RUGBY LEAGUE fans have been voting on where they would like to see the development of a potential Super League club in the near future.
Expansion has become a focal point within the sport since the creation of the summer game back in 1996, with Paris St Germain the first team to be granted Super League status outside of those sides already competing prior to the new era.
Of course, that experiment didn’t last long, but the next one certainly did with Catalans Dragons entering the top flight in 2006 with a three-year exemption from relegation.
The French club has since become a stable Super League club, winning the Challenge Cup on one occasion and the League Leaders’ Shield, whilst appearing in the Grand Final once, too.
Whilst the Dragons have been a roaring success, the same cannot be said of the Welsh attempt with Crusaders RL entering administration around the turn of the 2010s, disappearing from Super League to the lower echelons of the sport.
In recent years, however, there have been more calls for more teams outside of the M62 corridor to stake their claim as a Super League side, with new stakeholders IMG wanting to expand the interest and appeal from a northern English game.
It has been interesting to see the reception from rugby league fans in general and League Express conducted a poll last week asking people which city they would most like to see the development of a potential Super League club.
The results saw Birmingham come out on top with 24.84% of the vote, closely followed by Dublin with 22.12%.
Of course, both cities currently have rugby league sides with the Midlands Hurricanes operating in League One and the Dublin City Exiles making all the right noises on the Emerald Isle.
In third was Cardiff with 18.91% with Manchester breathing down the Welsh capital’s neck with 18.75%.
Way behind in fifth was Glasgow with 8.17% of the vote, with Paris coming in last with 7.21%.
