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London moving again?

Hela Wigmen

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Man of Kent

Man of Kent

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10 minutes ago, Eddie said:

If they’d been better fans the club would never have upped sticks and moved to MK in the first place, they conveniently forget that. 

What actually happened is the MK guy needed a football club to enable the development of an Asda, IKEA, hotel etc. We weren’t the first club approached. The owners of WFC completely disregarded us fans and moved us. But hey, we won. Nobody likes MK Dons, we’re in the same division and we built a stadium in Wimbledon ourselves. So f—k you!

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Bedfordshire Bronco

Bedfordshire Bronco

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24 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Agreed.

Broncos crowds would surely get a major boost from playing in a brand spanking new stadium (with a terrace for the hardcore) that is vastly more accessible than Trailfinders.

Yep you are probably right. I'd prefer Brentford though.... Stadium looked great from the Irish game the other day

I'll follow anywhere we go of course

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Hela Wigmen

Hela Wigmen

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1 minute ago, Eddie said:

They did but if they’d been a well supported club in the first place it never would have happened. Wimbledon’s crowds in the top flight were always extremely low, even at Plough Lane, they weren’t sustainable. 

It would have happened to any club whose owner(s) went along with the idea. The number of fans was not the reason why they were shafted the way they were. 

Based on the “well supported” argument you’re putting up, you sound very much like Robert Elstone and the other Bradford cheerleaders. 

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Bedfordshire Bronco

Bedfordshire Bronco

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1 minute ago, Man of Kent said:

What actually happened is the MK guy needed a football club to enable the development of an Asda, IKEA, hotel etc. We weren’t the first club approached. The owners of WFC completely disregarded us fans and moved us. But hey, we won. Nobody likes MK Dons, we’re in the same division and we built a stadium in Wimbledon ourselves. So f—k you!

How about we move Broncos to the Bletchley stadium?.... 25 min drive for me and I can go to TGIs after...... 😁

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Hela Wigmen

Hela Wigmen

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6 minutes ago, Damien said:

If London have ambitions of growing and being a successful Super League club then they have to move. Trailfinders is fine for a lower league team but no more.

They’ve tried that. At Fulham. At The Stoop. At Brentford. At Charlton. At The Stoop. Again. 

They’re a minority sports club who happens to play in London. Like many others from minority sports, they go from ground to ground every few years. London Broncos, have been one of the few to last as long as they have. 

The bafflement to me comes from them being so pro-Ealing. That’s understandable because that’s where they were hanging their hat but it did seem like a positive step. All their teams were brought “inhouse”, as was their training and it seemed like a good move. Ealing isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing but London were behind the financial outlay for the stand behind the sticks ahead of joining Super League and were talking of putting office space in below that stand for their back office to work from. Given that outlay, it seems strange for them to be moving on so soon after that stand was put up and given their plans. 

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Bedfordshire Bronco

Bedfordshire Bronco

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2 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Not for me but I reckon Broncos would get bigger crowds than MK Dons in Bletchley!

Ha.... I've been to a few MK games and it's a funny experience- very family orientated but a little corner of vocal chanters.... A genuinely fantastic stadium though.... I realise you may be touchy about this MOK 😁

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Tommygilf

Tommygilf

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Shame it couldn't be in West London, but Brentford's ground is simply far too large for London atm, a move to Craven cottage seems unlikely and Loftus road would probably be too small a pitch?

Trailfinders has suited the Broncos for what they have needed during the period after relegation in 2014 but realistically opportunities for growth are limited. Plough Lane has real potential and hopefully can give London a stable home where they can grow from and I hope they are able to realise that in this initial 10 year proposal. Its modern, commercially advantageous and offers stability and growth.

At least its (South) West London! 

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GUBRATS

GUBRATS

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37 minutes ago, Eddie said:

I know what you’re saying but many teams have had crowd boosts from moving grounds or doing theirs up, and the old grounds weren’t full. Even in Australia it’s happened with the Eels. 

Yes , but those clubs that move into a new stadium have fans to start with , and it tends to be within the same area/town 

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Hela Wigmen

Hela Wigmen

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Just now, Damien said:

And at all of them they got substantially larger crowds than they do now. Think small get small.

How much of  that was down to the ground though? 

Rugby League’s profile is smaller than it was and I have no idea how much money Broncos put into advertising now compared to how much they did say twenty years ago under Branson, but I imagine there’s a difference. They were also a pretty decent side between 96-99 and won a decent share of games. There’s also things like the advancements in technology, how people consume sport, the rise in the Internet, the rise in Sky TV and many other things.

To simply align attendances London have had in the past to now based purely upon the stadium they’re held within is an absolute cop out, IMO. 

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Man of Kent

Man of Kent

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Just now, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Ha.... I've been to a few MK games and it's a funny experience- very family orientated but a little corner of vocal chanters.... A genuinely fantastic stadium though.... I realise you may be touchy about this MOK 😁

I can appreciate it’s a quality stadium. Been there a couple of time. Massively too big for them though!

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Hela Wigmen

Hela Wigmen

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2 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Shame it couldn't be in West London, but Brentford's ground is simply far too large for London atm, a move to Craven cottage seems unlikely and Loftus road would probably be too small a pitch?

Trailfinders has suited the Broncos for what they have needed during the period after relegation in 2014 but realistically opportunities for growth are limited. Plough Lane has real potential and hopefully can give London a stable home where they can grow from and I hope they are able to realise that in this initial 10 year proposal. Its modern, commercially advantageous and offers stability and growth.

At least its (South) West London! 

Unrelated but aren’t QPR moving as well?

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Tommygilf

Tommygilf

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Just now, Hela Wigmen said:

How much of  that was down to the ground though? 

Rugby League’s profile is smaller than it was and I have no idea how much money Broncos put into advertising now compared to how much they did say twenty years ago under Branson, but I imagine there’s a difference. They were also a pretty decent side between 96-99 and won a decent share of games. There’s also things like the advancements in technology, how people consume sport, the rise in the Internet, the rise in Sky TV and many other things.

To simply align attendances London have had in the past to now based purely upon the stadium they’re held within is an absolute cop out, IMO. 

You can see how those two ideas are fundamentally linked though, symptomatic of a "think small get small" mentality?

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Eddie

Eddie

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13 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

It would have happened to any club whose owner(s) went along with the idea. The number of fans was not the reason why they were shafted the way they were. 

Based on the “well supported” argument you’re putting up, you sound very much like Robert Elstone and the other Bradford cheerleaders. 

What a bizarre link. There’s a reason why Wimbledon moved to MK and Manchester Utd didn’t. 

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Hela Wigmen

Hela Wigmen

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Just now, Eddie said:

What a bizarre link. There’s a reason why Wimbledon moved to MK and Manchester Utd didn’t. 

Yes, because Wimbledon’s were willing to sell/move to another city. Manchester United’s wouldn’t have been because they were a premier side in their home city. Had they have gone to a smaller club in Manchester and proposed they move, it may well have been a different story. Wimbledon were by no means a major club, they never had been and were in a city of many bigger clubs.

To blame Wimbledon for not having many fans for them being shafted by their owners and the FA on them moving is an utterly bizarre and unique take from the whole fiasco. 

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Eddie

Eddie

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1 minute ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Yes, because Wimbledon’s were willing to sell/move to another city. Manchester United’s wouldn’t have been because they were a premier side in their home city. Had they have gone to a smaller club in Manchester and proposed they move, it may well have been a different story. Wimbledon were by no means a major club, they never had been and were in a city of many bigger clubs.

To blame Wimbledon for not having many fans for them being shafted by their owners and the FA on them moving is an utterly bizarre and unique take from the whole fiasco. 

In your first paragraph you justify what you’re arguing against. And I’m not blaming the fans, I’m saying that they weren’t sustainable (due to their lack of fans), they didn’t have their own home and weren’t likely to have one, their crowds were dwindling fast and they likely would have folded if the MK move hadn’t happened. Probably to be resurrected and end up exactly where they are now. MK were made out to be the villains, which they were in many ways, but as I said I don’t think that would have happened to a single other football league club, and it hasn’t happened before or since, there’s a reason for that. 

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Hela Wigmen

Hela Wigmen

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3 minutes ago, Eddie said:

In your first paragraph you justify what you’re arguing against. And I’m not blaming the fans, I’m saying that they weren’t sustainable (due to their lack of fans), they didn’t have their own home and weren’t likely to have one, their crowds were dwindling fast and they likely would have folded if the MK move hadn’t happened. Probably to be resurrected and end up exactly where they are now. MK were made out to be the villains, which they were in many ways, but as I said I don’t think that would have happened to a single other football league club, and it hasn’t happened before or since, there’s a reason for that. 

So, it was nothing to do with their fans needing to be “better”, which was your original, unique, bizarre post. 

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M j M

M j M

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2 minutes ago, Southerner said:

I haven’t been to Ealing but Harlequins ground the stoop was brilliant. 

It was a good setup and the only time since I've been half watching London that they felt like a stable club.

But every time you went there you came away feeling like you needed a good, cleansing shower.

AFC Wimbledon are more aligned with Rugby League values IMO.

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