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Swinton Lions-Will they add the name Manchester into the official name? (MERGED THREADS)


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I am a Swinton Lions fan and I think before too long the name Manchester will be in the official title of the club.

Whether they become known as Swinton-Manchester Lions,Manchester-Swinton Lions,Swinton Lions of Manchester or say Swinton Greater Manchester Lions time we will see.

But given the changes that are coming in the game along with the fact that I don’t think Agecroft will happen due to various factors,and I don’t think it is the right place anyway if I am honest and as such I cannot see us playing in Swinton again,and neither under the boundaries of Salford City Council.

I think we will for the foreseeable future at least be staying at Sale FC which is a good venue in fairness and pretty good to get to with the tram nearby from the city centre.I must admit I like the venue.Whether one day in the future a future new stadium is built in the Trafford Metropolitan Borough to accommodate a few teams time will tell,and maybe perhaps land would be available near the Trafford Centre and if that was the case could that be a potential new home for say a Lions team with whichever way of accommodating Manchester in the title?

And bearing in mind those two factors I think that it is inevitable that Manchester will be included in the official title before too long.If this was to be the case I would accept it so long as of course Swinton was in the title,in fact that is a MUST and I think that could well attract new fans and new sponsors by embracing change and promoting themselves as the Manchester club.

And let’s not forget many years ago a certain team who I also support relocated from Newton Heath(NE Manchester)moved to Old Trafford(funnily enough in the Trafford Metropolitan Borough since 1974)and totally renamed themselves Manchester United.and they have done well enough.

So surely in the case of Swinton Lions marrying history with the future I think would if it happens work nicely.And could well be successful in it’s own way.

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2 minutes ago, roughyedspud said:

Should have merged with the Manchester rangers to form the Manchester lions then..

That was never going to happen for I think a number of reasons,reasons I admit I don’t know and will never know nor find out.

I did hear(never confirmed as far as I know)though that the previous Chairman,And I think Chris Hamilton your Chairman along with the Chairman,or then Chairman At Rochdale did discuss a merger which looked on the cards.I remember going to a meeting at the local Legion where a fan in the audience asked the then Swinton Chairman about these rumours,the then Chairman was gobsmacked and the look on his face was as if to say you have got me there you bar steward(like Tony Blair when he was asked about Dr David Kelly deceased)and very soon after he was politely asked by the two remaining directors to resign the chair,which he did and very soon after the ? hit the fan and we very nearly lost the club.

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If they’re going to do it, they need to go whole hog. Swinton is in Salford. That’s the history. If the future is Manchester, then it needs to be a clean slate. No point saying Swinton-Manchester or vice versa. 

Also, make a move to Etihad and invite the former directors of Rangers to get involved and re-establish their community work. 

It will upset some existing Swinton Fans but there’s a lot more potential for new ones going forward.

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21 minutes ago, The 4 of Us said:

If they’re going to do it, they need to go whole hog. Swinton is in Salford. That’s the history. If the future is Manchester, then it needs to be a clean slate. No point saying Swinton-Manchester or vice versa. 

Also, make a move to Etihad and invite the former directors of Rangers to get involved and re-establish their community work. 

It will upset some existing Swinton Fans but there’s a lot more potential for new ones going forward.

The attendances across all of the Greater Manchester based sides suggests there isn’t a great deal of potential. 

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20 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

The attendances across all of the Greater Manchester based sides suggests there isn’t a great deal of potential. 

Agree with that but It’s all relative. Talking hundreds rather than thousands. What won’t work is bringing together 3/4 together and upsetting all of them.

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45 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

The attendances across all of the Greater Manchester based sides suggests there isn’t a great deal of potential. 

There may or may not be potential for a professional rugby team in the City of Manchester, I don't think we know the answer to that yet. But the crowds at barely-pro, small town historic clubs like Rochdale and Swinton don't tell us anything. Those clubs do not market at, nor are attractive to, potential new fans living in Manchester. 

If you live in Chorlton, Moss Side, or Levenshulme, or in one of the hundreds of new build flats going up in the centre, and you catch some Superleague on Sky, and you think you'd like to give a match a go, you don't think of heading to see Oldham. You're basically talking Wigan, or at a push trekking out to Warrington, and thats enough effort to put most people off. 

The question is, would a Manchester branded side, playing in the city, fully pro, and playing at the level of, and with the marketing effort of, the Toronto Wolfpack, attract interest? 

I don't know. But I think it's the only model that could potentially work. Top down, not bottom up. 

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3 hours ago, dkw said:

Swinton Limanchesterons doesnt exactly trip of the tongue now does it....but I like it.

Swinton-Manchester Lions

Manchester-Swinton Lions 

Swinton Lions of Manchester 

Swinton Greater Manchester Lions 

Easy enough to say.

After all there are York City Knights And Hull Kingston Rovers so(if it comes to it,if it is agreed etc)Swinton-Manchester Lions Or Manchester-Swinton Lions isn’t too bad and acceptable.

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48 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

There may or may not be potential for a professional rugby team in the City of Manchester, I don't think we know the answer to that yet. But the crowds at barely-pro, small town historic clubs like Rochdale and Swinton don't tell us anything. Those clubs do not market at, nor are attractive to, potential new fans living in Manchester. 

If you live in Chorlton, Moss Side, or Levenshulme, or in one of the hundreds of new build flats going up in the centre, and you catch some Superleague on Sky, and you think you'd like to give a match a go, you don't think of heading to see Oldham. You're basically talking Wigan, or at a push trekking out to Warrington, and thats enough effort to put most people off. 

The question is, would a Manchester branded side, playing in the city, fully pro, and playing at the level of, and with the marketing effort of, the Toronto Wolfpack, attract interest? 

I don't know. But I think it's the only model that could potentially work. Top down, not bottom up. 

The question is, how many people in Manchester are tuning in on a Thursday night to watch Super League? I don’t know the answer to that. 

I’d also be interested in the number of Wigan and Warrington ST holders with Manchester postcodes, too. Again, that’s not something I’d expect to be able to find out.

As for comparisons to Toronto, it’s far too early to be signing off their strategy to building a club as a success in year three. 

As for throwing money at it and building from top down, I’m not sure how successful that would be, in all honesty. 

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23 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

The question is, how many people in Manchester are tuning in on a Thursday night to watch Super League? I don’t know the answer to that. 

I’d also be interested in the number of Wigan and Warrington ST holders with Manchester postcodes, too. Again, that’s not something I’d expect to be able to find out.

As for comparisons to Toronto, it’s far too early to be signing off their strategy to building a club as a success in year three. 

As for throwing money at it and building from top down, I’m not sure how successful that would be, in all honesty. 

All fair points, I certainly don't think there's a sure fire route to a successful Manchester side, it maybe that the UK sports market has matured to a level that means professional club rugby has to make the best of the footprint it already has.

That said, I'd hope Elstone knows the answers to the questions you ask about current SL interest in Manchester. 

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9 hours ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

I don’t think there’s suddenly going to be an outbreak of support both on the terraces and in the boardroom for a club who call themselves Manchester. I don’t believe for a second that the reason people aren’t attending Swinton, Oldham, Rochdale or even Salford is because of the names of each club. 

I don't think I have ever agreed with anything you have ever posted before but, in this instance, you are absolutely correct.

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3 hours ago, The 4 of Us said:

If they’re going to do it, they need to go whole hog. Swinton is in Salford. That’s the history. If the future is Manchester, then it needs to be a clean slate. No point saying Swinton-Manchester or vice versa. 

Also, make a move to Etihad and invite the former directors of Rangers to get involved and re-establish their community work. 

It will upset some existing Swinton Fans but there’s a lot more potential for new ones going forward.

Oh my God, that's going to have the Swinton fans up in arms. This is what happens when people who know nothing about the history of RL in these parts start fantasizing. You mention history. How long has Swinton been in Salford? Somebody in a town hall made that decision sometime in the late 60's or early 70's. For centuries before that Salford, Swinton and Manchester were  all separate places in the county of Lancashire. That's as bad to a Swinton fan as telling me that Salford is in Manchester. If Manchester wants a Rugby League club, and it doesn't, let them start their own. Changing the  name of Salford or Swinton to Manchester and re-locating to Manchester would kill off either club.

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1 hour ago, The Future is League said:

There is a lot of talented athletes in the Manchester area who would be capable of playing Rugby League to a high level. We as a game need to discover them

When are you going to make a start then? They know where the RL clubs are. They would find them if they were interested. no chance of the RFL going out and discovering new talent as there is no funding available for development officers. The development of the game, even in the heartlands, is left mostly to the volunteers at the community clubs. The game is full of people who know exactly what is wrong with the game and what needs to be done but when but won't get off their backsides and do Jack!

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If you combined the crowd's that Salford, Swinton, Oldham and Rochdale get it isn't enough to fund a good Championship club. Of course Salford struggle on with their SL money but it's hard to see much future for the others, ground problems, reliance on individuals to keep them going, ageing fan base, changing local community with no intrest in the game, all the usual problems that beset our clubs. Time's have changed and RLs best day's have been and gone, to expect 30+ clubs to survive at a semi professional or above standard is unrealistic I'm afraid.

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