London Skolars New Owners

[IM2]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

A lot of the thinking about easy visas doesn't seem to be based on the actual real world of today as opposed to ten years ago.

This isn’t their plan it’s me guessing on visa status. Skolars always have 3 or 4 Aussies or kiwis on visas. I’m sure they mean business and will do what it takes. I don’t think they would need to add too much for league 1 but championship will be harder. 

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

1 hour ago, OriginalMrC said:

They can play as amateurs but not on Superleague, Championship or League 1. The rules are in place to stop teams flooding their squads with foreign players 

Wasn't this one of the problems for Skolars when they turned pro initially? I seem to remember them having a lot of foreign players who would've been good enough to play but weren't allowed to for visa reasons. 

[Madrileño]

On 20/01/2023 at 20:27, Expatknight said:

the Broncos need proper competition down there so the fans can build up a tribal loyalty like in the North. 

You serious?

How long do you think that's going to take? (Bearing in mind that a fair few fans currently go along to both teams, or at least did when the Broncos still had fans....) 

 

[Madrileño]

22 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

Wasn't this one of the problems for Skolars when they turned pro initially? I seem to remember them having a lot of foreign players who would've been good enough to play but weren't allowed to for visa reasons. 

Correct.

League 1, was deemed by the UK Government to be "professional". I know people on here say it is, but when compared to other sports, it was a ridiculous designation. 

[Madrileño]

1 hour ago, langpark said:

Odd as I know some Aussies (at Skolars funnily enough) who were there on working visas.  They had their day jobs in London, and trained and played for the Skolars, which was not their primary source of income.  So, loopholes perhaps?

Was this a long time ago? Shortly after the Club started?

[OriginalMrC]

1 hour ago, langpark said:

Odd as I know some Aussies (at Skolars funnily enough) who were there on working visas.  They had their day jobs in London, and trained and played for the Skolars, which was not their primary source of income.  So, loopholes perhaps?

This would have either been when Skolars were still amateur or when we were still in the EU. It was much easier for Aussies and Kiwis who were EU passport holders to play in the UK. 

The rules have also changed over the years. Currently it is challenging to bring a foreign player to play in England (in league 1)

Edited January 22, 2023 by OriginalMrC

[newbe]

2 hours ago, langpark said:

I am pretty sure the simple working visa will be fine.  Aussies under the age of 30 are able to get the 2-year working visa quite easily, as are Brits when they go to Aus for work.

Only if they play amateur league. Hemel always had aussies in the NCL days but when they went league1 the aussies had to have sporting visa's.

[Ivarr the Boneless]

The visa rules changed at Skolars level several years after they entered the semi pro ranks. Put simply, from memory, anyone playing for them from Australia etc. found they needed a work permit to play RL. Before that a work permit to do their main job sufficed. Obviously there were also rules around who could qualify for a playing visa, previous playing standard and so on. It hit the standard of the Skolars side TBH. The amateur scene benefitted as there were usually a few good players floating around who couldn't play pro but could play for a side defined as amateur.

Obviously the rules have changed post Brexit and I'm no longer up to speed with the ramifications. I think the league is still designated as professional in work permit terms, if so it's likely to remain challenging.

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Ivarr the Boneless

[EssexRL]

The new owners, like the old ones, will need to address the issue that all non heartland teams have too: where do we get the players that can perform at the necessary level. The playing pool down here is far too small to sustain two clubs (although many excellent players have and continue to progress through the community game down south). There are really only three options - short term:

1. Bring in RL players from abroad

2. Bring in (and support with housing and other costs) players from the north

3. Find RU players who can convert (not sure this is often a valuable route)

Obviously longer term we need to grow our own.

[Dave W]

I really hope Skolars can make some progress from this.

I have a lot of time for them as a club - I've been to several 'Friday Night Lights' games and always loved the welcome, the enthusiasm and atmosphere at the New River. 

They've been quietly going about their business for a few years now and I wish them every success.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Dave W

[Eddie]

Anyone know if this investment is definitely happening, or is it still more of a rumour for discussion on this forum? 

[Angelic Cynic]

In today's RLE - 

The pre-match lunch saw the announcement that the current owners are in the final stages of agreeing a takeover of the club by the Australian sports management group ARC.

The deal is still to be finalised and is subject to RFL approval, but a representative from the prospective new owners announced their aspirations to be the number one club in London.

ARC is a sports management company based in Queensland, whose Chief Executive is Steve Scanlan, who has played Rugby League, notably in Ireland some years ago, after which he sponsored Ireland through a previous company he owned.

 

[Pen-Y-Bont Crusader]

1 hour ago, Angelic Cynic said:

In today's RLE - 

The pre-match lunch saw the announcement that the current owners are in the final stages of agreeing a takeover of the club by the Australian sports management group ARC.

The deal is still to be finalised and is subject to RFL approval, but a representative from the prospective new owners announced their aspirations to be the number one club in London.

ARC is a sports management company based in Queensland, whose Chief Executive is Steve Scanlan, who has played Rugby League, notably in Ireland some years ago, after which he sponsored Ireland through a previous company he owned.

 

https://arcsportsmanagement.com.au/our-team/

[Jughead]

I thought I saw a picture of someone who resembled Shaun Lunt at the HAC on Friday but didn’t think he’d be there. 

Interesting make up of the board, though. Will be worth keeping an eye on this. 

[dealwithit]

Shaun Lunt and David Shillington involved. Very interesting. 

[The 4 of Us]

https://www.timesandstar.co.uk/sport/17054955.town-make-new-signing/

Same guy? Not sure about the England reference though unless he was an academy player at Leeds? 

 

[Eddie]

49 minutes ago, The 4 of Us said:

https://www.timesandstar.co.uk/sport/17054955.town-make-new-signing/

Same guy? Not sure about the England reference though unless he was an academy player at Leeds? 

 

I’d forgotten about New York. Not sure if they were always pie in the sky or a victim of the pandemic. Would have been great if it had happened though. 

[Sammo]

1 hour ago, Pen-Y-Bont Crusader said:

https://arcsportsmanagement.com.au/our-team/

Interesting that they appear to manage almost exclusively boxers…

[The 4 of Us]

24 minutes ago, Sammo said:

Interesting that they appear to manage almost exclusively boxers…

Sounds as though Skolars will be a bit of a tougher prospect up front. 

[Quinskolar]

Potentially great news for the long suffering London RL public. I do hope they have learnt the lessons on 1995 and the Aussie ownership of the Broncos. Where better players will come from apart from taking some of the current Bronco squad is hard to see. Money buys a lot and having some or any favourable London coverage is a must. Getting out of L1 is not that difficult, building a fan base is another matter. Interesting times.

[The Daddy]

https://www.totalrl.com/london-skolars-set-for-takeover-as-prospective-australian-owners-revealed/

[fighting irish]

On 22/01/2023 at 11:46, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

I agree - the key thing is that it need somebody with some imagination to make it work. Too many UK clubs seem to think that a name change is the silver bullet, when in reality it's all the other branding stuff that goes with it. I remember loads of people on this forum saying what a great name Aberavon Fighting Irish was, when in reality it was just nicked from a college in America. The game over here has always had loads of great nicknames which good creative marketing/branding people could easily make work.  If 'Gallant Youths' was an American college football team, loads of people would be saying how original a name it is, but over here it got jettisoned in favour of 'Bulldogs'. Now I'm not saying that changing the name hasn't worked for Batley, but I bet somebody creative and imaginative could have made 'Gallant Youths' work too. Skolars is absolutely fine, and - to my knowledge - unique. A talented creative person could easily make that work.

Thank you for those few kind words

[watcherofRL]

On 21/01/2023 at 16:49, DEANO said:

The point is Fulham or what ever you want to call them playing out of whichever ground you want hasn’t really worked. Even when they were fast tracked to super league and had a rich benefactor crowds were poor made up mostly of  northerners down for a jolly. They never raised the profile of rl and barely got a mention in the London press

I remember broncos from the 90’s in Charlton and I was an avid union fan so that point about not being known is complete rubbish

[DoubleD]

It is an interesting make-up but the question still remains as to who will be funding it, as significant investment will be required if they have ambitions of becoming a force challenging for SL. Aware that Steve has been very successful but does he really have deep pockets?

[EssexRL]

2 hours ago, DoubleD said:

It is an interesting make-up but the question still remains as to who will be funding it, as significant investment will be required if they have ambitions of becoming a force challenging for SL. Aware that Steve has been very successful but does he really have deep pockets?

I am not sure you need too deep pockets (by rich people's standards) to be competitive in L1 or even Championship given the current set up with the club. Clearly SL is another issue all together but if we grow and are successful then maybe that will attract additional support (people and investment). 

The truth is securing additional investment from the UK has not been possible despite the club's best efforts. Carrying on as we are means, well carrying on as we are - both on and off the field and long term I do not think that is viable.