Jump to content

Oxford and All Golds to merge?


Recommended Posts


  • Replies 389
  • Created
  • Last Reply

For me its success would all be based on the financial security of any new club plus whether they would set up to be ambitious a la Wolfpack or happy being in L1. Think it would help any Bristol club to have a rival in Gloucester/Bath or Cardiff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As an Oxford season ticket holder I would suggest this isn't a merger - if it happens - but a new club being spun as one to cover up the embarrassement of losing two expansion clubs. I doubt many - if any - of the key club shareholders at Oxford would be involved.

Playing wise it makes some sense. Both Oxford and Gloucestershire have players based in the area whilst the South Wales based players are likely to live closer to Bristol than Lanelli. As such you may get a better side out than those three have managed, though I'd still expect day tripping northern lads to be required.

In every other way it makes little sense to do this now. Straight after the Cook Islands v USA perhaps but now? 

Dings RUFC are just opening a new ground outside Bristol they have been RL friendly, a possible base?

What I would say is that this is not being talked about at Oxford or, according to an All Golds season ticket holder, there either. If Bristol are planning on playing in 2018 they need to be quite advanced in their plans now or they are setting themselves up for failure yet there is a real lack of substance to these rumours.

Multiple sources at two League One clubs have told me that they do not expect compulsory line up changes for 2018 but think there might be for 2019.

However I did first hear about this from a club official at another League One team with a good track record of tip offs.

Who knows what is going on.

If it does happen the RFL need to use the money saved in central payments to fund development officers in Bristol, preferably with one able to spend time in / around Oxford and Cheltenham to support the work underway there.

Put simply if this happens the RFL need to support it properly and stop sticking pins in maps of the UK where they want a club so Nigel can announce RL is spreading and then do the square root of nothing to support the clubs, bar central funding which really doesn't go very far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If this were to happen i would like it to be common knowledge as soon as possible ending rumours and letting fans know. I would like to know if my team will exist next year. I have come around to accepting this is going to happen but i want to know more. 

Hopefully more interest will be generated off the back of the world cup for the new club? IF this happens then it needs to be a long term plan and not shot down after a few seasons. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, From the Woo said:

If this were to happen i would like it to be common knowledge as soon as possible ending rumours and letting fans know. I would like to know if my team will exist next year. I have come around to accepting this is going to happen but i want to know more. 

Hopefully more interest will be generated off the back of the world cup for the new club? IF this happens then it needs to be a long term plan and not shot down after a few seasons. 

I think we all need to take this with a pinch of salt, don't go ripping up your season ticket "From the Woo"

Regardless of wether this is true or not one thing that is certain, this is unethical and unprofessional journalism. Nobody from ether club has made comment and nobody from the RFL is quoted So who is saying this stuff? 

More than likely bitter rival clubs making comments, as has unfortunately happened a lot this season. Credit to All Golds in this regard as a South Wales fan, when they lost to us which was a bit of a shock. There match report didn't blame the Ref or discredit how well we played they painted a balanced review of the game which made good reading and genuinely gave credit to our achievements both on on off the field. I later found out we have two players on loan from AG who they let play against them even though they knew we only scraped a side the week before, thats sportsmanship! 

Which as mentioned is not the case for All Clubs, Coventry prime example in the build up to this weekends game vs AG and again the same in their match report, very disappointing to see clubs think creating so much negativity towards our sport will benefit any of us. 

I for one hope that this isn't true as we have a great rivalry vs All Golds, however if it is I'm sure a club run by a multimillion pound company will have formed a sensible stainable plan for its future. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I meant would they continue to run as amateur clubs alongside the local clubs.

I would assume there isn't enough talent locally to run two clubs at the moment. It'd be harsh on the existing community clubs to have to compete with the pro clubs stepping down

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was speaking to a gent at the york game yesterday (someone who knows a few that are connected with oxford and good source) that oxford directors had just about packed up and boarded the place up some weeks ago leaving the coach/staff/players with no support.  The players have been left traveling on minibuses and in cars to games and the club no longer train in oxford as they can't afford it . Some players promised pay reviews mid season have not been honoured .  I can see why the season has crashed and burned if that's the case .  Shoddy to say the least and I bet the coach and players are feeling it .sounds like they have been badly let down.

We remember when they beat the knights this year . Oxford looked the real deal with a nice ground and things looked rosy down there .

Just shows how lucky clubs like york are with the off feild management .London don't get lots on fans but are very proactive off the feild and thats why they have stood the test of time.   Clubs like all golds and oxford just seem to stagnate through "inactive leadership" 

Shame 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, Wackjob said:

I think we all need to take this with a pinch of salt, don't go ripping up your season ticket "From the Woo"

Regardless of wether this is true or not one thing that is certain, this is unethical and unprofessional journalism. Nobody from ether club has made comment and nobody from the RFL is quoted So who is saying this stuff? 

More than likely bitter rival clubs making comments, as has unfortunately happened a lot this season. Credit to All Golds in this regard as a South Wales fan, when they lost to us which was a bit of a shock. There match report didn't blame the Ref or discredit how well we played they painted a balanced review of the game which made good reading and genuinely gave credit to our achievements both on on off the field. I later found out we have two players on loan from AG who they let play against them even though they knew we only scraped a side the week before, thats sportsmanship! 

Which as mentioned is not the case for All Clubs, Coventry prime example in the build up to this weekends game vs AG and again the same in their match report, very disappointing to see clubs think creating so much negativity towards our sport will benefit any of us. 

I for one hope that this isn't true as we have a great rivalry vs All Golds, however if it is I'm sure a club run by a multimillion pound company will have formed a sensible stainable plan for its future. 

Negative comments in the match from Coventry?

http://www.coventrybears.com/blog/bears-aim-for-all-golds

 

http://www.coventrybears.com/blog/all-golds-match-report-1

"Creating so much negativity"    where?

 

Ron Banks

Midlands Hurricanes and Barrow

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Bearman said:

Negative comments in the match from Coventry?

http://www.coventrybears.com/blog/bears-aim-for-all-golds

 

http://www.coventrybears.com/blog/all-golds-match-report-1

"Creating so much negativity"    where?

 

1. "The All Golds have had a respectable season on the pitch,with ten victories across all competitions this year.But they have failed to attract the crowds needed to sustain a team, and mid-season there was talk of them moving to Gloucester, arguably a more receptive urban venue than the rather genteel spa town of Cheltenham"

2. Image of the All Golds stand

3. "The Bears were hoping for the psychological boost that a first away win of the season would give them as the game started in front of a sparse Cheltenham crowd

Most of the coventry reporting and previews aren't the best. Good to see the new fan podcast though, should get those guys more involved as they seem switched on getting it on iTunes etc 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Wackjob said:

1. "The All Golds have had a respectable season on the pitch,with ten victories across all competitions this year.But they have failed to attract the crowds needed to sustain a team, and mid-season there was talk of them moving to Gloucester, arguably a more receptive urban venue than the rather genteel spa town of Cheltenham"

2. Image of the All Golds stand

3. "The Bears were hoping for the psychological boost that a first away win of the season would give them as the game started in front of a sparse Cheltenham crowd

Most of the coventry reporting and previews aren't the best. Good to see the new fan podcast though, should get those guys more involved as they seem switched on getting it on iTunes etc 

Factual references to sparse crowd. Hence it looks like they are moving. This has been an open secret for months. I think its a positive move and I hope and believe they will thrive

"Most of the Coventry reporting and previews aren't the best" now who is being negative?

Ron Banks

Midlands Hurricanes and Barrow

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, West Leeds Riviera said:

 

How would RL fair in Bristol? Their union team has been relegated this season and they have two football clubs

Their union team utterly screwed up recruitment and put too much faith in a championship squad cutting it in the Premiership. Steve Lansdown, of Hargreaves Lansdown fame, is the billionaire owner of "Bristol Sport" which owns the union side, Bristol City FC and the city's basketball side. On paper Bristol City and Bristol RU have got more than enough financial clout to get to the top. Bristol will win the championship at a canter this season and go straight back up - especially now promotion play-offs have been scrapped and it's back to straight one up one down.

It's actually Bristol Rovers of the three current sports clubs in the city that looks like it's in trouble off the pitch.

Bristol is a massive union city - it's one of the few places where the club never had to run multiple sides itself even in amateur days, because Bristol FC sat at the top of the (relatively in union circles) famous Bristol Combination league system, which is where all the player development was. RL could probably cut it in Bristol, whether it could make it is another question.

If I was sticking pins in maps, even after the successful world cup match, I'm not sure I'd be rushing to stick a pin in Bristol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It may have been an open secret amongst club officials but nothing has been told to the fans at Gloucestershire or Oxford. I first heard about it six weeks or so from an official at another League One team.

I started out watching rugby league at Prescot. It seems I am about to lose another team. Coventry is now one of my local teams, a large payment to my bank account will help ensure I don't curse you next season......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Bearman said:

Factual references to sparse crowd. Hence it looks like they are moving. This has been an open secret for months. I think its a positive move and I hope and believe they will thrive

"Most of the Coventry reporting and previews aren't the best" now who is being negative?

Factual reference and then you use the term "Looks like there moving" what fact is that based on? 

Shouldn't the focus of the previews & reported be the Rugby? 

As fans we can say what we like and are entitled to our views and opinions. However I do feel clubs should be more professional and work together to promote the sport rather than draw attention to its negatives 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Ivarr the Boneless said:

It may have been an open secret amongst club officials but nothing has been told to the fans at Gloucestershire or Oxford. I first heard about it six weeks or so from an official at another League One team.

I started out watching rugby league at Prescot. It seems I am about to lose another team. Coventry is now one of my local teams, a large payment to my bank account will help ensure I don't curse you next season......

Open secret... haha

Again as I said other clubs spreading rumors 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Wackjob said:

Factual reference and then you use the term "Looks like there moving" what fact is that based on? 

 

Fact? 

Its a rumour that has been doing the rounds for months. Its even found its way into the  Lague Express this week.

The sound of denial from the clubs is deafening.

Ron Banks

Midlands Hurricanes and Barrow

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.