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New teams for League One


Eddie

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23 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Pretty much how I suggested it years ago 

find a lower/non league town with a 5 K stadium looking to get more usage of it ( council owned would be best ) close enough to allow players and coaches to travel from the heartlands , the RFL to commit to finance ( say 200k a year ) for 5 years , it would give opportunities for retiring players to get involved in coaching/administration at a lower level , chase local union players to pad out the squads and work with local education with school cup competitions 

I'd have suggested around the Stoke on Trent area , looking to introduce a new club every 3/4 years 

Chester as well, they already have a decent set up, and a ready made derby with NWC. I’m surprised more SL clubs aren’t involved with expansion activities close to home. 

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18 minutes ago, dkw said:

Is there an airport in Cornwall? Its always amusing when one of these teams crops up and people worry about them travelling to Workington/Whitehaven because its so far, yet no consideration is given to Workington/Whitehaven having to travel all the way to them 😁.

 

I believe there is an airport in Newquay.

 And I think they do flights from Manchester.

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9 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Chester as well, they already have a decent set up, and a ready made derby with NWC. I’m surprised more SL clubs aren’t involved with expansion activities close to home. 

Why would they be interested in forming a third tier side? Or do you mean at grassroots/junior level? 

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The one thing we require before even we start looking at expansion  is an expansion of the amateur game, the people making all the decision are now probably snow blind and to close to the core, they need to be stepping back and looking at the problem from the outside.

 

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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44 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Pretty much how I suggested it years ago 

find a lower/non league town with a 5 K stadium looking to get more usage of it ( council owned would be best ) close enough to allow players and coaches to travel from the heartlands , the RFL to commit to finance ( say 200k a year ) for 5 years , it would give opportunities for retiring players to get involved in coaching/administration at a lower level , chase local union players to pad out the squads and work with local education with school cup competitions 

I'd have suggested around the Stoke on Trent area , looking to introduce a new club every 3/4 years 

There are countless areas where this could work, I think it’d cost more than £200k a year, the problem is do the RFL even have £200k a year going spare? We need to encourage David Argyle type investors to put their money into expansion clubs rather than spending RFL money that it doesn’t have.

Expansion clubs could be encouraged by things such as giving them a share of the tv deal, allowing them to have additional overseas quota players, giving them exemption from Relegation, taking events like Magic Weekend, Challenge Cup Semi Finals and England Internationals to the area. These things can de done at no cost or even with a profit.

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13 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Why would they be interested in forming a third tier side? Or do you mean at grassroots/junior level? 

Grassroots/junior, wouldn’t take that much to set up some weekend sessions for kids, but they’d then have more potential fans and (possibly) future players. 

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3 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Grassroots/junior, wouldn’t take that much to set up some weekend sessions for kids, but they’d then have more potential fans and (possibly) future players. 

Kids and schools shouldn't be a big problem but when it develops into a community club it's now become a full time job for who ever is running the club, the RFL need to step back and streamline the minimum criteria to get a team on the park, ever year we have another hurdle to jump if we're lucky, sometimes it can be many more, far to many boxes to tick and if you delegate the work load you can find yourself chasing others, it's got to the stage where it's no longer fun and far easier to jack and just go and look for a game (If you can find one as they are getting fewer every year)

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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9 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Grassroots/junior, wouldn’t take that much to set up some weekend sessions for kids, but they’d then have more potential fans and (possibly) future players. 

Saints have done stuff within Liverpool in the past. I’m sure Wigan were working with Blackburn Rovers to do stuff around there and I imagine Warrington would be most likely to be working in Chester, though I’m not sure whether they do. 

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2 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Would like to see game expand but any future teams in Scotland or Ireland need to go into SL from the start for me.  Has to be about building competitive national sides which England can play regularly so Scot or Ire team need a protective spot with player quotas.  It is also a question of infrastructure over anything else.  Unless these new clubs have an asset to sweat or secure home to build around I think you are just building on sand. 

Once we create an International game that generates a lot of cash I’d like to see Wales RL, Scotland RL and Ireland RL all have the aim to run and fund a Super League team, as is the case with Pro 14 sides. Hopefully a very profitable World Cup can start that ball rolling.

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33 minutes ago, Robthegasman said:

I believe there is an airport in Newquay.

 And I think they do flights from Manchester.

Correct, Flybe operated their cardboard white knuckle flights from Newquay before going bust. Some other legoland carrier is due to do odd Manchester jaunts once the virus calms down.

Tried flying Newquay to Manchester 3 times and every time it never turned up, the slot was so delayed the flight got cancelled. Ended up always flying up from Exeter despite the add-on 70 odd mile car journey.

With the check in times and detours visiting sides from Up North would be better off on National Express 🤪

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1 hour ago, dkw said:

Is there an airport in Cornwall? Its always amusing when one of these teams crops up and people worry about them travelling to Workington/Whitehaven because its so far, yet no consideration is given to Workington/Whitehaven having to travel all the way to them 😁.

 

https://www.islesofscilly-travel.co.uk/lands-end-airport/

Ron Banks

Midlands Hurricanes and Barrow

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I think the discussion here shows why there needs to be different entry points for different clubs into the RL pyramid. It doesn't seem to make much sense to stop say a semi-pro Oxford team joining the ranks because you've used up that seasons slot to allow a full time team in who are just going to steamroller the league anyway.

Personally, I think England is the prime location for any of these League 1 level teams. When looking at the likes of Oldham, Rochdale, Keighley or Hunslet, that is a pretty low bar for new teams to meet as its essentially non-league football level. Ideally you'd look at reasonably sized cities and towns with only 1 or no sporting outlet currently - Middlesbrough, Durham, places in the midlands, Gloucester are the places that come to mind immediately as places where a new team could carve a niche. 

I think you have to be realistic with expectations and how the levels of investment affect that. For example a League 1 level team in Gloucester wouldn't be drawing in thousands, but equally getting a few hundred would put it in the ball park for League 1 teams. 

It needs strategy. Some places would suit a new team but only at a higher professional level, with a lower level being largely pointless in some places where amateur expansion may be better. Expansion has to occur at all levels, we want more teams like Leeds Rhinos but we also want more clubs like Hemel Stags too.

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2 hours ago, Marauder said:

Yep!! I've noticed if you have two or three people who are good at media they can make a lot of noise without substance (Happened a lot in the RLC days)

Yep there's a lot of clubs out there who have barely played a game making big claims on social media about what they are going to achieve. Nothing wrong with ambition, but has to be realistic and based on substance. Also any new clubs need to walk and get the basics right before they can run. 

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5 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

Nothing wrong with ambition, but has to be realistic and based on (edit) subspace.

I agree.

Moon Marauders.

Tagline: One small sidestep for mankind.

Helmets, however, may be required.

PS Good luck to the Cornish Rebels. It may be strong union territory, but RL could be a qualified success there.

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1 hour ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Once we create an International game that generates a lot of cash I’d like to see Wales RL, Scotland RL and Ireland RL all have the aim to run and fund a Super League team, as is the case with Pro 14 sides. Hopefully a very profitable World Cup can start that ball rolling.

It’s a long term process, this. The NFL have said they want(ed) a London franchise and for years, we’ve had regular season games moved to London, with as many as four in 2019 in London. There’s now no timescale on a London franchise but it appears they’re building towards this in terms of additional fixtures here and the development in flag football and a U.K. based Academy for junior players here. The RFL’s approach, much like with all of their attempts at expansion has been to admit a team and leave them to sink or swim immediately, with most sinking within a few years. 

Now, I don’t know if Scotland and Ireland are “the answer” or whether the “golden ticket” but if these are places that The RFL, Super League and IRL all see as important to the growth of the game in the northern hemisphere, we need a proper strategic plan in place and not just plonking a team in either/both of those countries and letting them sink and then acting surprised when that inevitably happens. 

A proper International calendar that sees England’s arrogance panned (unlikely on both counts) is a starting point, for sure. 

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1 minute ago, gittinsfan said:

With no central funding for Champ and Lge1,it's possible we could have clubs going to the wall.Maybe it's not the time to be talking about the RFL funding expansion in whatever form.

I agree it is a depressing prospect,but not an impossible one.

Clubs can (and do) fund themselves though, it doesn’t have to be RFL funded. 

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3 hours ago, dkw said:

Is there an airport in Cornwall? Its always amusing when one of these teams crops up and people worry about them travelling to Workington/Whitehaven because its so far, yet no consideration is given to Workington/Whitehaven having to travel all the way to them 😁.

 

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/easyjet-announces-new-routes-manchester-4992118

There has been regular flights from Manchester, Leeds, London, Doncaster (in seasonal heights that coincidentally match most of the RL season) amongst others for years now. It is just part and parcel of how you get around for business if living in Cornwall.

Flybe went bust. Now we have a mix of Easyjet, EasternAir and Logan flying right across the north and to London several times a day.
Flying in and out of Newquay is about as easy as it gets in terms of air travel in the UK. Straight in and out. How this looks post pandemic is another matter.

I could be door to door from Cornwall to family in Yorkshire less than 4hrs for the same cost as in petrol!

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Just now, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Once we create an International game that generates a lot of cash I’d like to see Wales RL, Scotland RL and Ireland RL all have the aim to run and fund a Super League team, as is the case with Pro 14 sides. Hopefully a very profitable World Cup can start that ball rolling.

We need a far greater influence in the media but I can't see that happening, I believe the old school tie which runs the media also have investments within union either directly or indirectly via the school tie, rugby league IMO is a far better product and would be a threat

 

1 hour ago, Jeff Stein said:

Apparently 40 years after Fulham started playing, there is still no strategic plan in place for development in London 

You have to stay still long enough for roots to take hold.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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