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Showing results for tags 'focus on the heartlands'.
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Shocker perhaps and I promise I'm not trolling, but if we are to go for more of this as a strategy, not implanting clubs in the South of England etc, then I think we need to be bold about what our vision is. I enjoy looking at things from a perspective opposite to what I normally would have, but then trying to make it work. Partly this was prompted by the Lancaster thread, partly also by Goole's inclusion in League 1 next year. Michael Carter said a few years back that in his opinion RL should be looking to be the number 2 sport in the North of England, but what does that look like in practice? Where does funding and attention go? For me, I'd almost disregard any town that has a team in already, at least from a central POV. The RFL don't need to be worrying about Dewsbury, Leigh or Hull, they've got existing professional clubs already to do that. Where do we look at and how do we bring them in then? Well to take the first point, let's go along the M62 (in its broadest sense perhaps the North of England) and make sure each town has an RL club (at least as an aspiration). Goole is a great example, to look at some others: Brighouse, Stockport, Cleckheaton/Liversedge, Selby, Scunthorpe, Bramley/West Leeds, Bingley, Durham, Harrogate, Scarborough, Bury, Bolton, Blackburn, Burnley, Preston, Manchester, Southport, Blackpool, Otley, Lancaster, Chester, Liverpool, Birkenhead, Carlisle, Darlington, Middlesbrough etc - you get the picture. To be truly strong in the North of England, we need presence in these sorts of places. That's before we look a little further south to Chesterfield, Stoke, Crewe, Nottingham, Derby, Mansfield. One thing about a lot of these teams is that they have had teams in the past, they've just not been sustainable at the level demanded by the sport at the time because we didn't have a level appropriate to them. That brings me to the second aspect of the above point; how do we include them? This is where I think the entire sport below the fully professional level needs a rethink. I'd go as far to consider "Open" competition way down the pyramid, regionalisation (and an acceptance of open payments at the regionalised levels). Regionalisation cuts down costs, important given the small following many clubs would have, but being open makes clubs attractive to many not just enthusiasts. The NCL would still be an amateur preserve, but I would accept that there needs to be a level, below Championship/League 1, where clubs that aspire to those upper national levels can compete on a similar basis to them. I've no doubt that like football, there would be transitional aspects within the pyramid with some semi pros, some just expenses, and some amateur. Thoughts?
