This week's fanzone profiles Whitehaven fan John Flanagan.

John is 21 and hails from Crewe.

Which team do you support and why?

Whitehaven. My dad is from Whitehaven and is 1 of 10 kids, hence I have a lot of family up there.

How long have you supported them and can you remember your first game?

I've followed the results from a long time but it wasn't until 2004 that I went to my first game, which was against Batley away in the Challenge Cup. We won 29-6 which put us in the Quarter Finals and set up a home tie with Warrington which was screened live on BBC.

What are your best and worst memories of supporting your team?

There's been a few fantastic moments. Beating Castleford 32-22 in the play offs to book a place in the Grand Final was special. With over 6000 in the Recre on a glorious sunny day, we were 18-0 down after 5 minutes. A Carl Sice try before the break gave us a chance at 18-6 and a superb second half performance playing down towards the Kells end sealed an historic victory. Also winning the league at Rochdale is a very fond memory when over 1000 Haven fans travelled down to the game.

More recently, Gregg McNally's debut hat trick against Salford live on Sky will probably go down as one of the greatest debuts ever. His half back partner for the day Tane Manihera didn't do too bad either! Then there was beating Leigh away and then Halifax away in the play offs last year, another Gregg McNally hat trick in the latter game.

Onto low points and sadly the two Grand Finals have to be up there. A Mick Nanyn kick that drifted wide in 2004 meant a loss to Leigh and well the 2005 Grand Final against Castleford was not even close. Other bad points include the 2007 Northern Rail Cup thumping by Widnes and losing at home 19-6 to Batley at the Recre last season.

How is this season going in your opinion?

Given our financial situation, I am happy with how this season is going. Unfortunately we can't splash the cash like our Cumbrian rivals down the coast, but we are still giving a good fist of it with the players we have available. It was a very sweet when we beat Barrow a couple of weeks ago infront of the Sky cameras. The way things are going we should make the play-offs and after last years incredible results away from home in the play-offs, who knows what could happen!

What are your hopes for the future for your club?

Ideally I'd like to think that Super League would be the long term future. However as it stands the ground is the major stumbling block and until the new stadium is built, that dream will never be realised. More short term I would like to see us blooding more youngsters as it's a known fact that Cumbria is a hot bed for rugby league talent.

What are your thoughts on the Super League licensing system?

I'm not a fan. I understand te concept and think there are good points, but as a supporter of a lower league club, the removal of promotion/relagtion from Super League takes the incentive away from things. As a fan who watched his team go so close on two occasions, I know exactly what it's like to feel the pain of not quite making it. If you don't win the Grand Final now, all you lose is the chance to lift a cup and a bit of cash.

My main gripe is how expansion sides are blatently shown favouritism over more well supported heartland clubs who have a better infrastructure and stadia. However if you are a supporter of a Super League club then you will probably welcome the move which allows youngsters to be brought through without fear of relegation if the season doesn't go according to plan.

I will be very interested to see who makes Super League at the next 'lottery' pick in 2011 and it wouldn't surprise me if Toulouse pop up.

What do you see for the future of rugby league?

Rugby league will hopefully expand into new areas and I'm all for that idea, as long as its not at the expense of heartland clubs. I'm not entirely convinced by the international/world cup scene as realistically there are only 3 nations who can compete at a high level. However amateur rugby league is still as popular as ever so providing the youngsters keep coming through, the future is bright for our great game.

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