at half-time 22-2, their only points coming from a Dave Mycoe penalty. After the restart the Australians turned on the style, their hosts having no response to the onslaught. The record 80-2 defeat was the worst defeat any Eagles side had experienced, or had any other team during that tour.

Four days later they had to play at Halifax who were in the top eight. In a closely fought game, the Eagles lost again, 24-20, with Keith Senior claiming his first try for the Eagles. With a third of the season over, they found themselves in twelfth position at the end of October, only two points off the playoffs but also two points of the relegation places.

November brought further defeats and a victory. First was the away return fixture against Bradford Northern. Bradford were second in the league at the time, having won 8 of their 11 games played so far. Despite their opponents having a player sent off in the second half, the Eagles could only manage a Paul Carr try, losing the game 40-4. The day before the game both Powell and Jackson had played in Great Britain’s Second Test 38-8 defeat against Australia. 

Their next opponents at Don Valley were league leaders Wigan. Having won all their ten league games, and with three-quarters of the side Great Britain internationals, they posed threats all over the field.

Attracting only 2,600 spectators, a consequence of the game being played on a Friday night in front of the cameras from Sky, it was a much closer affair than the first encounter in August. With two tries from Ryan Sheridan, and one apiece from Carr and Sodje, the Eagles were defeated 32-20.

With a fortnight off until the next game the Eagles had time to prepare for the visit of bottom side Workington Town. Both Powell and Jackson had played in the Third Test against Australia, which the tourists won 23-47 to claim the series. Three Eagles players, Ryan Sheridan, Alex Thompson (who was captain) and loanee Scott Martin. had also played in the U21 side against Australia, five days earlier

The Workington game was a much closer affair than their initial meeting at Derwent Park, the Eagles finally running out victors, 34-29 in front of the second lowest league crowd of the season, 1,906. Despite their lowly position, the visitors had established a strong lead at half-time, 25-5, before been blown away in the second half as the Eagle scored five tries to take the match points.

Unfortunately Eagles fans had to wait until the New Year before positive consistency on the field became a feature of their team’s play. Yet there were a few bright days before then.

December started with a second Regal Trophy game against Leigh. Since their relegation the visitors were facing severe financial problems. After the 21st minute the game was already over as the Eagles were 18-0 ahead with tries from Sheridan, Stott and Powell. By the interval they had extended their lead to 28 points, and despite their opponents scoring at the start and end of the second session, it was the Eagles who progressed to the next round, 46-10. David Mycoe, however had a poor day kicking, converting only three of his eleven attempts, which suggested that the result flattered the visitors.

But success eluded the Sheffield side in the next game at home against Castleford, once again another Friday night game on Sky, watched by another low crowd of just over 1,800. Despite tries from Paul Carr, Daryl Powell and Dave Mycoe, as they had to play catch up football, the Eagles lost once more, 27-16. They then played Second Division Keighley Cougars in the third round of the Regal Trophy and were overwhelmed by rampant Cougar mania, being dumped out of the tournament 26-10.

The last fixture of the year brought some Christmas cheer for suffering Eagles fans, the first derby in many seasons with South Yorkshire rivals Doncaster. Two places above the Eagles, they had had a slightly better season than their neighbours after being promoted. But on the day, the game attracting a crowd of over 3,000, it was the Eagles who came out on top, outscoring their neighbours by five tries to four. The 30-22 home victory saw them replace their opponents in tenth place in the league.

The Eagles were due to play at Featherstone Rovers on New Years Day, but due to the state of the pitch, the game was postponed to later in the month. That enforced rest gave them time to prepare for a visit to Salford, who were still coached by their former player Gary Jack.

Currently ninth in the table the game was a close affair, with Salford ahead 16-10 at the interval with tries from Carr and Farrell for the visitors. 

Although Sheffield out scored their hosts 10- 8 with further tries from Sheridan and Senior, it was their failure in the kicking game that cost them points. Whilst Salford won 24-20, the Eagles missed two conversions, which would have tied the game.

The Featherstone game was rearranged to take place three days later. With Mark Aston in the starting line up, the Eagles knew they would have a difficult game. Fourteenth placed Rovers were on a nine match losing streak and the Sheffield side were not prepared to give their opponents the opportunity of ending it. Ahead 20-10 at the interval, they secured a victory after a gritty second half performance, 24-14. Sheffield’s tries came from Broadbent, Farrell, Powell and Senior, Carl Briggs out-kicking his former mentor Aston by 4 to 1.

The match saw the return of Andy Young to the team after being out of the game for two and a half years with a terrible knee injury that nearly ended his career. After knee reconstruction, he was advised by his medical experts that he should give up the game. Mick Cook also appeared for the first time that season, after being out with a groin strain during the last game of the previous season.

The Eagles now faced Wakefield Trinity at Don Valley four days later. It was a one sided affair, with the Eagles putting up their worst performance of the season so far, losing 41-14, with the only try scorers being Carr, Farrell and Jackson, It was probably the worst performance from the Eagles that season.

January’s last game involved a trip over the Pennines to Oldham. It was a dogged affair, the sides level at 10 each at the interval. In a low scoring second half the Eagles came out on top, taking the victory 14-12, thanks to accurate kicking by Carl Briggs, who converted tries from Carr and Stott and added three further penalties. The win took them up to tenth place in the Championship, two places off the play-offs, but with others winning below them it started to look as though, if they continued at their current win rate, they would be dragged into a relegation dog fight as the season came to a close.

As it was, the victory was the turning point in their season as they won eight of their remaining league fixtures, securing them yet another chance in the end of season play-offs.

As the Eagles entered the final third of their league season, their January game against Warrington was postponed and was rearranged in the latter stages of the competition.

This was due to the England match against Wales, with both Powell and Farrell being selected to play for England. This cancellation gave players time to recover and long term absentees, John Glancy, Dave Mycoe, Darren Turner and Richard Picksley to return, It looked as though the Eagles would have a fully fit squad for the first in a long time in the run-in to the playoffs.

February started with a home tie against St Helens, which Hetherington viewed as a must win game:

With tries from Broadbent, Farrell, Powell, Price, Sheridan, and Stott, the Eagles repeated their feat of last season winning 35-31. The only disappointment was a crowd of just over 2,500.

In the match programme Hetherington called for a radical shake up of Rugby League in the UK. He advanced proposals to have a mid season break in the Championship between January and March, the season starting in September and ending in June with a top-five play off. He proposed that the Regal Trophy would take place between January and March, and proposed an Annual World Cup Grand Prix to replace tours.

This he believed would help increase attendances, as performances on the pitch would be improved on the field as games would be played on much firmer surfaces, and reduce costs by eliminating postponements and the need to rearrange fixtures as a result.

The following week end the Eagles were drawn against local rivals Doncaster in the Challenge Cup. The game saw the return of Jackson and Lucchese from injury. Sheffield easily controlled the game. leading 12-2 at the interval and eventually winning the game 22-12. After the game rumours started to circulate that Doncaster were £1.4 million in debt and were likely to go into administration.

Commenting on these two victories, Daryl Powell stated:

On the field, the Eagles travelled to Widnes, where despite leading 18-10 at half time, their hosts came back after the restart to easily defeat their visitors 36-18. A week later they met again in the Challenge Cup at Don Valley, where the Eagles were knocked out, 19-7.. 

With nine games left, Sheffield were in eleventh spot, only three points off securing a play-off place, but their sixteen points tally meant they were five points above the relegation places.

As the season entered March, they first faced two away fixtures, against Hull and the rearranged match at Warrington. Those games brought mixed results. After being held to a half time draw, 2 points each. they got the better of their hosts after the restart, with tries from Broadbent, Cook and Randall, which with Stott’s conversions secured a 20-16 victory.

Nine days later came the Warrington game, Whilst they were only two points behind at the interval, 14-12. The Eagles failed to narrow the gap, losing 26-18 at the end of the game.

Leeds, who were on a run of fifteen straight wins and had made the Challenge Cup Final, were the next opponents at Don Valley. With quality across the field they were looking to add the Eagles as their next scalp. But their run came to an end as over 4,000 watched on . With both sides scoring four tries each, the scorers for Sheffield being Hughes, Price, Sheridan and Sodje, it was the kicking from both Mycoe, Price and Briggs that ensured that the Loiners left the Valley pointless, 31-22.

To cap that victory, the following week the trip to Wakefield Trinity brought yet another close victory. Leading 10-0 at the break, the Eagles nearly let victory slip from their grasp as their hosts scored two tries and a conversion to bring the scores equal, before Sodje touched down in the closing minutes securing a 14-10 result. As the referee was leaving the field of play at the end of the game he was attacked by a home supporter, a disturbing trend that had started to creep into the game at certain venues. With those two wins the Eagles had pushed themselves into the eighth play-off berth.

Those victories were achieved without a number of key players, illustrating the strength in depth that the club had managed to develop. It had given opportunities to younger players like Keith Senior and Darren Turner to show what they could deliver for the club and, as a consequence. they became regular First Team squad players. Another positive development was that Alex Thompson had been selected to play for the U21 GB team against France.

The other main event of the month was Gary Hetherington’s attempt to save Rugby League in Doncaster. They had gone into administration, and he proposed that the Eagles take them over with a rescue package. There was a mixed response from supporters, with many Doncaster supporters opposed.

Hetherington argued that by preserving rugby league in Doncaster it would help the Eagles develop into a genuine Super League club, by increasing commercial interest in a new club, increase local player supply and expand the club’s presence throughout South Yorkshire, that could hopefully attract new fans. But by the end of March, the Eagles called off the merger as the Rugby Football League decided that all the Doncaster players were now free agents and the club had been bought out by the owners of Doncaster’s Tattersfield ground. Many supporters of both clubs were disappointed at the collapse of the proposal.

But weeks later it was back on the agenda as the RFL Council presented clubs with the outcome of discussions they had been holding with Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Group.

As the season entered its last month of regular league games, the Eagles had five games left, of which all but one was at Don Valley. They played Salford on April 2nd. Their coach, Gary Jack, had resigned and been replaced by Andy Gregory. The visitors were on a six game losing streak, and, despite the change in coach, that run continued as the Eagles comfortably won 29-16. However Laurent Lucchese was carried off with a serious knee injury.

The following day, the Rugby League Council voted for the introduction of Summer rugby from 1996 onwards. The clubs were also made aware that the Council had been in talks with Rupert Murdoch’s News International Group (including Sky TV) about a radical rethink of the structure of the game in the United Kingdom. Murdoch had already secured the agreement of a number of Australian clubs to establish a Super League and he was now looking to secure a similar arrangement in Europe.

Sky offered the RFL £75 million if they would agree to set it up, the equivalent of £1½ million pounds for each club a year for five years. All the Championship clubs were advised about this at a special meeting They were asked to sign up to a European Super League of fourteen clubs, with two from France, (Paris and Toulouse), and one in London. Six new clubs would be formed, out of fifteen old ones, with five old clubs surviving as standalone clubs. 

The standalone clubs would be:

• Bradford Northern
• Wigan
• St Helens
• Halifax
• Leeds

The six new super League clubs would be:

• Calder - a merged Castleford, Wakefield Trinity and Featherstone Rovers
• Cumbria - a merged Barrow, Carlisle, Whitehaven and Workington Town
• South Yorkshire - a merged Sheffield Eagles / Doncaster
• Manchester - a merged Salford / Oldham (even though neither were in the Manchester City Boundary)
• Humberside - a merged Hull FC / Hull Kingston Rovers 
• Cheshire - a merged Warrington / Widnes. 

Both Warrington and Widnes wanted to stay separate clubs – so it was decided to let Warrington become a standalone with Widnes being a first reserve.

Second Division clubs would get £2 million, meaning a one off payment of £100,000 to each club.

There would be no promotion or relegation between Super League and the Second Division for two seasons.

Commenting on the proposal, Gary Hetherington felt that :

On the off chance that the merger went ahead, the Eagles planned to play First team games initially at Don Valley until the new ground being developed in Doncaster was complete, after which fixtures would be shared between the grounds, They planned to retain their existing squad and sign up twelve Doncaster players. Run two operations in both venues to ensure a club presence, whilst SARDLA would incorporate its Doncaster counterpart and be run from Doncaster,

By the end of the month, most of the clubs that had been asked to consider the merger proposals for their clubs had rejected that part of the package. The RFL held further discussions with the Murdoch Group and came back with the following revised structure:

• All mergers would be abandoned
• Super League would be based on the top ten in this seasons championship, plus London Broncos and Paris – all receiving £900,000 a season
• A First Division of ten clubs, (the bottom five of the old championship - though not Doncaster as they had gone bust - and the top eight of the old Second Division) would get between £700,000 and £200,000 depending on league position. 
• The rest of the old Second Division – eight clubs, plus Doncaster if they are-formed - would get a minimum of £100,000 and a maximum of £130,000 depending on what they did off the field. 
• Clubs could for the first season spend the money on whatever they wanted, but afterwards, guidelines would be based on the ‘Framing The Future’ proposals.
• Promotion would be one up and one down between Super League and First Division. 
• Promotion would be two up and two down between First Division and Second Division. 

The vote was 32–1 in favour. So it was agreed that Super League would start in Paris on March 29th, 1996.

The Eagles faced Oldham at Don Valley in the second week end in April. Oldham where three points behind eighth placed Sheffield and with a game in hand. If they beat their hosts then they stood a good chance of snatching the last play off place from them, if they secured a positive result in their game in hand.. A crowd of over 2,100 watched a very tight competitive game that saw Oldham secure a surprise victory, 17-12, which put additional pressure on the Eagles for their remaining three fixtures. Sheffield made a host of unenforced errors at the start, with Oldham opening an eight point lead after 12 minutes, which they had stretched to twelve by the 19th, created by a terrible defensive mix up by the Eagles. Whilst Sheffield pulled a try back through Broadbent, Oldham again scored on half time Despite scoring another try through Stott, they were unable to close the gap. 

To be sure of an eighth place finish the Eagles had to win their final three games, and hope that Oldham faltered in their four games. 

Prior to the game, Daryl Powell was transferred to Keighley Cougars as player/coach for a £100,000 fee. He had not wanted to leave the Eagles but the three year contract he was offered gave him the long term security he was looking for, which the Eagles could not guarantee as his last few months playing for the club had been riddled with injury issues related to his Achilles. 

Powell had been at the club for eleven consecutive seasons. The Eagles long standing captain had appeared in 312 games, which was a club record at the time, scoring 114 tries and 16 field goals, amassing 472 points for the Eagles cause. Commenting on the move, Powell informed Eagles fans that:

Easter brought a visit to crisis club Doncaster on Good Friday and a visit from Featherstone Rovers on Easter Monday. The Doncaster visit, even without a number of key players due to injury, was a fairly comfortable game for the Eagles, who transformed a 24-10 half time lead into a 56-16 victory. Scoring nine tries to two, with Mark Gamson getting a brace and David Mycoe kicking an additional twenty points, this was the highest score the Eagles had secured in the season. However Oldham beat Salford to maintain the pressure.

The Monday game saw Featherstone at Don Valley, without Mark Aston in their side. The Eagles outscored the visitors four tries to three, with Ian Hughes claiming two, taking the two match points, 26-16. With news that Oldham had surprisingly lost to Workington Town, the eighth spot was all but secure given Sheffield’s better points difference. With Oldham then losing their outstanding fixture three days later at Castleford, the Eagles entered their final home fixture at home to Halifax, safe in the knowledge that they were in the play offs.

Playing high speed open rugby matched with gritty defence, Sheffield were the first to score through Sheridan followed by Mycoe six minutes later, before Sodje crossed the Halifax line on 23 minutes. With Mycoe kicking all three conversions and a penalty, the Eagles had a comfortable 20-8 lead at the interval. Although their visitors fought back on the restart, scoring three tries to Sheffield’s two, a second Mycoe try and a solo effort by Sheridan from the scrum, with Briggs slotting two field goals, it was

Sheffield who were the victors, securing a lucrative play-off visit to league leaders and challenge cup winners once again, Wigan.

With fifteen wins out of thirty games, the Eagles finished on thirty points, five ahead of their nearest rival Workington Town.

The game took place a fortnight later, but whilst the Eagles put in a strong performance in the first forty minutes to trail by 20-12, Wigan’s superiority across all aspects of the field ensured a victory for them, 48-16. Wigan progressed to the Final where they retained the Trophy for another season.

After a modest start to the season when the Eagles looked to be flirting with relegation, their performance in the new year had achieved what they had set out to do at the start of the season – secure a place in the playoffs, although their finishing position was lower than that achieved in the previous season. The only negatives was the failure to attract bigger crowds and to make an impact in knockout competitions.

As in previous seasons the Eagles saw a few of their First Team squad leave during the season for pastures new.

• Brad Hayes (Doncaster)
• Scott Martin (Salford)
• Alex Thompson (Featherstone)
• Laurent Lucchese (Paris)
• Daryl Powell (Keighley)
• Alan Boothroyd (Bradford)

Despite continuing with extensive pre- match entertainment and introducing new attractions, such as meet the player event, home crowds for the season averaged 2,806 a reduction of 93 from 1993/94. The 3.2% drop compared to a league decline in attendance of 1.6%, with the attendance at Sheffield games being just below half of that achieved by all the clubs together.

Top points scorer for the season was David Mycoe with152, who also topped the goal scorers with 70, with his nearest rival Carl Briggs on 22. Top try scorer was Paul Carr with 18, followed by Ryan Sheridan with a creditable 16

Lee Jackson was crowned the John Smith’s International Player of the Year for his performances in the three Test Matches against Australia

With the restructuring brought about by the News International/Rugby Football League contract, the top ten sides in the Championship would be the inaugural member of the new Super League from Spring 1996. They would also form the interim Championship competition for the shortened 1995/96 season along with London Broncos (with Paris joining at the start of the new Super League). Those clubs below the cutoff point (excluding Doncaster who were relegated to the new Second Division) would form the new First Division along with the top seven clubs from the old second division (excluding London). The remainder would form the nucleus of the new Second Division. By virtue of finishing eighth the Eagles would be in the new Super League.

It was a season of relative success for the other Sheffield Eagles clubs.

The Alliance, after failing to improve in 1993/94, set their sights on promotion from the Second Division, Although availability of players impacted on that goal, with 47 players appearing for the team throughout the season, including players returning from injury, their goal was achieved with two games to spare.

Playing out of Don Valley, they started off with three victories in their first four fixtures, by December they were top of the table with nine victories from eleven games. Notable victories included a 56-12 away victory at Barrow, 46-20 at Batley and a 31-28 victory over Leeds in their first round Challenge Cup game. They unfortunately lost their second round game to Castleford 8-6.

By February they had completed an eight match home sequence of victories, thrashing Barrow again, 76-0, with Tim Lumb scoring a record ten goals in the game and Bright Sodje scoring a record five tries. As the season end approached, they had secured promotion to the First Division by April 9th with two games left.

In a top of the table clash against Hull KR, they converted a 12 all half time draw to a 16-22 victory, with Picksley, Senior and Briggs seeing them through to victory. Further victories against Doncaster and Huddersfield, 52-24 secured top spot, promotion and the Champions title with 38 points, six points in front of their nearest rival Widnes, but the issue was whether the Sky proposals would impact on the structure of the Alliance and Academy leagues, and promotion would be denied.

The Academy side were also playing home games at Don Valley. Three notable signings were Chris Rooney and Graham Simpson from Travellers Saints Club Featherstone and Dean Lawford from Dewsbury Moor. By December they were top of the Second Division table but had dropped to third at the end of the season with seven wins and a draw from their fourteen fixtures, finishing with 15 points, only four below the top position.

The Eagles Women’s side now played their home games at Hillsborough arena, having joined up with the Hillsborough Eagles club. Coached by Dave Andrews, with a hundred percent winning start they had a tough but successful season, making it to the Women’s Cup Final at Batley.

Within the community all local clubs were involved in the BFL Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards, which were a good test of each players ability, providing areas in which they could improve and also incentives for young players to stay involved. The development of mini (U9) and mod (11+) leagues were good introduction to the game for junior players.

The Eagles, through SARDLA. ran Advanced Training Centres again for schools, as well as setting up the Puma little leagues for 12-13 year olds. They also started a shooting star award in match day programmes, which enabled fans and local clubs to nominate local players for the award, the winners receiving free tickets to an Eagles game

Lodgemoor Eagles won the NW Wheelchair Trophy. Help was also given to those internationals in the team to enable them to attend an international tournament in Tampa Bay.

Off the field the financial income from transfers brought financial stability to the club. The feared damage that the National Lottery would do to the Eagles lottery schemed never materialised, whilst with their inclusion in Super League, their future finances would be much higher than before from central funding.

The first half of the season saw the end of Daryl Powell’s Testimonial Season. A series of events were run throughout the last six months of 1994 – A Frame of Snooker raffle against Steve Davis; Race Night; Guest speakers luncheon events, ending with a seasonal Xmas Lunch, All in all the events raised £45,000 for Daryl Powell. As that ended it was decided to hold another Testimonial Year for another Eagles stalwart, Paul Broadbent.

As the Eagles started preparations for the new world of 1996 with their future already secure, they had to also had to ensure that they were able to compete in the last season of winter rugby that preceded it.