Bolton Leyther

I'm in favour of the nicknames which develop naturally, but I hate the majority of the more recent contrived ones.

I think we might be a touch oversensitive with this kind of thing at times.

They are amongst casual sports enthusiasts, though. "The Three Lions" is football, "The Lions" is the Great Britain and Ireland rugby union feam. This thread is about branding and identity. From a marketing prerspective it's important to have something that's distinct (it's why we now have Wigan Warriors and Leeds Rhinos rather than simply Wigan and Leeds). Do a Google Search for "The Lions" and "Lions Tour" and check the first results.

They associate it with the British and Irish Lions rugby union team. If we have to have an identity, we should have something uniquely ours.

A third of the adult population isn’t a very small minority, though. And that’s just those who are comfortable expressing their “discomfort” publicly; there will be a good number again who are shyly bigoted. People are still today disowned by their families for coming out. The notion that the problems concerning homophobic attitudes in society are now done and dusted is nonsense.

“Three Lions” and “The Lions” are not one and the same, as I’d hoped would’ve been obvious.

The trouble with the Lions branding is that it will always be Rugby Union’s. I’d rather we improved on the St. George’s Cross design, or if not, then at least have something that’s unique to us.

Provided you've registered with Ticketmaster using the same email address as the on you registered with OurLeague, you just need to log out and then back in. Once you've done that it should automatically recognise you.

Double D is right. Take, for ecample, the Six Nations. Plenty of people who have no real interest in the sport attend those matches. The reason they sell well is because they're competitive fixtures between the home nations in a sport with a big imprint in the country's consciousness. It's a similar situation to how the English take such a keen interest in the Ashes - the tournaments become vehicles through which the long-standing emnity and rivalry between particular nations can be expressed.

That took you longer than I expected.

Greece's No.9 looks like a player.

Swinton Lions represent Swinton. They don't play in Swinton and haven't for a long time, but Swinton is obviously central to their identity as a rugby league club. Because of the economics of professional sport nowadays, that might necessarily, if fact certainly will, mean they can't ever be one of the biggest clubs. But there's no disgrace in that. Not every sports club has to have ambitions to be the biggest and best, and if retaining the Swinton name, for good or ill, is of critical importance to the club's supporter base then that's their decision to make and has to be respected. Sports clubs should exist for the benefit of their supporters, and it would be a sad state of affairs if the supporters' wishes aren't first and foremost in any strategic planning. The opportunity to establish a rugby league club in Manchester, something which we desperately need to do, was Manchester Rangers. The people involved there did many good things and the club's potential should've been supported and nurtured by the powers that be. In there's any short-sightedness in this whole chain of events it's not from the Swinton Lions supporters, it's from the RFL and their failure to embrace Manchester Rangers to the fullest extent.

I think they'll sign a few top quality players. In fact, I think they'll do much better than people are expecting.

That doesn't make me feel any better.

How fantastic it is for the sport that we don't have two of the usual suspects in the grand final for once. It's just a shame I keep remembering that Paul Rowley's involved with them.

Correct on both points.

A brilliant result for the competition. I feel very pleased for the Salford supporters, even if my joy is tempered somewhat by the reminder that Paul Rowley is a member of their coaching staff.

Is he still playing?

I remember watching a video on, I think, Manchester Rangers' website (if not it would've been on their Youtube account) of an interview with a teenager playing in their junior set-up. He said that he got into the sport through some sort of community college initiative, and that he wouldn't ordinarily have played for a club because there wasn't one near enough to where he lived in Manchester. He was a newcomer to the sport and seemed to be really enjoyed it. I've got no idea where he'll be now.

It's more likely than the idea that people from Manchester are genetically predisposed to an inability to appreciate rugby league, or that there's a cultural boundary between Salford and Manchester which is so distinct and significant that the sport can gain a foothold in one city but not the other.

Manchester Rangers was a hugely promising opportunity which should've been supported to the fullest extent.

I was referring to your characterisation of Swinton supporters as insular.

Very unfair.

A very reasonable post.

But that's exactly why the issue is such an emotive one. It's the last remaining link to the town the club supposedly represents. And it's also true that the core of suppporters who remained with the club throughout have helped keep it going. They deserved to be properly consulted, and to have had an input, on such a significant proposal.