Ivarr the Boneless

You may well be right. The people I know who raved about him were involved with another community team down south at that level. It's quite possible that's where they saw him. I thought he played a game or two for Broncos Academy however; that may be me mangling facts all these years down the line

Most community RL down south ihas been played at RU clubs. There's not much alternative really. Some Southern RU clubs have been good friends of the sport. Streatham & Croydon alienated an old boy who had progressed to a very senior position in the RFU. He told them to ban rugby league from the ground or he would have nothing more to do with them. They showed him the door and hosted RL for several more years.

If they are under contract the club will have to pay them, or furlough them. Failure to do so is likely to see the club fold. Pay as you pay players won't be getting a penny. There's plenty of them in the "pro" ranks.

People I know, and trust the judgement of, were raving about his potential as a RL player when Owen played down south. He was a young teen at the time, if I remember correctly.

Yes at youth level. When Andy moved south, Owen initially carried on playing RL up north. He later started playing down south, both codes. Think he was with the Broncos academy for a while however he chose the union route.

Oxford won't come back. Some of the key people who ran the club just wouldn't be interested. They wouldn't trust the RFL not to move the goalposts in a year or two TBH. The way forwards down here is probably a stronger Conference South now. That has the potential to be rebranded onto a revised structure. Perhaps more important for southern RL in the short run would be the fate of Broncos and Skolars if funding is pulled/slashed. If their benefactors / owners gave up the ghost, the loss of their development work would be disastrous for southern RL. (Stress that is hypothetical, I'm not a close personal friend of either man and have no inside knowledge.) We really would be heading for the scenario in John Inverdales infamous "it's just 13 blokes running around a pitch" quote if the development goes bang.

Planning application is in and awaiting a decision. If passed, it may well be called in by the Mayor as it involves Metropolitan Open Land Also, for clarity DHFC, are not building the stadium - if it passes. It is being built by a property developer and leased to DHFC and largely lies on Southwark land. (Slight simplification folks.) As such, I see no possibility of Broncos buying in and owning a share of the ground.

Dulwich Hamlet and Broncos fan here. The seated capacity at Champion Hill is just over 500. No chance of Broncos moving there now as the future of the ground is far from clear. It's also regularly used by DHWFC on Sundays at the beginning and end of the RL season. Broncos did view the ground many years ago to see if it had potential but it went nowhere. RL does have friends high in the hierachy of DHFC. The club's could have been sponsored by the same firm - a DHFC person put their sponsors in touch with Broncos as they were after more sports sponsorships and Broncos ticked most of the boxes they mentioned. No idea why Broncos why they failed to seal a deal.

Growing up in South Staffordshire I gained an interest via Grandstand. George Fairbairn seemed to feature every week if my memory is reliable, probably not. Whilst watching Oxford a few years ago George popped up as match commissioner, recognised him immediately despite the passge of time. I went to Liverpool Uni and marked every RL ground in my A-Z but never went. Watched Prescot Cables at football, I'm from Wolverhampton...... Went to one London game a season or so after moving south. When Highfield became Prescot I jumped on a train and watched their first two league games and was hooked.(v South Wales and a shock win v Barrow.) Started jumping on trains to watch them at Doncaster, York etc despite living around the corner from London's ground. I've had season tickets at Broncos, Skolars and Oxford since hen Sadly I seem to be drifting away from the sport. Hopefully the fire will return soon.

London City Royals were featured on the BBC London news in some depth on Friday. They were set up to keep kids off the streets and have shot through the ranks. Can't remember the last time either Broncos or Skolars got that sort of coverage on the same show. That sort of coverage would be very helpful. A few years ago I was walking to the Stoop behind a Southern English young twenties lady and her Aussie boyfriend. She said " If I hadn't met you I wouldn't have known they played rugby league in London. ' As an aside, why on earth did Skolars double header and Broncos at home get put on the same day? That immediately harmed the gate at both. If at all possible the clubs should be scheduled to play alternatate weekends. (I accept stadium availability may make that impossible. Well done to Skolars for making the best of it though.)

I doubt many Broncos fans who do live locally drive there. I also doubt many Broncos fans live locally (personally I'm Hampshire and I know others travelling much further. I do tend to go by public transport, about 105 minutes each way. Driving is about 45 minutes. Perhaps unsurprisingly the other fans I know who live out here usually drive.) This is partially a legacy both of the regular moves across London. I lived in South East London way back and started watching Broncos regularly at Charlton. It's also related to the fact Broncos are the only top level club for miles so if you live down south and want to watch that level you travel. Clearly if Broncos put down long term roots the hope would be to build a more local fan base and at that point parking may be less relevant. However as long as Broncos have a dispersed fan base and large numbers of away fans travel by car, I would expect strong objections from local residents to any substantial increase in capacity. Whether parking is a material planning point will depend on Ealing's local plan, which I haven't read.

Wikipedia is wrong. There were discussions about merging the two and becoming Bristol however a key figure backed out. The idea was then dropped. There was no merger and I'd be very surprised if Oxford's parent company still exists to merge with anyone. I hope to catch a game or two at Hemel this year so hope whatever is going on is in the long term interests of a southern club who actually own their own ground.....

Mike Gooley is the main man at Ealing, David Hughes is the main man at Broncos. Ealing Trailfinders were anchor tenants when Broncos moved in and I have no reason to believe that has changed.

ETRUFC don't own the ground. They are the lead tenants. It is owned by Traildinders charitable wing and there is currently no reason to believe they want to cash in on the site. Rumours elsewhere suggest further expansion to 10k may follow if ETRUFC are promoted. Given the location, lack of parking etc I'd be surprised if that got permission though they obviously know more about their links with the council than I do.

Not on Twitter or Facebook. TBH I think both phoning - they have a v-mail system - and e-mailing should be sufficient to get a response given the timespan. Thanks for the idea though, and to whoever suggested the Facebook link. It's appreciated. Given the mixed needs of Sky, Ealing RU, potential weddings, the need for cash from away fans and player recovery I suspect Broncos will be playing on various days next season so hopefully I can make a few games at least.