Defunct French RL clubs

[turn it in]

Came across this domestic French RL game on YouTube and don’t recognise any of the teams and was wondering if any of our resident French leaguies could shed some light on the teams and if they are still going etc.

 

 

also talk about bring back the biff as some of the action is pretty tasty and the scrums aren’t for the faint hearted.

[Oxford]

10 minutes ago, turn it in said:

Came across this domestic French RL game on YouTube and don’t recognise any of the teams and was wondering if any of our resident French leaguies could shed some light on the teams and if they are still going etc.

 

 

also talk about bring back the biff as some of the action is pretty tasty and the scrums aren’t for the faint hearted.

It is interesting to see Biff like it used to be, and it shouldn't be underestimated how much a part it played in the game and in the hearts of fans. The faint hearted and our enemies refused to see the game for the biff and fans couldn't see the game without it. Cleaning it up was supposed to broaden its appeal but there is almost no convincing evidence that it did or has.

But yet another thread on defunct RL clubs is not exactly crucial. 

Edited June 7, 2025 by Oxford
Defunct as an idea

[turn it in]

22 minutes ago, Oxford said:

It is interesting to see Biff like it used to be, and it shouldn't be underestimated how much a part it played in the game and in the hearts of fans. The faint hearted and our enemies refused to see the game for the biff and fans couldn't see the game without it. Cleaning it up was supposed to broaden its appeal but there is almost no convincing evidence that it did or has.

But yet another thread on defunct RL clubs is not exactly crucial. 

Seemed to play a big part in French RL in the 80’s I’m led to believe.

defunct French RL clubs is interesting to me as I’m starting to look up and search out more and more on French RL from its heyday to its slump in the late70’s and throughout the 80’s.

[Eddie]

3 minutes ago, turn it in said:

Seemed to play a big part in French RL in the 80’s I’m led to believe.

defunct French RL clubs is interesting to me as I’m starting to look up and search out more and more on French RL from its heyday to its slump in the late70’s and throughout the 80’s.

Try Mike Rylance’s excellent book the Forbidden Game. 

[turn it in]

15 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Try Mike Rylance’s excellent book the Forbidden Game. 

Doesn’t this book deal more with the pre and post WW2 era?

[Henson Park Old Firm]

Celtic Paris, wasn't that one....

I'd love for some repro defunct french club shirts to buy though.

[daz39]

I think Opoul merged with Salses at one point before going their seperate ways and folding, incidentally if your over in Perpignan and Salses have a home game, go - the whole village turns out in the square for food and drinks then walks down to the stade, it was a great experience when we went.

Edited June 7, 2025 by daz39

[turn it in]

9 minutes ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

Celtic Paris, wasn't that one....

I'd love for some repro defunct french club shirts to buy though.

Love the 80’s design.

[Oxford]

24 minutes ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

Celtic Paris, wasn't that one....

I'd love for some repro defunct french club shirts to buy though.

Once when Cavaillon  came on tour I was in the Kit washing room at SRD and I swapped a Salford shirt for a French one with the shoulder protection sewn into the shirt itself. I wore it for years with a certain joie de vivre and a smattering of bravado too! Dai Watkins came past and took an interest, he was too nice to ask me for it, and I think it was the only time a legend was jealous of me.

Edited June 7, 2025 by Oxford
Dai

[turn it in]

So from what I can gather on Wikipedia opoul is a village of around 1200 people in the Pyrenees-orientales department and incredibly saint hippolyte is an even smaller village of less than 1000 people in the Haut-Rhin department in north western France on the border with Germany and Switzerland.

how on earth did RL spread up to near the borders of both Germany and Switzerland??

[Oxford]

1 minute ago, turn it in said:

how on earth did RL spread up to near the borders of both Germany and Switzerland??

Because it's fan- chuffin- tastic of course!

I shall miss it.

 

[Oxford]

52 minutes ago, turn it in said:

Seemed to play a big part in French RL in the 80’s I’m led to believe.

 

Played a huge role in the history of RL and only those who wanted to "clean up" the game would and will deny it.

[turn it in]

2 minutes ago, Oxford said:

Played a huge role in the history of RL and only those who wanted to "clean up" the game would and will deny it.

I grew up on it in the 80’s and loved it at the time but honestly think it’s best off in the past and the game has moved on for the better.

[The Masked Poster]

1 hour ago, turn it in said:

Came across this domestic French RL game on YouTube and don’t recognise any of the teams and was wondering if any of our resident French leaguies could shed some light on the teams and if they are still going etc.

 

 

also talk about bring back the biff as some of the action is pretty tasty and the scrums aren’t for the faint hearted.

A) It seems to be totally French players.

B) That game would be whistled out of existence today. Whether that's a positive or negative is up to the individual.

[turn it in]

7 minutes ago, Oxford said:

Because it's fan- chuffin- tastic of course!

I shall miss it.

 

Sure but there’s a huge middle chunk of France missing and then saint-hippolyte!!

[The Masked Poster]

Just now, turn it in said:

I grew up on it in the 80’s and loved it at the time but honestly think it’s best off in the past and the game has moved on for the better.

I'm not sure you're totally right there. I think the game today is cleaner and more professional and the lack of dangerous play is not to be sniffed at.

But I can't help thinking it could do with bringing back *some* elements of the game in that time. I feel it has lost a lot of its charm today and is refereed too pedantically - this is just my opinion. 

[daz39]

If that was a modern super league game it would take about 11 hours to finish with the 3 minute stoppages for every knock-on, penalty, scrum etc, whatever happened to 'play-on' from a knock-on?

[turn it in]

1 minute ago, The Masked Poster said:

I'm not sure you're totally right there. I think the game today is cleaner and more professional and the lack of dangerous play is not to be sniffed at.

But I can't help thinking it could do with bringing back *some* elements of the game in that time. I feel it has lost a lot of its charm today and is refereed too pedantically - this is just my opinion. 

Oh sure.

like anything it’s gone too far the other way.

[turn it in]

5 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

A) It seems to be totally French players.

B) That game would be whistled out of existence today. Whether that's a positive or negative is up to the individual.

Definitely some sort of championship finals game played in a bigger town.

[daz39]

9 minutes ago, turn it in said:

Definitely some sort of championship finals game played in a bigger town.

It was the '89 2nd division final i believe

[turn it in]

3 minutes ago, daz39 said:

It was the '89 2nd division final i believe

I could be wrong but possibly a league below elite 2?

[Oxford]

19 minutes ago, turn it in said:

Sure but there’s a huge middle chunk of France missing and then saint-hippolyte!!

French ru did an awful lot not only to stop its development but also to kill it where it had grown, not only that but Degaulle, lui meme, helped the arch collaborator sport to prosper post war. Such is the nature of politics.

[Oxford]

24 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

I'm not sure you're totally right there. I think the game today is cleaner and more professional and the lack of dangerous play is not to be sniffed at.

But I can't help thinking it could do with bringing back *some* elements of the game in that time. I feel it has lost a lot of its charm today and is refereed too pedantically - this is just my opinion. 

Two very different ideas there. 

Yes the game is more professional which has nothing to do with the Biff and cleaner certainly but has lost something.

The refereeing is an entirely different matter because we moan when they do and we moan when they don't. Although if almost anyone in the crowd was reffing I dread to think what the result would be! 

[langpark]

Defunct clubs: Roanne XIII and Lyon-Villeurbanne*

*Awaiting someone to confirm. 

I believe both of them faded some time during the pandemic years. Tragic considering both were foundation clubs of French RL (1934) and also losing them meant we lost an whole other region of the country. 

 

[Oxford]

1 hour ago, langpark said:

Defunct clubs: Roanne XIII and Lyon-Villeurbanne*

*Awaiting someone to confirm. 

I believe both of them faded some time during the pandemic years. Tragic considering both were foundation clubs of French RL (1934) and also losing them meant we lost an whole other region of the country. 

 

Though it's not like the majority of RL people care one way or another, is it?