David Hughes

[Coggo]

23 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

9 clubs. Elmbridge, Eastern, Bromley, Brixton, St Albans, Hemel, Bedford, Brentwood, Feltham (was Richmond).

Medway Dragons?

[Archie Gordon]

1 minute ago, Coggo said:

Medway Dragons?

Have some primary and junior activity going on but haven't put a team on the pitch since Covid. Fingers crossed for 2025.

[Magic XIII]

2 hours ago, Archie Gordon said:

9 clubs. Elmbridge, Eastern, Bromley, Brixton, St Albans, Hemel, Bedford, Brentwood, Feltham (was Richmond).

Of course, some wax, some wane, some disappear. And it is a struggle, that's absolutely true.

Last season was the first time since formation in 96 St Albans didnt run an open age but the club still managed to run out u14s side. Next season the hope is u14 and u16 in London League or link up with Midlands League and run u13 and u15 in line with their age group strategy. So the embers still burn but nowhere near as brightly as the days the club ran 2 open age sides and 3 junior sides which feel a lifetime ago now.

[Damien]

Sounds promising:

 

[Ivarr the Boneless]

https://www.londonbroncosrl.com/press-release-london-broncos-end-of-season-update

A less optimistic reading would be  that with the deadline to commit to the league fast approaching, the club aren't yet in detailed discussions with investors. Revenues from fans will be limited as so many have walked away and there will be far fewer away fans to assist revenues.

 

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, Ivarr the Boneless said:

https://www.londonbroncosrl.com/press-release-london-broncos-end-of-season-update

A less optimistic reading would be  that with the deadline to commit to the league fast approaching, the club aren't yet in detailed discussions with investors. Revenues from fans will be limited as so many have walked away and there will be far fewer away fans to assist revenues.

 

The working group of four is one person short, there is no investment in place for next season, and none of our alternative revenue streams exist.

And we think we might move up from 'way outside Super League' to 'a fair bit outside Super League' on the gradings whilst being nowhere near it on the pitch.

[The Blues Ox]

32 minutes ago, Damien said:

Sounds promising:

 

Ah bless.

[Archie Gordon]

To score ~12 on IMG grade this time seems crazy. I can't see where the extra 4 points come from unless last year's dry run was a mess up, which is possible. This is still a club with a tiny fanbase and with very little going on on the business side.

The working group of 3 is possibly the only non-players left. 

An update is welcome, however, and shows that embers still flicker.

[Henson Park Old Firm]

Good news... 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/london-broncos-forecast-huge-img-score-boost-and-outline-super-league-return-plan-98019/

[JohnM]

I dunno. It's a tragedy. Pppp I feel subjectively and emotionally that it's effectively dead from an SL and from a Championship point of view. I feel that the time, effort and money from Hughes, from the fans etc which has delivered many high points over the years, has yielded à history, an entry in Wikipedia, and an enduring feeling of unfulfilled potential, of "what might have been, if only".

All that remains is the hope that

1. A new owner , a true LEADER , a FIGHTER, a LONDONER,  someone invested more than just money into the club comes forward. Chances are zero.

2. In line with "Re-imagining Rugby League" strategy , a new club, a fresh start,  is created, backed by the RFL, SL, the SL clubs, etc etc.

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

1 minute ago, JohnM said:

1. A new owner , a true LEADER , a FIGHTER, a LONDONER,  someone invested more than just money into the club comes forward. Chances are zero.

2. In line with "Re-imagining Rugby League" strategy , a new club, a fresh start,  is created, backed by the RFL, SL, the SL clubs, etc etc.

I think the second one is even less likely than the first one

[The Phantom Horseman]

1 hour ago, Archie Gordon said:

To score ~12 on IMG grade this time seems crazy. I can't see where the extra 4 points come from unless last year's dry run was a mess up, which is possible. This is still a club with a tiny fanbase and with very little going on on the business side.

 

I agree 4 points seems a lot but it's been obvious since day 1 of the IMG era that SL occupancy with the massive positive impact it has on gates, merchandise sales (if they had any to sell!), sponsorship opportunities and overall financial impact is of huge importance. That's why once the dust has settled it's going to be so much harder for Championship clubs to surpass the scores of SL incumbents.

[Archie Gordon]

56 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I agree 4 points seems a lot but it's been obvious since day 1 of the IMG era that SL occupancy with the massive positive impact it has on gates, merchandise sales (if they had any to sell!), sponsorship opportunities and overall financial impact is of huge importance. That's why once the dust has settled it's going to be so much harder for Championship clubs to surpass the scores of SL incumbents.

Yes.

"Well done, London Broncos, you've improved massively! Now we're shutting the door on you."

I can't get my head around it.

[The Blues Ox]

Its going to be interesting to see where they make 4 points up. Im presuming that David Hughes has written off the money he has put in on the balance sheet so that will look a whole lot healthier so there could be a decent gain there on the financial side. I don't believe that London gave a breakdown of their scores or if they did I can't remember it but the financial side of things, if they scored poor in that area, is the easiest area to manipulate. My team Fax had the lowest score I saw in that part of the grading and even they could put an extra 2.5-3 points on their score with relative ease with modest outside investment.

[Worzel]

4 hours ago, Ivarr the Boneless said:

https://www.londonbroncosrl.com/press-release-london-broncos-end-of-season-update

A less optimistic reading would be  that with the deadline to commit to the league fast approaching, the club aren't yet in detailed discussions with investors. Revenues from fans will be limited as so many have walked away and there will be far fewer away fans to assist revenues.

 

I've just run this through my patented London Broncos News Translator...

1. The entire club is now just Mike Eccles plus two contractors working as CEO and Ops Manager.

2. We don't have new investors, and hope someone will see this press release and become one

3. In the very unlikely scenario 2 happens, hypothetically we could be in Super League in 2 years. We could also buy a winning lottery ticket for this weekend's draw, so there are lots of reasons to be optimistic we're not just relying on scenario 2.  

[Worzel]

1 hour ago, Archie Gordon said:

Yes.

"Well done, London Broncos, you've improved massively! Now we're shutting the door on you."

I can't get my head around it.

There is no London Broncos, see my translated version above. That is what David Hughes has achieved with £30m and 25 years. 

[Archie Gordon]

I feel that whilst Mike Eccles is still turning down jobs, there must be some chance of something happening for 2025.

[THE RED ROOSTER]

There is a very practical issue here. With pre-season trying due to start next month and the challenge cup beginning in January 2025.Where exactly are London Broncos going to get a starting XIII from ?

Even if an NRL club was to buy the London Brand (and that is all you get) and use their reserve grade / juniors it's asking a lot for a newly assembled side to gel in such a short time frame and as regards local content, what decent English players are out of contract and available at this late stage?.

Reading the press release, with no confirmed offers for the club it appears all hopes are pinned on a rising IMG score as the club pins its future in Mr Micawber style that "something turns up"....

[Click]

36 minutes ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:

There is a very practical issue here. With pre-season trying due to start next month and the challenge cup beginning in January 2025.Where exactly are London Broncos going to get a starting XIII from ?

Even if an NRL club was to buy the London Brand (and that is all you get) and use their reserve grade / juniors it's asking a lot for a newly assembled side to gel in such a short time frame and as regards local content, what decent English players are out of contract and available at this late stage?.

Reading the press release, with no confirmed offers for the club it appears all hopes are pinned on a rising IMG score as the club pins its future in Mr Micawber style that "something turns up"....

Guess that would very much depend on how deep the pockets of this hypothetical new owner(s) are.

[Hopie]

They say their score has gone up, but will that score just go down again with relegation, IMG scores are heavily weighted towards SL incumbents.

They also mention moving up an attendance grade because they averaged over 3000 this year, but its a 3 year average, so presumably the have  got a 3 year average that has gone from below 1500 to above 1500? Just an indicator of how low a base they are starting from.

[Archie Gordon]

1 hour ago, Click said:

Guess that would very much depend on how deep the pockets of this hypothetical new owner(s) are.

Whatever happens, there will be about 8 top-end Champo players still in or around London in 2025.

[Damien]

7 hours ago, Archie Gordon said:

To score ~12 on IMG grade this time seems crazy. I can't see where the extra 4 points come from unless last year's dry run was a mess up, which is possible. This is still a club with a tiny fanbase and with very little going on on the business side.

The working group of 3 is possibly the only non-players left. 

An update is welcome, however, and shows that embers still flicker.

I think their initial score was crazy too though. They may be a basket case but just being in the Championship should have seen them score much more than some of the clubs that scored near them.

[gingerjon]

3 hours ago, Worzel said:

I've just run this through my patented London Broncos News Translator...

1. The entire club is now just Mike Eccles plus two contractors working as CEO and Ops Manager.

2. We don't have new investors, and hope someone will see this press release and become one

3. In the very unlikely scenario 2 happens, hypothetically we could be in Super League in 2 years. We could also buy a winning lottery ticket for this weekend's draw, so there are lots of reasons to be optimistic we're not just relying on scenario 2.  

I honestly don't understand how anyone is reading this any other way other than your points 1 & 2 above.

[Tommygilf]

41 minutes ago, Damien said:

I think their initial score was crazy too though. They may be a basket case but just being in the Championship should have seen them score much more than some of the clubs that scored near them.

I've said it several times though, I think Hughes, at least initially, assumed that IMG simply meant just play in a nice stadium and be London and you're in. That's why nearly every other aspect of the club was gutted.

The Grading process exposed that, massively.

Edited October 11 by Tommygilf