'Expansion' of the heartlands

[JM2010]

There's lots of talk about who should be in SL and what new areas could potentially support a professional team. I'm all for this expansion and welcome anyone who wants to invest in new and existing clubs.

One area I think gets overlooked is the community game in the already established areas. 

I think the game should look at trying to strengthen existing clubs in Yorkshire and the North West and look to try and increase the amount of junior and open age sides in the areas.

One obvious approach would be to try and expand into towns and cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Bury, Barnsley,  Sheffield etc as they would have ready made leagues to join but I would also look at towns and cities that are already established RL areas.

I think helping to strengthen existing junior sections of heartland clubs, especially the weaker ones, and supporting the setting up of new clubs in places such as Leeds, Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield, Salford, Oldham, Hull etc would an effective way of increasing playing numbers and would also help the game push into bordering towns and cities.

 

[Smudger06]

18 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

There's lots of talk about who should be in SL and what new areas could potentially support a professional team. I'm all for this expansion and welcome anyone who wants to invest in new and existing clubs.

One area I think gets overlooked is the community game in the already established areas. 

I think the game should look at trying to strengthen existing clubs in Yorkshire and the North West and look to try and increase the amount of junior and open age sides in the areas.

One obvious approach would be to try and expand into towns and cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Bury, Barnsley,  Sheffield etc as they would have ready made leagues to join but I would also look at towns and cities that are already established RL areas.

I think helping to strengthen existing junior sections of heartland clubs, especially the weaker ones, and supporting the setting up of new clubs in places such as Leeds, Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield, Salford, Oldham, Hull etc would an effective way of increasing playing numbers and would also help the game push into bordering towns and cities.

 

There's enough clubs in the heartlands, could definitely do with an Expansion effort to increase playing members at existing Clubs, I think the areas to look at expanding Club numbers would be the North East and Greater London. 

[JM2010]

Just now, Smudger06 said:

There's enough clubs in the heartlands, could definitely do with an Expansion effort to increase playing members at existing Clubs, I think the areas to look at expanding Club numbers would be the North East and Greater London. 

I agree actually, maybe there's enough clubs in the heartlands. I definitely think it should start with increasing playing numbers at existing clubs. If most of the existing clubs had strong numbers then the amount and quality of juniors available to professionally sides would greatly increase.

I also agree on the expansion areas. London and the NE but I'd also add Wales

[ATLANTISMAN]

LONDON

NEWCASTLE 

FRANCE 

Internationals taken to new areas

 

Job done:)

 

Paul

[Dave T]

There are a lot of towns within areas close to 'heartlands' where RL is still an alien sport. 

In fact so many places in the UK are blissfully unaware of RL really. 

Imagine if we had at least one club in every town and city across the UK like football, RU and Cricket etc have. 

[Dave T]

If you were looking where to focus your efforts in the UK, I just think you have to go with the numbers. Focus on population centres that have many schools, colleges etc and should give you better results on our limited resources. 

[Damien]

22 minutes ago, Smudger06 said:

There's enough clubs in the heartlands, could definitely do with an Expansion effort to increase playing members at existing Clubs, I think the areas to look at expanding Club numbers would be the North East and Greater London. 

There can never be enough clubs. There are vast swathes of the so called heartlands with no RL presence.

[Smudger06]

6 minutes ago, Damien said:

There can never be enough clubs. There are vast swathes of the so called heartlands with no RL presence.

Where exactly? 

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, Smudger06 said:

Where exactly? 

Well from your post its quite obvious you don't agree to any more teams in Yorkshire or the North West. I'm sure you don't need it pointed out where RL isn't played or doesn't have a presence.

[JM2010]

4 minutes ago, Smudger06 said:

Where exactly? 

I wouldn't say vast swathes but I think some of the towns and cities could do with a few more clubs in certain areas. Places such as Leeds, Huddersfield,  Bradford could accommodate a few more clubs

[DEANO]

Did anyone see that pig flyover

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, JM2010 said:

There's lots of talk about who should be in SL and what new areas could potentially support a professional team. I'm all for this expansion and welcome anyone who wants to invest in new and existing clubs.

One area I think gets overlooked is the community game in the already established areas. 

I think the game should look at trying to strengthen existing clubs in Yorkshire and the North West and look to try and increase the amount of junior and open age sides in the areas.

One obvious approach would be to try and expand into towns and cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Bury, Barnsley,  Sheffield etc as they would have ready made leagues to join but I would also look at towns and cities that are already established RL areas.

I think helping to strengthen existing junior sections of heartland clubs, especially the weaker ones, and supporting the setting up of new clubs in places such as Leeds, Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield, Salford, Oldham, Hull etc would an effective way of increasing playing numbers and would also help the game push into bordering towns and cities.

 

Where you say the game should look at, who do you mean by ‘the game’?

I agree with you sentiment but the RFL clearly don’t have a pot to ###### in, or a strategy, so it’s not going to be them who do it. What’s needed is people with time and money to do this, and they are thin on the ground. 
 

Its definitely a quirk of Northern England where RL can be the biggest sport in one town yet 6 miles up the road in another town nobody plays the game or gives a toss. 

[JM2010]

2 minutes ago, Damien said:

Well from your post its quite obvious you don't agree to any more teams in Yorkshire or the North West. I'm sure you don't need it pointed out where RL isn't played or doesn't have a presence.

I think you're both on slightly different pages. You seem to be talking about towns and cities without an RL presence and Smudger is talkingabout places with an RL presence such as Halifax, Wigan, Wakefield etc

[Smudger06]

Just now, Damien said:

Well from your post its quite obvious you don't agree to any more teams in Yorkshire or the North West. I'm sure you don't need it pointed out where RL isn't played or doesn't have a presence.

I would welcome more teams in the heartlands, I wouldn't be totally adverse to more Clubs in the heartlands either, I just think with very limited resources that it's better to target those resources, London/ NE are the places to look at itf that's the case. 

I'd like it pointed out where rugby league isn't played or doesn't have a presence in its heartland. 

[Damien]

Just now, Smudger06 said:

I would welcome more teams in the heartlands, I wouldn't be totally adverse to more Clubs in the heartlands either, I just think with very limited resources that it's better to target those resources, London/ NE are the places to look at itf that's the case. 

I'd like it pointed out where rugby league isn't played or doesn't have a presence in its heartland. 

So do you think we should aim for more teams and participation in Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, Bury, Stockport etc or not? One of the reasons given is the locality of ready made leagues. 

As I said the initial post that you quoted talked of Yorkshire and the North West specifically.

[JM2010]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

So do you think we should aim for more teams and participation in Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, Bury, Stockport etc or not? One of the reasons given is the locality of ready made leagues. 

As I said the initial post that you quoted talked of Yorkshire and the North West specifically.

I believe setting up new clubs in these towns and cities would be easier than further afield because, as mentioned, they would have ready made opposition so could offer regular games at a suitable standard and if any teams became strong they wouldn't outgrow the local league which can sometimes happen in non heartland areas 

[Smudger06]

16 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I wouldn't say vast swathes but I think some of the towns and cities could do with a few more clubs in certain areas. Places such as Leeds, Huddersfield,  Bradford could accommodate a few more clubs

There's at least 12 x ARLFC in the Leeds district mate, the other places mentioned are ok for clubs as well, expand playing members and the number of teams put out by each club would be good, but actual clubs, there's areas that show potential and require more focus given the governing body has very limited resources. 

[Smudger06]

13 minutes ago, Damien said:

So do you think we should aim for more teams and participation in Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, Bury, Stockport etc or not? One of the reasons given is the locality of ready made leagues. 

As I said the initial post that you quoted talked of Yorkshire and the North West specifically.

It would be nice to have more teams and participation in those areas, it should'nt be an aim. We should be able to support and assist existing, well established clubs in the heartlands whilst aiming to expand the London League & North East Rugby League if at all possible. 

[Eddie]

20 minutes ago, Damien said:

So do you think we should aim for more teams and participation in Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, Bury, Stockport etc or not? One of the reasons given is the locality of ready made leagues. 

As I said the initial post that you quoted talked of Yorkshire and the North West specifically.

Who is we? 

[Eddie]

16 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I believe setting up new clubs in these towns and cities would be easier than further afield because, as mentioned, they would have ready made opposition so could offer regular games at a suitable standard and if any teams became strong they wouldn't outgrow the local league which can sometimes happen in non heartland areas 

Agree it would be easier in places near the heartlands, much easier. 

[JM2010]

23 minutes ago, Smudger06 said:

There's at least 12 x ARLFC in the Leeds district mate, the other places mentioned are ok for clubs as well, expand playing members and the number of teams put out by each club would be good, but actual clubs, there's areas that show potential and require more focus given the governing body has very limited resources. 

That's fair enough and I agree with you that the priority should be to increase numbers at existing clubs. Maybe the next step after that should be to start junior sections at some of the club's that only run open age teams.

There may be quite a few clubs in Leeds but it's a big city and there are many areas that don't have a club.

The NE is doing well and could well become a strong area for the amateur game.

London would be a goldmine but would also require a lot of investment. If London was targeted for expansion at any time I think it should be done one area at a time to make it easier to arrange fixtures between the clubs

 

[Blind side johnny]

The amateur game in the "heartlands" is on its backside for a host of reasons. One of those major reasons is NOT the absence of a professional club.

Improving this situation is a huge job but also undoubtedly vital for the future of the sport.

[Damien]

46 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Who is we? 

The game as per the OP.

[Eddie]

5 minutes ago, Damien said:

The game as per the OP.

Exactly. It’s easy to say but who specifically is going to do it, certainly not the RFL or RLEF.  You need RL enthusiasts with time and money, and there aren’t many of them. 

[THE RED ROOSTER]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Its definitely a quirk of Northern England where RL can be the biggest sport in one town yet 6 miles up the road in another town nobody plays the game or gives a toss. 

Depends on how you define "The North" popsting from the other end of the country to me large swathes of "The North" are Rugby League Free Zones. The true definition of Rugby League is not a "Northern" Sport but an M62 sport.

41 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

London would be a goldmine but would also require a lot of investment. If London was targeted for expansion at any time I think it should be done one area at a time to make it easier to arrange fixtures between the clubs

 

Your on the right lines but "London" like "The North" is a big place so you would have to target West London (Broncos) and North London (Skolars) for developing clubs and forgo the rest of the Capital. The advantage of West and North London is that this is where the Pro Rugby Union Clubs play so "Rugby" is not so much an alien concept in Schools as it is n other parts of London.