swinton lions

[The Daddy]

3 minutes ago, lucky 7 said:

A huge mistake by the RFL in my opinion

A new club with the name Manchester in there title would have piqued some interest among sport fans in Manchester.

One of the many masterstroke strategic decisions made by Nigel Wood and Ralph Rimmer 

[ShropshireBull]

2 hours ago, idrewthehaggis said:

And as for a Salford-Manchester rivalry, I'd say it's all on the west Bank of the Irwell. The Mancoids see Liverpool or London as the protagonists.

Still marketable though. Every club needs a stand out enemy fixture unless they are a massive market like Leeds, even they had Bradford to build interest. Pies have Saints, Hull have KR, Catalans can have Toulouse (just not on a thursday FFS) , Wire have this year, Salford could have a fairly affluent Manchester side and play up the city versus the more traditional Salford. 

[lucky 7]

16 hours ago, Eddie said:

There isn’t a single team in Manchester as far as I’m aware. 

That's where Manchester Rangers would have filled that void

A new club with a blank sheet possibly attracting new fans to our game and new sponsors

[hw88]

2 hours ago, fighting irish said:

Come on mate, share your ideas? 

OK then.

18 teams split into 2 groups of 9. You play the teams in your own group twice - 16 games - and teams in the other group once - 9 games - producing a 25 game season. The top team in each group would go directly to the semi-finals while teams finishing second and third would play each other for the remaining two places. The 2 semi-final winners would obviously contest the grand final.

Now for the sticky problem of promotion/relegation. Several options here i) bottom teams in each group relegated, ii) bottom teams play each other with the loser being relegated, iii) relegation takes place every third season and being based on the average points gained in those 3 seasons. This would ensure that promoted teams could plan for a minimum 3 year stay in the top flight.

My reasoning for all that is quite simple. For me 12 teams is too narrow and gives little room for growth/expansion. With 18 places that means there is enough room for 'traditional' clubs but also allows for expansion into 'new' areas such as a second or third French team, a Welsh team, a Canadian/American team, a non-heartland team, etc, should they become good enough. Also a 12 team league naturally gives a 22 game season which i) isn't really long enough hence the additional games and ii) sticking at 22 games really negates the need for play-offs (play each other twice, job done).

Also not to have promotion/relegation to my mind would be a mistake. It would cut teams off from the top level and ultimately cause them to whither on the vine so-to-speak. Plus having a 'closed shop' isn't the British way. We are not America with franchises, huge collegiate systems and vast distances between teams. We are not Australia, which was based on two large cities of roughly equal standing separated by hundreds of miles with RL being the dominant code of football in each.

So they you go FI - I shall stand back and await the pooh-pooh!

[Red Willow]

16 hours ago, Griff said:

Greater Manchester isn't a place. Just a council.

No it isn't even that.

Its an admin area which includes  one council from Cheshire

[Wolford6]

6 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

They replaced Odsal?

No, but it's a shadow of what it was. Pitch is a postage stamp surrounded by a sea of sand and dirt that forms the stock car track. The Coral Stand scoreboard doesn't work and the buiding itself looks really shabby.

[Rlsouthyorks]

1 hour ago, hw88 said:

OK then.

18 teams split into 2 groups of 9. You play the teams in your own group twice - 16 games - and teams in the other group once - 9 games - producing a 25 game season. The top team in each group would go directly to the semi-finals while teams finishing second and third would play each other for the remaining two places. The 2 semi-final winners would obviously contest the grand final.

Now for the sticky problem of promotion/relegation. Several options here i) bottom teams in each group relegated, ii) bottom teams play each other with the loser being relegated, iii) relegation takes place every third season and being based on the average points gained in those 3 seasons. This would ensure that promoted teams could plan for a minimum 3 year stay in the top flight.

My reasoning for all that is quite simple. For me 12 teams is too narrow and gives little room for growth/expansion. With 18 places that means there is enough room for 'traditional' clubs but also allows for expansion into 'new' areas such as a second or third French team, a Welsh team, a Canadian/American team, a non-heartland team, etc, should they become good enough. Also a 12 team league naturally gives a 22 game season which i) isn't really long enough hence the additional games and ii) sticking at 22 games really negates the need for play-offs (play each other twice, job done).

Also not to have promotion/relegation to my mind would be a mistake. It would cut teams off from the top level and ultimately cause them to whither on the vine so-to-speak. Plus having a 'closed shop' isn't the British way. We are not America with franchises, huge collegiate systems and vast distances between teams. We are not Australia, which was based on two large cities of roughly equal standing separated by hundreds of miles with RL being the dominant code of football in each.

So they you go FI - I shall stand back and await the pooh-pooh!

i like the 18 team have stated this in the passed. I would go all playing each other once for 17 games plus then play half the teams again for another 9 games . That gives each team 13 home games and 13 away. Top 8 make play offs and bottom team relegated. 

[Blind side johnny]

7 hours ago, Fevrover said:

Same as Wakefield Metropolitan, Wakefield, Featherstone, Dewsbury and Castleford. 

What????

[Fevrover]

5 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

What????

 I thought it was lol ( for some strange reason!!!) Kirklees  it is.

[gazza77]

6 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

What????

Didn't you know? Swapped with knottla, which is now in kirklees.

[David Dockhouse Host]

19 hours ago, hw88 said:

OK then.

18 teams split into 2 groups of 9. You play the teams in your own group twice - 16 games - and teams in the other group once - 9 games - producing a 25 game season. The top team in each group would go directly to the semi-finals while teams finishing second and third would play each other for the remaining two places. The 2 semi-final winners would obviously contest the grand final.

Now for the sticky problem of promotion/relegation. Several options here i) bottom teams in each group relegated, ii) bottom teams play each other with the loser being relegated, iii) relegation takes place every third season and being based on the average points gained in those 3 seasons. This would ensure that promoted teams could plan for a minimum 3 year stay in the top flight.

My reasoning for all that is quite simple. For me 12 teams is too narrow and gives little room for growth/expansion. With 18 places that means there is enough room for 'traditional' clubs but also allows for expansion into 'new' areas such as a second or third French team, a Welsh team, a Canadian/American team, a non-heartland team, etc, should they become good enough. Also a 12 team league naturally gives a 22 game season which i) isn't really long enough hence the additional games and ii) sticking at 22 games really negates the need for play-offs (play each other twice, job done).

Also not to have promotion/relegation to my mind would be a mistake. It would cut teams off from the top level and ultimately cause them to whither on the vine so-to-speak. Plus having a 'closed shop' isn't the British way. We are not America with franchises, huge collegiate systems and vast distances between teams. We are not Australia, which was based on two large cities of roughly equal standing separated by hundreds of miles with RL being the dominant code of football in each.

So they you go FI - I shall stand back and await the pooh-pooh!

Pretty much my suggestion when we did a show on formats

[ShropshireBull]

19 hours ago, lucky 7 said:

That's where Manchester Rangers would have filled that void

A new club with a blank sheet possibly attracting new fans to our game and new sponsors

The fact that it has zero legacy is the attractive bit , it could have gone after different sponsors with no pre conceived notions.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

19 hours ago, Rlsouthyorks said:

i like the 18 team have stated this in the passed. I would go all playing each other once for 17 games plus then play half the teams again for another 9 games . That gives each team 13 home games and 13 away. Top 8 make play offs and bottom team relegated. 

Explain how we find 18 teams and it could be a goer. We struggle to fund 12 currently.

[Saint Toppy]

On 25/10/2022 at 09:05, Fevrover said:

Same as Wakefield Metropolitan, Wakefield, Featherstone, Dewsbury and Castleford. 

Greater Manchester is classed as a County these days. So while Wakey may be a metropolitan borough its still in the County of West Yorkshire just like Leeds, Bradford & Huddersfield are.

Swinton are never going to be a big club again. Even Salford who are named after the city they play in can't attract decent crowds so a small town within the same city has no chance.

[Eddie]

Anyone know if Swindon’s fan base now mainly travel from Swinton, or if they’ve attracted many from closer to the ground? 

[Griff]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Anyone know if Swindon’s fan base now mainly travel from Swinton, or if they’ve attracted many from closer to the ground? 

Dunno that there are many Swindon fans in Swinton.