del capo

mine went off after about 30 min and started to give the running scores for the Champ play off games........

Have Skolars retained their RL membership rights ? If so are they transferable - Hemel ultimately to Cornwall style ? That podcast is very much Midlands based.

The problem that has been League 1 has been known all season. ( if not longer ) Let's wait til the house burns down and then ask the surviving occupants where they want to live./ what we should do do about it. That's all that that RFL statement added up to. Proactive management from the custodians of our game ? Could be that there is a blue print yet to be unveiled to the loyal fans.......

Has the latest cake been cut yet ?

And there in a nutshell you have it. League 1 is simply unsustainable in its present format and without central funding. What to do about it is the conundrum. Derwent - Playing the same team FOUR times a season - ' double ' looping - will rake the money in ? Really ? The law of diminishing returns springs to mind.... Art of Hand -Just merging with the Championship will kill off half of them within a couple of seasons following murderous score lines. Fans tend not to want to pay for known whitewash matches. So what's left? Promoting top Community clubs to expand the Division until SCL sides can step up ? Won't happen unless RFL subsidise at least the travel costs. And that won't happen as they've no money. Or scrapping L1 , promoting some clubs who might be able to cut the mustard into the Championship and letting the rest take the Community route ? Skolars have already made their choice and good luck to them. The RFL ( who hopefully have their own ) said in their press release they are asking L1 clubs for their views. Anyone on here know the outcome of that ' consultation ' ?

Spot on. I'ts £250 minimum to move the coach out of the garage.

A nine team division is not sustainable and it seems to me inevitable that the RFL will have to consider the dreaded loop fixture format as they have little option with plans for 2024 already advanced. Any chance of them being torn up and a radical re -structure ? What do you think ? Which leads to the real problem underlying all of this - MONEY or rather lack of it. Loop fixtures will exacerbate travel costs issues regardless of the no doubt modest payments made to the players and L1 clubs will end up in even deeper financial mire . The geographic spread is daunting . Even the NCL clubs this year have not been immune with at least 4 clubs failing to travel and the NCL management having to consider potential re-structure. Being pragmatic about it all at this stage Skolars decision makes sense. Forest fires break out quite often in the South of France. The response from the rest of the country is a sight to behold , with long convoys of ' Departement ' fire trucks sweeping down their motorways to help. No idea who pays for it all after the fires are quenched but they do what it takes... Would that we as a sport could have something similar.

Appreciate your concerns Archie. It can be tough at club level even up here where people think it's easy - but these days there's no such place. The glass is still half full for me though. Rugby League Outsiders is a more than worthwhile podcast that can be caught on You Tube and covers mostly non traditional UK RL . Largely Midlands based. Episode 2 introduces Fred Baker the Chair of Telford Raiders. He has been tasked with being a lead volunteer on the Southern Development forum which is pulling together the Southern Conference and Regional 'south of the heartlands ' leagues under its umbrella. He has vision - watch and see what you think. The plan may be in parts early work in progress but it's coming along. You speak of extra resources that are not huge and I would love for you to spell that out. The resource I would ask be considered to help League 1 is that the RFL pay their travel expenses in full. That would not be much more than the current funding given but would be fairer to all as each club's different biggest individual overhead would be met. And they should then ALL be sustainable........Open on paper, expenses only, if that, in reality. Further down the line ---- I would then like to see a real debate on promotion / relegation between Tiers 3 and 4 ( like RU subject to some minimum criteria ), an expansion of League 1 to twelve clubs and provision for travel to be paid for those current League 1 clubs who may in due course be demoted as well as for those sides who will have to visit them. That would definitely be shaking up the balls in the bag ! Including paying for officials circa £250k all in., or put another way about £100k exta to fix the conundrum. Membership vote at Full Council would rest /transfer with a club's playing Tier. ( lose it going down but get it going up ) I have no real idea yet which side of that debate I would support but of course it would all be dependent on what the RFL really have plans for with League 1................

There is a plan. Check the match centre on rugby league.com and that gives you all the up to date results ,leagues and even defaults for this years competitions in the South. There is now a Southern Conference Management Group ( article October 22 in the News section ) that is overseen by the Community Board. Item 7 on the March 23 Board Minutes took an update - hence my previous reference to optimism. The North East in my view needs to be similarly targeted as a .matter of urgency. And whilst the problems that League 1 presents need to be addressed primarily by those clubs themselves once its present purpose is nailed i'm sure that it could provide a real playing bridge between both arms of our game

The NCL finally gave up on the British winter in 2011 but the RFL had already by then set up summer heartland competitions of a sort. The NCL move provoked the vast majority of winter community clubs to follow suit thereafter.. The ' Big Change ' had started though much earlier , caused primarily by the constant chopping and changing within the RFL's non pro playing structures , the basic unstable nature of the competitions and the clubs themselves , not helped by the short terminism of central planning and funding, removal of development officers etc. A lot of clubs sought to run before they could walk, falling over as a consequence. League 1 , their destination target is of course a standard on the park ( if not off it ) generally higher than the NCL. and when these clubs collided with their northern counterparts the results caused a loss of the Emperors clothes and with that the profile. And we must never forget that there is no pyramid structure into the semi professional ranks - it's an invitation only members club up there...... Unless you have a lot of money invested and assured for a very long time there are no short cuts to the top. And their is no success without roots and significant membership. Clubs like Coventry, Nottingham and yes Hemel have learned that lesson. with a healthy future to look forward to. Others can do the same. But they are entitled to relevant and meaningful administration from the Powers that be with competition structures that support their aspirations. The recent and latest re-organisation of the Southern playing offers should help as there now seems to be a sense of what is needed and realistically can be delivered. We have to be optimistic. Time will tell

The NCL are trying something different this year and their Awards Event will be taking place during the afternoon of the Grand Final, starting at 12.30., finishing at 4pm. The venue is the Hilton Garden Hotel at the Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground. All 46 clubs take at least 4 tickets each ( or they get fined ! ) and the event is generally recognised as one of the best around. That said some clubs do sometimes struggle to get their reps there whilst others take several tables. If you want to try something totally different then simply contact one of your local NCL outfits and test the water - bookings are via them but you'd have to be quick

Those funds are ring fenced and specifically targeted. The RFL have to account for them on a quarterly basis. They cannot be used as hand outs to semi pro clubs who have been told for a number of years now that they need to learn to stand on their own feet , just like all community clubs must. Watched a great touch rugby festival on saturday. Speaking to a club stalwart there he said that two funerals last week in the clubhouse took £1500. whilst a friday night disco party in their function room took £4000 over the bar. Profit is approx 45%. Bloody hard work but the only way forward is to run as a business......

Operational Rules Tier 1 - 3 page 380 onwards. You can find it ( and most other answers ) at rugby-league.com

In effect yes. A deal was done between the RFL and NCL to accept several perceived failing semi pro clubs into the Premier Division of the NCL. They were allowed to retain their contracted players ( and continue to pay them ) and NCL criteria were relaxed for them. In return the NCL received funding including in particular travel subsidy. All failed on the park largely because they did not have the structures in place off the park to sustain a successful community style club at that level.Some NCL clubs are themselves now struggling because they have not been meeting the criteria, but that's another story.......

Technically though the game would have to be abandoned at that point...............

Weren't the RFL contractually bound to Wembley until 2025 anyway?

Trains from North West too dodgy as they rely on voluntary overtime at weekends and the Unions have just started to withdraw it all so we've pre booked parking at ASDA behind the Torch - all day for £21.... Or go by coach - my neighbour runs a fleet of them and has twenty eight leaving Leigh tomorrow morning.

The truth is that most NCL and Premier regional clubs have great social facilities that reflect their ethos - what they are and strive to be - central to their communities and proud of their successes. They all have a different feel but the overwhelming atmosphere is one of welcome. Get down to at least one if not more ! The NCL and its Chair have from the beginning insisted upon off the park stuff being as important as the first team efforts. And the RFL authorities clearly recognise that.......

Or Wigans

In Hull ? That sounds fishy... ' Expenses ' on the other hand have always been legitimate - even to the taxman and all those who provide grant aid. Specifically covered in the NCL governance paperwork for a reason....

Your mate obviously forgot to count himself...... By the way Derby RFC facilities are well up to L1 standards.

Only the NCL prevent the paying of players. This is primarily to protect the member clubs from potential financial problems seen all too often elsewhere. Dual registration is also denied. The Management though will be visiting at least that second point soon. As far as I understand it all other Community playing Leagues under the direct control of the RFL are ' Open ' in the sense that dual registration is permitted and there seems to be no actual proscription on paying an individual. Could be wrong though. As an aside I heard this weekend of a Tier EIGHT RU club ( Lancs and Cheshire Admin ) desperate to sign a scrum half for £100 a game. Such is the effect of a League system on what used to be 'posh boys ' saturday afternoon fun.....

Page 380 onwards in the 2023 Tier 1-3 Operational Rules covers what you have been looking for on Standard Facilities. Makes for interesting reading and presumably would need checking / permission from RFL for on the road games. The Operational Rules also provide for a promotion block on any team not having high enough facilities Standards to match the next level ...........

Did any of your new committee attend last night's on line workshop ' Raising funds to sustain your club ' organised by the RFL ? If not this will have been recorded and I am sure the RFL will let you have a copy if need be. Contact John Mcmullen and / or Kelly Barrett at the RFL ( though I am confident they will be aware at least of your general issues) . They have their fingers on the pulse for up to date grants and have significant resource available for all community clubs. They will definitely do what they can for you. Navigate the Rugby League.com website and get into the Our League Learning Zone . It has loads of support info on it. Google 'Club Matters.' They work with Sport England and the RFL. They have lots of advice that could help you. Approach Featherstone RL Foundation. They should want to help, if only to improve their IMG ratings ! All the best . As always the community game relies on its volunteers and if as it seems you are getting that right with your new committee then brighter days will soon be back for your great club.

There are 3 levels / thresholds. You may have misread my post. There is a difference between higher and highest. All 4 clubs squeeze into the higher ie middle bracket - in the case of the Hull clubs only just - simply by virtue of the 130k cut off and they will only get near another 0.5 if one of them goes bankrupt to the advantage of the remaining one. If the cut off had been at 250k as some on here have advocated then their catchments would have been only worth 0.5...... a full point behind the likes of SL rivals such as Leeds St Helens Salford or Warrington - and even many in the Championship.