David Hughes

[gingerjon]

7 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

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.

The abruptness is, sadly, entirely in keeping with how things have gone for a while.

[GeordieSaint]

Now this is where the NRL could possibly step in… 

[The Blues Ox]

This could be the end of the club. They are pretty much insolvent without Hughes and its hard to see anyone with the money needed coming in and taking over. It has been coming for a while though.

[Harry Stottle]

21 minutes ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

"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

 

I should imagine that anyone with money enough to take over London would also be a person of ambition and would want to get to the top in the shortest time possible, does the present system we are now operating allow that to happen to the London Broncos club from the Championship, I doubt it does.

[JonM]

56 minutes ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

Vlandys to but the club?

Plenty of people who've had success elsewhere have owned the club - Barry Maranta, Richard Branson, Ian Lenaghan. If the man who co-founded the Brisbane Broncos and one of the main movers behind State of Origin couldn't make a go of it in a far less competitive sporting landscape 30 years ago, I'd be amazed if Vlandys can make any difference whatsoever. I hope he gives it a go though.

[ATLANTISMAN]

2 hours ago, Worzel said:

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. 

Funny you should say that I was think exactly the same 

[Worzel]

4 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Funny you should say that I was think exactly the same 

Feel free to make the phone call...!! 

[Worzel]

14 minutes ago, JonM said:

Plenty of people who've had success elsewhere have owned the club - Barry Maranta, Richard Branson, Ian Lenaghan. If the man who co-founded the Brisbane Broncos and one of the main movers behind State of Origin couldn't make a go of it in a far less competitive sporting landscape 30 years ago, I'd be amazed if Vlandys can make any difference whatsoever. I hope he gives it a go though.

To be fair the rugby league sporting landscape today is far less competitive than back then. You need less money, relatively, to put a competitive side on the pitch to get the fans in, and there remains a talent pipeline in London now that didn't exist at all 30 years ago.

That's what makes this all so frustrating. It could be done.  

[Toby Chopra]

14 minutes ago, Worzel said:

To be fair the rugby league sporting landscape today is far less competitive than back then. You need less money, relatively, to put a competitive side on the pitch to get the fans in, and there remains a talent pipeline in London now that didn't exist at all 30 years ago.

That's what makes this all so frustrating. It could be done.  

Hughes showed several times over that with £750k and a bit of luck you can get a team into Superleague.

He also showed that that's nowhere near enough to be competitive once you get there, and you go straight back down, often with dire results.

So Hughes was good at the first bit - getting into SL - but never had a plan for the second - staying there sustainably.

And to be fair to him, it's not really clear what a successful strategy for the second bit looks like - although it probably means quadrupling the investment each year, and for 5 years minimum. The London academy, although welcome and impressive, was never going to be able to do the job in its own, as indeed it doesn't at any other club.

Perhaps the truth is a viable London Superleague club hasn't been possible for many years now, but Hughes's wish to keep the club alive for so long has blinded us to that fact.

 

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

1 hour 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

You mean like the last time they were in SL? How did that go?

[Worzel]

43 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

Hughes showed several times over that with £750k and a bit of luck you can get a team into Superleague.

He also showed that that's nowhere near enough to be competitive once you get there, and you go straight back down, often with dire results.

So Hughes was good at the first bit - getting into SL - but never had a plan for the second - staying there sustainably.

And to be fair to him, it's not really clear what a successful strategy for the second bit looks like - although it probably means quadrupling the investment each year, and for 5 years minimum. The London academy, although welcome and impressive, was never going to be able to do the job in its own, as indeed it doesn't at any other club.

Perhaps the truth is a viable London Superleague club hasn't been possible for many years now, but Hughes's wish to keep the club alive for so long has blinded us to that fact.

 

What you needed was about £1.5m per season and a 3-year relegation exemption, to enable you to build the right squad on the right contracts.

Hughes had the money. The sport lacked the vision to enable him to spend it more effectively, and guide him in the right direction. A consistent Top 6 London side would have developed into a very different commercial entity within a decade. 

Like I say, an opportunity lost. We as a sport collectively chose not to take it. 

[Toby Chopra]

14 minutes ago, Worzel said:

What you needed was about £1.5m per season and a 3-year relegation exemption, to enable you to build the right squad on the right contracts.

Hughes had the money. The sport lacked the vision to enable him to spend it more effectively, and guide him in the right direction. A consistent Top 6 London side would have developed into a very different commercial entity within a decade. 

Like I say, an opportunity lost. We as a sport collectively chose not to take it. 

London had a 6 year relegation exemption during licensing and came out of that period in a far worse state than it began it, despite multiple millions put in by Hughes. Yes, he made mistakes, but there was no easy choice that would have made things turned out different, other than spending millions more. I'm not sure what more the RFL could have done. Most of the SL clubs also know the sport would benefit from a strong London club but it's how you get there that's the challenge.

To make a London club sustainable it needs to be a SL playoff contender by spending full cap, plus marquees, rent a modern stadium and top coaches, and carry out major promotional activity. And the owner needs to be willing to underwrite this until  crowds and commercial revenue are high enough to pay for most of it. In total you're looking at least £10m over 3-5 years. David Argyle/ Toronto money in fact.

That was beyond even Hughes, and perhaps anyone, certainly the RFL.

[Harry Stottle]

56 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

You mean like the last time they were in SL? How did that go?

But this time there is no simple pathway back into SL as there was the last time they were in SL through promotion and have utilised.

[Dave T]

9 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

London had a 6 year relegation exemption during licensing and came out of that period in a far worse state than it began it, despite multiple millions put in by Hughes. Yes, he made mistakes, but there was no easy choice that would have made things turned out different, other than spending millions more. I'm not sure what more the RFL could have done. Most of the SL clubs also know the sport would benefit from a strong London club but it's how you get there that's the challenge.

To make a London club sustainable it needs to be a SL playoff contender by spending full cap, plus marquees, rent a modern stadium and top coaches, and carry out major promotional activity. And the owner needs to be willing to underwrite this until  crowds and commercial revenue are high enough to pay for most of it. In total you're looking at least £10m over 3-5 years. David Argyle/ Toronto money in fact.

That was beyond even Hughes, and perhaps anyone, certainly the RFL.

Agree with this, and I was going to make a similar point.

I don't disagree with the original point that more support could be provided, but we also shouldn't ignore that London were handpicked for SL in the first place and also were given a license for 6 years which offered the protected place as you say. They were terrible.

 

[Worzel]

13 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

London had a 6 year relegation exemption during licensing and came out of that period in a far worse state than it began it, despite multiple millions put in by Hughes. Yes, he made mistakes, but there was no easy choice that would have made things turned out different, other than spending millions more. I'm not sure what more the RFL could have done. Most of the SL clubs also know the sport would benefit from a strong London club but it's how you get there that's the challenge.

To make a London club sustainable it needs to be a SL playoff contender by spending full cap, plus marquees, rent a modern stadium and top coaches, and carry out major promotional activity. And the owner needs to be willing to underwrite this until  crowds and commercial revenue are high enough to pay for most of it. In total you're looking at least £10m over 3-5 years. David Argyle/ Toronto money in fact.

That was beyond even Hughes, and perhaps anyone, certainly the RFL.

I respectfully disagree. That was why I deliberately added the point "...and guide him in the right direction". I'm afraid that all David Hughes ever wanted to do was pay for a competitive first team squad. I know this, because there was a tine when I was in those conversations. What London needed instead was a mix of what excited David, plus adding investment in both a marketing and commercial infrastructure, and in integrating existing volunteer community pathways into the club systemically. He failed to do either of those things, when all of it could have been done for the cost of perhaps 2 top-end players per season.

Hughes absolutely had the money to do that. What he lacked was the vision, and the sport could and should have provided that for him given the obvious long-term strategic benefits (accruing to all clubs) for having done so.

To be honest the sport should have done other things too, for example giving London more central funding (as in investment in future value creation) and if not that then at least salary cap exemptions to offset the higher cost-of-living in London, but I know the political limitations around that so I'm just talking about the "free" things we didn't do.

  

Edited September 23, 2024 by Worzel
Typo

[Dave T]

3 minutes ago, Worzel said:

I respectfully disagree. That was why I deliberately added the point "...and guide him in the right direction". I'm afraid that all David Hughes ever wanted to do was pay for a competitive first team squad. I know this, because there was a tine when I was in those conversations. What London needed instead was a mix of what excited David, plus adding investment in both a marketing and commercial infrastructure, and in integrating existing volunteer community pathways into the club systemically. He failed to do either of those things, when all of it could have been done for the cost of perhaps 2 top-end players per season.

Hughes absolutely had the money to do that. What he lacked was the vision, and the sport could and should have provided that for him given the obvious long-term strategic benefits (accruing to all clubs) for having done so. 

  

Wouldn't a competitive first team have been a good start though? His teams seem to hover around 12th to 16th.

[Worzel]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

Wouldn't a competitive first team have been a good start though? His teams seem to hover around 12th to 16th.

I'm talking primarily about the era before that, the period pre-Harlequins and the first years of that venture. London were consistently a mid-table side for about a decade, but didn't build any infrastructure to make that sustainable - whether in terms of talent pathways, community engagement, or commercial growth.

[Ivarr the Boneless]

London were competitive for a while however the lack of infrastructure always stopped them kicking on.

Remember Denis Moran leaving as the low playing numbers made training a joke? Others did the same less publicly.  Remember the regular loss of 50% or so of the crowd due to relocation? Remember losing a lot of key fans / volunteers by basically telling them to get stuffed? The community engagement never recovered from that. Remember them alienating fans, the Perpignan kick off time fiasco in particular? Remember Gus? Remember Peter Lupton playing RU when employed by Broncos as our youth set up was a backwards step for him?

The club was hopelessly mismanaged off the pitch. On the pitch at times they were close. Then they shot themselves repeatedly in the foot, choosing to employ another big contract player rather than to sort the foundations.

[ATLANTISMAN]

Its going to be very difficult for the club over the next couple of months moving forward and i really do wish them all the best.

Ebbsfleet is a no go as the CEO has made it clear that rugby league is not investable at present.

Even a sustainable club at championship level would be costing at least 800K a year hopefully the club will be able to find this moving forward.

[Worzel]

7 minutes ago, Ivarr the Boneless said:

London were competitive for a while however the lack of infrastructure always stopped them kicking on.

Remember Denis Moran leaving as the low playing numbers made training a joke? Others did the same less publicly.  Remember the regular loss of 50% or so of the crowd due to relocation? Remember losing a lot of key fans / volunteers by basically telling them to get stuffed? The community engagement never recovered from that. Remember them alienating fans, the Perpignan kick off time fiasco in particular? Remember Gus? Remember Peter Lupton playing RU when employed by Broncos as our youth set up was a backwards step for him?

The club was hopelessly mismanaged off the pitch. On the pitch at times they were close. Then they shot themselves repeatedly in the foot, choosing to employ another big contract player rather than to sort the foundations.

Precisely this. David always wanted to hire that one player that was going to make the difference, rather than build judiciously. You can build an audience without winning trophies, you don't need to be a Top 4 side you just need to win as many games as you lose, and not lose badly when you do. Whilst investing in the off-the-field activities to engage an audience and a talent pathway. 

It's all about having the right mix. The failure of London would be easier to take if it had been purely for lack of money, but it wasn't (always) like that. It was for lack of mid-long-term decision making around how to invest that money.

 

[Click]

3 hours ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

"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

 

Oi, how dare you! I posted a link to his comments on our website, some of us are still trying to earn IMG points here!

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

 

[Click]

12 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Its going to be very difficult for the club over the next couple of months moving forward and i really do wish them all the best.

Ebbsfleet is a no go as the CEO has made it clear that rugby league is not investable at present.

Even a sustainable club at championship level would be costing at least 800K a year hopefully the club will be able to find this moving forward.

Say what?

[Archie Gordon]

11 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Its going to be very difficult for the club over the next couple of months moving forward and i really do wish them all the best.

Ebbsfleet is a no go as the CEO has made it clear that rugby league is not investable at present.

Even a sustainable club at championship level would be costing at least 800K a year hopefully the club will be able to find this moving forward.

I think it's the end of the road. There is nobody on the sidelines waiting to pick up this opportunity.

I was hoping you'd say Kent Invicta at Ebbsfleet was the future! Seems not.

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

35 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

But this time there is no simple pathway back into SL as there was the last time they were in SL through promotion and have utilised.

You're moving the goalposts and changing the argument. This is your post that I responded to:

3 hours 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?

This is a classic example of confirmation bias to support your viewpoint. What was the reason in 2019 that Hughes didn't spend "more of his hard earned on building a squad to compete in SL" when they also finished bottom and got relegated straight after promotion?

[The 4 of Us]

From what I’ve heard over the years, and from some very close to the action, it’s been run as though it was a personal train set. Little if any understand or desire on a plan or considering the bigger picture.

His money and all that but not sure it was ever for the fans of the club.