Danny Ward leaves London

[Angelic Cynic]

53 minutes ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:

So I take it thern that no Journalist will work a line in about the end of the pro game down south as part of their RLWC preview then to emphasise Rugby Leagues lack of appeal.

To quote Martyn Sadler no less if rugby league cannot grow in a metropolis like London then it is not going to grow anywhere.

Thnk about where that leaves the game.

The sport is shrinking:everywhere in England. 

Mr McNeil has tried,on an annual basis to interest the money people in The City,to follow the sport - https://www.skolarsrl.com/2012/11/07/capital-challenge-date-announced/

I am led to believe intelligent business people take over clubs and run professional sports clubs,like businesses.

Yet these wealthy business people,who mix in far wealthier business,and social circles than a pleb like myself,leave their positions without handing the clubs over to other wealthy business people.

My point is not only that clubs are not very well controlled,but the wealthy people are still not able to persuade,encourage, or even inveigle other wealthy people to begin to enjoy the sport.

It's hard work wherever the sport is played.

[Manx RL]

4 hours ago, Leonard said:

I might travel to see the Rolling Stones in Milton Keynes

Chaz and Dave - not so much.

Given Chas Hodges sadly died in 2018 would you travel to Milton Keynes to see Dave do his solo set?

[MZH]

I haven't read through the 7 pages, and I'm sure other people have said similar, but I expect him to go on to bigger and better things in the near future. He did an outstanding job with very limited resources and I think it's fair to say he took them as far as anyone could have. For them to get so close to survival in SL was remarkable with effectively a Championship squad.

[The Frying Scotsman]

11 hours ago, westlondonfan said:

 I think I could see a big business from Australia and New Zealand wit\h an office in London getting  involved though possibly at something the future?

I'll just go on record and say so think the chances are slim to none.

With virtually no assets and limited revenue, the club is an incredibly unattractive "investment" to any potential buyer. 

I have no idea why "a big Australian business" would want anything to do with them. 

[Marauder]

11 hours ago, gingerjon said:

It wasn't a whisper. Sport England publicly changed how stats for all sports were counted because the governing bodies couldn't be trusted to count honestly.

Which is separate to the Olympics which is funded by UK Sport and based - and this is changing but only now - on medal achievement and potential.

Doesn't UK Sport get funding from sport England as well ? My mates daughter was one of the best prospects in the British swimming team for the London Olympics, my mate became ill and sadly died, because he was the bread winner the family fell on hard times and the young lady couldn't get funding from anywhere to carry on with her dream, at the time she was swimming for the city of Sheffield club after turning down the chance of a scholarship with the city of Plymouth team 

[gingerjon]

2 minutes ago, Marauder said:

Doesn't UK Sport get funding from sport England as well ? My mates daughter was one of the best prospects in the British swimming team for the London Olympics, my mate became ill and sadly died, because he was the bread winner the family fell on hard times and the young lady couldn't get funding from anywhere to carry on with her dream, at the time she was swimming for the city of Sheffield club after turning down the chance of a scholarship with the city of Plymouth team 

Two different bodies. I think UK Sport is directly funded by DCMS whereas Sport England is majority funded by the national lottery. Either way, one doesn't fund the other although there will be sports which receive funding for both - UK Sport for an elite pathway and Sport England for participation.

[westlondonfan]

8 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

I'll just go on record and say so think the chances are slim to none.

With virtually no assets and limited revenue, the club is an incredibly unattractive "investment" to any potential buyer. 

I have no idea why "a big Australian business" would want anything to do with them. 

The dream of a successful rugby league in London will not die. If I wanted to start a club I might want the name, history and list of former season tick holders?

I have never run a RL club in my life  I will admit that now but I do believe with a will , some courage and possibly a bit of luck almost anything is possible.

My real concern in investing might be how the RFL and super league clubs would treat a really successful expansion team in London as the failure of so many expansion teams over the years can’t just be a coincidence.

[The Frying Scotsman]

8 minutes ago, westlondonfan said:

My real concern in investing might be how the RFL and super league clubs would treat a really successful expansion team in London as the failure of so many expansion teams over the years can’t just be a coincidence.

It isn't. I would agree with you there.

The fact that the Broncos existed for years operating under a Salary Cap that was simply "London weighted" is an absolute nonsense.

The majority of SuperLeague quality players would not even need to move house to play for almost every other club in the league. If the clubs had been serious about a successful London team, they would have allowed the Broncos a substantial (30%, 50% whatever...) cap advantage given they needed to get players to relocate and did not have a pool of established community clubs on their doorstep.

Of course they didn't, as it would have meant one of them (northern clubs) would miss out. The other clubs never wanted a strong London Broncos despite what they could have brought to the wider profile of the sport.

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Doesnt that personal data get wiped after a while? 

There are limits on how long you can reasonably keep data and what it can be used for.

Despite thinking I'd given the Broncos consent to contact me about pretty much anything it's been a long while since I had anything directly from them so they must have some sort of cut offs with regards to last response and when consent was obtained.

[Ivarr the Boneless]

On 05/07/2021 at 23:06, DoubleD said:

Isn’t there anyone who’d be interested in taking them over?

There was a serious attempt to pull together a consortium to buy David Hughes out about four years ago. Obviously Covid has changed a lot of people's financial position and Broncos have changed in that time too. Would they still be interested? I just don't know.

My gut reaction is any consortium interested would probably approach the RFL about forming a new club rather than save the battered shell that is the Broncos. The club have alienated so many of those down south interested in RL that a complete restart may be wise. 

[Damien]

55 minutes ago, westlondonfan said:

The dream of a successful rugby league in London will not die. If I wanted to start a club I might want the name, history and list of former season tick holders?

I have never run a RL club in my life  I will admit that now but I do believe with a will , some courage and possibly a bit of luck almost anything is possible.

My real concern in investing might be how the RFL and super league clubs would treat a really successful expansion team in London as the failure of so many expansion teams over the years can’t just be a coincidence.

The vast majority of expansion teams have been set up on a wing and a prayer, at a very low level with no money behind them. Many have been little more than pub teams.

The ones that had sufficient finance and have aimed for the top have done pretty well, or at least did until the finance ran out.

Money is key.

[Man of Kent]

Mick Gledhill (usual caveat applies) has been told London are going PT next year.

Doesn't surprise me but that's the first time I've heard an RL 'journalist' - such as he is - report this.

But then the Broncos seem to get zero coverage these days in the London media. In fact the whole club seems a bit of an information black hole. Odd.

[EssexRL]

31 minutes ago, Damien said:

The vast majority of expansion teams have been set up on a wing and a prayer, at a very low level with no money behind them. Many have been little more than pub teams.

The ones that had sufficient finance and have aimed for the top have done pretty well, or at least did until the finance ran out.

Money is key.

The key problem was (is) players. If you are setting up an RL team in Oxford, say, where is your squad going to come from or at least a competitive squad? The Skolars owner pointed this out when expansion was first mooted. Hemel, Skolars, Wales, All Golds and Oxford were all fishing in a very limited talent pool (us and Hemel could call on Bronco's players). None of the clubs were competitive (except against each other) which hardly made for an interesting spectacle.

Add to that the marketing of the game was left to the club's (who had no money) is it any surprise they failed on the whole?

As an aside I have also noticed amongst the Skolars faithful how many have northern accents - I know some are northern ex pats who want to follow RL down here and Skolars are there nearest team. There are very few people like me and my son who are southerners who follow the sport.

There are no easy answers.

[Ivarr the Boneless]

 

12 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Mick Gledhill (usual caveat applies) has been told London are going PT next year.

The renewal letter to season ticket holders explicitly stated support was critical this season due to the loss of central funding. I read that at the time as meaning David had funded one year as a pro team and would review for 2022. That suspicion is backed up by pretty much everyone being on a one year contract.

Obviously most of the season ticket holders didn't renew, for reasons already widely debated, and gates have plunged. 

[Damien]

1 minute ago, EssexRL said:

The key problem was (is) players. If you are setting up an RL team in Oxford, say, where is your squad going to come from or at least a competitive squad? The Skolars owner pointed this out. Hemel, Skolars, Wales, All Golds and Oxford were all fishing in a very limited talent pool (us and Hemel could call on Bronco's players). None of the clubs were competitive (except against each other) which hardly made for an interesting spectacle.

Add to that the marketing of the game was left to the club's (who had no money) is it any surprise they failed on the whole?

I have also noticed amongst the Skolars faithful how many have northern accents - I know some are northern ex pats who want to follow RL down here. There are very few people like me and my son who are southerners who follow the sport.

There are no easy answers.

I disagree that is the problem, money overcomes issues with players. Your post shows the issues with clubs that have no money and that is exactly what I referred to.

Celtic Crusaders did perfectly well in recruiting many good Welsh 'rugby' players because they had the money to do so, many still being solid SL players long after their demise. Newcastle seem to be doing fine as they are well funded that allows them to do youth development properly and also attract players from elsewhere. Toronto got to Super League with no home grown players.

There isn't a one size fits all but money is key and makes any approach possible.

[Man of Kent]

7 minutes ago, Ivarr the Boneless said:

 

The renewal letter to season ticket holders explicitly stated support was critical this season due to the loss of central funding. I read that at the time as meaning David had funded one year as a pro team and would review for 2022. That suspicion is backed up by pretty much everyone being on a one year contract.

Obviously most of the season ticket holders didn't renew, for reasons already widely debated, and gates have plunged. 

Hope you're not trying to blame a groundshare that hasn't even got planning permission yet instead of the glorified park pitch that is Ealing being a dead end  

[Hopping Mad]

16 minutes ago, EssexRL said:

The key problem was (is) players. If you are setting up an RL team in Oxford, say, where is your squad going to come from or at least a competitive squad? The Skolars owner pointed this out when expansion was first mooted. Hemel, Skolars, Wales, All Golds and Oxford were all fishing in a very limited talent pool (us and Hemel could call on Bronco's players). None of the clubs were competitive (except against each other) which hardly made for an interesting spectacle.

Add to that the marketing of the game was left to the club's (who had no money) is it any surprise they failed on the whole?

As an aside I have also noticed amongst the Skolars faithful how many have northern accents - I know some are northern ex pats who want to follow RL down here and Skolars are there nearest team. There are very few people like me and my son who are southerners who follow the sport.

There are no easy answers.

Expansion clubs on or close to the fringe of rugby league's heartlands, with relatively good access to players, have failed, though, haven't they.

Carlisle, Chorley and Mansfield (maybe even Blackpool) spring to mind. 

[gingerjon]

3 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Hope you're not trying to blame a groundshare that hasn't even got planning permission yet instead of the glorified park pitch that is Ealing being a dead end  

OTOH absolutely do blame the groundshare. Because it's the perfect example of a club that hasn't got a clue what it's doing and no understanding of who its support actually is or how to grow it.

[Ivarr the Boneless]

No I'm not. The challenges are due to the loss of central funding and the loss of the support base.

The latter process started well before the move to Wimbledon was touted. It would be ludicrously simplistic to blame one factor for to the long running erosion of the supporter base.

[Man of Kent]

1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

OTOH absolutely do blame the groundshare. Because it's the perfect example of a club that hasn't got a clue what it's doing and no understanding of who its support actually is or how to grow it.

Well, given Broncos' gates have dropped to tenth-tier football levels at Ealing, might it not be an idea to move to a ground with proper facilities (assuming Hughes will foot the bill)?

[Ivarr the Boneless]

If Broncos do go part time, I suspect they won't be moving to Wimbledon.

That move was to facilitate a possible return to Superleague. I doubt that will be on the radar of a part time team. 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

Gonna be interesting to see what happens

Who knows, maybe a big new backer will arrive and in a years time we are top of the Championship playing in front of 2000 at Plough Lane. I certainly hope that can still be a possibility 

[Man of Kent]

5 minutes ago, Ivarr the Boneless said:

If Broncos do go part time, I suspect they won't be moving to Wimbledon.

That move was to facilitate a possible return to Superleague. I doubt that will be on the radar of a part time team. 

Might be right there though at present the Dons Trust believes it’s more likely to happen than not. We’ll see. 

[Dr Tim Whatley]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

There are limits on how long you can reasonably keep data and what it can be used for.

Despite thinking I'd given the Broncos consent to contact me about pretty much anything it's been a long while since I had anything directly from them so they must have some sort of cut offs with regards to last response and when consent was obtained.

Or they just don't try hard enough.

They've got my details for sure, (I've bought plenty of tickets online in the last five years or so) but the efforts they've made to keep me as a fan have been pretty non-existent.

[nadera78]

6 minutes ago, Dr Tim Whatley said:

Or they just don't try hard enough.

They've got my details for sure, (I've bought plenty of tickets online in the last five years or so) but the efforts they've made to keep me as a fan have been pretty non-existent.

I had a season ticket up until 18 months ago, and I can't remember the last time I had an email from the club. It was probably the one telling us they couldn't tell us we were moving to Wimbledon - about 3 months after AFCW had announced it.

I also notice that the man most likely responsible for this latest, and probably final, attempt to alienate everyone connected to the club hasn't been seen posting on the fans' forum for a long while now.