EssexRL

Interesting to compare RL L1 with RU National L1...it does feel comparable (avg 620 a game with some big differences). Quite interesting that RU L1 has a spread of heartland (Esher, Cambridge) & non heartland (Leeds, Darlington) clubs. Attendances here suggests, to me at least, that outside of football where a sport has a teired system its hard to get punters through the door at the lower levels.

Reading the various discussions on this thread, I wondered - how many people do we think should be watching RL? As far as SL is concerned attendances seem generally ok given the size of the towns it’s played in. Attendances in the Championship and L1 seem disproportionately low (in heartland areas). This is presumably as few teams have a reasonable chance of progressing into SL. Outside of heartland areas it’s a bit of a #######torm but for understandable reasons (lack of competitive teams, awareness of clubs, lack of marketing etc,)

For sure the squad needs strengthening- a competitive team is priority 1, but in my view the club needs to have an identity that is a bit more specific than “London”.

100%. The potential locally (basically much of North East London) is substantial. Appreciate that New River in itself isn’t a great experience but more could be made of it. Any way we will see. The main thing is a new chance to grow the sport I love in London.

Hopefully the new owners will seek to grow and evolve the club from its roots rather than trying a revolution and starting afresh.

This would seem like a basic first step...surely all those involved in the game could get together and agree this?

I almost think where doesn't really matter any more. They just need somewhere they can lay roots down and grow support. Ealing, Barnet, Wimbledon, Brentford...who cares so long as they stay there. OR (radical thought) make a virtue of being nomads, have a training ground but move around London spreading the word (not realistic I realise and many down sides but its kinda what they are doing without the word spreading bit..)

Made me wonder why Broncos didn't approach Skolars to play this at New River...bit depressing to think that they've gone from playing at Fulham, Charlton, Brentford and Barnet to this.

You're right about the potential in London AG, but exploiting this cannot be left to the clubs here, which is what has happened so far. The only way a club could grow the game in the capital is in a discrete area, which Bronco's endless moves and what (from the outside) looks like poor (zero) promotion amongst local communities has prevented them from doing. Skolars are much more rooted in Tottenham and, despite very limited resources, do their best to promote the club and sport locally (links with colleges, schools, local MPs, local businesses etc,) Unfortunately despite the owners personal investments we've never had enough money to really promote the sport (you'd need an expert marketing firm to do that effectively) or secure or keep competitive players. Hopefully there will be new investment and some of that will used for marketing but RL needs to attract some big bucks to really grow the game here. The rewards could be substantial but it needs vision and creativity. One thing that could be done is bringing some SL games down here. Big names would attract interest.

I don’t know TBH whether it has. No comm’s. Fingers crossed though

Whilst I think with enough energy, resources and creativity London could support one or more pro RL teams, sadly, I don't see LB or Skolars as the vehicle any more. Over the last 20-30 years there have been opportunities with both clubs (Skolars maybe 3-5 years ago( but it is hard to see how either could deliver now. The lack of any information about the takeover of Skolars is concerning. Even with takeover money any new owners will need to spend £££ on getting a competitive squad together, most of whom won't be living in the south. There's no pool of RL players down here. At the moment pro-RL in London feels like it's almost at the end, although it will limp on. That may not be a bad thing long run as it could hopefully create space for something new to evolve.

I think it was someone's suggestion of how much (min) a player in London should be paid (if they live in London) - suggesting the new owners will have to make a significant investment in the club and the team. I am sure they have thought about this and spoken to the current owners. Also, as mentioned earlier, we don't need a ton of new players; just a handful to strengthen the squad.

Good news this is moving forward at last. No issue with the owners. They won’t be running the club day by day they just need to invest in those who are. The way this has been announced has been odd so far hopefully will be more professional from now on.

That's not true at the fan level (although I would welcome both clubs being in a position where we could have a healthy rivalry) and I don't think it has always been the case at club level but the last two seasons in particular have not been great and partly explain our current performance.

Cornwall seem a viable option on and off the field.

Hadn't clocked the ground is accessible by train (via Truro) - may well make a weekend of it when Skolars play them.

If nothing else Cornwall are generating media interest.

I wouldn't be against that

Can't say this fills me with tonnes of confidence. They hope Cornwall will embrace both codes. They hope there are enough local athletes who would like to play RL and/or that people from the heartlands will move to the SW - even though the anticipation is that this will be a PT team. They hope local media will be interested and the RL fans living locally will connect*. I really want RL to expand but I am not confident that developing a club so far away from a solid base at the level proposed will work - - but I truly hope I am wrong. *I have met a fair few away fans at Skolars some of whom live in London. If you are a London based Workington fan, say, you are not automatically going to start watching another club. In saying that how many RL fans are there in Cornwall?

Whilst I have loved the fact that there has been a RL presence in Cornwall for some considerable time and that, like Devon, seems sustainable at its level and through the schools engagement is taking the next step, the creation of a L1 club there and now makes little sense to me for reasons set out in this thread. I hope I am wrong but I stuggle to see how it will work (work in the sense of getting people through the gates and being competitive particularly given the long journeys to away matches). This feels too much too soon. Maybe if it was located in Penzance or Plymouth (is Plymouth Devon or Cornwall) but....

Me too. We were talking about him with friends a couple of days ago and had to look up whether he was still alive or not.

The brilliant Andy Gill of Gang of Four. It’s hard to think of many modern musicians who’ve influenced as many people as he did, and made such fantastic music. An incredible guitarist.

I saw Brian Noble by Tesco’s in Highams Park. This is slightly impressive as its an outer borough of London where you don’t frankly expect to see anything even remotely connected with RL.

It’s the run up to Xmas so it’s The Box of Delights by John Mansfield for me.

Starts a bit hard but great story.