Albi - Another untapped French RL goldmine

[The Daddy]

Before Catalan was in SL they had attendances of less than 1000. Roll on several years and investment from Bernard Gausch and local authorities and they regularly get 5 figure crowds. 

In the past season or two Albi Tigers and the Tarn region are really showing their appetite for the sport. 7200 attended France's game against Jamaica yesterday, on top of some very good crowds for the Tigers games in the Super XIII, getting up to 3000 which is decent at that level. 

When Toulouse took a Championship game to Albi a few seasons ago they got a 6000 crowd. RL is on a high right now in Albi and the club get a decent amount of support from the local authorities. 

I'd love to see the Albi club take that next step up, wherever that is and whatever that looks like. Doesn't look as though places are currently available in the English league structure so I guess they are dependent on this pro league concept coming to fruition. They would certainly be one of the few clubs that would embrace professionalism and have a chance of survival. 

Avignon, Lot-Et-Garonne, Albi, Carcassone all very important areas for French RL all they need is a bit of investment and they'll be flying.

[Deadcowboys1]

7 hours ago, The Daddy said:

Before Catalan was in SL they had attendances of less than 1000. Roll on several years and investment from Bernard Gausch and local authorities and they regularly get 5 figure crowds. 

In the past season or two Albi Tigers and the Tarn region are really showing their appetite for the sport. 7200 attended France's game against Jamaica yesterday, on top of some very good crowds for the Tigers games in the Super XIII, getting up to 3000 which is decent at that level. 

When Toulouse took a Championship game to Albi a few seasons ago they got a 6000 crowd. RL is on a high right now in Albi and the club get a decent amount of support from the local authorities. 

I'd love to see the Albi club take that next step up, wherever that is and whatever that looks like. Doesn't look as though places are currently available in the English league structure so I guess they are dependent on this pro league concept coming to fruition. They would certainly be one of the few clubs that would embrace professionalism and have a chance of survival. 

Avignon, Lot-Et-Garonne, Albi, Carcassone all very important areas for French RL all they need is a bit of investment and they'll be flying.

I suspect the NRL would come up with a plan to develope them if they were in the pacific basin while the RFL would set up a working group to discover where France was. 

[The Rocket]

4 minutes ago, Deadcowboys1 said:

I suspect the NRL would come up with a plan to develope them if they were in the pacific basin while the RFL would set up a working group to discover where France was. 

They ought to know, they get free travel there.

[Deadcowboys1]

1 minute ago, The Rocket said:

They ought to know, they get free travel there.

Nah, because they go to Catalan Dragons, the think they are going to Spain.

[The Rocket]

7 hours ago, The Daddy said:

Before Catalan was in SL they had attendances of less than 1000. Roll on several years and investment from Bernard Gausch and local authorities and they regularly get 5 figure crowds. 

In the past season or two Albi Tigers and the Tarn region are really showing their appetite for the sport. 7200 attended France's game against Jamaica yesterday, on top of some very good crowds for the Tigers games in the Super XIII, getting up to 3000 which is decent at that level. 

When Toulouse took a Championship game to Albi a few seasons ago they got a 6000 crowd. RL is on a high right now in Albi and the club get a decent amount of support from the local authorities. 

I'd love to see the Albi club take that next step up, wherever that is and whatever that looks like. Doesn't look as though places are currently available in the English league structure so I guess they are dependent on this pro league concept coming to fruition. They would certainly be one of the few clubs that would embrace professionalism and have a chance of survival. 

Avignon, Lot-Et-Garonne, Albi, Carcassone all very important areas for French RL all they need is a bit of investment and they'll be flying.

Let`s hope that V`landys has been in their (the RFL`s) ear, because he`s got the owner of DAZN in his, that global is where it`s at with future broadcast rights, Toulouse being admitted hopefully is a sign that the RFL have twigged already.

[Coggo]

‘Goldmine’. Hmmm. 

[JohnM]

What we need is another Albigensian Crusade to eliminate XV in Languedoc

[Worzel]

Aren’t Albi fans likely to travel the 45 mins to Toulouse to watch Super League? 

[oiseau]

Interesting topic.

Albi, the town is a UNESCO World Heritage site like Carcassonne and attracts loads of visitors to the area. Toulouse airport  is under an hour away and there are good rail links so access is pretty good. Rodez to the east is about forty minutes away and provides a seasonal airlink to the UK. Carcassonne , about ninety minutes to the south has regular flights to the UK of course.
Albi has hosted a couple of Championship fixtures in recent years, Leigh at the Stade Municipale (like the France v Jamaica match) plus Barrow Raiders a couple of years ago at the Mazicou. Both boasted good turnouts.

Albi and environs is a RL heartland club area with Lescure and Realmont from the second tier attracting decent crowds, Villefrance , now in the top league attracts a good following too.

The potential is there with superb backing from the local town hall and local businesses  but the problem is of course the kind of investment required to get to the next level. Villefranche refused promotion to the Elite XIII fearing they might not survive financially. They gave in a couple of seasons back and are doing ok for the moment.

Looking forward to Saturday as Albi welcome Carcassonne to the Mazicou, always a feisty affair with the usual passionate ASC fans giving as good as they get, can’t wait !

[oiseau]

17 minutes ago, JohnM said:

What we need is another Albigensian Crusade to eliminate XV in Languedoc

Would be handy JonM but both codes seem to cohabit pretty well in the town at the mo.

[oiseau]

12 minutes ago, Worzel said:

Aren’t Albi fans likely to travel the 45 mins to Toulouse to watch Super League? 

Presently loads of Albi fans go to the TO games problem is, for a few months many of the games clash with Albi RL ko time which is 1900 on a Saturday evening TO ko is usually 1800. A real pain for many of us who try to attend both.Then, in the summer months most French fans are on holiday which affects crowd sizes at the Ernest Wallon.

[Eddie]

Amazing how some on this forum deride the traditional small town English teams for not having any potential, yet fawn over the possibility of a stronger team in Albi pop 50,000. 

[The Rocket]

7 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Amazing how some on this forum deride the traditional small town English teams for not having any potential, yet fawn over the possibility of a stronger team in Albi pop 50,000. 

Eddie I`m no expert on the geography of the regions being discussed but could this be because unlike many of the English teams Albi hasn`t or won`t have other clubs basically on its` doorstep.

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, The Rocket said:

Let`s hope that V`landys has been in their (the RFL`s) ear, because he`s got the owner of DAZN in his, that global is where it`s at with future broadcast rights, Toulouse being admitted hopefully is a sign that the RFL have twigged already.

I think TO winning the championship likely twisted the RFL’s arm rather than them realising the benefit of having them in. 

[Just Browny]

11 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Eddie I`m no expert on the geography of the regions being discussed but could this be because unlike many of the English teams Albi hasn`t or won`t have other clubs basically on its` doorstep.

That's the point. Albi is the prefecture (=capital) of the Tarn département, so even though it is a modest town you could conceivably build a club with a Tarn identity which appealed to the 400k people who reside in that area. It would need a lot of cash to get it going though.

[JohnM]

1 hour ago, oiseau said:

Would be handy JonM but both codes seem to cohabit pretty well in the town at the mo.

Indeed. Just my excuse for a historical reference. Albi centre well worth visiting, not least for its cathedral.

[gingerjon]

20 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

That's the point. Albi is the prefecture (=capital) of the Tarn département, so even though it is a modest town you could conceivably build a club with a Tarn identity which appealed to the 400k people who reside in that area. It would need a lot of cash to get it going though.

This has been discussed on here before so I don't know the answer but our French correspondents have pointed out before now that some"département"s map to a region that people would support, others don't. Similar to, say, Yorkshire versus Bath & North East Somerset. Any idea which of those Tarn is closer to?

[oiseau]

15 minutes ago, JohnM said:

Indeed. Just my excuse for a historical reference. Albi centre well worth visiting, not least for its cathedral.

Yep, loads to see in the area, towns and chateaux etc . The Toulouse Lautrec museum is brilliant.

[Just Browny]

23 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

This has been discussed on here before so I don't know the answer but our French correspondents have pointed out before now that some"département"s map to a region that people would support, others don't. Similar to, say, Yorkshire versus Bath & North East Somerset. Any idea which of those Tarn is closer to?

Not me, my knowledge only extends to Belgium and the rainy northern French places. The département has existed since 1790 though, so you'd hope people would be starting to come round to it.

And you're quite right: some departments are like Liverpool where everyone has an affinity to the place, and others are more like Kirklees where people would be happy for a load of random people in other areas to decide how to use the council's resources.

Edited October 27 by Just Browny

[Worzel]

1 hour ago, oiseau said:

Presently loads of Albi fans go to the TO games problem is, for a few months many of the games clash with Albi RL ko time which is 1900 on a Saturday evening TO ko is usually 1800. A real pain for many of us who try to attend both.Then, in the summer months most French fans are on holiday which affects crowd sizes at the Ernest Wallon.

They really need to get some fixture list alignment - perhaps Albi can play at home when Toulouse are away? (I know that’s a big cheeky, but might be pragmatic)

On your other point, I did wonder how the French people’s (correct) attitude to taking long holidays in the summer would impact a summer sport! 

[Leyther_Matt]

Tarn? Is this for the new Barnsley franchise?

[Briacbzh]

Albi is surely the only major city in France where rugby league is objectively more popular than rugby union.

That’s not the case in Perpignan, where USAP is much more popular, and it’s obviously not the case in Toulouse.

But it’s clearly true in Albi, yes. They just need a team in Super League.

And most people in France are attached to their local identities- it’s not unreasonable to build on that.

Vannes has become one of the most popular rugby union clubs in France solely by playing the Breton identity card- and that’s in an area where rugby was almost non-existent.

[Eddie]

30 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

Not me, my knowledge only extends to Belgium and the rainy northern French places. The département has existed since 1790 though, so you'd hope people would be starting to come round to it.

And you're quite right: some departments are like Liverpool where everyone has an affinity to the place, and others are more like Kirklees where people would be happy for a load of random people in other areas to decide how to use the council's resources.

Are there any small towns in Belgium with a strong regional identity where we can set up a RL club? 

[Just Browny]

Just now, Eddie said:

Are there any small towns in Belgium with a strong regional identity where we can set up a RL club? 

There are plenty of towns and villages with a strong regional identity; I wouldn't imagine any are demanding a rugby league team.

[Just Browny]

3 minutes ago, Briacbzh said:

Albi is surely the only major city in France where rugby league is objectively more popular than rugby union.

That’s not the case in Perpignan, where USAP is much more popular, and it’s obviously not the case in Toulouse.

But it’s clearly true in Albi, yes. They just need a team in Super League.

And most people in France are attached to their local identities- it’s not unreasonable to build on that.

Vannes has become one of the most popular rugby union clubs in France solely by playing the Breton identity card- and that’s in an area where rugby was almost non-existent.

'Major city' might be pushing it..?!

What about Avignon? Slim pickings though.