20 year anniversary

[On the buses]

It’s now 20 years since the Chorley lynx club folded and this got me wondering about all the RL clubs that have come and gone in the history of our game especially clubs from my childhood like Chorley, Blackpool, Nottingham, Scarborough and Carlisle etc.

which club do you think could have succeeded with a little bit of time and investment?

and which team in an ideal world would you like to see return?

I still miss the Carlisle border raiders and would have liked to have seen the Lancashire lynx team based in Preston succeed.

[Sports Prophet]

With the help of hindsight and a little more RFL support, I wish the South London Storm were still in existence.

The RFL should have moved heaven and earth to keep the momentum of growth of RL in London and the South East sustainable.

From the northern perspective, Blackpool would be a good club to have in the system still.

Did you mean Nottingham Outlaws? They’re the only ones I remember in the area. 

[On the buses]

19 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

With the help of hindsight and a little more RFL support, I wish the South London Storm were still in existence.

The RFL should have moved heaven and earth to keep the momentum of growth of RL in London and the South East sustainable.

From the northern perspective, Blackpool would be a good club to have in the system still.

Did you mean Nottingham Outlaws? They’re the only ones I remember in the area. 

Dreaming again I would have loved to have seen a similar linkup like that of the Brisbane Broncos and the London broncos for the south London storm and the Melbourne storm.

blackpool is a large catchment area for a club and pretty well far away distance wise from any other RL club in the Lancashire region in terms of direct competition.

as for Nottingham I only remember them as Nottingham city who were kicked out of the league around the early 1990’s.

Edited January 28 by On the buses

[On the buses]

Incidentally I only think investment from the NRL will help grow the game in London outside of a sovereign wealth fund or Elon musk type billionaire buying up a London RL team.

[Gomersall]

1 hour ago, Sports Prophet said:

With the help of hindsight and a little more RFL support, I wish the South London Storm were still in existence.

The RFL should have moved heaven and earth to keep the momentum of growth of RL in London and the South East sustainable.

From the northern perspective, Blackpool would be a good club to have in the system still.

Did you mean Nottingham Outlaws? They’re the only ones I remember in the area. 

Nottingham Outlaws were the original Mansfield Marksman.

Edited January 28 by Gomersall

[On the buses]

10 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

Nottingham Outlaws were the original Mansfield Marksmen.

Do you mean the former semi-professional Nottingham City league team or the current amateur Nottingham outlaws team?

Edited January 28 by On the buses

[Gomersall]

23 minutes ago, On the buses said:

Do you mean the former semi-professional Nottingham City league team or the current amateur Nottingham outlaws team?

Mansfield became Nottingham City who became the Outlaws. All were semi pro and in the RFL system. The amateur Outlaws only started after the demise of the semi pro team IIRC and weren’t connected.

[On the buses]

3 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

Mansfield became Nottingham City who became the Outlaws. All were semi pro and in the RFL system. The amateur Outlaws only started after the demise of the semi pro team IIRC and weren’t connected.

Ok, thanks.

[Damien]

Carlisle was loss that shouldnt have been allowed to happen. A decent size town outside of the heartland that once had a decent amateur scene too. 

A lot of the other professional clubs that have been named had little substance, basically little more than amateur clubs paying a little money to players with few fans. With Carlisle a fair bit more than just the club was lost.

Edited January 28 by Damien

[On the buses]

19 minutes ago, Damien said:

Carlisle was loss that shouldnt have been allowed to happen. A decent size town outside of the heartland that once had a decent amateur scene too. 

A lot of the other professional clubs that have been named at little substance, basically little more than amateur clubs paying a little money to players with few fans. With Carlisle a fair bit more than just the club was lost.

100% agree with this regarding the Carlisle border raiders.

like you say a decent sized town(yes I know it’s classed as a city) in RL terms with a once decent amateur scene close to the west Cumbrian grassroots heartland.

truly a loss to the game on every level.

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, On the buses said:

100% agree with this regarding the Carlisle border raiders.

like you say a decent sized town(yes I know it’s classed as a city) in RL terms with a once decent amateur scene close to the west Cumbrian grassroots heartland.

truly a loss to the game on every level.

These days with Newcastle and the development of the game in the North East, Carlisle would bridge the gap nicely between West Cumbria and the North East both in terms of another professional club and aiding community development. It also is idealy placed for any Scottish development efforts to feed into as well.

You are quite correct that it's a city too but it's a bit akin to a Halifax sized town.

Edited January 28 by Damien

[On the buses]

10 minutes ago, Damien said:

These days with Newcastle and the development of the game in the North East, Carlisle would bridge the gap nicely between West Cumbria and the North East both in terms of another professional club and aiding community development. It also is idealy placed for any Scottish development efforts to feed into as well.

You are quite correct that it's a city too but it's a bit akin to a Halifax sized town.

The city of Carlisle region has a population of just over 110k with Carlisle proper having a population of 75k which is a perfect catchment area the game should be targeting especially when like you say it bridges the west Cumbrian and north east community game.

[burnleywelsh]

South Wales…….the mid ‘90s version. This report was actually in a Chorley v South Wales match programme, linking it to the OP.

[On the buses]

12 minutes ago, burnleywelsh said:

South Wales…….the mid ‘90s version. This report was actually in a Chorley v South Wales match programme, linking it to the OP.

My memory must be starting to fail me as I can’t firstly remember south wales being voted into super league for the 97’ season and secondly I can’t remember why they didn’t participate in the 97’ season?

[burnleywelsh]

17 minutes ago, On the buses said:

My memory must be starting to fail me as I can’t firstly remember south wales being voted into super league for the 97’ season and secondly I can’t remember why they didn’t participate in the 97’ season?

RFL Council gave South Wales the green light, but when it went to the clubs, self interest kicked in again and the clubs voted against. From memory, they folded as the goal was SL or nothing. Players weren’t going to sign for a club playing in the lower leagues.

Edited January 28 by burnleywelsh

[On the buses]

37 minutes ago, burnleywelsh said:

RFL Council gave South Wales the green light, but when it went to the clubs, self interest kicked in again and the clubs voted against. From memory, they folded as the goal was SL or nothing. Players weren’t going to sign for a club playing in the lower leagues.

Should have guessed it would have been something like this.

[Trojan]

21 hours ago, On the buses said:

The city of Carlisle region has a population of just over 110k with Carlisle proper having a population of 75k which is a perfect catchment area the game should be targeting especially when like you say it bridges the west Cumbrian and north east community game.

I would have thought that a properly set up Carlisle club could have benefitted from the Union players in the Scottish border area. As it was, when first formed, it seemed to consist of ex Fev players, who trained in Fev and only commuted to Carlisle for home games.

[The Future is League]

On 28/01/2024 at 15:55, On the buses said:

It’s now 20 years since the Chorley lynx club folded and this got me wondering about all the RL clubs that have come and gone in the history of our game especially clubs from my childhood like Chorley, Blackpool, Nottingham, Scarborough and Carlisle etc.

which club do you think could have succeeded with a little bit of time and investment?

and which team in an ideal world would you like to see return?

I still miss the Carlisle border raiders and would have liked to have seen the Lancashire lynx team based in Preston succeed.

Am i right in thinking that Sir Lindsay Hoyle was the chairman or a director of the club at one stage?

[Andy JG]

Carlisle seemed to be ideally located, have a stadium of a good size, and they did have decent enough results at the start of their existence.

They got promoted to the 1st division (iirc), and I recall them beating Leigh  at Hilton Park in a lancs cup quarter final.

Huyton was a team I saw play at Alt Park a few times in the late 1970s, and it was grim. Liverpool and it's suburbs is definitely not Rugby League territory, although Widnes only a few miles away is. 

 

 

    

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

7 hours ago, The Future is League said:

Am i right in thinking that Sir Lindsay Hoyle was the chairman or a director of the club at one stage?

I think he had a role with the club, yes, but, like you, I cannot recall exactly what.  He is, of course, the Chorley MP.

[JohnM]

"Away from politics, he is a supporter of his local football league team, Bolton Wanderers, and rugby league team Warrington Wolves. He currently serves as President of the Rugby Football League."

[Leyther_Matt]

14 minutes ago, JohnM said:

"Away from politics, he is a supporter of his local football league team, Bolton Wanderers, and rugby league team Warrington Wolves. He currently serves as President of the Rugby Football League."

His father (Lord Hoyle) was previously Warrington chairman. Think he’s president or something along those lines these days.