Birmingham

[The Daddy]

Sad news that the plug has been pulled on Ottawa. The upside is that there's now an opportunity to invest in a new RL area and club in the UK. 

Many places to choose from but I would like to see a club in Birmingham, it's a city of nearly 4 million people, with no professional rugby league club, two not very successful soccer clubs, it would create an instant rivalry with Coventry. 

UK RL needs to reach the masses, it needs fresh new blood, look at what Toulouse has done for French Rugby League, Birmingham if done properly would be a huge boost in a similar way. 

Let's see how this pans out, it will probably be another Bradford club though  

[dealwithit]

Isn’t Birmingham in Coventry’s catchment? Would another League 1 club really help things develop? 

[Big Picture]

1 hour ago, The Daddy said:

Sad news that the plug has been pulled on Ottawa. The upside is that there's now an opportunity to invest in a new RL area and club in the UK. 

Many places to choose from but I would like to see a club in Birmingham, it's a city of nearly 4 million people, with no professional rugby league club, two not very successful soccer clubs, it would create an instant rivalry with Coventry. 

UK RL needs to reach the masses, it needs fresh new blood, look at what Toulouse has done for French Rugby League, Birmingham if done properly would be a huge boost in a similar way. 

Let's see how this pans out, it will probably be another Bradford club though  

Done right (e.g. as the home of a West Midlands franchise in a new franchised multinational league with the franchises all based in comparable big cities) Birmingham would certainly give Brummies something they wouldn't get in other sports and be an asset to the game.

Starting at the bottom of a league structure where should they succeed and get to the top they'd get to play opponents from less than inspiring places such as Warrington, St Helens and Wigan, they'd probably struggle to establish themselves and fail like other expansion efforts.

[Niels]

3 hours ago, Big Picture said:

Done right (e.g. as the home of a West Midlands franchise in a new franchised multinational league with the franchises all based in comparable big cities) Birmingham would certainly give Brummies something they wouldn't get in other sports and be an asset to the game.

Starting at the bottom of a league structure where should they succeed and get to the top they'd get to play opponents from less than inspiring places such as Warrington, St Helens and Wigan, they'd probably struggle to establish themselves and fail like other expansion efforts.

Have you been to Birmingham?

The areas around are no more inspiring than the ones you mention.

I read an interesting book about Soccer and Economics recently. It explained that it takes years for football to establish new teams in big cities. For rugby league it is virtually impossible. 

Cities have a different demography to places where league is played. We would be competing with football. I know that the cricket team was re-named Birmingham but they have a large Indian community who follow the game. We have no such fan base. 

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Don't want to be pedantic but the population figure you quote is for the West Midlands metropolitan area which actually includes Coventry. So if we're using metro figures then there's already a team there. 

[Just Browny]

44 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Don't want to be pedantic but the population figure you quote is for the West Midlands metropolitan area which actually includes Coventry. So if we're using metro figures then there's already a team there. 

You're right, but you've now screwed over Coventry for when we next have one of those pointless 'what proportion of your population attends game' threads.

[Man of Kent]

Do they play RL in Birmingham? Do they like RL in Birmingham? Is there a shortage of professional sport in Birmingham? 

[Eddie]

Why would the people from Ottawa put their money into a team in England? 

[iffleyox]

6 hours ago, dealwithit said:

Isn’t Birmingham in Coventry’s catchment? Would another League 1 club really help things develop? 

Clubs can only be where people want one, and the people in Cov have worked hard to have one. If there wasn’t one in Coventry though you’d be putting it in Birmingham (‘in a sticking pins in maps’ approach) because Coventry is in Birmingham’s catchment….

If Rhinos didn’t exist would you be saying ‘doesn’t matter they can watch Trin’?

Anyway, lots of Union played in Birmingham, as befits the only big city in the country to have kept its grammar schools and the 11+…

good luck

[Black Country Wire]

4 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

We could get Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne to put aside their differences and do a few numbers at their opening match.

That could really Move things forward and turn it from a pipe dream into a Livin Thing.

Bostin!

Is that just (Mr) Blue Sky thinking?

 

[iffleyox]

7 minutes ago, Black Country Wire said:

Is that just (Mr) Blue Sky thinking?

 

Hold on tight to your dream 

[iffleyox]

10 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

But to be serious for one second, I’d hardly say Villa were ‘not very successful’ they won the European Cup for a kick off. Birmingham City have been less successful but that was because a gypsy cursed St Andrews cos she got turfed off when they were building it. Fact

Being from there, it never ceases to amaze me how little the rest of the country knows about the West Midlands.

we don’t even get the lazy, casual northern or southern stereotypes. 
 

Birmingham doesn’t ‘need’ an RL club. Add up West Brom, Blues, Villa, Warwickshire CCC. Then from RU off the top of my head, Moseley, Bees, Salts, Camp Hill, Bournville, Aston, Handsworth, FWOE, Edwardian FC, Barbarians, Birmingham CS, Harborne, Veseyans, Yardleians (and that list is the tip of the iceberg). 
 

there isn’t a well of people sitting at home waiting for RL to happen.

[Spidey]

Random City Rugby League thread

[Whippet13]

2 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

Random City RL is a good name for a franchise. It could move every season but only be announced on the day before the season kicks off.

This is not as daft as it might seem as it covers a few bases. 1) we could get a number of curious punters attending on novelty factor. Then 2) if the team keeps losing, the end of the season (and thus side) is not far off and it can be blamed on 'not fishing where the fish are' (© Man of Kent)

Winner

I'd prefer some sort of lottery, you buy a weekly ticket and if you win get to pick what UK town or city the club plays out of the next week. It could raise millions overnight and cover the RFL income shortfalls.

[RayCee]

If Toronto failed and now Ottawa, why would anyone thing a team in Alabama is a goer? 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

43 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Random City Rugby League thread

Random city eh? I want to put in a suggestion for Ely Elephants!

[paulwalker71]

9 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Being serious I think it is a great chance to correct the mistake the rfl made a while back and get a team in Manchester at the MRA .

Stadium largely unused with perfect transport links where the RFL is basing itself with 500,000 pop and a chance to reinvigorate RL in Greater Manchester. 

Or RFL should buy back license and ask for serious bids with criteria they want.  But that would mean the RFL and SL having an idea what they want so that is not happening. 

Agree with all that

However, it would require a certain amount of vision and strategic planning which, sadly, doesn't exactly seem to part of the DNA down at the old RFL

[Just Browny]

I got into the Manchester hype like many others, but didn't the whole operation pack up about five minutes after the RFL knocked them back? Hardly showed up the decision as wrong.

[Spidey]

17 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

I got into the Manchester hype like many others, but didn't the whole operation pack up about five minutes after the RFL knocked them back? Hardly showed up the decision as wrong.

Yes. Foundations of sand

[The Daddy]

26 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Yes. Foundations of sand

What did you want them.to do? Are you offering to pay the 500k bond for them? 

[Tubby]

Delusional…abstract nonsense. I know it’s a forum and discussion is the point, but the absolute abject fantasy spouted by some is laughable. 
 

Geographical expansion is something we should all aspire to, but the idea that we can just plant a team in a non-rl area and expect it to flourish is embarrassingly naive. RL is, unfortunately a very minor sport in Europe in northern England and to a much lesser extent, south-western France. To read some of the fantastical ideas of where we should conquer next, you’d think vastly wealthy sport-lovers were begging us to let them in. It’s a sad fact, they’re not. I have no answers because, unfortunately, I don’t believe there are any. 
 

Aspiration is a fine thing, but that’s all it is. We’ll be having the same delusional discussions in 20 years time (if league as we know it still exists) and my opinion is that we’ll be no further on. 
 

yes, I’m a bit pessimistic. 

[newbe]

Hope they don't want the money back from Hemel

[The Daddy]

1 hour ago, Tubby said:

Delusional…abstract nonsense. I know it’s a forum and discussion is the point, but the absolute abject fantasy spouted by some is laughable. 
 

Geographical expansion is something we should all aspire to, but the idea that we can just plant a team in a non-rl area and expect it to flourish is embarrassingly naive. RL is, unfortunately a very minor sport in Europe in northern England and to a much lesser extent, south-western France. To read some of the fantastical ideas of where we should conquer next, you’d think vastly wealthy sport-lovers were begging us to let them in. It’s a sad fact, they’re not. I have no answers because, unfortunately, I don’t believe there are any. 
 

Aspiration is a fine thing, but that’s all it is. We’ll be having the same delusional discussions in 20 years time (if league as we know it still exists) and my opinion is that we’ll be no further on. 
 

yes, I’m a bit pessimistic. 

Don't think discussion forums are for you. Stick to Rugby League Banter on Facebook or something 

[Spidey]

1 hour ago, The Daddy said:

What did you want them.to do? Are you offering to pay the 500k bond for them? 

Any aspiring pro club should follow Coventry’s model. They were embedded in the community well before any notion of going pro. The Rangers offering was nowhere near them. Yes they played in a shiny new stadium - but like I said foundations built on sand where are they now?

[Rowan]

Just as a bit of light relief I dug out a match day programme of Manchester Knights from July 20, 2000. It was for an RL Conference Match (eventually to become National League Three) against Rotherham Giants.  At the time Birmingham Bulldogs with 10 wins from 11 games were top of the Western Division and the Composite Table.  The Competition also included Hemel, St. Albans, Ipswich, Coventry, Leicester, Wolverhampton, Chester, Nottingham, Derby, North, South and West London, St. Albans - a total of 24 clubs in all.  Don't know how many (if any other than Hemel and Coventry still exist but it was backed by the RFL at the time.