Reborn Lions happy to walk into Wigan's den

Nobody expects Swinton to win their first Challenge Cup quarter-final tie since 1972 tomorrow at Wigan but for the delighted 1,500 Lions' fans set to make the hop from Manchester's northern outskirts to the JJB Stadium, it is enough that they still have a team to follow.

Less than a year ago, Swinton were homeless and virtually penniless. They had been forced out of Gigg Lane by the financial problems of their landlords, Bury FC, a decade after being forced to sell their own ground on Station Road, and were reeling from the departure of their long-serving chairman Malcolm White.

"When Malcolm said he wanted to pull out last January, things weren't looking good," reflects Richard Taylor, a contract caterer who has followed the Lions since they won consecutive championships in the early 60s, and now represents supporters on the board.

"Swinton rugby was within a week or two of going - and we wouldn't have come back. But a new supporters trust managed to raise a few quid to keep us going. It was touch and go again in May when we left Gigg Lane on a Monday with nowhere to play a home game the next Sunday. But Leigh and Chorley helped us out, we made it to the end of the season and now everything has turned around."

Swinton are among the title favourites for the new National League Two and are now based near the old Agecroft colliery at Moor Lane, another football ground but crucially much closer to Station Road.

"It's much better for us because we were dying on our feet out at Bury," added Taylor. "The other big thing that's happened is appointing Peter Roe as coach."

Roe, sacked last season by the Super League strugglers Wakefield, has assembled a team good enough to shock one of his old clubs, Featherstone, in the fifth round, earning a guaranteed £17,500 from Wigan by giving up home advantage. "That's big money for us, and I know Peter has big plans for the rest of the season," said Taylor. Wigan, you have been warned.