David Hughes

[Magic XIII]

He's announced he is leaving the London Broncos after 27 years at the helm. Sad day really, he has so much passion for the club and pumped many ££££ in but also has been the architect of many of the worst decisions and appointments. Thanks David.

[Click]

https://www.londonbroncosrl.com/david-hughes-statement-23-9-24

 

[Magic XIII]

5 minutes ago, Click said:

https://www.londonbroncosrl.com/david-hughes-statement-23-9-24

 

It's hardly a statement more an ad you'd see in the local rag classified section.

[Damien]

It's been a mixed tenure to say the least. There is no denying he has ploughed in money but he has alienated fans and set the club back in every way through really poor decisions. Now it is a shadow of the club it was.

[Worzel]

There go the Broncos then. It's a real shame, with Hughes' money, some better decision-making (by him) and some better strategic engagement over the long-term from the RFL then London could have become a talent powerhouse over the last 30 years. The opportunity was truly there. The Harlequins partnership was probably the best shot we were ever going to get to be honest. 

If my Aunty had a p***s she'd be my Uncle though eh, wasn't to be, there were some good times along the way. Still a crying shame though, and many, many people should be looking back on this era with a huge amount of regret.  

A sad day. 

[gingerjon]

17 minutes ago, Magic XIII said:

He's announced he is leaving the London Broncos after 27 years at the helm. Sad day really, he has so much passion for the club and pumped many ££££ in but also has been the architect of many of the worst decisions and appointments. Thanks David.

Without him, there is no club. With him, we have the club as it is now.

Hard to be ungrateful, hard to say thank you.

[Simon Hall]

Just now, Worzel said:

If my Aunty had a p***s she'd be my Uncle though eh,

Piles? 

[OriginalMrC]

That statement kinda says it all about how the club was run under him. Functional, no heart and doing the bare minimum.

I'd hope this is a turning point for the Broncos but being shut out of the top flight means they are unlikely to be an attractive proposition for anyone with money. 

[Worzel]

3 minutes ago, Simon Hall said:

Piles? 

That makes her as grumpy as him, certainly, but no not quite. 

[Worzel]

1 minute ago, OriginalMrC said:

That statement kinda says it all about how the club was run under him. Functional, no heart and doing the bare minimum.

I'd hope this is a turning point for the Broncos but being shut out of the top flight means they are unlikely to be an attractive proposition for anyone with money. 

The only hope for the Broncos is that someone can persuade Ian Leneghan that he doesn't need £500k per year of his money in retirement. Aside from that, they're done I think. 

[EastLondonMike]

Put plenty into the London Broncos - and without him they would have died long ago - but as many have said, and no doubt will say, he was also part of the problem in the clubs inability to grow beyond the basics. 

Not sure why anyone interested in investing in a London RL team would do anything with the Broncos. You'd only be paying for a name and a place in the championship. Maybe thats enough of a lure, who knows.

[MonkeyGone]

Hughes has pumped in his money in a pretty ineffective way. He leaves the club in a much worse position than when he took sole control. I believe he's almost 80 and perhaps couldn't afford to sustain things any longer. 

The statement is amazingly brief and doesn't offer much hope. 

Hughes voted for the IMG grading system in April 2023 when pretty much all the details were known and it would have been obvious what the implications were. At that point, I think it would have been considered pretty unlikely we would have been in SL in 2024. Would he have quit if we spent this season in the Championship ? We had certainly recruited a Championship team albeit they gave everything in SL. 

If he's quit because we are not going to be in SL then it's frankly childish.

[Worzel]

26 minutes ago, MonkeyGone said:

If he's quit because we are not going to be in SL then it's frankly childish.

This wouldn't be the first time. But then the man has earned the right to react emotionally. Whilst he's made many poor decisions over the years, he's done so under the pressure of being out on a limb and left unsupported by the sport's governing body and fellow club owners who could never quite grasp the value-creation engine that London could have been for rugby league in this country. That stings, believe me when I did a few things to help out there back in the day I felt it myself.

London had the potential to be our largest talent pool, in a sport that has a very shallow one in the "heartlands". A consistently competitive London side - like, for example, Catalans have been in the last decade - had the potential to uplift the perception of rugby league on the media and commercial marketplaces, the primary funding for our clubs. A rising tide lifts all boats, and the benefits of both of those things would have accrued to all Super League clubs, indeed possibly all rugby league clubs, not just to London Broncos.

That was something worth investing in, over the long term. Our sport failed to do so. Huge missed opportunity, and we're very unlikely to ever get another one like it again I'm afraid.  

[Henson Park Old Firm]

He ran the club, like a man cave... he's officially ran out of beers.

 

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

Memories of Michael Carter calling it a day last year.  That worked out for Wakefield in the end so lets hope London can replicate that scenario.

[Archie Gordon]

Grateful to Hughes for his massive financial input. Sad that his final remarks seem to shut down any hope that there is something worth buying. 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

Vlandys to but the club?

[Harry Stottle]

In any other time, having won promotion and just moved to a new stadium to call home, I suspect Mr Hughes would have spent some more of his hard earned on building a squad to compete in SL, anyone any idea what prevented him doing so this season?

[MonkeyGone]

I think the club would say timing and the fact we didn't expect to be in SL. Having said that, the prior 2 seasons in the Championship we didn't really assemble a decent squad until half way through the season anyway.

[Toby Chopra]

1 minute ago, Archie Gordon said:

Sad that his final remarks seem to shut down any hope that there is something worth buying. 

I just hope he cleanly passes the club on to a new owner who wants keep it going in the championship next year, without trying to extract some financial sum that clearly isn't justified.

If the club was as liquidated instead, the RFL could quickly issue a membership to a new club in L1, but that would be an unnecessaryly disruptive way to do things.

[The Future is League]

2 minutes ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

Vlandys to but the club?

It would make more sense that buying Super League itself, as he/NRL could possibly see the benefits of junior development and sending young players with potential off to NRL clubs.

[Archie Gordon]

1 minute ago, Harry Stottle said:

In any other time, having won promotion and just moved to a new stadium to call home, I suspect Mr Hughes would have spent some more of his hard earned on building a squad to compete in SL, anyone any idea what prevented him doing so this season?

It's hard to work out what his motivations or strategy have ever been.

He almost always takes the wrong option. And then doubles down.

He's fundamentally misread the whole IMG thing - but that's for another thread!

[Henson Park Old Firm]

I really do hope the club is saved.

It's a proper club.

[Archie Gordon]

17 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

I just hope he cleanly passes the club on to a new owner who wants keep it going in the championship next year, without trying to extract some financial sum that clearly isn't justified.

If the club was as liquidated instead, the RFL could quickly issue a membership to a new club in L1, but that would be an unnecessaryly disruptive way to do things.

I hope so too. 

It's really sad that there's no transition planned. The abruptness is particularly disappointing. And it's another blow to the kids wanting a pathway to the pro game.

[Henson Park Old Firm]

"Hughes said: “After 27 eventful years of which we spent 20 years in the Super League, I have decided on behalf of myself and the Hughes family that we will step down at the end of the season. We will make every effort to facilitate anyone interested in taking over the club to lead it through the Championship.

“We would ask any interested party to contact Jason Loubser at London Broncos at Jason.loubser@londonbroncosrl.com.”

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/london-broncos-owner-to-leave-club-as-major-off-season-changes-detailed-ahead-of-championship-return