Red Star Belgrade to join League One?

[The Future is League]

I don't have a problem with them playing in league 1 if the finance is there, but wouldn't it be better if they played in the French league first?

[Adelaide Tiger]

My problem is thus;

In 5 years time if the Championship League one has teams from USA, Canada, Serbia, Jamaica, Ireland, France, Norway, Germany and Peckham then we might get a tsunami of RU players who want to play a sport that helps them see the world! ???

[Wellsy4HullFC]

Will they be able to get TV money to fund such a project? I'd love them to make it, but as with other overseas projects at this level, I assume part of the deal will be that they fund travel for the English clubs. This will be very expensive so they'll need a backer.

I wouldn't want them at this level of they're just going to be a passenger, ala most of the southern expansion projects. They'd be better served in the French league if that's the case.

I do wonder how our league system will end up looking with all these overseas teams mooted. That's five French (Catalans, Toulouse, Avignon, Carcassonne/Aude, Villeneuve), two Canadian (Toronto, Montreal), two American (NYC, +1) and now a Serbian team (Belgrade) with an honorable mention to the two Welsh clubs (West Wales Raiders and North Wales Crusaders). 

[Copa]

I suspect that if NA teams bring in significantly more money to share around a lot of potential clubs will want a part of it.

[Sports Prophet]

I suspected a Serbian team to target entry into the professional ranks soon. 

I am still undecided as to whether I think it is a good idea to be run under the Red Star club or whether it would best serve Serbia as newly established club. Alternatively, Red Star to run feeder clubs without the Red Star name at levels below the Championship.

its a long way to go and five years would be appropriate. Yes they would definitely need some imports. But cost of living is cheap there and I suspect they could pick up a few on the cheap.

[iangidds]

6 hours ago, burnleywelsh said:

And you know this, how ?

Its probably a fair guess, there is very little money here; you would need somebody like Samsung to fund it who have a big presence here

[iangidds]

What would really help is to bring your amatuer teams here , they are great hosts

[moorside roughyed]

8 hours ago, southstand loiner said:

Serbia are already involved and have been for a few years they have a big prescience for rugby league in Serbia with many clubs at all grades . also they have played a lot of internationals at European shield level and are now bigger than rugby union in Serbia and all without putting out the begging bowl for help but just getting on with it themselves . they really are the gateway to both the Balkans and eastern Europe for our game .

I would not expect them to need many players from England or Australia when they join league one as they have many good players already . add that to relatively cheap flights to a city that's A GREAT PLACE TO VISIT AND NOT TO PRICEY AS WELL. I will be making another trip out there next season with luck .

All I worry about with stuff like this is a lack of away supporters on games against a foreign team.Many clubs rely on away fans attending, spending on food,drink etc.We could have a situation where a club makes a lot less money for the games that they host a foreign club.It's a financial concern more than anything.

[Just Browny]

What's all this stuff about the French league? All countries who talk a bit foreign should go in the same league? 

France and Serbia aren't exactly adjacent.

[RP London]

56 minutes ago, moorside roughyed said:

All I worry about with stuff like this is a lack of away supporters on games against a foreign team.Many clubs rely on away fans attending, spending on food,drink etc.We could have a situation where a club makes a lot less money for the games that they host a foreign club.It's a financial concern more than anything.

To be fair if the clubs are so dependent on away support then they need to take a long hard look at themselves. You cannot survive for long hoping other people will bring along their support for you to leach off.. I know it is the case at the moment but anyone who is surviving like that are going to be casualties somewhere along the line.. they need to build their own home support and I'm a Sheffield Eagles fan!

[southstand loiner]

8 hours ago, burnleywelsh said:

And you know this, how ?

same way as nobody had money to fund Toronto at a guess .  there's plenty of money out there in the wide world just nobody in Britain willing to invest in a new club

[southstand loiner]

2 hours ago, iangidds said:

Its probably a fair guess, there is very little money here; you would need somebody like Samsung to fund it who have a big presence here

as Toronto have shown us the moneyman does not need to come from the country the club is based in and in the red star case it would seem the initial funding is coming from Australia were plenty of people with Serbian roots live and have prospered . either way with a 5 year timescale there not rushing it and have time to sort out the finances . if Serbian rugby league is true to form whatever they decided will turn out ok as they have come a long way in a few years through using common sense .

 

[Bearman]

9 hours ago, burnleywelsh said:

And you know this, how ?

They are living hand to mouth and doing fantastic work.

There are some great people out there working their socks off.

They struggle to get playing kit and post protectors.

Travel to Belgrade is expensive and so someone is going to have to find a major funding stream. Thats not going to come from the UK and for all that good work going on in Serbia has not raised the profile of the game enough to attract crowds that could sustain the cost. Now, it may be that they have a benefactor in the wings prepared to fund it but I very much doubt it. I hope I'm wrong. 

Its been 10 years since I went with England Lionhearts but there has been very little growth since then and I really cannot see how this could happen.

As I say I hope I'm wrong.

[iangidds]

I have posted on here a few times that people should come here to Serbia and play but never any response! I remember I used to live in Batley and play in Mirfield and the players thought I was mad travelling that far!( 6 miles) we need to widen our horizons ; how many fans at the lower level travel? 

I remember the York crowd been significantly higher when they played Toronto , we need bigger games and reasons for supporters to come and watch: staying local we are just withering away in my opinion 

[langpark]

I believe this can happen, the biggest hurdle will be persuading RFL and other English clubs.  The concern that League One is becoming a northern hemisphere league and too much to handle is indeed a valid one.

Serbia right now, already have about 5-6 players capable of playing League One standard rugby league.  So if they can produce another 10 over the next five years, plus the inevitable imports that they will get in, they will be fine.

As for the off-field part, let's not forget about how big of a club Red Star is in general.  At a rough google search, it seems they have an annual operating budget of around €15 million per season.  So there's potential there, plus the corporate side, if they can get on board.  Serbia RL already seem to have sponsorship deals going with Air Serbia, so within 5 years, they could well get enough backing from across the board in order to make this viable.

[Bob8]

10 hours ago, burnleywelsh said:

And you know this, how ?

While Bearman is rather absolute in his statement, it is fair to say that money would be an issue.  I am sure Bearman is often pressured to make a statement along the lines of "We want to see Coventry in Super League in five years", as journalists love that sort of thing.  He might be wary (as I am), that that is what has happened.

[wackojacko]

22 minutes ago, Bob8 said:

While Bearman is rather absolute in his statement, it is fair to say that money would be an issue.  I am sure Bearman is often pressured to make a statement along the lines of "We want to see Coventry in Super League in five years", as journalists love that sort of thing.  He might be wary (as I am), that that is what has happened.

Surely there would be less pressure on a Serbian amateur club to say that than one already within our professional P&R system?

I do agree that financial problems make this much less likely than other options but a big name like Red Star behind it could help and they could hope to attract investors from the Serbian diaspora down under.

[Bob8]

39 minutes ago, wackojacko said:

Surely there would be less pressure on a Serbian amateur club to say that than one already within our professional P&R system?

I do agree that financial problems make this much less likely than other options but a big name like Red Star behind it could help and they could hope to attract investors from the Serbian diaspora down under.

Indeed.  It would be great if it happens.  Certainly, I found Toronto rather unlikely and Belgrade is far closer.  Money is the big issue.

[Bearman]

1 hour ago, langpark said:

I believe this can happen, the biggest hurdle will be persuading RFL and other English clubs.  The concern that League One is becoming a northern hemisphere league and too much to handle is indeed a valid one.

Serbia right now, already have about 5-6 players capable of playing League One standard rugby league.  So if they can produce another 10 over the next five years, plus the inevitable imports that they will get in, they will be fine.

As for the off-field part, let's not forget about how big of a club Red Star is in general.  At a rough google search, it seems they have an annual operating budget of around €15 million per season.  So there's potential there, plus the corporate side, if they can get on board.  Serbia RL already seem to have sponsorship deals going with Air Serbia, so within 5 years, they could well get enough backing from across the board in order to make this viable.

Red Star are a sports club that includes about 20 different sports.

In terms of soccer they are pretty small fry in the European scheme of things.

 Financially they are probably equal to  English League 1 standard.

Their highest transfer purchase was €8 million Euro. Compare that with Wolves who paid out €17 million. Those sporting clubs are supposed to be a revenue scheme for the soccer club with membership being cost neutral to the soccer club.

So I am afraid your assertion that a €15 million operating budget gives potential is a bit wide of the mark.

[langpark]

1 minute ago, Bearman said:

Red Star are a sports club that includes about 20 different sports.

In terms of soccer they are pretty small fry in the European scheme of things.

 Financially they are probably equal to  English League 1 standard.

Their highest transfer purchase was €8 million Euro. Compare that with Wolves who paid out €17 million. Those sporting clubs are supposed to be a revenue scheme for the soccer club with membership being cost neutral to the soccer club.

So I am afraid your assertion that a €15 million operating budget gives potential is a bit wide of the mark.

I know they are multi-sporting, as in most of Europe.  I am not saying they would depend solely on them or anything.  The name and a potential 'ready' fan-base there though is very helpful.  The point I was trying to make though is that there is already contact with some major players (yes, they are still major in the grand scheme of things), and if we can get a few of them: Red Star, Air Serbia etc. to give a tiny amount of backing each, then it could turn into a really solid bid.

[JonM]

5 hours ago, Just Browny said:

What's all this stuff about the French league? All countries who talk a bit foreign should go in the same league? 

France and Serbia aren't exactly adjacent.

Google maps reckons Avignon is a bit closer to Belgrade than Avignon is to Manchester, which surprises me.

I think one potential advantage they have is name recognition. Most sports fans in Britain will have heard of Red Star Belgrade - they won the European Cup & Inter-continental cup in football back in the 1990s, after all.  Dorcol spiders joining league 1 wouldn't have anywhere near the level of impact.

[BD20Cougar]

The question is would a Belgrade club be expected to pay for the travel and accommodation of away clubs? If so it may be difficult to find someone willing to pick up the bill. 

[JM2010]

Aren't they already involved in a Balkans Super league? I would like to see that become stronger with stronger domestic leagues underneath. 

[iangidds]

1 hour ago, JM2010 said:

Aren't they already involved in a Balkans Super league? I would like to see that become stronger with stronger domestic leagues underneath. 

Balkan super league is a great great effort by all involved  but they need cash and they need to aspire to the top; we encourage them and bring them to the head table as quickly as is possible; they can't go on funding themselves forever .

if you pay these players say 40,000 euros a year for high level RL it will attract a big amount of athletes from all sports; that is a very very big wage here

[langpark]

6 minutes ago, iangidds said:

Balkan super league is a great great effort by all involved  but they need cash and they need to aspire to the top; we encourage them and bring them to the head table as quickly as is possible; they can't go on funding themselves forever .

if you pay these players say 40,000 euros a year for high level RL it will attract a big amount of athletes from all sports; that is a very very big wage here

Woah!  Come back down to planet earth mate!  There are Super League players that aren't even on that much!!