London Skolars

[Derwent Parker]

4 hours ago, ivans82 said:

It seems the RFL plan to starve  Clubs outside of Super League into submission is beginning to bite .

SG clubs will be rubbing their hands another 15K to divvy out among the 12

[Sports Prophet]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

Just as a possible idea - how much could be done in London & the South East with the £15,000 that the Skolars would have received in central funding?

Realistically, could that money, spent wisely, make any kind of difference or is it too little?

I have done the sums on the back of my beer coaster.

The rapid growth of the grassroots game in London and the South East with about six or seven years of worth of support from around 25 FT development staff was almost superseded by the rapid decline of the grassroots game in London and the South East when the funding for all that staff ran dry.

Those 25 staff would have cost about £600,000 per annum. The foundations were not set after six or seven years. Probably needs that £700-£800k of pure development funding for a full generation to stick. It’s costing the AFL much, much, much more to try and do the same in Western Sydney, if that’s anything to go by.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Sports Prophet

[Expatknight]

Very sad day for Rugby League after 28 years of struggling the Skolars are going into the amateur ranks, hopefully this is a temporary set back but I fear the worst.

Rugby League for far too long has been parochial in it’s outlook, the so called big teams are only interested in themselves, a lot of supporters are so narrow minded that they cannot see the game outside the M62 corridor. I am sick of hearing all the negatives surrounding teams outside the heartlands people whining about how far they have to travel when they play teams south of Sheffield. Come into the real world or this great game of ours will die, more through apathy than anything else. When I lived down under it was a 1000 km trip each way to a lot of away games, that is just the way it is, here the supporters moan if they have to go a tenth of that. Teams like the Skolars were doing it every other week not once a season, we should be encouraging them and embracing them into our family not revelling in the fact yet another expansion club is being lost from the pro game.The RFL as a whole needs to take a long hard look at itself. I know IMG are coming in but I suspect they are only going to be interested in the top tier, I hope I am wrong.

[OnStrike]

Sad news but not surprising.

Good few comments here saying things along the lines of 'this is part of a plan to starve clubs outside of SL of funding so they die' Surely no one actually believes that? I think it's absolute nonsense to be honest on a number of levels

[Phil W]

33 minutes ago, OnStrike said:

Sad news but not surprising.

Good few comments here saying things along the lines of 'this is part of a plan to starve clubs outside of SL of funding so they die' Surely no one actually believes that? I think it's absolute nonsense to be honest on a number of levels

It'd be very narrow minded of SL if true. 

I'm a keen expansionist and to lose any team is a blow as we need the game played everywhere and not just in the traditional areas. It boosts profile and benefits everyone. 

[JM2010]

2 hours ago, Dunbar said:

The key to a player pathway / feeder club to London is the junior ranks.  I watch London Chargers, Wests Warriors and Hammersmith at Southern Conference level (three of the strongest clubs) and as far as I can tell there is a majority Antipodean core to their sides and I doubt they see pro Rugby League in London as an aim.

Dipping into the London junior athletic base is the long term future of the sport but without schools liason and community support officers I simply can't see it taking off the levels needed.

If the Broncos can get back to being a full time outfit with the 3 clubs you mention as well as Skolars and Hemel playing in the Southern Conference then that wouldn’t be a bad scenario in London. The key as you say though is getting juniors to play the game. This is where any investment in London RL should be targeted 

[DEANO]

7 hours ago, newbe said:

Sorry for Skolars, but the next thing is what will happen to the league, as it stands 9 teams that is not competitive. Will they have to play each other 3 times which would be a farce.

Almost like sl teams playing each other up to 5 times 

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, OnStrike said:

Sad news but not surprising.

Good few comments here saying things along the lines of 'this is part of a plan to starve clubs outside of SL of funding so they die' Surely no one actually believes that? I think it's absolute nonsense to be honest on a number of levels

Being starved of attention, resources and support. Whether that is deliberate or not, it is happening.

The RFL should be judged on the outcomes of their (in)actions. What we are seeing is a game in decline that is failing to make the most of its opportunities to reverse that - or even come close to doing so - so it doesn't really matter if it's deliberate or not.

[Yorks Tim]

7 hours ago, newbe said:

Sorry for Skolars, but the next thing is what will happen to the league, as it stands 9 teams that is not competitive. Will they have to play each other 3 times which would be a farce.

As a fan who wants to see more games next season, I'd be perfectly happy with that. They just need to come up with a plan that retains the sporting integrity of the competition and a fixture list that avoids repeat trips to distant opponents on consecutive weekends.

 

[Rapscallion]

I’m quite sad about this news, though it’s seemed more inevitable since the previous chairman moved on. 

I don’t expect this to resonate with everyone here, mainly those who live outside of the “heartlands” and those who have but having a Rugby League club within an hours drive wasn’t something I took for granted, even if it was Skolars, who have been perennially rubbish. It’s always been nice to wile away a Saturday afternoon watching rugby league at Skolars. 

[Derwent Parker]

1 hour ago, OnStrike said:

Sad news but not surprising.

Good few comments here saying things along the lines of 'this is part of a plan to starve clubs outside of SL of funding so they die' Surely no one actually believes that? I think it's absolute nonsense to be honest on a number of levels

Then why do L1 teams only get 1% of the amount each SG team gets 1.5Million - 15 K?

[Derwent Parker]

18 minutes ago, Yorks Tim said:

As a fan who wants to see more games next season, I'd be perfectly happy with that. They just need to come up with a plan that retains the sporting integrity of the competition and a fixture list that avoids repeat trips to distant opponents on consecutive weekends.

 

But that is exactly what they will do 

2 year ago 8 of our first 9 games were at home?

Then when the weather got better we were away almost every week??

 

They dont care about anything outside of SL

[IM2]

This is the right thing for the club. L1 isnt really viable for a none heartlands team with only £15k of central funding. a cumbrian game costs nearly £7k all in. next season 2 cumbrian games, Newcastle and Cornwall all stay overs with hotel plus all the other travel and wages just make no sense. 

The club also has some strong branded events with good revenue streams. Friday night lights and capital challenge. also all its community work. it also has a club house as well to generate income. Plus some decently well off alumni like me who can help out. The opportunity is to keep some of the standards of the semi-pro club and bring those to the SCL. Add some interesting teams for FNL & CC and hopefully get a challenge cup spot. Thats a nice 17 game season. Continue on the stadium pitch.

The income the club can generate can mean they can teat players well, get good coaching, look after players with kit packages, proper coaches for travel and good physio and medical cover plus access to a decent gym. If done right they could have a very strong and professional amateur set up. 

Fans wise yes its disappointing the club wont play in L1 but on the flip side it will ternate more local rivalry and hopefully the club can win more than they lose and become a force similar to how it used to be before it joined the pro leagues. 

build strong foundations then see how L1 develops and relaunch into the semi pro ranks if it makes sense if not thrive in the SCL and its marquee games 

That to me is a strong vision. 

[Angelic Cynic]

It is very concerning to me that despite the presence of 2 London clubs the press and media coverage has remained much as it always has.

More concerning is the 2 promises made by 2 separate interested parties that both came to nothing.

Absolutely totally and wholly concerning is despite the annual Capital Challenge,played in the heart of the city,with the wealthy business people invited, once again a wealthy rugby league club owner leaves a club without an equally wealthy individual taking over.

The Widnes guy left - no replacement. 

Marwan Koukash left - no replacement.

Fortunately for Wigan there is a replacement for Lenagan, but I don't think he was introduced to the sport by Lenagan.

Why can't wealthy people enthuse equally wealthy people to enjoy the sport and take over when one leaves?

 

[OnStrike]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Being starved of attention, resources and support. Whether that is deliberate or not, it is happening.

The RFL should be judged on the outcomes of their (in)actions. What we are seeing is a game in decline that is failing to make the most of its opportunities to reverse that - or even come close to doing so - so it doesn't really matter if it's deliberate or not.

Yeah fair enough but to suggest it's part of a plan to kill clubs is ridiculous. "Right lads, item 1 on the agenda, how do we kill off clubs in the South". 

Whether it matters if it's deliberate or not is up for debate I suppose, but surely we can all agree it isn't actually deliberate?

[OriginalMrC]

1 hour ago, OnStrike said:

Yeah fair enough but to suggest it's part of a plan to kill clubs is ridiculous. "Right lads, item 1 on the agenda, how do we kill off clubs in the South". 

Whether it matters if it's deliberate or not is up for debate I suppose, but surely we can all agree it isn't actually deliberate?

I don't think clubs sat around and concocted a dastardly plan. However they were warned what would happen due to drastic funding cuts. They knew there was a very strong possibility that clubs would go to wall. The attitude was that if you can't survive without central funding you shouldn't be a professional club. That might be a fair point if it wasn't for the fact that only 2/3 clubs in the whole game would be sustainable without central funding. 

[DEANO]

When sky bought the game they wanted clubs to merge and form one league. Since then clubs have been denied access to super league. Draw bridge has been up and down and going up again. New teams were formed to further dilute the lower division and central funding cut but hey sl is doing ok. No wonder clubs are going to the wall

[Rapscallion]

3 hours ago, IM2 said:

This is the right thing for the club. L1 isnt really viable for a none heartlands team with only £15k of central funding. a cumbrian game costs nearly £7k all in. next season 2 cumbrian games, Newcastle and Cornwall all stay overs with hotel plus all the other travel and wages just make no sense. 

The club also has some strong branded events with good revenue streams. Friday night lights and capital challenge. also all its community work. it also has a club house as well to generate income. Plus some decently well off alumni like me who can help out. The opportunity is to keep some of the standards of the semi-pro club and bring those to the SCL. Add some interesting teams for FNL & CC and hopefully get a challenge cup spot. Thats a nice 17 game season. Continue on the stadium pitch.

The income the club can generate can mean they can teat players well, get good coaching, look after players with kit packages, proper coaches for travel and good physio and medical cover plus access to a decent gym. If done right they could have a very strong and professional amateur set up. 

Fans wise yes its disappointing the club wont play in L1 but on the flip side it will ternate more local rivalry and hopefully the club can win more than they lose and become a force similar to how it used to be before it joined the pro leagues. 

build strong foundations then see how L1 develops and relaunch into the semi pro ranks if it makes sense if not thrive in the SCL and its marquee games 

That to me is a strong vision. 

The crucial words in all of that is “if done well”. Will it be done well?

Will fans turn up? Will there even be a FNL or Capital Challenge? 

[Sports Prophet]

4 hours ago, Derwent Parker said:

Then why do L1 teams only get 1% of the amount each SG team gets 1.5Million - 15 K?

Because a professional second tier is hard enough to supplement. A national and professional third tier is not commercially viable. It’s a noose around the neck of the game.

[Cake Tiger]

As someone who played for a fledgling University of London RL team in the early 90s (which Hector was involved in supporting), I am a little sad at this. Like he says in his post, it is the right thing to do. It seemed like the club had gone backwards fast in the last couple of years.

Pleased that the club won't die. Let's hope it can recover in the amateur ranks and return to L1 one day.

Bring back the Skolar girls selling beers to punters in their seats! Good times.

[lucky 7]

Another knock on effect of the Skolars is that the rest of the league 1 clubs will have one less home game, and no club will fill the void left by the Skolars. Very worrying times for league 1 clubs and the game as a whole

[Eddie]

12 hours ago, JM2010 said:

If the Broncos can get back to being a full time outfit with the 3 clubs you mention as well as Skolars and Hemel playing in the Southern Conference then that wouldn’t be a bad scenario in London. The key as you say though is getting juniors to play the game. This is where any investment in London RL should be targeted 

Hemel are a fair way off getting back in the SCL I think. 

[Eddie]

The worst thing is, I can see other L1 non-heartlands clubs leaving the comp over the next few years. Certainly Cornwall if they don’t progress, and maybe Newcastle if they lose their benefactor. Midlands seem to be doing ok and so do North Wales other than their ground issues, so that would leave just two in the whole three divisions.

[gingerjon]

35 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Midlands seem to be doing ok and so do North Wales other than their ground issues, so that would leave just two in the whole three divisions.

Thing is, even with their not-great results and flatlining/decreasing attendances, you would still have said that Skolars were 'well run' and solid. (And, indeed, seems like they mostly were.) Never going to set the rugby league world aflame but doing the right things as well as they could.

And yet here we are.

My view, downbeat as it is, is that if they, with that solid way of doing things, wind up stepping back after 20 years in the professional ranks then nobody is really safe.

[Gomersall]

9 hours ago, Rapscallion said:

The crucial words in all of that is “if done well”. Will it be done well?

Will fans turn up? Will there even be a FNL or Capital Challenge? 

How many are likely to turn up for a SCL Friday night match?