Hemel pull out of League 1

[Moscow01]

With a view to rejoining League 1 in 2020...

 

[Wolford6]

Very sad. Hope it all works out for the club.

[langpark]

Wow, I hope their plan works. 

[Moscow01]

The decision to base themselves in Sheffield was probably the beginning of the end for them. 

[Gerrumonside ref]

Will there be a replacement club?

[FearNothing]

1 minute ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Will there be a replacement club?

bit short notice you'd think??

[Wolford6]

The Broncos, Skolars and Stags could form a mutually beneficial alliance.

[Tattersfieldtreiziste]

Sad news, whatever the spin put on it, but probably no real surprise.

I hope they can use the opportunity to consolidate and rebuild as a proper home counties based side.

It also completes the set of losses of the new tranche of clubs following Oxford and Gloucester.

As a Coventry Bears fan i will miss the 'el classico' fixtures between the two clubs.

[Gerrumonside ref]

1 minute ago, FearNothing said:

bit short notice you'd think??

Yes, I guess it is really.

[The Daddy]

I don't expect them to return 

[bbfaz]

11 minutes ago, Wolford6 said:

The Broncos, Skolars and Stags could form a mutually beneficial alliance.

They've all tried to do the "stitch up" thing before but it doesn't work.  Mutually beneficial, local partnerships would work but, sadly, nobody can get out of the viking harvest mindset, just like they can't get out of the "union off-season" mindset.

[BD20Cougar]

Sad situation all round. 10 home games for league 1 teams next season is a disaster. 

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

20 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

I don't expect them to return 

Agreed. A great shame - I remember Bob Brown and the boys at Pennine way in the old Southern Amateur League in the early 1980s. The next problem is fixtures in L1 next year, as BD2 says 10 home games isn't enough.

[Oliver Clothesoff]

The writing has been on the wall since they decided to “relocate” to Dewsbury a couple of years ago. What the point of the club was in their final couple of years was anyone’s guess  

I hope they do continue as a club but I do wonder if many of the “homegrown” players they had prior to the move are still playing RL. 

Eleven seems too few to run with for League One for 2019 but it also seems too quick to be adding a brand new team to the comp. I wonder if a Super League clubs reserve team would fill the void for a year? But which club chosen to come in would be contentious. 

[fevtom]

Wow, League One is looking very empty all of a sudden. I can't see them returning either. Now that the super league / championship structure is sorted (for now anyway) we really need a plan of how the lower division(s) are going to work. Regional perhaps?

[mickhornet]

Very disappointing only went to Hemel once with Hornets,nice ground and the hospitality was great

Hemel won.

[Oliver Clothesoff]

6 minutes ago, fevtom said:

Wow, League One is looking very empty all of a sudden. I can't see them returning either. Now that the super league / championship structure is sorted (for now anyway) we really need a plan of how the lower division(s) are going to work. Regional perhaps?

Absolutely not. 

[Londonfan]

I enjoyed the London derby when we would play Hemel. Skolars ans Hemel always had a great rivalry and some great derby game in front of some very good crowds in the early days. Hemel still have homegrown players such as Dan Sarginson, Jamie Acton and Kieran Dixon playing the game at the highest level 

[paulwalker71]

10 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

Eleven seems too few to run with for League One for 2019 

Loop fixtures? 

[paulwalker71]

Being serious, I would be amazed if they ever return. Remember how Gloucester and Oxford were 'withdrawing for a year to build'. Never happened...

Reading the report it seems clear that not only were the RFL in the know about this, they seem to have been proactive. I wonder if this will be the last of the 'withdrawals' 

[Oliver Clothesoff]

1 minute ago, paulwalker71 said:

Being serious, I would be amazed if they ever return. Remember how Gloucester and Oxford were 'withdrawing for a year to build'. Never happened...

Reading the report it seems clear that not only were the RFL in the know about this, they seem to have been proactive. I wonder if this will be the last of the 'withdrawals' 

If West Wales or another were to go, that’s then a ten team league which could see teams playing each other three times (27 games overall) in a season. 

[The Daddy]

According to journalist John Davidson, the Boston franchise set up by Eric Perez is trying to buy out their league one place. 

[DoubleD]

I can’t help feeling it’s for the best, sadly. They never could really transition to the professional level; I guess they’ll play in the new CLS? They still have grassroots development and that’s where their main focus should remain 

[Colliwobble]

13 minutes ago, paulwalker71 said:

Being serious, I would be amazed if they ever return. Remember how Gloucester and Oxford were 'withdrawing for a year to build'. Never happened...

What did actually happen to Oxford and Gloucester?

Do those clubs still exist?

[Dr Tim Whatley]

It really has been a miserable couple of years for the Stags. I'm kind of glad that the decision has been made to reset although, like others, I would be very surprised if they did indeed return to League One in 2020.

Reconnect with the community, win a few games - or at least be competitive most of the time - and this may end up the best way ahead for the club.

Makes the League One situation for 2019 even more farcical of course...