Koukash and new Cumbrian club - good idea?

[Bearman]

6 minutes ago, headtackle said:

Not seen his interview but is this a sign of things to come. New regional teams with other clubs retaining identities as feeders ? That was the model in Welsh RU and supporters went with it (for the most part)

Been a long time since Workington were in SL and suspect years in the wilderness could soften attitudes towards a regional team as long as the likes of Town, Haven and Barrow remain in their own right.

Rotate fixtures round the feeder grounds + explore the likes of Carlisle and into the Scottish borders and could work. If talking regions what about linking with the NE and having a Far North team ? 

I think local loyalties are important but think if put quality games on the doorstep with a brand new team punters would go along and a new team may capture a new audience

If we are nearing a stage where the draw bridge is coming up as mooted on other posts I would prefer to give a Cumbrian team a final chance than dump them into the wilderness once and forever. If the proposed 10 team SL and SL 2 is coming some clubs may need to look at the regional option - makes me shiver but Lyndsays mergers could be back 

  

 

 

So the team would rotate around Cumbria? Who would watch them? Do you think the existing fans would drop their own team in favour of travelling cross Cumbria?

Bear in mind that the public transport across the Administrative Area is pretty poor and the road system is terrible in winter and clogged with tourists in the summer.

It cannot work.

 

[headtackle]

16 minutes ago, Bearman said:

So the team would rotate around Cumbria? Who would watch them? Do you think the existing fans would drop their own team in favour of travelling cross Cumbria?

Bear in mind that the public transport across the Administrative Area is pretty poor and the road system is terrible in winter and clogged with tourists in the summer.

It cannot work.

 

If the new team is an extra they don't need to drop existing loyalty and if rotates round the region they don't need to travel if they don't wish to. There is no reason why a SL club couldnt have 3 feeders/dual reg associates linking in with amaateur clubs a clear pathway. 

If roads are clogged with tourists wouldn't a high quality SL fixture perhaps be an attraction if marketed properly ? 

Sport is in a new era. Regions, international elements, on the road etc etc - times have changed

A Cumbrian team could probably get away with playing anywhere between Blackpool and Dumfries - that is a big area with plenty of sports fans and some pretty good road networks. Like I say times have changed. For a Cumbrian RL fan in the current climate we may not like it but we seem to be  approaching a  time where it is adapt or die. I for one dont want to see meaningful Cumbrian RL disappear or any forced mergers/loss of identity but would have thought a workable solution is possible.

 

 

 

 

 

[westlondonfan]

1 hour ago, Bearman said:

So the team would rotate around Cumbria? Who would watch them? Do you think the existing fans would drop their own team in favour of travelling cross Cumbria?

Bear in mind that the public transport across the Administrative Area is pretty poor and the road system is terrible in winter and clogged with tourists in the summer.

It cannot work.

 

I don’t know if you been to Cumbria much but do you really think that the public transport system in Cumbria is poor during the summer?

That’s not really been my experience.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

26 minutes ago, westlondonfan said:

I don’t know if you been to Cumbria much but do you really think that the public transport system in Cumbria is poor during the summer?

That’s not really been my experience.

????

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

23 minutes ago, westlondonfan said:

I don’t know if you been to Cumbria much but do you really think that the public transport system in Cumbria is poor during the summer?

That’s not really been my experience.

I don't know where you have been in Cumbria on Public transport but if you don't think it is poor then you need to advise many locals. As an example, I was speaking to an Oldham fan before the recent Whitehaven v Oldham game, he followed Oldham everywhere and found it impossible to reach Whitehaven or Workington in time for Kick off on a Sunday without a stop over and very difficult to get home on the same day

[Derwent]

As a proud Cumbrian I'd love to see SL level rugby in the county. But not at any price. Aside from that, a Cumbria side would not work due to the logistical problems. It'd either have to be a West Cumbria club or a South Cumbria club, simple as that. A hybrid of the two is impractical to the point of being ridiculous. Asking people from Workington to go to Barrow, or vice versa, is like asking people from Leeds to go to Warrington to watch their home games and without a motorway to do it on.

[Bearman]

43 minutes ago, westlondonfan said:

I don’t know if you been to Cumbria much but do you really think that the public transport system in Cumbria is poor during the summer?

That’s not really been my experience.

Try getting from Barrow to Carlisle via Workington on Sunday by train or bus.

Barrow to Carlisle via Lancaster us doable at £45.00 by train.

Road means A590 and M6 or A595 do you know those roads? Neither are for the faint hearted. Of course you could go the pretty  way and crawl through Windermere, Ambleside and Keswick.

 

 

[yipyee]

8 hours ago, Mr Frisky said:

The only areas of Cumbria intrested in RL are south Cumbria (Barrow) - population about 70,000 and West Cumbria (Workington and Whitehaven) joint population about 60,000.

none of these areas can support Super League size crowds.

Carlisle is only a football City and the lakes are RU and football - mainly due to the amount of Southerners who live there. Drive 15 miles from Workington and now one knows what RL is.

What's the population of Castleford?

[yipyee]

11 minutes ago, Derwent said:

As a proud Cumbrian I'd love to see SL level rugby in the county. But not at any price. Aside from that, a Cumbria side would not work due to the logistical problems. It'd either have to be a West Cumbria club or a South Cumbria club, simple as that. A hybrid of the two is impractical to the point of being ridiculous. Asking people from Workington to go to Barrow, or vice versa, is like asking people from Leeds to go to Warrington to watch their home games and without a motorway to do it on.

A Cumbria side could play half the games in barrow and half on the west coast.

They could sell passes for games in set areas.

Did hards would want to go to all games but in reality the limiting of 'local' games would see a rise in gates.

Outside the box thinking is what's needed in expansion areas.

[Bearman]

1 hour ago, headtackle said:

If the new team is an extra they don't need to drop existing loyalty and if rotates round the region they don't need to travel if they don't wish to. There is no reason why a SL club couldnt have 3 feeders/dual reg associates linking in with amaateur clubs a clear pathway. 

If roads are clogged with tourists wouldn't a high quality SL fixture perhaps be an attraction if marketed properly ? 

Sport is in a new era. Regions, international elements, on the road etc etc - times have changed

A Cumbrian team could probably get away with playing anywhere between Blackpool and Dumfries - that is a big area with plenty of sports fans and some pretty good road networks. Like I say times have changed. For a Cumbrian RL fan in the current climate we may not like it but we seem to be  approaching a  time where it is adapt or die. I for one dont want to see meaningful Cumbrian RL disappear or any forced mergers/loss of identity but would have thought a workable solution is possible.

 

 

 

 

 

Its a big area with small populations. Do you really believe that everyone would drop their own team when the circus has come to town?

 

[Bearman]

27 minutes ago, yipyee said:

What's the population of Castleford?

Last time I looked Castleford was in West Yotkshire with a population of 2.2 million within easy access via the M1 and M62 and less than an hours drive

Cumbria has less than a quarter of that and its 1hour 44 minutes from Barrow to Carlisle by car and the same from Workington to Barrow. On that scale Castleford to Wigan and Manchester can be included in the Cas catchment area.?

[Bearman]

11 minutes ago, yipyee said:

A Cumbria side could play half the games in barrow and half on the west coast.

They could sell passes for games in set areas.

Did hards would want to go to all games but in reality the limiting of 'local' games would see a rise in gates.

Outside the box thinking is what's needed in expansion areas.

And what happens to Barrow, Whitehaven and Workington when the circus is up the road? Die hard fans are the very fans that support those teams and they would NOT want to go to every game.

If Cumbria were playing Wakefield at Barrow and Haven were playing Town at the Rec, how many West Cumbrians would choose a 1 hour 45 minute drive each way up and down the A595 in preference to a local derby with bragging rights?

Its a rubbish idea.

[roughyedspud]

You are all getting sucked into pointless debate created by the imbecile koukash..

He's played the whole sport for fools..

[Henson Park Old Firm]

May i suggest creating a bullet train to connect with the towns... that would eliminate massive travel times.

[JDINTHEHIZZOUSE]

11 hours ago, roughyedspud said:

Koukash doesn't have the money to do ######..stop pandering to the RL Trump!

Salford had nigh on 500,000 people on its doorstep and koukash couldn't make it work lol...

This is a double edged sword for me seeing as barrow beat us a couple of weeks ago. it's evident the enthusiasm is there and has been for many years,showing my age I remember quite the tussle between leigh and both Whitehaven and barrow. I remember a trip to Workington on a Wednesday night in the late 80's and always thought this is how rugby league was,but it's not. The trouble I have is I would love to see a Cumbrian team in super league,playing where I can't answer that. However,as an expansionist I would hate to see our Three Cumbrian teams suffer as a result. Do we dare go further north? Berwick for example? I don't know,just my thoughts as to what's viable and what's not.

[Hopping Mad]

How much lower do attendances at Whitehaven and Workington need to fall before those running the two clubs realise locals don't want (even in a part of the world where counter attractions are pretty thin on the ground) what they're offering? I went to the recent Haven-Skolars Challenge Cup tie, combining the trek over from North Yorkshire with some work stuff en route. Yes, the game was played on a Saturday evening (a ludicrous time), in horrible weather (bitterly cold) and on a terrible pitch (a bog) - but 439 spectators (most of them the wrong side of 50)? As someone said above: adapt, change or die. Maintaining the status quo isn't an option.

[Luxembourger]

Cumbria Fellsmen anyone? I actually think it could work pretty well. Whilst attandances may never be massive, local businesses are very RL friendly and would love a SL team to back. Would have a big impact in the local media too. Could be like Munster in RU??

[Guest]

I haven’t read the whole thread but is this actually a possibility regarding MK or just more attention seeking like his NRL “bids”??

Eitherway there are too many reasons to why a joint so called Cumbrian club could never work Those being the distance from the Cumbrian heartlands of West Cumbria to barrow. Never mind carlisle to barrow. The poor roads between them. No logical place for the team to be based as Cumbria is such a large Sparsely populated county. The fact that 3 semi-professional clubs already exist just with Workington and Whitehaven surviving on poor crowds in even poorer stadiums.

i could go on and on but unfortunately this Cumbria idea is a non starter.

[Sports Prophet]

20 hours ago, langpark said:

As a fan, i find it ĥard to feel any love for these newly manufactured clubs, compared to ones that have been around for over a century. For this reason, i believe it will never work. Next. 

I hope you aren't a Broncos fan ? 

[bobbruce]

7 hours ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

May i suggest creating a bullet train to connect with the towns... that would eliminate massive travel times.

Mono rail  ?

[Spidey]

9 hours ago, yipyee said:

A Cumbria side could play half the games in barrow and half on the west coast.

They could sell passes for games in set areas.

Did hards would want to go to all games but in reality the limiting of 'local' games would see a rise in gates.

Outside the box thinking is what's needed in expansion areas.

Thinking that Cumbria is an expansion area is the first mistake. There is plenty of RL played each week and community level across the area. People will stick to watching their Village team or the pro team down the road. 

The catchment population and travel links just aren’t there for people to travel, or you’ll be asking locals to give up on their current allegiances which I don’t think is realistic 

[Hopping Mad]

22 hours ago, langpark said:

As a fan, i find it ĥard to feel any love for these newly manufactured clubs, compared to ones that have been around for over a century. For this reason, i believe it will never work. Next. 

It won't work because you don't feel any love for "newly manufactured clubs". Does that make any sense?

[Oxford]

 

[Mr Frisky]

5 hours ago, walter sobchak said:

The fact that 3 semi-professional clubs already exist just with Workington and Whitehaven surviving on poor crowds in even poorer stadiums.

You  mean 1 very poor ground ( Haven) and a world class multi sports stadium home of an international RL team with a 10,000 capacity used in the last world cup and 4 nations (Town) - you cant put the  2 in the same bracket.............Up the Town!!

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Mr Frisky said:

You  mean 1 very poor ground ( Haven) and a world class multi sports stadium home of an international RL team with a 10,000 capacity used in the last world cup and 4 nations (Town) - you cant put the  2 in the same bracket.............Up the Town!!

There was no winking emoji at the end of your post so I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic.