TWENTY five years ago Warrington Wolves went into their Challenge Cup campaign full of optimism. They are in 1999 too!

Warrington went on to reach the final at Wembley and brought the Challenge Cup back to Warrington after a crushing defeat of Featherstone Rovers. Hopefully they will in 1999 too!

Only this time Featherstone Rovers are the first hurdle as the Wolves set on the road to Wembley.

If you believe in omens then maybe, just maybe, 25 years after Warrington last won the most prestigious knockout competition in the world of Rugby League, the link with Rovers is a sign of what is to come.

Certainly 25 years ago Wire were riding on the crest of a wave with Ossie Davies the chairman of the club and Alex Murphy the player/coach.

There was a belief from all concerned that Wire could be successful under their leadership.

With a new consortium of businessmen now taking the club forward with Darryl Van de Velde shaping together a strong team there is a new belief in the Wolves.

There is an atmospheric buzz around town with supporters now believing that the team can achieve - and not just turn out to make up the numbers.

More importantly, the players believe they can succeed. They are ready to grit their teeth and dig deep to pull out the four wins needed to reach the final for the first time since 1990.

A team which believes is much stronger than one which does not.

Last year Sheffield Eagles believed they could win the Challenge Cup. How many of us laughed at the idea?

Wigan certainly did not believe that the Eagles could fly so high and they paid the ultimate price of trawling back up the M1 as despondent runners-up.

Sheffield's success last year should be a boost to us all.

It is a reminder that the Challenge Cup does not just belong to Wigan and St. Helens, the two clubs to have dominated the competition for the past decade.

If everyone at Wilderspool believes it's the Wolves' turn this year, then it might just happen.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.