13 replies to this topic

[PhillH]

The writing has been on the wall for a few weeks, but today the RFL has cancelled the membership of Blackpool Panthers, so they won't be lining up for the 2011 season.

RFL cancels membership of Blackpool Panthers

Blackpool Panthers RLFC have had their membership of the RFL cancelled and will take no part in the 2011 Co-operative Championship after they failed to meet a deadline from the game’s governing body.

The club, which went into administration in early October, was poised to present plans for their participation in Championship One on Thursday November 11 however no information was forthcoming from officials.

RFL Chief Operating Officer Ralph Rimmer commented: “The RFL has done everything possible to ensure the continuing involvement of Blackpool Panthers in Co-operative Championship One and we had every hope that a credible plan would be presented.

“Despite a flexible approach to deadlines and ongoing support from the RFL as well as a commitment from the club’s representatives right up to the last minute that a plan would be forthcoming, we have received notification that no proposal will be presented.

“With plans for the 2011 season at an advanced stage we have had no choice but to regretfully decide to cancel their membership.”

[juliancaine]

The writing has been on the wall for a few weeks, but today the RFL has cancelled the membership of Blackpool Panthers, so they won't be lining up for the 2011 season.

RFL cancels membership of Blackpool Panthers

Blackpool Panthers RLFC have had their membership of the RFL cancelled and will take no part in the 2011 Co-operative Championship after they failed to meet a deadline from the game’s governing body.

The club, which went into administration in early October, was poised to present plans for their participation in Championship One on Thursday November 11 however no information was forthcoming from officials.

RFL Chief Operating Officer Ralph Rimmer commented: “The RFL has done everything possible to ensure the continuing involvement of Blackpool Panthers in Co-operative Championship One and we had every hope that a credible plan would be presented.

“Despite a flexible approach to deadlines and ongoing support from the RFL as well as a commitment from the club’s representatives right up to the last minute that a plan would be forthcoming, we have received notification that no proposal will be presented.

“With plans for the 2011 season at an advanced stage we have had no choice but to regretfully decide to cancel their membership.”

i wouldnt mind betting a few other clubs are on the brink of closure too, great fans shame about the administration.

http://www.totalrl.c...p;#entry2156384
this post on another part of the blackpool panthers forum suggests swinton wont be playing next season either i have put devon hawk straight though.

Ce message a été modifié par juliancaine - 11 novembre 2010 - 06:17 .

[duffymoon]

All very sad and means only 18 league fixtures next season.Perhaps time to have just one promotion spot into the championship to be decided by a proper meaningful Grand Final.Maybe extra games in the Northern Rail Cup or we are going to be left with another stop start fixture list like we had two seasons ago.

Ce message a été modifié par duffymoon - 11 novembre 2010 - 10:32 .

[PhillH]

All very sad and means only 18 league fixtures next season.Perhaps time to have just one promotion spot into the championship to be decided by a proper meaningful Grand Final.Maybe extra games in the Northern Rail Cup or we are going to be left with another stop start fixture list like we had two seasons ago.

Pretty tragic given the huge progress made under Martin Crompton in the last couple of years, but sadly the improved fortunes of the team were not matched by increases in the gates. And you just know that when Bobby Hope gets involved, the future's not likely to be bright.

18 league fixtures is not enough. Bramley should be allowed in, but perhaps it is too late in the day now.

There were some backers (former owner of Oldham Roughyeds Bill Quinn being amongst them) prepared to see Blackpool Panthers through 2011, but they were not prepared to take on board the debts (about £70 - 80k) that were run up by the previous owners. The RFL wouldn't allow them to follow that path - as ever one rule for London Broncos/Harlequins and another rule for the rest.

So there might be a small chance of the investors setting up a new club somewhere else, such as Chorley or Preston Grasshoppers again. Seems a long shot though.

[marshy1]

Pretty tragic given the huge progress made under Martin Crompton in the last couple of years, but sadly the improved fortunes of the team were not matched by increases in the gates. And you just know that when Bobby Hope gets involved, the future's not likely to be bright.

18 league fixtures is not enough. Bramley should be allowed in, but perhaps it is too late in the day now.

There were some backers (former owner of Oldham Roughyeds Bill Quinn being amongst them) prepared to see Blackpool Panthers through 2011, but they were not prepared to take on board the debts (about £70 - 80k) that were run up by the previous owners. The RFL wouldn't allow them to follow that path - as ever one rule for London Broncos/Harlequins and another rule for the rest.

So there might be a small chance of the investors setting up a new club somewhere else, such as Chorley or Preston Grasshoppers again. Seems a long shot though.

Preston Grasshoppers now that would be interesting.

[Blue Monkey]

Preston Grasshoppers now that would be interesting.

"Preston Grasshoppers"? That wouldn't be 'cricket' old boy would it?

[Penfold7]

"Preston Grasshoppers"? That wouldn't be 'cricket' old boy would it?

Rugby Yawnion !!!!

[Superman.....]

Gutted, was one of the best away fixtures of the season, shame they had to play at Flyde just a bit too far for home supporters to get to.

[jonnyg28]

Pretty tragic given the huge progress made under Martin Crompton in the last couple of years, but sadly the improved fortunes of the team were not matched by increases in the gates. And you just know that when Bobby Hope gets involved, the future's not likely to be bright.

18 league fixtures is not enough. Bramley should be allowed in, but perhaps it is too late in the day now.

Just Bramley? Wizards gave you a game didn't they?

[PhillH]

Just Bramley? Wizards gave you a game didn't they?

There is a lot more to having a sustainable Championship level club than putting up a good show in a Challenge Cup tie against a Swinton side which at that time was at a low ebb.

As far as I know Warrington Wizards have never expressed any interest in joining Championship 1. Do the Wizards have the necessary backing or ambition and what is the sustainability of the arrangement to use Wilderspool, which is pretty ramshackle nowadays? Would they be sustainable in the professional game alongside the Wolves? Personally I think not.

On the other hand, Bramley have had a long period of sustained success at their current level and have previously applied to rejoin the Championship 1, but been turned down by the RFL. The RFL's reason was said to be the facilities at Farsley Celtic FC not meeting minimum standards. This is clearly inconsistent with the decisions reached for a number of other clubs that have used venues of equal or lesser quality than Throttle's Nest in the Championship.

So given that Blackpool's sad demise has left Championship 1 light in terms of the number of clubs and fixtures, and given that the facilities being used by a number of the existing clubs are no better than Throttle's Nest, it might be worth reconsidering Bramley's position. On the other hand the situation at Bramley may have moved on and the time available for them to make any necessary changes and agreements is very limited.

[PooingDog]

All very sad and means only 18 league fixtures next season.Perhaps time to have just one promotion spot into the championship to be decided by a proper meaningful Grand Final.Maybe extra games in the Northern Rail Cup or we are going to be left with another stop start fixture list like we had two seasons ago.

I'd scrap the NR Cup and and just play each other 4 times, two at home twoo away like the Scottish Premier football leagues do. Scrap the play offs and just have two up two down, giving 36 league fixtures.

[shaw llewellyn]

I'd scrap the NR Cup and and just play each other 4 times, two at home twoo away like the Scottish Premier football leagues do. Scrap the play offs and just have two up two down, giving 36 league fixtures.

As an Oldham fan scrapping the Play Off final can only be a good thing !!

It does sound like a good idea but unfortunately that is where it falls down. The RFL don't do good logical sensible.

Rather than worry about the state of championship 1 I am sure that they will be pouring all their money and efforts to sustaining the failures that are Crusaders and Harlequins.

[PhillH]

I'd scrap the NR Cup and and just play each other 4 times, two at home twoo away like the Scottish Premier football leagues do. Scrap the play offs and just have two up two down, giving 36 league fixtures.

As an Oldham fan scrapping the Play Off final can only be a good thing !!

It does sound like a good idea but unfortunately that is where it falls down. The RFL don't do good logical sensible.

Rather than worry about the state of championship 1 I am sure that they will be pouring all their money and efforts to sustaining the failures that are Crusaders and Harlequins.

Scrapping the NR Cup would have two significant negative effects: The ambitious Championship clubs would be unhappy at losing one of their two chances per year to get the Super League tick in the box, and; accountants of the Championship 1 clubs would be unhappy to lose games against Championship opposition / local derbies that tend to be better attended.

Reverting to a single league might be preferrable. The main worry being a big gulf in ability between the likes of Leigh/Widnes and the likes of the Skolars, which would give a lot of very one sided scorelines.

It has been alledged that the RFL blueprint includes; shifting the "community game" to the summer; putting a handful of the lower achieving Championship 1 clubs into a new third-tier competition (i.e. a re-jig of the existing Summer Conference). This would leave the "semi-pro" game as about 15 teams in a one-league Championship.

[Jonty]

Scrapping the NR Cup would have two significant negative effects: The ambitious Championship clubs would be unhappy at losing one of their two chances per year to get the Super League tick in the box, and; accountants of the Championship 1 clubs would be unhappy to lose games against Championship opposition / local derbies that tend to be better attended.

Reverting to a single league might be preferrable. The main worry being a big gulf in ability between the likes of Leigh/Widnes and the likes of the Skolars, which would give a lot of very one sided scorelines.

It has been alledged that the RFL blueprint includes; shifting the "community game" to the summer; putting a handful of the lower achieving Championship 1 clubs into a new third-tier competition (i.e. a re-jig of the existing Summer Conference). This would leave the "semi-pro" game as about 15 teams in a one-league Championship.

The NR Cup has grown on me a lot - especially given the performance of Batley this year. Personally I'd like to see a shift to a European Club Cup for the top 4 English Championship sides (+ top 3 France and S. Wales), giving two pools of 4 plus play-offs. Competing for a "place in Europe" could, if marketed well, be attractive as an alternative to SL in non-promotion years. It also allows teams in "expansion" areas to test themselves against heartlands teams.

That would then leave a 16 team NR Cup with a greater chance of CC1 sides causing an upset.

Whilst Skolars have maybe not performed well on the pitch, off the pitch they live within their means and have built a side that employs more local talent than most other teams in their league - a credit to the community work they have undertaken across north London (inc. establishing a junior amateur league, setting up an academy linked to a FE college etc.). In many ways they are more "professional" than several other teams I care to think of. Hopefully, over time, it will begin to translate into crowds as a generation of north London school kids grow up with the club. In London, as we all know, nothing is a given where RL is concerned.

As far as the league is concerned I'd go with one league of 11 and one of 10, with a view to expanding to 12 and 12 during 2012-14 - very difficult when we are a team down on last season already. The two obvious candidates would be Bramley, who see semi-pro as a long-term objective when the time, and finances, are right, and Hemel, who have ambitious plans for a new stadium at Pennine Way (currently in early stages of development with an all-weather pitch and new clubhouse) and have admitted that their aspiration is CC1. In addition, like Skolars, Hemel have their own amateur junior league and run a side in the Gillette National Youth League at U18s. They also live within their means.

The position of Conference National (the former NL3) also needs looking at, especially as the league will need to have 2 aims: 1 - provide an attractive competition for aspirational clubs, particularly those in development areas of England; and 2 - provide a safety net so that CC1 clubs can step down in the future if needs be. Saying that I would go for a licensing process for both CC leagues based on submission of a busioness plan that proves that a club is fit for purpose.