Belgrade - Entry to League 1

[Quinskolar]

I support developing Belgrade, but there two three questions -

1. Who pays for the travel for League1 teams to Belgrade ?

2. Can League 1 team players get time off to travel to Belgrade  (they would have to travel down to London and then fly out I suspect and the same coming back). The real problems arrive via games that are postponed. Toronto can afford to bankroll these problems, can Belgrade? 

3. Having one Belgrade team in League1 is fine but how do you then build up other teams in Serbia and elsewhere (League 1 could not cope with more than one foreign side per season). There is no obvious additions to the promised North American teams, it has all gone cold.

 

 

[owls]

21 hours ago, The Future is League said:

 Wouldn't it be better for them to go through the French system for starters to establish what playing level they are at, and less travel expenses.Just saying

 

I agree, if we have a P&R pyramid system then the French elite league should be part of it, this would be ideal for any continental teams with ambition,

[Oliver Clothesoff]

Just now, owls said:

I agree, if we have a P&R pyramid system then the French elite league should be part of it, this would be ideal for any continental teams with ambition,

Would that not be made a mockery of if the French teams can’t/won’t want to join League One?

[owls]

26 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

Would that not be made a mockery of if the French teams can’t/won’t want to join League One?

not really, the league would not be below league 1 it would be on a par or in between the championship and league 1,

if any team that wins the league doesn't wish to be promoted then that's their choice,

travelling wise its a better option for any team from Serbia.Italy,Spain etc.

[Damien]

It would be great seeing a Belgrade team with the necessary backing and finances to be part of the league structure. However for the good of the game and for long term growth I cant help but think some sort of continental Europe league would be the way to go, and hopefully in time a 3rd professional league, with Super League focusing on the British Isles and North America.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

1 hour ago, scotchy1 said:

If It’s absolutely necessary to have that system wouldn’t elite 1 be on a par with the championship rather than between L1 and the championship? Relegating day Toulouse from Super league to the championship sitting ahead of elite Championship seems silly

Realistically, Elite 1 is not quite Championship standard. The worst Championship teams would probably be as good as the best Elite 1 teams. The league fluctuates in size quite a lot as well due to teams dropping out. It's not a very stable league really and quite a big drop from SL.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 8:59 PM, DavidM said:

Would many Aussies wanna play there?

Almost certainly not, which is one of the proposal's more attractive features!!

[Wellsy4HullFC]

27 minutes ago, scotchy1 said:

I dunno Toulouse came and competed straight away!

though my question is less about standard than the practicalities of moving continental clubs between the champions elite one and SL. Is it better for the clubs and those competitions to have these transient teams moving between them 

Let's be fair, they came top of L1 and 5th the next year in Championship. They were the best club in France and probably took a few of the better players en route too. They were also full time IIRC, but not when they were in Elite 1.

The rest of them most likely wouldn't be anywhere near as competitive. You might get a couple that are mid-to-lower level Championship standard at best, but the rest would be L1 standard. It's a bit like York and Bradford winning L1 and going into SL.

[brooza]

On 8/20/2018 at 8:48 PM, Lowdesert said:

I would imagine flights to the UK would be more readily available, but you’ve got Montpellier, Beziers, Carca, Perpignan to go at in France.

It might be feasible for Belgrade but would/could many L1 afford it easily?  Don’t forget, Belgrade would have to stump up for opposition teams 4star hotels, food, and cinema tickets.  

Pretty sure one of the clubs or Serbia RL in general run a hotel in Belgrade

[deluded pom?]

17 minutes ago, brooza said:

Pretty sure one of the clubs or Serbia RL in general run a hotel in Belgrade

Is it a hotel or a hostel?

[iangidds]

Hostel I think

[Copa]

On 8/22/2018 at 6:56 AM, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Almost certainly not, which is one of the proposal's more attractive features!!

Heaps of Australians would want to play there. It’s not hard to find decent rugby league players in Australia who have parents or grandparents from that part of the world or family members in that part of the world.

[brooza]

19 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

Is it a hotel or a hostel?

Just found it, it's a hostel. Run by Serbia RL

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g294472-d7316129-Reviews-People_s_Hostel-Belgrade.html

[Copa]

37 minutes ago, brooza said:

Pretty sure one of the clubs or Serbia RL in general run a hotel in Belgrade

A few Australian rugby league jerseys on the wall too. Scroll through the photos to see them 

https://www.booking.com/hotel/rs/rlc-hostel.en-gb.html

[Eleftherios]

Looking forward to Rhodes Knights and Attica Rhinos joining the league as well!

[slowdive]

58 minutes ago, brooza said:

Just found it, it's a hostel. Run by Serbia RL

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g294472-d7316129-Reviews-People_s_Hostel-Belgrade.html

That may just have decided for me where my next trip is going to be!  Always fancied visitng Serbia anyway.

[southstand loiner]

On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 8:48 PM, Lowdesert said:

I would imagine flights to the UK would be more readily available, but you’ve got Montpellier, Beziers, Carca, Perpignan to go at in France.

It might be feasible for Belgrade but would/could many L1 afford it easily?  Don’t forget, Belgrade would have to stump up for opposition teams 4star hotels, food, and cinema tickets.  

the Serbian rugby league already own a hotel in Belgrade more of an hostel to be fair but good enough if your going for a weekend 

[Lowdesert]

10 hours ago, southstand loiner said:

the Serbian rugby league already own a hotel in Belgrade more of an hostel to be fair but good enough if your going for a weekend 

Yeah, I read that earlier in the thread mate.  Amazing really.

[damp squib]

2 hours ago, Lowdesert said:

Yeah, I read that earlier in the thread mate.  Amazing really.

Having that kind of stable, long term income from another source is such a huge boost to the sport.

It's like much smaller scale version of the League's Clubs a lot of the NRL teams have.

[Lowdesert]

8 minutes ago, damp squib said:

Having that kind of stable, long term income from another source is such a huge boost to the sport.

It's like much smaller scale version of the League's Clubs a lot of the NRL teams have.

Agreed.  Not so sure that NRL template would work for every UK club but I often wonder why others haven’t tried it.  Would be good to know who’s considered it.

[ojx]

15 hours ago, southstand loiner said:

the Serbian rugby league already own a hotel in Belgrade more of an hostel to be fair but good enough if your going for a weekend 

Yes, but as TWP found out, many League One part-timers consider themselves too good for dorm beds.