Oxford and All Golds to merge?

[BBR]

Two more examples of people who want to run a team but lack the funds or heart for the haul. I give Bristol three years max before they go the same way. The RFL should not be admitting new clubs without ten years of guaranteed funding. Gloucestershire never stood a chance playing at a terrible stadium with zero marketing. All to stroke the ego of people who want their own club. 

[iffleyox]

1 minute ago, BBR said:

Two more examples of people who want to ruin a team but lack the funds or heart for the haul. 

wonderful

[bowes]

55 minutes ago, FearNothing said:

Just a thought, does this mean the All Golds will return to being an amateur club, or folding altogether??? It would be a shame if the long history down there is lost completely....

There's no league for them to drop into. Both Gloucester and Cheltenham already have clubs in the West of England League

[DEANO]

15 hours ago, Evil Homer said:

What experiment? Whose money do you think is being wasted?

 

15 hours ago, Evil Homer said:

What experiment? Whose money do you think is being wasted?

The rfl 

[Angelic Cynic]

17 hours ago, DEANO said:

More money wasted on this experiment and Bristol will go the same way

  Would you have been so dismissive if the club you follow,York City Knights,failed to get on the fixture list for the season just ended?

  Would you have blamed the RFL?

  The 2 clubs who have 'merged' provided a platform for more semi-professional players that didn't occur previously.

  The rugby league footprint extended,and was publicised in less than renowned areas.

  Why not just leave those who want to put the game down to those outside the sport.Or the 'Alright Jack' followers of Super League clubs with stadia provided,and who buy ready made players from around the globe courtesy of rich benefactors or tv money.

  Perhaps those rugby league clubs in 1895 had the same critics.

 Just as well neither club had a 'dodgy owner'...

[tim2]

4 hours ago, BBR said:

The RFL should not be admitting new clubs without ten years of guaranteed funding. 

You could apply the same rule to every club given how many of them end up in administration or worse. 

[FearNothing]

4 hours ago, Bearman said:

They were never an amatuer club. Gloucestershire Warriors were a separate entity.

Sorry Ron, I was referring I suppose to the student teams since the 1990's, rather than a full-blown "amateur" club... 

[bowes]

11 minutes ago, FearNothing said:

Sorry Ron, I was referring I suppose to the student teams since the 1990's, rather than a full-blown "amateur" club... 

They'll be carrying on in the university league I'm sure

[Jasper]

On the 'Everything Rugby League' page on Facebook, there is a long article on this story, but what caught my eye was the second paragraph.....

"Down in the south west of England, where rugby union is very popular, the University of Gloucestershire All Golds and Oxford RL are merging, to form a new semi-professional club in Bristol.

Hemel Stags will also no longer compete in League 1.  They won’t play in League 1 next season, though they are aiming to be ready to compete back at that level in 2019. In many ways, this is the typical rugby league expansion story. Set up three clubs in non-heartland areas, then watch as they fail in different ways, and end up with one club in a completely different city. "

There is nothing on the Stags website.  Anyone that can confirm or deny this?  Or just another rumour?

[Ivarr the Boneless]

They have announced their coaching set up, training location, back room staff and confirmed the names of some players who have signed contracts. Not what you'd expect of a team dropping out for a year. 

[iffleyox]

21 minutes ago, Jasper said:

 

"Down in the south west of England, where rugby union is very popular, the University of Gloucestershire All Golds and Oxford RL are merging, to form a new semi-professional club in Bristol.

 

Which is either repeating someone else's sophistry (the RFL's???) or an alarmingly loose grasp of geography. 2 clubs an hour apart, only one of which is in the south west of England (in BBC money Oxford gets the same local news as Southampton and Portsmouth), are coming together to make one club. 

It's 1.25 hours and 44 miles from Cheltenham, and 2.25 hours (75 miles) from Oxford. 

It might be a merger of key backroom staff or something, but having liad the players off it's not a merger of anything else. Why not just be honest and say it's a new club for new fans in a new area? Some might go down from Cheltenham (even then I'm doubtful it'll be more than a handful) but no one'll go from Oxford. It's easier (vastly) to get to Coventry. In fact, if I'm going 2 and a quarter hours for RL, I might just as well go three and go to the M62....

[Ivarr the Boneless]

It's a mixture of media spin and the truth.

A merger looks better than two clubs folding. Also I believe there is a genuine merger element here, in that people from both clubs are involved having decided this is a better route forward for RL in southern England. (To be clear I believe Oxford would have gone anyway, don't know enough about All Golds to comment.)

To me Oxford have gone and Bristol will be a new club however I can see why those involved may prefer to hail it as a merger. It also helps the RFL if they are "re-admitting" a club, no need to explain why Manchester Rangers weren't allowed to apply.

I'll probably watch them for the first season, if it happens, and take it from there. Nearly two hours each way to central Bristol for me but that's only 25 mins more than Iffley Road was. Only about ten minutes more than Iffley Road if they go to Dings Crusaders RFC.

[DoubleD]

25 minutes ago, Ivarr the Boneless said:

It's a mixture of media spin and the truth.

A merger looks better than two clubs folding. Also I believe there is a genuine merger element here, in that people from both clubs are involved having decided this is a better route forward for RL in southern England. (To be clear I believe Oxford would have gone anyway, don't know enough about All Golds to comment.)

To me Oxford have gone and Bristol will be a new club however I can see why those involved may prefer to hail it as a merger. It also helps the RFL if they are "re-admitting" a club, no need to explain why Manchester Rangers weren't allowed to apply.

I'll probably watch them for the first season, if it happens, and take it from there. Nearly two hours each way to central Bristol for me but that's only 25 mins more than Iffley Road was. Only about ten minutes more than Iffley Road if they go to Dings Crusaders RFC.

Your commitment is commendable

[Ivarr the Boneless]

It's about 3 hours round trip for me to Broncos, I have a season ticket there too. I do that one by public transport so I can have a couple of beers.

If I do Bristol it will be early starts and spend a few hours pre-match doing the tourist bit as we did with Iffley Road. Lots to re-visit in Bristol and Bath, never been to the likes of Weston Super Mare and Clevedon. Hopefully there will be a decent pub near the ground for lunch. (The Chester near Iffley Road was brilliant.)

Unless you are very lucky in where you live doing the miles is just part of being a RL fan down here.

[Hemel Rugby League]

Hemel Stags have just about finalised all their preparations for the 2018 League 1 season and will be in the fixture list when it comes out soon. Best to keep an eye on the club website for updated positive developments.

We are bitterly disappointed that Oxford and the All Golds - who joined Championship 1 with ourselves in 2013 - will not be in our fixture list next season. 

Their withdrawal shows just how tough it is to sustain League 1 in development areas since the RFL changed the League from a development league in 2013-2014 to a high performance league from 2015 onwards.

[Evil Homer]

24 minutes ago, Hemel Rugby League said:

Hemel Stags have just about finalised all their preparations for the 2018 League 1 season and will be in the fixture list when it comes out soon. Best to keep an eye on the club website for updated positive developments.

We are bitterly disappointed that Oxford and the All Golds - who joined Championship 1 with ourselves in 2013 - will not be in our fixture list next season. 

Their withdrawal shows just how tough it is to sustain League 1 in development areas since the RFL changed the League from a development league in 2013-2014 to a high performance league from 2015 onwards.

It's professional sport, you should've never viewed it as a 'development league'.

[DEANO]

6 hours ago, Angelic Cynic said:

  Would you have been so dismissive if the club you follow,York City Knights,failed to get on the fixture list for the season just ended?

  Would you have blamed the RFL?

  The 2 clubs who have 'merged' provided a platform for more semi-professional players that didn't occur previously.

  The rugby league footprint extended,and was publicised in less than renowned areas.

  Why not just leave those who want to put the game down to those outside the sport.Or the 'Alright Jack' followers of Super League clubs with stadia provided,and who buy ready made players from around the globe courtesy of rich benefactors or tv money.

  Perhaps those rugby league clubs in 1895 had the same critics.

 Just as well neither club had a 'dodgy owner'...

York is not an experiment. Yes they’ve had their problems.  The biggest one has gone. But even at their worst they were getting 5x the support of some of these expansion clubs. I said 5 years ago that it wouldn’t work and it won’t work in Bristol no matter how much money the rfl throw at it. A new team in the north could work

[Evil Homer]

15 minutes ago, DEANO said:

York is not an experiment. Yes they’ve had their problems.  The biggest one has gone. But even at their worst they were getting 5x the support of some of these expansion clubs. I said 5 years ago that it wouldn’t work and it won’t work in Bristol no matter how much money the rfl throw at it. A new team in the north could work

Why is York not an experiment but these teams are?

[Tre Cool]

Id just like to see these new "pro" sides show a bit more ambition.  At least try and grow crowds, engage people and develop a match day experience.  A match day at Hemel feels like a trip to your local amateur club.  But if i go to MK Lightning ice hockey it feels like a real professional exciting matchday experience.  Ice Hockey has no TV deal and no history but really knows how to sell itself on and off the pitch.  Oxford and Hemel in particular really never felt like they were/are going places.  It's hard to get enthusiastic about them.  Either pull your finger out and really go pro or go back to amateurs.

[Evil Homer]

2 minutes ago, Tre Cool said:

Id just like to see these new "pro" sides show a bit more ambition.  At least try and grow crowds, engage people and develop a match day experience.  A match day at Hemel feels like a trip to your local amateur club.  But if i go to MK Lightning ice hockey it feels like a real professional exciting matchday experience.  Ice Hockey has no TV deal and no history but really knows how to sell itself on and off the pitch.  Oxford and Hemel in particular really never felt like they were/are going places.  It's hard to get enthusiastic about them.  Either pull your finger out and really go pro or go back to amateurs.

Hemel's ground still says 'Hemel Amateur Rugby League Club' at the entrance which says a lot about their attitude and level of competence IMO. They should've never been accepted into League 1.

[DEANO]

26 minutes ago, Evil Homer said:

Why is York not an experiment but these teams are?

Because york has over a hundred years of history. But more importantly they play in a rugby league area. 

[Evil Homer]

1 minute ago, DEANO said:

Because york has over a hundred years of history. But more importantly they play in a rugby league area. 

No York City Knights were formed in 2002. And 15 years of a failed experiment IMO since they have never been a strong club in that time and weren't even in the fixture list this time last year. But nice of you to decide that everyone outside of what you consider a "rugby league area" is an experiment and not a real club, I'm sure that really means a lot to the players and fans of those teams.

[paulwalker71]

5 minutes ago, DEANO said:

Because york has over a hundred years of history. But more importantly they play in a rugby league area. 

Circular argument. A 'rugby league area' because...well... it's an area that has had rugby league played there.

By that argument, you could never have any teams outside a belt across the M62 and about 20 miles to the North of it.

31 minutes ago, Tre Cool said:

Id just like to see these new "pro" sides show a bit more ambition.  At least try and grow crowds, engage people and develop a match day experience.  

The same argument could be made about a good number of clubs in 'traditional' areas

[Tre Cool]

Just now, paulwalker71 said:

 

The same argument could be made about a good number of clubs in 'traditional' areas

Yes it could but it doesn't excuse it, and as I live nr Hemel and Oxford they're my points of reference.

[DEANO]

21 minutes ago, Evil Homer said:

No York City Knights were formed in 2002. And 15 years of a failed experiment IMO since they have never been a strong club in that time and weren't even in the fixture list this time last year. But nice of you to decide that everyone outside of what you consider a "rugby league area" is an experiment and not a real club, I'm sure that really means a lot to the players and fans of those teams.

I accept what you say about the knights been formed in 2002 but they had over a 100 years history prior to that. I’m not asking any club to be successful only competitive. Clubs will not grow or survive with crowds of 100. Unfortunately the game is regional. I didn’t decide that, supporters did with the exception of the skolars and possibly Coventry