David Hughes

[ATLANTISMAN]

2 hours ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:

Paul,  I thought Damien Irvine was a big league fan hailing from sutherland shire and watching Cronulla Sharks in his youth.

On Mr Hughes departure, all he leaves behind is the club name and possibly some equipment, Only about 5-6 contracted players and no-home ground with even non-league Ebbsfleet FC thinking them an unviable revenue stream for their club.

So if the club continues to exist, it will be at dilapidated Rosslyn Park RFC. Having withdrawn from the Richmond Athletic Ground at the end of last season.

Always on the cards that the Hughes family would pull the plug post IMG. You have to remember the retired Oil Futures Traders own personal wealth is limited and the amount of money he has spent on the Broncos has been a family issue since the Brentford days early in the century.  

The issue for the game is three fold :

Firstly, it is difficult for sports without a foothold in the Capital to be taken seriously by the sports media, For example, The auction for the Cricket franchises has over 50% of the sale value concentrated in buying the two London Franchises. And as we already see an M62 league gets a progressively smaller PAY TV deal.

Secondly, as has been noted in this thread, Rugby League's footprint shrinks by the day. Those of us who live outside the M62 bubble notice interest in the sport in sharp decine in recent years. This means fewer fans, a shrunken playing pool and crucially fewer cashed up potential owners.

Finaly, alhough the Broncos demise is causing a few "crocodile tears" amongst "scutterton scorpion" types on this board and elsewhere. In recent weeks there have been threads on money woes at Whitehaven, Halifax and mighty St Helens on this board. The danger of London Broncos descent into oblivion is the "domino effect" where like Rugby Union in 2023, League loses 3 clubs in 2025 as creditors panic and Owners walk not willing to subsidise clubs drowning in red ink.

There are far reaching consequences coming out of today and not just for London fans.

Damien is a massive league fan however as i saw this coming reached out to him a while back and that was his answer.

 

[ATLANTISMAN]

3 hours ago, The Future is League said:

I presume you mean the CEO of the Ebbsfleet FC?

Yes

[OriginalMrC]

I think personally someone will take on the Broncos. It's not the most attractive proposition at the moment and likely 3-5 years from getting anywhere near SL again but for a relatively small investment (in a sporting context) you could have a London branded club with lots of potential to grow if run right. 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

7 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

I think personally someone will take on the Broncos. It's not the most attractive proposition at the moment and likely 3-5 years from getting anywhere near SL again but for a relatively small investment (in a sporting context) you could have a London branded club with lots of potential to grow if run right. 

Tell that to Mr Hughes 

[JohnM]

For any level of stability, longevity and success, the club would have to be owned by someone with a passion for the sport and a passion for London. It would have to be someone who knows Rugby League (and how it works)  in this country, someone who knows something of the history of the club, the good times and the bad times. Someone who could lead the fans onwards and upwards .

Ladies and gentlemen, there is only one person who fits the bill and his name is.... internet connection lost.

Edited September 23, 2024 by JohnM

[Gerrumonside ref]

3 minutes ago, JohnM said:

For any level of stability, longevity and success, the club would have to be owned by someone with a passion for the sport and a passion for London. It would have to be someone who knows Rugby League (and how it works)  in this country, someone who knows something of the history of the club, the good times and the bad times. Someone who could lead the fans onwards and upwards .

Ladies and gentlemen, there is only one person who fits the bill and his name is.... internet connection lost.

Blimey that (beep) (beep) has his fingers in a lot of pies!

[RP London]

4 hours ago, EastLondonMike said:

I cant honestly see anything other than the club going to the wall TBH. Theres no real desire from within the game for a London team.

It will only carry on existing if an external 3rd party Eric Perez or Marwan Koukash type character pops up - but so much investment is needed to make the club a success i find it incredibly unlikely. 

The Broncos had plenty of opportunities to put things in place to give themselves a better chance of growth and long term sustainability but a complete lack of knowledge and ability to do so stopped that from happening - and it has to be said a complete lack of leadership from within the RFL to allow them to drift along for so long.

I kind of felt the clubs biggest problems were always greater off the field. On the field the club achieved much more than many more established clubs. The level of money needed to make the club successful and function properly is what will likely stop that investment.

Oooh conspiracy theory time... Perez Tring to sell Cornwall to be able to then buy broncos?

[fighting irish]

13 hours ago, MonkeyGone said:

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.

Perhaps it's early onset joe bidens  disease? 

[RP London]

7 hours ago, fighting irish said:

Perhaps it's early onset joe bidens  disease? 

With his age and the general probability of someone getting a form of dementia.. id say that comment could come back and haunt you. 

[EastLondonMike]

8 hours ago, RP London said:

Oooh conspiracy theory time... Perez Tring to sell Cornwall to be able to then buy broncos?

Didn’t Perez have a link with Skolars some years back? As a potential investor?

[Archie Gordon]

A day later, I feel pretty downbeat that Hughes hasn't said 2025 will be the final year: 12 months to sort something. He's given about 12 days' notice instead.

Mr London Broncos? Sure. That's his legacy and I'm grateful. But Mr London RL? Nah.

[RP London]

1 hour ago, EastLondonMike said:

Didn’t Perez have a link with Skolars some years back? As a potential investor?

I am sure there was something mentioned.. wasnt it when Toronto played some games out of the New River?

[Ivarr the Boneless]

1 hour ago, EastLondonMike said:

Didn’t Perez have a link with Skolars some years back? As a potential investor?

I believe it fell through.

[gingerjon]

10 hours ago, RP London said:

Oooh conspiracy theory time... Perez Tring to sell Cornwall to be able to then buy broncos?

He seems pretty settled with Truro City right now.

[ATLANTISMAN]

19 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

He seems pretty settled with Truro City right now.

It fits his ego as in Canada is he involved in anything major CFL NHL etc NO

[fighting irish]

2 hours ago, RP London said:

With his age and the general probability of someone getting a form of dementia.. id say that comment could come back and haunt you. 

Well my friend, somethings going to get us, in the end.

We're all in the queue inching towards our ultimate demise.

I'm not haunted (nor will be) by my comments about him, here's why.

This man (in the context of my love of Rugby League) is the most annoying and frustrating character I've come across.

Awash with money and so much potential to do good and a complete despot.

He's kept the club on life-support for years whilst simultaneously poisoning the life blood of the club.

I don't know whether to cry, or cheer that he's finally thrown the towel in.

Our other contributors have told of his relentless short-termism in his pursuit of the holy-grail of a Super League trophy, many times excluding competent, willing contributors from building a solid club, a sustainable business and alienating droves of league-loving fans (why?) just so he could claim perhaps, all the credit for any success the poor players achieved?

That's sheer arrogance.

''I've got money, so I'm going to do it my way, (not in a shy way) and everyone else can do one.''

Now he's spat the dummy out. 

His legacy, like so many others, will go down in history as an exemplary lesson, in how not to do it.

My comments about his mental health were an attempt at justifying (and mitigating) his outright incompetence, but I'm afraid, in truth, he's totally responsible, for everything that he's failed to achieve at what could have been a great club, a terrific vehicle for growth and ultimately (who knows?) the saviour of the whole game.

I just hope someone with a little more humility, genuine love for the game and real business acumen, comes forward, to pick up the meagre handful of broken pieces that remain.

[RP London]

2 hours ago, fighting irish said:

Well my friend, somethings going to get us, in the end.

We're all in the queue inching towards our ultimate demise.

I'm not haunted (nor will be) by my comments about him, here's why.

This man (in the context of my love of Rugby League) is the most annoying and frustrating character I've come across.

Awash with money and so much potential to do good and a complete despot.

He's kept the club on life-support for years whilst simultaneously poisoning the life blood of the club.

I don't know whether to cry, or cheer that he's finally thrown the towel in.

Our other contributors have told of his relentless short-termism in his pursuit of the holy-grail of a Super League trophy, many times excluding competent, willing contributors from building a solid club, a sustainable business and alienating droves of league-loving fans (why?) just so he could claim perhaps, all the credit for any success the poor players achieved?

That's sheer arrogance.

''I've got money, so I'm going to do it my way, (not in a shy way) and everyone else can do one.''

Now he's spat the dummy out. 

His legacy, like so many others, will go down in history as an exemplary lesson, in how not to do it.

My comments about his mental health were an attempt at justifying (and mitigating) his outright incompetence, but I'm afraid, in truth, he's totally responsible, for everything that he's failed to achieve at what could have been a great club, a terrific vehicle for growth and ultimately (who knows?) the saviour of the whole game.

I just hope someone with a little more humility, genuine love for the game and real business acumen, comes forward, to pick up the meagre handful of broken pieces that remain.

I get all that.. you know my stance on RL in London and the damage that has been done by people/organsiations etc.. its just that I wouldnt wish dementia on my worst enemy, equally to the horror for the person is the pain it causes those around them, which I am sure many of us have had experience of. I'm not trying to be holier than though or anything and know you arent saying that you wish it on him.. just dont personally believe its a comment that is worth throwing around or making a joke/point about.. That was the entire point and I dont want to derail the thread with it.

[Wilderspoolmemories]

20 hours ago, eal said:

The Broncos had no real future with Hughes at the helm so not much has changed really. One less pin on the RL map but the club was nowhere near what is required to be a top tier professional entity, and much of the blame must lie with David Hughes. For the amount of money he has poured in he has little to show for it, and that isn't IMGs fault.

Well said.

[preid]

Living in London, I would say that the biggest issue for any future owners is finding the 'right' ground. That's location and capacity in particular. Being close to a tube station is a huge boon and there are only really a very few candidates in that regard. Wimbledon is ok but no more than that as is a fair way from both closest stations. The only other possibilities for now that I can see would be Wealdstone (4k+ capacity) and maybe Orient (9k so as Wimbledon but easier to get to and London have played there before and even though is in the east is not far out). Left-field, Mile End Stadium would be great as is really central, 5 minutes from tube and has loads of scope to go up from the current 2k or so. I'm sure the council would support too there.

If things ever took off and they got back to Super League, the new QPR ground at Old Oak Common (talked of anything from 30k to 45k but they'd struggle to even fill at the former !) or maybe Brentford's GTech (17k) could come into play. Anzacs and local interest would be more prevalent in the west/south west/north west.

Eric Perez showed what is possible at Toronto. Averaging 8,000 in the Championship when starting from scratch and with no away fans was a remarkable achievement and London has at least double the population and potential. 

 

[fighting irish]

3 hours ago, RP London said:

I get all that.. you know my stance on RL in London and the damage that has been done by people/organsiations etc.. its just that I wouldnt wish dementia on my worst enemy, equally to the horror for the person is the pain it causes those around them, which I am sure many of us have had experience of. I'm not trying to be holier than though or anything and know you arent saying that you wish it on him.. just dont personally believe its a comment that is worth throwing around or making a joke/point about.. That was the entire point and I dont want to derail the thread with it.

Fair enough mate. 

[Damien]

Sinkhole at Wimbledon the day after the Hughes announcement. Coincidence or a sign?:

 

[Griff]

55 minutes ago, Damien said:

Sinkhole at Wimbledon the day after the Hughes announcement. Coincidence or a sign?

I vote sign.

[Londonbornirishbred]

I have banged on about the need for Londin to build its fanbase to a steady 10,000 for over 2 decades now. 

I've met with the RFL, the Club and even started looking for investors down here in 2013 when Hughes spat his dummy out after the hammering by Wigan in the cup.

Bottom line here is that regardless of his SUBSTANTIAL investment, which i would estimate as north of £30,000,000, David Hughes is 100% the architect of the downfall of the club. His arrogance and disdain towards fans who dared question his decisions/appointments exposed his lack of understanding of how to run a sports club.

Thanks for nothing. Since 2013 its been nothing else other than his guilt and/or ego that bankrolled the club.

A sad state of affairs, but the sport will survive without the Capital.

Edited September 24, 2024 by Londonbornirishbred

[eal]

Given the short notice of his departure and the very short official statement, it is possible this is last ditch attempt from David Hughes to sway IMG in the hope they'd rather keep London in SL than lose him as an owner? I miscalculation on his part if the case, but it does seem odd that someone who supposedly cares about RL in London has given such short notice of his departure.

[Chrispmartha]

3 minutes ago, eal said:

Given the short notice of his departure and the very short official statement, it is possible this is last ditch attempt from David Hughes to sway IMG in the hope they'd rather keep London in SL than lose him as an owner? I miscalculation on his part if the case, but it does seem odd that someone who supposedly cares about RL in London has given such short notice of his departure.

As Ive said in the other thread, IMG can’t ‘do’ anything, they don’t make the decisions.

If that’s why he’s doing it then as you say it’s badly miscalculated.