Sun 27th Aug: The Betfred League One Match Thread

[clwydianrange]

Crusaders finally back at Colwyn Bay after months of playing anywhere we could. A routine win over Skolars who, I think, are better than their results have shown this year. With a couple of big lads in the pack they’ll be a different team.

[dead man inc]

25 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

While on thread. What's the latest with the supposed takeover of the Skolars?

Definitely off… heard nothing officially from Skolars as yet, but the below statement was doing the rounds on the web last week:-

‘AUSSIE company Arc Sports has withdrawn its offer to take over London Skolars. A statement issued to rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads says: "The offer was adjusted on the back of the IMG formula being formally released. Prior to this, an offer was made on an assumption of what the criteria may look like and how the clubs would be ranked within the RFL structure. Once the criteria was officially released, London Skolars ranked last in nearly all areas relating to the scoring matrix and was ranked 36th out of 36 FL clubs by IMG." It's important to note here that IMG have not formally ranked the clubs yet and that any such prognostications are still guesswork - but guesswork that has been done by many within the sport. Arc continues: "When confronted with these numbers it was purely a prudent business decision to adjust the original offer. The amount of capital needed to raise the profile and success of the club far outweighed the original asking price. We felt the our new offer was sufficient plus we said they could keep their sundries which they offered as part of the original deal. These were valued at £25,000 by them, meaning they would only have had a loss of around one third of the original asking price. London Skolars advised us that they believed they could still get more for their license so we have politely declined and said we will not stand in their way. Arc Sports Global have formally withdrawn the offer altogether and wish the London Skolars nothing but the best of luck for their future endeavours."’

[Yorks Tim]

Whoo hoo! 

Winning at Doncaster and now Oldham is a dream come true for me. Doing it against teams that were at full strength too. 

As has been said above, League 1 could be a strong competition next year with hopefully an improved Skolars. I would be happy with loop fixtures if it means we don't have blank weekends. 

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

48 minutes ago, clwydianrange said:

Crusaders finally back at Colwyn Bay after months of playing anywhere we could. A routine win over Skolars who, I think, are better than their results have shown this year. With a couple of big lads in the pack they’ll be a different team.

Agreed, with weather to get us nicely acclimatised for next February! Good to see Rob Massam get a try in what was his last home game for us. Many thanks for all you've done and the best of luck for the future.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

3 hours ago, GeordieSaint said:

Cornwall have done Rochdale 18-12. Fantastic win.

"Pur dha!" to the Choughs.

[The Future is League]

50 minutes ago, dead man inc said:

Definitely off… heard nothing officially from Skolars as yet, but the below statement was doing the rounds on the web last week:-

‘AUSSIE company Arc Sports has withdrawn its offer to take over London Skolars. A statement issued to rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads says: "The offer was adjusted on the back of the IMG formula being formally released. Prior to this, an offer was made on an assumption of what the criteria may look like and how the clubs would be ranked within the RFL structure. Once the criteria was officially released, London Skolars ranked last in nearly all areas relating to the scoring matrix and was ranked 36th out of 36 FL clubs by IMG." It's important to note here that IMG have not formally ranked the clubs yet and that any such prognostications are still guesswork - but guesswork that has been done by many within the sport. Arc continues: "When confronted with these numbers it was purely a prudent business decision to adjust the original offer. The amount of capital needed to raise the profile and success of the club far outweighed the original asking price. We felt the our new offer was sufficient plus we said they could keep their sundries which they offered as part of the original deal. These were valued at £25,000 by them, meaning they would only have had a loss of around one third of the original asking price. London Skolars advised us that they believed they could still get more for their license so we have politely declined and said we will not stand in their way. Arc Sports Global have formally withdrawn the offer altogether and wish the London Skolars nothing but the best of luck for their future endeavours."’

Not a good look for the club and the game in the capital

[Templegreen]

10 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

Not a good look for the club and the game in the capital

Just got home to Leeds from Colwyn bay (Great to see Crusaders finally back ) and am left to ponder if maybe, just maybe that might be the last time I get to see London Skolars in league 1 

Their team today had about 5 players worth mentioning: Small, Thomas & Junior in the backs, plus big shift from prop Gale & loose forward Ross who both played the full 80. The rest are nowhere near league 1 - repeated missed tackles, poor shape, lack of basic skills, bad decision choices etc… pretty much the same story as in the rest of the away games i’ve been to this year. (Can anyone comment if they putting any better performances in at home?)

It’s blatantly obvious there is not enough of a talent pool in London for 2 part time teams. If Broncos stay mid table & part time, coupled with league 1 funding at such a derisory level it doesn’t even cover travel expenses,I wonder if the current London Skolars board will choose/be able (delete as appropriate) to continue to subsidise them or will they decide to cut their losses (or be forced by the RFL) & go back to amateur competition.

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

The demise of the Skolars would spell danger for the whole of League 1 which probably wouldn't be viable with only nine clubs; not, I suspect, that the RFL could give a toss about us.

[The Future is League]

11 minutes ago, Templegreen said:

Just got home to Leeds from Colwyn bay (Great to see Crusaders finally back ) and am left to ponder if maybe, just maybe that might be the last time I get to see London Skolars in league 1 

Their team today had about 5 players worth mentioning: Small, Thomas & Junior in the backs, plus big shift from prop Gale & loose forward Ross who both played the full 80. The rest are nowhere near league 1 - repeated missed tackles, poor shape, lack of basic skills, bad decision choices etc… pretty much the same story as in the rest of the away games i’ve been to this year. (Can anyone comment if they putting any better performances in at home?)

It’s blatantly obvious there is not enough of a talent pool in London for 2 part time teams. If Broncos stay mid table & part time, coupled with league 1 funding at such a derisory level it doesn’t even cover travel expenses,I wonder if the current London Skolars board will choose/be able (delete as appropriate) to continue to subsidise them or will they decide to cut their losses (or be forced by the RFL) & go back to amateur competition.

Sad times for the Skolars and the game in London.

I hope a solution can be found, but i have no idea how it will come about. Just fingers crossed for the club

[The Future is League]

2 minutes ago, Chronicler of Chiswick said:

The demise of the Skolars would spell danger for the whole of League 1 which probably wouldn't be viable with only nine clubs; not, I suspect, that the RFL could give a toss about us.

That would be a disaster for the game in this country and i can't bear to think about it

[Gomersall]

2 hours ago, dead man inc said:

Definitely off… heard nothing officially from Skolars as yet, but the below statement was doing the rounds on the web last week:-

‘AUSSIE company Arc Sports has withdrawn its offer to take over London Skolars. A statement issued to rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads says: "The offer was adjusted on the back of the IMG formula being formally released. Prior to this, an offer was made on an assumption of what the criteria may look like and how the clubs would be ranked within the RFL structure. Once the criteria was officially released, London Skolars ranked last in nearly all areas relating to the scoring matrix and was ranked 36th out of 36 FL clubs by IMG." It's important to note here that IMG have not formally ranked the clubs yet and that any such prognostications are still guesswork - but guesswork that has been done by many within the sport. Arc continues: "When confronted with these numbers it was purely a prudent business decision to adjust the original offer. The amount of capital needed to raise the profile and success of the club far outweighed the original asking price. We felt the our new offer was sufficient plus we said they could keep their sundries which they offered as part of the original deal. These were valued at £25,000 by them, meaning they would only have had a loss of around one third of the original asking price. London Skolars advised us that they believed they could still get more for their license so we have politely declined and said we will not stand in their way. Arc Sports Global have formally withdrawn the offer altogether and wish the London Skolars nothing but the best of luck for their future endeavours."’

There are no licences to sell. Ottawa basically bought Hemel’s membership of the RFL but there are no licences as such.

[OriginalMrC]

Going down to 10 teams was terrible for league 1. Added to that the huge funding cuts leaves little hope that the division can be sustainable. While I think the guys that were going to buy Skolars appeared to be chancers a lot of what they said holds true. The value of clubs with little in the way of assets and no funding is next to nothing. League 1 needs more support than ever, but will it happen. Unlikely 

[Templegreen]

13 hours ago, Chronicler of Chiswick said:

The demise of the Skolars would spell danger for the whole of League 1 which probably wouldn't be viable with only nine clubs; not, I suspect, that the RFL could give a toss about us.

 

13 hours ago, The Future is League said:

Sad times for the Skolars and the game in London.

I hope a solution can be found, but i have no idea how it will come about. Just fingers crossed for the club

 

13 hours ago, The Future is League said:

That would be a disaster for the game in this country and i can't bear to think about it

 

11 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

Going down to 10 teams was terrible for league 1. Added to that the huge funding cuts leaves little hope that the division can be sustainable. While I think the guys that were going to buy Skolars appeared to be chancers a lot of what they said holds true. The value of clubs with little in the way of assets and no funding is next to nothing. League 1 needs more support than ever, but will it happen. Unlikely 

This was on a Skolars fan group facebook page... Very worrying for their future as the comment is from the original owner who still sponsors the team. I assume he is still in contact with the club and will have sone idea what is going on behind the scenes.

[Toby Chopra]

5 minutes ago, Templegreen said:

 

 

 

This was on a Skolars fan group facebook page... Very worrying for their future as the comment is from the original owner who still sponsors the team. I assume he is still in contact with the club and will have sone idea what is going on behind the scenes.

What does he mean by "RFL'S actions"?

Potential punishment for not fulfilling a league fixture? Although it may seem to be a harsh response, it's not the reason Skolars might have to step down.

The other reasons he listed above would be why: the club at present doesn't have an ownership committed to funding professional rugby, and more generally the club seems to have lost its identity and purpose. What are the Skolars for?

[Gomersall]

24 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

What does he mean by "RFL'S actions"?

Potential punishment for not fulfilling a league fixture? Although it may seem to be a harsh response, it's not the reason Skolars might have to step down.

The other reasons he listed above would be why: the club at present doesn't have an ownership committed to funding professional rugby, and more generally the club seems to have lost its identity and purpose. What are the Skolars for?

What is any club for? 

[glemiln]

11 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

League 1 needs more support than ever, but will it happen. Unlikely 

It will be interesting how IMG react given they are now calling the shots. Clubs have their illustrative grades for next season which come into play for 2025.  With neither promotion nor relegation next season, perhaps it will give Skolars and others time to consolidate.  Play-offs will be in place - and performance on and off the field will be reflected in IMG’s “Criteria”.  Perhaps even thoughts to consolidating League 1 and the Championship, if the former gets any smaller?

[iffleyox]

7 minutes ago, glemiln said:

Perhaps even thoughts to consolidating League 1 and the Championship, if the former gets any smaller?

Which IMO is fast becoming the only halfway sane (I didn’t say everyone would like it) solution left.

[Toby Chopra]

43 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

What is any club for? 

They had a purpose, which was to be a club rooted in its north London community from which it found some players, while also being the destination for players from the wider south east who wanted to play semi-pro rugby.

They complemented, and had a decent relationship with, the full-time Broncos.

Due to things mostly outside their control - the Broncos (temporarily?) going part time and raiding them, and then more than one flaky new owner promising the moon - the club lost its purpose.

As I say, largely not its fault, but they do have to decide what they want to be, and what's achievable as things have moved on. I hope they get their identity back.