David Hughes

[Tommygilf]

I've said this at various points and on various threads, but my opinion is that Mr Hughes saw IMG or a.n.other coming, assumed London would need to be in a proper stadium and them just being London would do the rest to get them in the top tier. His entire ownership seems to scream of being poorly thought through.

The club is so entirely hollow, sadly it will only survive if supporters band together and take it on that sort of level, or someone else comes in.

[Londonbornirishbred]

He tried it in 2013 and got funding to "enable" the move to Barnet. This time, he has miscalculated and it will be curtains for the club.

The RFL need to seek assurances now that London will be able to fulfil their 2025 fixrures ASAP, because Hughes arrogance cannot and should not be allowed to impact the rest of the Championship/League 1 sides.

No chance of them staying at Wimbledon, so 1,000 fans paying £20 at Roslyn Park is all they can aim for and that's not going to cover their costs. 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

1 hour ago, Londonbornirishbred said:

 

No chance of them staying at Wimbledon

Because there is a big great hole on the pitch

[crashmon]

13 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

I've said this at various points and on various threads, but my opinion is that Mr Hughes saw IMG or a.n.other coming, assumed London would need to be in a proper stadium and them just being London would do the rest to get them in the top tier. His entire ownership seems to scream of being poorly thought through.

The club is so entirely hollow, sadly it will only survive if supporters band together and take it on that sort of level, or someone else comes in.

He has alienated the supporters so much over the last 10 years, not enough are left to even consider trying to save the club.

[Tommygilf]

7 minutes ago, crashmon said:

He has alienated the supporters so much over the last 10 years, not enough are left to even consider trying to save the club.

And that, ultimately, may be his legacy.

[Ivarr the Boneless]

Surely London Broncos Supporter's Association will step up...

Yet another example of the club treating the fans with contempt and alienating good people, who had the club at heart.  Exactly the people who are needed now. As you say, that's some legacy.

[ATLANTISMAN]

IMHO for what its worth 

Super League ONLY now possible with either mega rich invester RFL control or NRL takeover cannot see this happening hope i am wrong

Championship it's around 800K to run very touch and go to find this money hopefully they can do it 

League 1 prob realistically where it will end up on a budget of 150/200 they would prob win it 

[nadera78]

56 minutes ago, Ivarr the Boneless said:

Surely London Broncos Supporter's Association will step up...

Yet another example of the club treating the fans with contempt and alienating good people, who had the club at heart.  Exactly the people who are needed now. As you say, that's some legacy.

The LBSA was completely gutted a few years back when the club set up their own 'official' version, full of promises about access to the club, players, events, etc. It was solely done with the aim of destroying the LBSA and it worked. Another strategic victory for those running the club.

Time to face the truth, it's over for professional RL in London. I mean, what remains of the fanbase might attempt to keep something going but there just aren't enough people left to do so successfully.

Oh, and for those debating the cause of this - Hughes, RFL, sport-wide politics, apathy - there's more than enough blame to go around. 

[Ivarr the Boneless]

4 minutes ago, nadera78 said:

The LBSA was completely gutted a few years back when the club set up their own 'official' version, full of promises about access to the club, players, events, etc. It was solely done with the aim of destroying the LBSA and it worked. Another strategic victory for those running the club.

 

Exactly what I was referring to.  Apologies, I probably should have made it clearer. I'm certainly not pointing any fingers at LBSA. They were the good people with the club at heart I referred to. 

Official Broncos Supporter's Group did exactly what it was set up to do. Enough said.

[Archie Gordon]

49 minutes ago, Ivarr the Boneless said:

Exactly what I was referring to.  Apologies, I probably should have made it clearer. I'm certainly not pointing any fingers at LBSA. They were the good people with the club at heart I referred to. 

Official Broncos Supporter's Group did exactly what it was set up to do. Enough said.

Indeed. IIRC, the LBSA tried to become more involved for precisely the situation we have now - mitigation against a short-notice transition. My memory is that they were pushed away by the club.

Edited September 25 by Archie Gordon

[gingerjon]

52 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

Indeed. IIRC, the LBSA tried to become more involved for precisely the situation we have now - mitigation against a short-notice transition. My memory is that they were pushed away by the club.

I believe LBSA are supporting the women’s team’s costs at the moment (travel etc).

[MattSantos]

If they go under, what happens to the proposed 12/13/11 structure?

 

[RP London]

11 minutes ago, MattSantos said:

If they go under, what happens to the proposed 12/13/11 structure?

 

it goes to 12/12/11.... not sure thats as tough a question as you first thought 

Edited September 25 by RP London

[MattSantos]

4 minutes ago, RP London said:

it goes to 12/12/11.... not sure thats as tough a question as you first thought 

You never know these days. 

[RP London]

5 minutes ago, MattSantos said:

You never know these days. 

too true

Wonder if Bedford or Anglia might get a phone call soon saying "are you still interested"?

[crashmon]

2 hours ago, nadera78 said:

The LBSA was completely gutted a few years back when the club set up their own 'official' version, full of promises about access to the club, players, events, etc. It was solely done with the aim of destroying the LBSA and it worked. Another strategic victory for those running the club.

Time to face the truth, it's over for professional RL in London. I mean, what remains of the fanbase might attempt to keep something going but there just aren't enough people left to do so successfully.

Oh, and for those debating the cause of this - Hughes, RFL, sport-wide politics, apathy - there's more than enough blame to go around. 

This.

Hughes burned his bridges with the LBSA years ago.  The one group who actually could try and organise something here Hughes kicked in the face years ago, just like anybody else who dared question how he played with his toy club

[Tommygilf]

48 minutes ago, crashmon said:

This.

Hughes burned his bridges with the LBSA years ago.  The one group who actually could try and organise something here Hughes kicked in the face years ago, just like anybody else who dared question how he played with his toy club

Hughes increasingly strikes me as a man, similar to many in RL circles, of reasonably decent, but not astronomical wealth, who thinks that because they made that sizeable amount of money themselves they know everything and don't like being told they aren't right. Anyone who didn't say how high when he said jump seems to have gone, and now the asset he has pumped millions into is essentially worthless when it could have been so much more.

[The Future is League]

53 minutes ago, RP London said:

too true

Wonder if Bedford or Anglia might get a phone call soon saying "are you still interested"?

Nothing would surprise me with the way the game is run in this country nowadays.

The game has never had a plan B and the Plan A is a bit hit and miss at times.

[olliethehut]

Having supported Broncos since playing in a curtain raiser at the stoop circa 25 years ago, to see just how far RL in London has fallen is heart breaking, and unfortunately the majority of its issues have been whilst Hughes was in charge. He may have spent most of his grandchildren's inheritance on keeping the club alive, but through his own bloody mindedness its all been for zero. The continued ground moves, the lack of engagement with LBSA, the scrapping of the junior pathway, the persistent lack of ambition - you didn't need a crystal ball to see how it was going to play out. IMG and their grading was just the final nail in the coffin. 

Professional RL has died in the capital. Skolars and Hemel are shadows of their former selves, and despite clubs like Bedford flying the amateur flag, the community game is far from healthy.

He had the opportunity to leave a legacy to both the game and wider sporting public. He failed, and IMO has set the game back far more than most people realize. 

[Click]

4 minutes ago, olliethehut said:

Having supported Broncos since playing in a curtain raiser at the stoop circa 25 years ago, to see just how far RL in London has fallen is heart breaking, and unfortunately the majority of its issues have been whilst Hughes was in charge. He may have spent most of his grandchildren's inheritance on keeping the club alive, but through his own bloody mindedness its all been for zero. The continued ground moves, the lack of engagement with LBSA, the scrapping of the junior pathway, the persistent lack of ambition - you didn't need a crystal ball to see how it was going to play out. IMG and their grading was just the final nail in the coffin. 

Professional RL has died in the capital. Skolars and Hemel are shadows of their former selves, and despite clubs like Bedford flying the amateur flag, the community game is far from healthy.

He had the opportunity to leave a legacy to both the game and wider sporting public. He failed, and IMO has set the game back far more than most people realize. 

I'll have you know he got his son games at Super League level this year, don't you say it's been for zero!

(Something I still can't believe I ever saw the RL press comment on.. There was even an article I saw a few weeks back "London player speaks out against IMG" and it was Hughes Jr, and they didn't even mention in the article that he is the son of the owner)

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, olliethehut said:

Having supported Broncos since playing in a curtain raiser at the stoop circa 25 years ago, to see just how far RL in London has fallen is heart breaking, and unfortunately the majority of its issues have been whilst Hughes was in charge. He may have spent most of his grandchildren's inheritance on keeping the club alive, but through his own bloody mindedness its all been for zero. The continued ground moves, the lack of engagement with LBSA, the scrapping of the junior pathway, the persistent lack of ambition - you didn't need a crystal ball to see how it was going to play out. IMG and their grading was just the final nail in the coffin. 

Professional RL has died in the capital. Skolars and Hemel are shadows of their former selves, and despite clubs like Bedford flying the amateur flag, the community game is far from healthy.

He had the opportunity to leave a legacy to both the game and wider sporting public. He failed, and IMO has set the game back far more than most people realize. 

This is just a common theme time and again with London fans, or former London fans.

[Click]

10 minutes ago, olliethehut said:

Having supported Broncos since playing in a curtain raiser at the stoop circa 25 years ago, to see just how far RL in London has fallen is heart breaking, and unfortunately the majority of its issues have been whilst Hughes was in charge. He may have spent most of his grandchildren's inheritance on keeping the club alive, but through his own bloody mindedness its all been for zero. The continued ground moves, the lack of engagement with LBSA, the scrapping of the junior pathway, the persistent lack of ambition - you didn't need a crystal ball to see how it was going to play out. IMG and their grading was just the final nail in the coffin. 

Professional RL has died in the capital. Skolars and Hemel are shadows of their former selves, and despite clubs like Bedford flying the amateur flag, the community game is far from healthy.

He had the opportunity to leave a legacy to both the game and wider sporting public. He failed, and IMO has set the game back far more than most people realize. 

I do also want to say that, yes he has failed in his quest for a sustainable RL club in London, but if he hadn't been pumping money into the game for the last 20 years then there would have been no RL in London.

Everyone likes to blame the Broncos for the Skolars downfall but most of their player base for the last 15 years were players that came through the Broncos system and then went onto the Skolars. 

No one else was going to put any money into the game down here, the governing body barely touched it. He has given us at least some live RL to watch most weeks, even if it was watched in misery at times.

[Archie Gordon]

37 minutes ago, Click said:

...

Everyone likes to blame the Broncos for the Skolars downfall but most of their player base for the last 15 years were players that came through the Broncos system and then went onto the Skolars. 

...

Skolars (and all the other clubs who produced the juniors) might say that these players came through their system originally.

[Hello]

9 hours ago, RP London said:

too true

Wonder if Bedford or Anglia might get a phone call soon saying "are you still interested"?

No chance. If anything that call would be to another small town by the M62 (in effect replacing a city of 9 mill population)

Edited September 25 by Hello

[JM2010]

8 hours ago, Hello said:

No chance. If anything that call would be to another small town by the M62 (in effect replacing a city of 9 mill population)

Who?