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Ottawa aces


DEANO

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Another amateurish press release in rugby league which leaves more questions than answers.

 

The optimist in me says this actually provides an opportunity to expand the games footprint more sensibly and sustainably in a city like Birmingham, Bristol or Nottingham. That would mean having an enormous amount of faith in Ralph Rimmer/Eric Perez to actually have done some strategic thinking and due diligence though.

No doubt we'll end up with a 4th Wakefield postcode side in the pyramid announced two weeks before the 2022 season. 

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If Perez is still planning to invest a bit of money into this then I think Nottingham would be the obvious choice with the Outlaws having a decent amateur setup and strong university sides at UoN and Trent.

They would also act as a nice bridge between Sheffield & Doncaster in S. Yorks and Coventry in the Midlands in terms of grassroots development and community RL. 

Worryingly, there seems to be a rumour they will base themselves out of Bradford which would be a disaster. 

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Two years ago, who knew what was about to hit the world. Could they, and Toronto worked in different circumstances? Sadly, we'll never know.

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17 minutes ago, Ray Cashmere said:

If Perez is still planning to invest a bit of money into this then I think Nottingham would be the obvious choice with the Outlaws having a decent amateur setup and strong university sides at UoN and Trent.

They would also act as a nice bridge between Sheffield & Doncaster in S. Yorks and Coventry in the Midlands in terms of grassroots development and community RL. 

Worryingly, there seems to be a rumour they will base themselves out of Bradford which would be a disaster. 

I seriously wonder how much Pérez has left to invest now.

He sold his marketing company in Toronto when he decided to focus on RL full time and that money funded his initiatives with the CRL (such as the Canada-Jamaica matches during Carabana which wouldn't have happened otherwise) and his trips over to England to pitch his idea for a pro team in Toronto in the English structure.  He's already spent plenty on those ventures, I wonder how much he's out of pocket for it all?

39 minutes ago, Ray Cashmere said:

Another amateurish press release in rugby league which leaves more questions than answers.

The optimist in me says this actually provides an opportunity to expand the games footprint more sensibly and sustainably in a city like Birmingham, Bristol or Nottingham. That would mean having an enormous amount of faith in Ralph Rimmer/Eric Perez to actually have done some strategic thinking and due diligence though.

No doubt we'll end up with a 4th Wakefield postcode side in the pyramid announced two weeks before the 2022 season. 

A rich big time backer would be needed in cities like those, and there evidently aren't many Brits in that category looking to back an RL club these days.

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38 minutes ago, DEANO said:

 Would draw bigger crowds than the original Hemel club

Say what you want but Hemel schools competition continues to be successful as always 

Stags are also a decent club in the home counties waiting for some investment. A shining light of rugby league where no one ever expects 

Yours truly 

Ex- Hemel school boy BB

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7 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

I seriously wonder how much Pérez has left to invest now.

He sold his marketing company in Toronto when he decided to focus on RL full time and that money funded his initiatives with the CRL (such as the Canada-Jamaica matches during Carabana which wouldn't have happened otherwise) and his trips over to England to pitch his idea for a pro team in Toronto in the English structure.  He's already spent plenty on those ventures, I wonder how much he's out of pocket for it all?

A rich big time backer would be needed in cities like those, and there evidently aren't many Brits in that category looking to back an RL club these days.

I'm not sure the capital outlay in a city like Nottingham would need to be massive when there are strong university and amateur links and an existing League 1 talent pool in the wider region with ex-Sheffield/Doncaster/Coventry players. Transport links also wouldn't be a major issue which is an important  financial consideration in League 1 so I think 'rich big time backer' is a bit hyperbolic. Obviously things change should there be loftier ambitions than becoming competitive in League 1 in the short to medium term.

There isn't any cheap solution here but there are realistic options and less realistic options (Dublin for example).

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Ray Cashmere said:

I'm not sure the capital outlay in a city like Nottingham would need to be massive when there are strong university and amateur links and an existing League 1 talent pool in the wider region with ex-Sheffield/Doncaster/Coventry players. Transport links also wouldn't be a major issue which is an important  financial consideration in League 1 so I think 'rich big time backer' is a bit hyperbolic. 

There isn't any cheap solution here but there are realistic options and less realistic options (Dublin for example).

With the future of League 1 in doubt, anyone funding a new club would want to move up through the tiers sharpish and that would take serious money.  The difficulties in getting players to move from the heartlands being what they are, the players needed for such a climb wouldn't be cheap.

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3 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

With the future of League 1 in doubt, anyone funding a new club would want to move up through the tiers sharpish and that would take serious money.  The difficulties in getting players to move from the heartlands being what they are, the players needed for such a climb wouldn't be cheap.

I agree there is a strong argument that there should be no new club in League 1 next season for this reason.

I'm speculating on the basis that there still will be and trying to weigh up the balance between such new club having the potential to move up through the tiers sharpish (a wide catchment area with no strong allegiances to existing pyramid clubs but some form of RL presence to build from) and the obvious financial/player pool restrictions inherent in League 1.

I think Nottingham or Liverpool would tick the most boxes here but I'm happy to hear other suggestions. 

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6 minutes ago, Ray Cashmere said:

I agree there is a strong argument that there should be no new club in League 1 next season for this reason.

I'm speculating on the basis that there still will be and trying to weigh up the balance between such new club having the potential to move up through the tiers sharpish (a wide catchment area with no strong allegiances to existing pyramid clubs but some form of RL presence to build from) and the obvious financial/player pool restrictions inherent in League 1.

I think Nottingham or Liverpool would tick the most boxes here but I'm happy to hear other suggestions. 

The question is though, with Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group out of the picture now and Pérez having likely already spent the bulk of the money he got from selling his company in Toronto (don't forget that he also bought out Hemel the other year), who would provide the capital to back it?

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1 minute ago, Big Picture said:

The question is though, with Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group out of the picture now and Pérez having likely already spent the bulk of the money he got from selling his company in Toronto (don't forget that he also bought out Hemel the other year), who would provide the capital to back it?

It's impossible to speculate on the financial status of anyone involved. Put simply, if there is no business case and business plan for this new League 1 club then there shouldn't be a League 1 club.

That is the RFL's job though. We can only speculate on the assumption that the finances do still exist.

Saying that, if it is Liverpool then I wouldn't be surprised to see Koukash try and involve himself.

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4 minutes ago, Ray Cashmere said:

It's impossible to speculate on the financial status of anyone involved. Put simply, if there is no business case and business plan for this new League 1 club then there shouldn't be a League 1 club.

That is the RFL's job though. We can only speculate on the assumption that the finances do still exist.

Saying that, if it is Liverpool then I wouldn't be surprised to see Koukash try and involve himself.

Now that you mention him, Koukash would likely be on a very short list of individuals who might be interested.

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Their RFL licence has a value so it sounds like they are going to try and play out of Bradford in 2022 (maybe just as "The Aces") and be open to offers if anyone wants to buy their licence and relocate the club. Someone, somewhere, will be interested.

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41 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

With the future of League 1 in doubt, anyone funding a new club would want to move up through the tiers sharpish and that would take serious money.  The difficulties in getting players to move from the heartlands being what they are, the players needed for such a climb wouldn't be cheap.

It always makes me chuckle the whole, funding in doubt future up in the air nonsense...

Clubs should find funding from elsewhere. For example how much is the kingston press naming rights worth, why are the clubs not funding themselves. Should more CC money be passed to clubs in the earlier rounds?

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9 minutes ago, Whippet13 said:

Their RFL licence has a value so it sounds like they are going to try and play out of Bradford in 2022 (maybe just as "The Aces") and be open to offers if anyone wants to buy their licence and relocate the club. Someone, somewhere, will be interested.

Pitty manchester are not still around....

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