League Express editor MARTYN SADLER wonders whether a new owner will be able to make a success of London Broncos.
At the weekend I wrote that it was funny how so many things come round a full circle, after seeing a report that the Brisbane Broncos could be interested in buying their London namesakes.
Back in the mid-90s, just prior to the era when Super League was launching, the London club was bought by the Broncos.
A couple of years later it was pushed into the new competition.
It looked like the breakthrough Rugby League had yearned for in our capital city.
Brisbane appeared to have the resources to make London successful in the long term.
Unfortunately it turned out that they were not thinking long term and Brisbane sold the club to Richard Branson’s Virgin Group in 1997, with the deal generating huge national publicity of the sort that Rugby League doesn’t normally generate.
Again, it looked as though Branson had the money to ensure that the Broncos could develop a major presence in the capital and for a while it looked as though that might happen, with the club reaching the Challenge Cup Final against Leeds Rhinos in 1999.
I remember once being invited to a swish Broncos evening at the Kensington Roof Gardens, which were owned by Virgin and were situated in one of the more expensive parts of London.
It was a great evening but unfortunately Branson then appeared to lose interest in the Broncos and Rugby League and he sold the club to David Hughes in 2002.
Hughes held the Broncos together for the next 22 years, enjoying some degree of success but generally moving around London to various venues and never being able to put down firm roots.
In that sense I think his best move was to take the Broncos to Wimbledon to share the Cherry Red Records Stadium with the hosts Wimbledon AFC.
And I’m delighted to see that the Broncos will stay at that stadium this year, despite being back in the Championship.
Reports suggesting that Brisbane Broncos would once again become the new owners of the Broncos, with the help of Gary Hetherington, have been debunked by the Brisbane club.
“I’m aware of interest from English clubs seeking investment from their Australian counterparts,” Brisbane Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy apparently told News Limited.
“But to be clear, ownership of a UK club is not something the Brisbane Broncos are considering right now.”
The real potential new owner is actually a consortium of Australian investors, I understand, that includes some well-known Rugby League people.
If they are realistic about the investment needed to turn the Broncos into a club that Londoners and Rugby League supporters more generally can be proud of, then they will be doing the game a great service.
I have little doubt that with the right resources and the right people in place, then that object could ultimately be realised.
This article is an amended version of part of MARTYN SADLER’s ‘Talking Rugby League’ column in this week’s League Express.
