London Broncos have been a disaster off the pitch

[Eddie]

15 minutes ago, scotchy1 said:

It's a disaster because nobody watches the earlier rounds, the final cant sell out and it underperforms on tv.

It's a disaster because it gets nowhere near to.fulfilling its potential

Do you think a final between two medium sized towns, a couple of hundred miles away from them in a city where nobody cares about the game should sell out?

[gazza77]

On 21/06/2019 at 23:48, londonbronco said:

Funny.  I'm waiting for Saints, Pies, Cas & Wakey to have their own personal railway systems to be installed before attending too.

To be fair, a station was built next to the last "new" Cas ground. Sadly, they forgot the stadium.

[Man of Kent]

38 minutes ago, John C said:

It's not completely the other side of town, 13 miles from Trailfinders. It's in South London, but only just over the river, not deep south like Croydon for example. Walking distance from 2 train stations makes it very accessible.

Only 4,000 capacity but Bronco's average attendance this season is about 2,000. From an atmosphere point of view as well as how it looks on TV, it's better to be in a full 4,000 capacity stadium than a quarter full 15,000 one.

There’s absolutely no point in moving to Dulwich just because there’s a negligibly larger stadium than Trialfinders there. 

[John C]

9 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

There’s absolutely no point in moving to Dulwich just because there’s a negligibly larger stadium than Trialfinders there. 

Even if it's more accessible?

Easier access should result in higher attendances which should result in higher revenue which, if invested well, should result in a stronger Bronco's.

[Man of Kent]

10 minutes ago, John C said:

Even if it's more accessible?

Easier access should result in higher attendances which should result in higher revenue which, if invested well, should result in a stronger Bronco's.

I’m not keen on Trailfinders either but can’t see the point in moving to Dulwich Hamlet. 

Besides, how many seats would it have?

[John C]

42 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

I’m not keen on Trailfinders either but can’t see the point in moving to Dulwich Hamlet. 

Besides, how many seats would it have?

Good question. I've looked at the stadium's official website but cannot see any mention of the seat number. It will have better facilities though.

The OP's original statement, as well as some of the replies, are about playing in a stadium that is more accessible. I only mention Dulwich Hamlet as it's a viable option, unlike QPR, Brentford, Leyton Orient and the like.

[nadera78]

1 hour ago, John C said:

It's not completely the other side of town, 13 miles from Trailfinders. It's in South London, but only just over the river, not deep south like Croydon for example. Walking distance from 2 train stations makes it very accessible.

Only 4,000 capacity but Bronco's average attendance this season is about 2,000. From an atmosphere point of view as well as how it looks on TV, it's better to be in a full 4,000 capacity stadium than a quarter full 15,000 one.

Moving from Ealing to Dulwich is not a small thing in the slightest. Might as well move to the far side of the moon.

[burnleywelsh]

1 hour ago, John C said:

It's not completely the other side of town, 13 miles from Trailfinders. It's in South London, but only just over the river, not deep south like Croydon for example. Walking distance from 2 train stations makes it very accessible.

Yes it is. A 41min drive, when it’s clear. And it never is. It is definitely not ‘just over the river ‘

[The Daddy]

I grew up in West Norwood, in and around the area and whilst it would be handy to have the Broncos on my doorstep (my mum still lives there, I dont). This is definitely not the right place for a top level club. Dulwich is kind of nestled away in between Peckham and Norwood and is a very residential, suburban type area in South London, very affluent, not so much the areas around it. It's a bit too far South and not as easy to get to from other parts of London, it just wouldn't be worth the hassle, Dulwich is kind of hidden too so it would decrease the visibility of the club.

Moving into and developing Crystal palace athletics stadium would work better, it's a big sports complex has an Overground and rail station and neighbours places like Anerley, Brockley, Forest Hill which has plenty of families and aspirational types that would adopt a rugby team. I really dont see any other stadium in london thats just sitting there waiting to be used. The whole site is kind of like the Odsal of the south. A big site but it's highly unlikely that funds would be available to develop the stadium and everything around it. 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

Maybe it's time to start a go found me page, and buy London a perminat ground. So we can finally put this too bed.. they only need a 8000 seater ground.

[Eddie]

7 hours ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

Maybe it's time to start a go found me page, and buy London a perminat ground. So we can finally put this too bed.. they only need a 8000 seater ground.

That, and also set up a team at Dulwich Hamlet. Those two and the Skolars could then all be in SL playing in front of sell out crowds, with the derbies held at sold out Twickenham. 

[Southerner]

The problem is we don’t have enough money to rent a better stadium. The gulf in finances between league and football is so vast that a football club in London would not entertain the sort of offers we could make. It’s a drop in the ocean. 

[Exiled Wiganer]

Maybe the Broncos could target a couple of event games at somewhere bigger? Ealing makes more sense than the remote oddity that is Dulwich. I think Ealing makes a lot of sense, the Broncos just need to persevere and put down roots. 

[iffleyox]

19 hours ago, burnleywelsh said:

Yes it is. A 41min drive, when it’s clear. And it never is. It is definitely not ‘just over the river ‘

I occasionally (I avoid it when I can) have to drive from there to Telegraph Hill - which is just to the west of Dulwich. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when tomorrow's trip was called off. Why? Last time it took nearly two hours.

[Ivarr the Boneless]

Dulwich Hamlet and Broncos fan here. The seated capacity at Champion Hill is just over 500. 

No chance of Broncos moving there now as the future of the ground is far from clear. It's also regularly used by DHWFC on Sundays at the beginning and end of the RL season.

Broncos did view the ground many years ago to see if it had potential but it went nowhere. RL does have friends high in the hierachy of DHFC.

The club's could have been sponsored by the same firm - a DHFC person put their sponsors in touch with Broncos as they were after more sports sponsorships and Broncos ticked most of the boxes they mentioned. No idea why Broncos why they failed to seal a deal. 

[bazzzz65]

On Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 23:19, The Daddy said:

 

Moving into and developing Crystal palace athletics stadium would work better, it's a big sports complex has an Overground and rail station and neighbours places like Anerley, Brockley, Forest Hill which has plenty of families and aspirational types that would adopt a rugby team. I really dont see any other stadium in london thats just sitting there waiting to be used. The whole site is kind of like the Odsal of the south. A big site but it's highly unlikely that funds would be available to develop the stadium and everything around it. 

When London played at the athletics stadium before, what were the crowds like? I used to go fairly often and I dont recall many 'aspirational types' ( whatever that means)attending .Nearly everyone who I knew and spoke to were exiled Northerners ( like me).

[gingerjon]

16 hours ago, Ivarr the Boneless said:

as the future of the ground is far from clear

Possibly off topic but what's going on with that now?

[The Daddy]

1 hour ago, bazzzz65 said:

When London played at the athletics stadium before, what were the crowds like? I used to go fairly often and I dont recall many 'aspirational types' ( whatever that means)attending .Nearly everyone who I knew and spoke to were exiled Northerners ( like me).

So you made a judgement on the people of the local area based on the small number of people that attended a Broncos game? 

The area has developed significantly since then anyway. 

[Ivarr the Boneless]

11 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Possibly off topic but what's going on with that now?

Planning application is in and awaiting a decision. If passed, it may well be called in by the Mayor as it involves Metropolitan Open Land 

Also, for clarity DHFC, are not building the stadium - if it passes. It is being built by a property developer and leased to DHFC and largely lies on Southwark land. (Slight simplification folks.) As such, I see no possibility of Broncos buying in and owning a share of the ground.

[Guest]

As someone who used to live in Croydon and goes to Palace at Selhurst, Norwood is horrific.

I would stop going. East, West, North or otherwise. 

Ealing is fine.

[John C]

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/fans-fear-for-future-of-afc-wimbledon-as-club-face-11m-shortfall-to-build-new-stadium-a4296711.html

Maybe invest into Wimbledon? Although £11million is probably beyond the Bronco's budget.

[Damien]

5 minutes ago, John C said:

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/fans-fear-for-future-of-afc-wimbledon-as-club-face-11m-shortfall-to-build-new-stadium-a4296711.html

Maybe invest into Wimbledon? Although £11million is probably beyond the Bronco's budget.

That seems like a golden opportunity for London.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On 13/09/2019 at 00:12, Leonard said:

As someone who used to live in Croydon and goes to Palace at Selhurst, Norwood is horrific.

I would stop going. East, West, North or otherwise. 

Ealing is fine.

I'm the same. Ealing is easy to get to and traffic never an issue on match day

I read somewhere that a much higher percentage of northern immigrants to London choose North London over any other part (presumably easier to get back to relatives etc). If this is true then we are in the right spot-ish

[The Daddy]

27 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

I'm the same. Ealing is easy to get to and traffic never an issue on match day

I read somewhere that a much higher percentage of northern immigrants to London choose North London over any other part (presumably easier to get back to relatives etc). If this is true then we are in the right spot-ish

Ealing isn't in North London it's West. And just because a place is in North London it doesn't mean it's easier to get to northern towns and cities 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

4 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

Ealing isn't in North London it's West. And just because a place is in North London it doesn't mean it's easier to get to northern towns and cities 

Didn't say it was, I said it's in the right spot-ish. Easy to get to from north London unlike bloody Croydon

And yes it easier to get up north from North London. Try driving from Twickenham to Leeds - I have and it took nearly as long to clear london as it did to get to Leeds once on the M1

When I lived in Barnet I could easily get on the M1 and northbound in no time