league one

[superten]

Having seen many one sided games in my time. Matches that just become a training session. I wonder how many fans go home happy and feeling they had value for money when watching there team put 100 plus points passed a hapless West Wales Raiders. Surly this cant go on as much as I would like to see a team in South Wales west Wales are obviously not up to the mark. This has to be the worst semi pro team of all time . Its making a mockery of club records . To me unless they can prove they have strengthened there squad they shouldn't be allowed to start next season .   

[paulwalker71]

I certainly agree that something needs to be done with League 1. It is effectively two leagues in one.

Scotchy, I'm not sure I understand your suggestion. You say 

Quote

Take 12 expansion sides, match them with the 12 british SL sides

Well, we haven't got 12 British SL sides right now, and next season we might only have 10 or even 9. And we haven't actually got 12 expansion sides either. So there's a way to go before we could get to what you are proposing, even were to be able to solve the issue about Toronto and Catalans.

And you don't say anything about what would happen to the (approx) 20 teams that currently are not in SL or would be classed as 'expansion'. Are they to be simply cast into oblivion? (That would include my team. Bradford Bulls, btw, so I'd like to know... )

[Oliver Clothesoff]

Integrate the Super League Reserve/U23 sides into the league, 

I was all for a ten team Super League and ten team “Super League 2”. That leaves 18 sides out of the picture, chuck in ten Super League reserve sides (eg Saints, Wigan, Warrington, Cas, Leeds, Wakefield, Salford, City of Hull, Hudds and Catalans) and then form two fourteen teamed leagues, with the expansion sides in the lower of the two leagues. 

[Mumby Magic]

Here's one. How about keeping things the same and let clubs develop and grow!

[spanishknight]

2 hours ago, superten said:

Having seen many one sided games in my time. Matches that just become a training session. I wonder how many fans go home happy and feeling they had value for money when watching there team put 100 plus points passed a hapless West Wales Raiders. Surly this cant go on as much as I would like to see a team in South Wales west Wales are obviously not up to the mark. This has to be the worst semi pro team of all time . Its making a mockery of club records . To me unless they can prove they have strengthened there squad they shouldn't be allowed to start next season .   

We have also seen some great games in division 1 this season, lets give the expansion clubs time and let them grow.

[Bulliac]

It is of little use 'blaming either expansion sides or heartland sides - this division is not of their making. If we are to blame anyone then best point the finger in the right direction, which is the authorities.

I've said before, too many times to be fair, that many of the games leave a lot to be desired by both participants. league1 is, in football parlance, what you would get if you combined all the divisions between soccer's league 1 (division 3, in old money) and whatever league is five or six divisions below the conference. They have lots and lots of clubs so can spread them out, whilst we don't so we stick them all together in one dysfunctional unit. Short ideal answer is that we need more clubs but that is a whole new question in itself.

In the meantime we certainly need to reorganise SL/Championship/top end of league1 clubs into (preferably) 2 viable leagues and stop this 'lambs to the slaughter' approach we seem to have to expansion sides. They should be nurtured and encouraged not put through some kind of purgatory every Sunday afternoon. There are currently around 30 - 32 clubs for the top sections, probably in two divisions. I admit there would be fair old differences between the top and bottom of those divisions too but we used to run 16 clubs in a division back in the day, without any existential problems as I recall, so it should still be possible now.

I admit it's not perfect. Probably far from it, but it is far better than our current mess with division 3 (sorry, League 1..)

[newbe]

Sorry to keep banging on about it, simply get rid of D/R. Not picking on any one club but how can you have for example 4 d/r from S/L playing it totaly distorts the results. 

[Anonymouse]

56 minutes ago, newbe said:

Sorry to keep banging on about it, simply get rid of D/R. Not picking on any one club but how can you have for example 4 d/r from S/L playing it totaly distorts the results. 

It is distorting league 1 , some clubs have 4 DR and 2 loan players , 6 out of 13 who are from championship high flyers or even SL .

[Bulliac]

12 minutes ago, Anonymouse said:

It is distorting league 1 , some clubs have 4 DR and 2 loan players , 6 out of 13 who are from championship high flyers or even SL .

It is one of a number of things which don't help but it is peripheral in its effects on the division. The real fault is how it was set up and that fault is much more fundamental. Put the expansion sides in their own division and the rules can be tweaked to suit those special conditions in that division.

[TMF]

Spot on Anonymouse. How do you support a team every week when the team you are supporting this week isn't the team you were supporting last week?

[Bearman]

Since the second world war new clubs have struggled when they have joined the league.  ( Workington being the exception) Those that did manage to hold on have become fairly well established. Doncaster, Newcastle/Gateshead and Crusaders have all been put through the mill.  Skolars perhaps flattered to deceive a little last year but have been around a while now.

The intro of 5 new clubs in the last few years at least led to that league within a league situation.

The game needs to expand. Yesterday I went to Dewsbury. There were 600 plus speccies there. A lot of them looked older than me and I am 70.

That is in the pulsating heartland of the game in this country. Does anyone really believe that that is where the future of the game lies? 

 

 

[DavidM]

22 minutes ago, TMF said:

Spot on Anonymouse. How do you support a team every week when the team you are supporting this week isn't the team you were supporting last week?

Simple , your supporting your team and who plays for it . That’s a constant 

[Anonymouse]

If Carlisle United had DR with Man City and used 4 players along with 2 loanees from Man utd all season and won the league , would supporters have actually been watching their own team and would Carlisle be in an honest place in the league above next season ?

[EssexRL]

I’ve certainly cut down the games I go too although I’m a ST holder. While I applaud the efforts and successes of York and Newcastle and the commitment of Bradford I struggle to see the point of L1 or how expansion clubs can use it as a base to grow and compete. There seems no plan following the failure of the introduction of Oxford and Glos  et al  

in last five years it’s been two leagues. This year the gap seems bigger though and the expansion league is smaller given the two we’ve lost.

To be honest I’m very dissolutioned with RL and very pessimistic about its future. Given the quality of the sport it’s such a shame that in all three leagues it’s hard to see an immediate future of growth, and national exposure. 

[TMF]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

Simple , your supporting your team and who plays for it . That’s a constant 

But it isn't my team DavidM. That is the point. Where is the affinity?

[weighman]

I think clubs can only play 5 dr/loan players.

[TMF]

I think you're right weighman. So that means, local players who have sacrificed time, effort, money, family life, add your own, to play for their local club, are going to get tossed aside for SL clubs who can't be bothered to field a reserve team because the Championship and league 1 clubs are quite willing to help them out? DR is a disease. It was obvious from the outset and it's now killing clubs. And hey, only 5 dr/load players? That leaves eight locals,plus subs, with the possibility of being picked. Way to go, not.

[jpmc]

DR will never work until both clubs involved set out a plan as to why they are doing it and what the long term goal is for both clubs over "lets say" a 5 year period.

They then need to put those plans to the stakeholders,"fans" and ask them to buy into it,if they accept then its all systems go if they dont want it then just end it and look at other avenues.

One thing is for sure "speaking from experience" the DR that we have at the moment does nothing but ###### current fans off and turns people off the game because all they see is a club/s with no ambition at all

[weighman]

I agree TMF , just correcting an incorrect statement.

[OriginalMrC]

Superleague has two leagues in one, championship even more so. One thing expansion clubs need is time. Some will make it work and some won't. I'd suggest a few people look back over the league one table over the last 10 years. Wasn't that long ago Newcastle were getting hammered every week. Had they been judged purely on results they'd have been kicked out of the league but look at them now. Clubs with potential need time to grow and I am convinced there is potential for growth in non traditional areas. 

[Manx RL]

24 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

Superleague has two leagues in one, championship even more so. One thing expansion clubs need is time. Some will make it work and some won't. I'd suggest a few people look back over the league one table over the last 10 years. Wasn't that long ago Newcastle were getting hammered every week. Had they been judged purely on results they'd have been kicked out of the league but look at them now. Clubs with potential need time to grow and I am convinced there is potential for growth in non traditional areas. 

10 years ago Gateshead were promoted out of the third tier having finished the season as champions 

[East Coast Tiger]

Aye git rid of t’ clubs an it’ll be back t’glory days. 

 

Most of the northern clubs outside SL (and some in it) are on the precipice of extinction, or will be in a generation, due to grounds, aging fan bases, falling attendances and general mismanagement. Competitions like League 1 will dwindle and disappear but not because expansion clubs fold..

[OriginalMrC]

19 minutes ago, Manx RL said:

10 years ago Gateshead were promoted out of the third tier having finished the season as champions 

Thats not what I said. Over the last 10 years Gateshead/Newcastle spent were once the whipping boys and have since built slowly to where they are today. Clubs take time to grow and evolve. 

[Manx RL]

1 minute ago, OriginalMrC said:

Thats not what I said. Over the last 10 years Gateshead/Newcastle spent were once the whipping boys and have since built slowly to where they are today. Clubs take time to grow and evolve. 

10 years ago Gateshead were promoted out of the third tier having finished the season as champions.

[Oliver Clothesoff]

It’s all well and good calling League One a “development” league or an “expansion” league but what actually is the plan for these “new” teams? What is the long-term goal of these teams and how do The RFL plan on helping these teams achieve anything because at present, and for as long as I can remember, it’s been a case of sink or swim and it’s little surprise that quite a few have sunk.