Toulon to play in Elite 1?

[Lowdesert]

45 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

Where are you getting that figure from?

Doesn’t matter.  More than enough to supply an RL side with players if the right people are involved.

Montpellier seems the obvious choice to me but those teams have been hit and miss for a while now.

[The Daddy]

25 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

Doesn’t matter.  More than enough to supply an RL side with players if the right people are involved.

Montpellier seems the obvious choice to me but those teams have been hit and miss for a while now.

Doesn't matter of course but it's not gonna stop one negative nancy from comparing the population of Toulon with Wakefield for no logical reason whatsoever 

[barnyia]

Nice beach in toulon too 

[The Frying Scotsman]

38 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

 

Montpellier seems the obvious choice to me but those teams have been hit and miss for a while now.

I think we have missed the boat on Montpelier. 

Colleague of mine is from there, mid-40s, and tells me that when he was a kid, they would go to watch rugby, and in Montpelier that meant Rugby League in those days.

He is now a card carrying supporter of the Union team, who are seriously cashed up, with a nice stadium, and plenty of supporters. Rugby League is gone from there for good I reckon. 

[The Daddy]

Close to 600,000 according to this link

https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/toulon-population

 

[Cumbrian Mackem]

28 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Definitely. Easy location for all teams , good population area to build fans and there are some places you could develop into a tidy little facility. 

Like most cities in France the suburbs/metropolitan areas and nearby contiguous built-up areas/villages are bigger than the actual city proper.

Either way it would be an amazing addition to elite1 and exactly what the game in France needs in terms of creating new fans and potential new players for our game.

[The Daddy]

4 minutes ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Like most cities in France the suburbs/metropolitan areas and nearby contiguous built-up areas/villages are bigger than the actual city proper.

Either way it would be an amazing addition to elite1 and exactly what the game in France needs in terms of creating new fans and potential new players for our game.

But, but Wakefield.......

[Cumbrian Mackem]

13 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

Close to 600,000 according to this link

https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/toulon-population

 

Bigger than Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield.

[Cumbrian Mackem]

2 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

But, but Wakefield.......

And it has beaches on the Mediterranean.

[DoubleD]

31 minutes ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

I think we have missed the boat on Montpelier. 

Colleague of mine is from there, mid-40s, and tells me that when he was a kid, they would go to watch rugby, and in Montpelier that meant Rugby League in those days.

He is now a card carrying supporter of the Union team, who are seriously cashed up, with a nice stadium, and plenty of supporters. Rugby League is gone from there for good I reckon. 

The cream always rises to the top eventually 

[Cumbrian Mackem]

33 minutes ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

I think we have missed the boat on Montpelier. 

Colleague of mine is from there, mid-40s, and tells me that when he was a kid, they would go to watch rugby, and in Montpelier that meant Rugby League in those days.

He is now a card carrying supporter of the Union team, who are seriously cashed up, with a nice stadium, and plenty of supporters. Rugby League is gone from there for good I reckon. 

Maybe it wouldn’t be the #1 code in the city but like Toulouse and Perpignan I’m sure that RL could carve out a following.

[audois]

6 hours ago, DoubleD said:

Who’s backing it audois? Is it the union guy? 

Have they discontinued their youth setup or is that still going? Doesn’t make sense to throw everything at the first team and have no foundations beneath 

Le Midol révèle que la Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII envisagerait une Elite 1 à onze équipes pour la saison 2021-2022.

 

Ce n’est un secret pour personne, Luc Lacoste vise rapidement un championnat à 12 équipes mais avait récemment expliqué dans La Dépêche du Midi que ce ne serait pas possible pour la saison 2021-2022 à cause de la crise sanitaire. Si on s’acheminait vers une reprise à 10 équipes, le Midi Olympique révèle que la possibilité d’en intégrer une onzième est actuellement à l’étude alors que la FFR XIII travaille à l’élaboration des prochains calendriers. Selon nos informations, cette onzième équipe en Elite 1 pourrait être Toulon qui n’a jamais caché son souhait d’évoluer au plus haut niveau français dès que cela serait possible. Le club varois avait effectué un gros recrutement pour la saison 2020-2021 d’Elite 2 mais elle a finalement été annulée à cause de la Covid-19.

[Damien]

Jesus wept, this forum ain't half depressing at times. Something that would be a real boost to French RL and would expand its footprint at the top level to another city turns into an argument about if its a major city or not and if its as big as Wakefield.

[Hela Wigmen]

2 minutes ago, Damien said:

Jesus wept, this forum ain't half depressing at times. Something that would be a real boost to French RL and would expand its footprint at the top level to another city turns into an argument about if its a major city or not and if its as big as Wakefield.

Yeah but how many pie shops per person are there in Toulon compared to Wakefield? We need to know the real important bits of information here. And while we’re at it, how much is half a bitter in Toulon Working Men’s Club?

[Eddie]

2 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

I think we have missed the boat on Montpelier. 

Colleague of mine is from there, mid-40s, and tells me that when he was a kid, they would go to watch rugby, and in Montpelier that meant Rugby League in those days.

He is now a card carrying supporter of the Union team, who are seriously cashed up, with a nice stadium, and plenty of supporters. Rugby League is gone from there for good I reckon. 

It doesn’t have to be one or the other. 

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, audois said:

Le Midol révèle que la Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII envisagerait une Elite 1 à onze équipes pour la saison 2021-2022.

 

Ce n’est un secret pour personne, Luc Lacoste vise rapidement un championnat à 12 équipes mais avait récemment expliqué dans La Dépêche du Midi que ce ne serait pas possible pour la saison 2021-2022 à cause de la crise sanitaire. Si on s’acheminait vers une reprise à 10 équipes, le Midi Olympique révèle que la possibilité d’en intégrer une onzième est actuellement à l’étude alors que la FFR XIII travaille à l’élaboration des prochains calendriers. Selon nos informations, cette onzième équipe en Elite 1 pourrait être Toulon qui n’a jamais caché son souhait d’évoluer au plus haut niveau français dès que cela serait possible. Le club varois avait effectué un gros recrutement pour la saison 2020-2021 d’Elite 2 mais elle a finalement été annulée à cause de la Covid-19.

Le Midol reveals that the French Rugby Union Federation is considering an Elite 1 with eleven teams for the 2021-2022 season. It's no secret that Luc Lacoste is quickly aiming for a 12-team championship but had recently explained in La Dépêche du Midi that this would not be possible for the 2021-2022 season due to the health crisis. If we were heading towards a 10-team recovery, the Midi Olympique revealed that the possibility of integrating an eleventh is currently being studied while the FFR XIII works on the development of the next calendars. According to our information, this eleventh team in Elite 1 could be Toulon who has never hidden their desire to progress to the highest level in France as soon as possible. The Var club had made a big recruitment for the 2020-2021 Elite 2 season but it was ultimately canceled due to Covid-19.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

23 hours ago, ShropshireBull said:

My euromillions order goes:

1) Stadium in Wrexham and 40% stake in Wales RL

2) Bulls (Obviously)

3) Manchester team

4) Sort out London 

5) 5,000 capacity 3g stadium in Gateshead 

6) Plymouth 

Now I can put Lyon on the list. 

Yep, good city with good public transport and decent business community. Right then so that's three of us in the RL Euromillions investment fund. Anyone else?

 

I've gone with the following:

1) 18k stadium in Hull

2) Creation of an League 1 team in the City of Wells in a 4k stadium. Wells Angels

Should be enough to keep me entertained!

[The Frying Scotsman]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

It doesn’t have to be one or the other. 

Well.... We'll see I guess if RL ever takes off there again. I think it has missed it's chance, and so it won't happen. If you think otherwise.... Fair enough.

My point was more that XIII was the dominant code some years ago. 

[The Frying Scotsman]

3 hours ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Maybe it wouldn’t be the #1 code in the city but like Toulouse and Perpignan I’m sure that RL could carve out a following.

What makes you say that?

(I admire your optimism, I just don't know what it is based on).

Edit: on reflection though, Toulon Métropole have used a different model, targeting discarded CdF (academy equivalent) kids from union and have made a bit of decent progress, so perhaps with a bit of creative thinking Montpelier could put something together in a niche as you say. It would take some serious work to be another Toulouse though. 

[langpark]

I am surprised how pedantic some people are getting about whether Toulon has 4, 5 or 600k residents.  No matter which figure is correct, it is still huge when you consider there are village teams playing in Elite 1.

4 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

I think we have missed the boat on Montpelier. 

Colleague of mine is from there, mid-40s, and tells me that when he was a kid, they would go to watch rugby, and in Montpelier that meant Rugby League in those days.

He is now a card carrying supporter of the Union team, who are seriously cashed up, with a nice stadium, and plenty of supporters. Rugby League is gone from there for good I reckon. 

By "missed the boat", I take it to mean "missed the optimal timing".  It is never too late and we should never give up.

But yes, Montpellier and Lyon seem in steady decline in recent years, it would be great they could arrest that slide and eventually start building up again, and eventually reach Elite 1.  I see some people laugh at suggestions either of those two could reach Elite 1, but it is far more achievable than say, Paris or Bordeaux.

[Eddie]

7 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

Well.... We'll see I guess if RL ever takes off there again. I think it has missed it's chance, and so it won't happen. If you think otherwise.... Fair enough.

My point was more that XIII was the dominant code some years ago. 

Have you ever even been to Montpellier?

[Cumbrian Mackem]

10 hours ago, Eddie said:

Le Midol reveals that the French Rugby Union Federation is considering an Elite 1 with eleven teams for the 2021-2022 season. It's no secret that Luc Lacoste is quickly aiming for a 12-team championship but had recently explained in La Dépêche du Midi that this would not be possible for the 2021-2022 season due to the health crisis. If we were heading towards a 10-team recovery, the Midi Olympique revealed that the possibility of integrating an eleventh is currently being studied while the FFR XIII works on the development of the next calendars. According to our information, this eleventh team in Elite 1 could be Toulon who has never hidden their desire to progress to the highest level in France as soon as possible. The Var club had made a big recruitment for the 2020-2021 Elite 2 season but it was ultimately canceled due to Covid-19.

Shouldn’t that be French Rugby league federation instead of “French rugby Union federation “?
 

Or are Toulon a dual rugby club like Leeds or harlequins of the past?

[Barley Mow]

3 minutes ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Shouldn’t that be French Rugby league federation instead of “French rugby Union federation “?
 

Or are Toulon a dual rugby club like Leeds or harlequins of the past?

If Eddie has used Google to translate, I've noticed that it always translates 'Rugby à XIII' as rugby union when it should be league.

I'm sure it must be part of some conspiracy!

[Cumbrian Mackem]

11 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

If Eddie has used Google to translate, I've noticed that it always translates 'Rugby à XIII' as rugby union when it should be league.

I'm sure it must be part of some conspiracy!

Remnants of Vichy in Silicon Valley .

[The Frying Scotsman]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Have you ever even been to Montpellier?

Yeah. I work in France. 

Why?