Re: Expansion clubs you most want to see in Super League soo : Wed Jul 29, 2015 8:58 pm  

Both Manchester (Broughton Rangers/Belle Vue Rangers, Stockport, Trafford, Altrincham) and Newcastle (Newcastle, South Sheilds, Gateshead Thunder) had a range of teams over the life of RL. So unless the RFL actually have a strategy and will actually invest and support it then the clubs as previously will be on their own. I don't disagree you could grow the game there but some one needs a strategy for development.

Re: Expansion clubs you most want to see in Super League soo : Wed Jul 29, 2015 11:15 pm  

Huyton

Re: Expansion clubs you most want to see in Super League soo : Thu Jul 30, 2015 3:39 am  

Toulouse, Sheffield, North Wales.

I have no desire to see London return in their current guise. If they can sort themselves out and actually build a club based in a consistent area rather than being nomads, then yeah. I'd rather the Skolars TBH.

Newcastle would be great, but I want to see how they come in first before suggesting they should be aiming for SL.

Wouldn't mind seeing Avignon or Aude make the jump over here.

Re: Expansion clubs you most want to see in Super League soo : Thu Jul 30, 2015 7:27 am  

Manchester has potential but as what? To many outsiders, Manchester is a region but within the conurbation, each town still has its identity and most are certainly not "Manchester". Association football is too entrenched to be shifted or ignored so the strategy here would have to be very strongly funded. There have been a series of sports parachuting into the area and doing extremely wel until the funding is lowered: ice hockey and basketball being two that have had mixed fortunes in the last 20 years.
I would go with Newcastle. In real terms only one major football team to contend with so careful links would be a driving factor (as compared to Manchester with two great rivals and many other "town" teams). The RU culture also could be used.
Coventry: why not? An area with potential and a number of possible sponsors.

NOT Toulouse: I know the author has an interest here but I ccannot see why SL should prop up another French team. I love the Catalan project but he does not have to put up with the sneers from most of my football friends. They see the addition of a French team as false, as false as many "Irish" pubs. The same funding into Sheffield or a Midlands team would have been more successful.

Re: Expansion clubs you most want to see in Super League soo : Thu Jul 30, 2015 7:52 am  

From living here, I think Nottingham would be an option.
Not too far away from the heartlands with good transport links off the A1 and M1 (and M62).
However, mainly because the city doesn't have a top level outdoor sporting team. Nottingham Forest's supporter base is ageing as they haven't been in the top flight for so long, most of their support dates back to the Clough era. The ice hockey team go well sometimes but it's still very much small-scale.

I think the city is crying our for a new team to get behind, the city-wide support of Carl Froch shows we are lacking a common cause.

And I could watch RL locally too.

Re: Expansion clubs you most want to see in Super League soo : Thu Jul 30, 2015 8:09 am  

nottinghamtiger wrote:

From living here, I think Nottingham would be an option.
Not too far away from the heartlands with good transport links off the A1 and M1 (and M62).
However, mainly because the city doesn't have a top level outdoor sporting team. Nottingham Forest's supporter base is ageing as they haven't been in the top flight for so long, most of their support dates back to the Clough era. The ice hockey team go well sometimes but it's still very much small-scale.

I think the city is crying our for a new team to get behind, the city-wide support of Carl Froch shows we are lacking a common cause.

And I could watch RL locally too.

i know it's not top level, but you have Nottingham Outlaws you could go and watch?

ATEOTD, we should let clubs develop naturally instead of trying to force a club to grow falsely.

there are too many traditional heartland clubs struggling for players, sponsors, spectators etc to be able to start planting new clubs everywhere

Re: Expansion clubs you most want to see in Super League soo : Thu Jul 30, 2015 8:22 am  

meast wrote:

i know it's not top level, but you have Nottingham Outlaws you could go and watch?

ATEOTD, we should let clubs develop naturally instead of trying to force a club to grow falsely.

there are too many traditional heartland clubs struggling for players, sponsors, spectators etc to be able to start planting new clubs everywhere

I have been to watch the Outlaws a few times, but it doesn't have the attraction of top level sport.
I completely agree that no clubs should be given a free pass to either SL or the Championship, places should be earned not gifted.

Re: Expansion clubs you most want to see in Super League soo : Thu Jul 30, 2015 8:47 am  

I've gone
(1) North Wales Crusaders, not just because they're just up the road from me, but because they're near enough to established RL territory to put a competitive team on the park while developing their own players and have already shown that the potential support is there and could be got back with decent marketing (something that they're quite good at now within the limits of their budget).
(2) Newcastle - again they're fairly near existing RL territory and some of their gates this season show that there's a possible niche market for another sport in the area, and we'll only find out if we try.
(3) Toulouse - already much discussed here.
As far as London's concerned I'm afraid that I can't see a short to medium term future for top level RL here. The appalling degree of mis-management at the club (which goes back long before David Hughes) has left a poisonous legacy that's going to take a long while for people to forget. The move to Ealing would indicate that the present club isn't interested in SL anymore and the Skolars seem to happy just faffing around in Championship 1.

Re: Expansion clubs you most want to see in Super League soo : Thu Jul 30, 2015 9:17 am  

nottinghamtiger wrote: From living here, I think Nottingham would be an option. Not too far away from the heartlands with good transport links off the A1 and M1 (and M62). However, mainly because the city doesn't have a top level outdoor sporting team. Nottingham Forest's supporter base is ageing as they haven't been in the top flight for so long, most of their support dates back to the Clough era. The ice hockey team go well sometimes but it's still very much small-scale. I think the city is crying our for a new team to get behind, the city-wide support of Carl Froch shows we are lacking a common cause. And I could watch RL locally too. I'm also from Nottingham, I think you under-state how popular rugby union is here. I know Nottingham RU are only averaging 1000-2000 in the RFU Championship, but at grassroots level, union is huge from what I've seen. I think in terms of amateur clubs around the Midlands though, Outlaws (who I play for) would probably be best placed to progress. We're pretty solid off the field, run juniors at u11s, u13s, u15s and u17s, with two senior teams. I'm curious to see how we develop with Project 30 ongoing ( http://www.nottinghamrl.co.uk/project30/ ), as this will give us a degree of stability/security that not many rugby league clubs benefit from, particulary in expansion areas! However, any talk of professional/semi-professional clubs here is a long way away IMO. I chose: 1) Newcastle - Recent attendances seem to show the potential for a decent following. Not quite as dominated by current teams as the likes of Manchester which gives more potential for our growth IMO. Also seems to be a decent amateur scene in the area which suggests genuine interest in the sport. 2) Tolouse - Growing, wealthy city which gives another TV market (which should increase Super League revenues), a local derby for Catalans, twice the number of French players coming through as now. Not only this, the player pool is (mostly) already established, i.e. they won't be fighting over mostly the same players as everyone else, like Sheffield would for example. 3) Gloucestershire - I think the South West has real potential in terms of growth. To be honest, I'd have preferred to see a Championship 1 club in Bristol rather than Gloucestershire, with there being a rugby league academy in Bristol and it being a bigger city. However, the partnership with the University of Gloucestershire is interesting and has lots of possibilities. It also gives us an 'outpost' in the South West from which to base further expansion from, for example Bristol or Exeter. Hillbilly_Red wrote: NOT Toulouse: I know the author has an interest here but I ccannot see why SL should prop up another French team. I love the Catalan project but he does not have to put up with the sneers from most of my football friends. They see the addition of a French team as false, as false as many "Irish" pubs. The same funding into Sheffield or a Midlands team would have been more successful. Catalans have the second highest turnover in Super League, and sell their own TV rights. SL don't prop them up. If anything, they're less in need of propping up than most heartland teams.

nottinghamtiger wrote: From living here, I think Nottingham would be an option. Not too far away from the heartlands with good transport links off the A1 and M1 (and M62). However, mainly because the city doesn't have a top level outdoor sporting team. Nottingham Forest's supporter base is ageing as they haven't been in the top flight for so long, most of their support dates back to the Clough era. The ice hockey team go well sometimes but it's still very much small-scale. I think the city is crying our for a new team to get behind, the city-wide support of Carl Froch shows we are lacking a common cause. And I could watch RL locally too. I'm also from Nottingham, I think you under-state how popular rugby union is here. I know Nottingham RU are only averaging 1000-2000 in the RFU Championship, but at grassroots level, union is huge from what I've seen. I think in terms of amateur clubs around the Midlands though, Outlaws (who I play for) would probably be best placed to progress. We're pretty solid off the field, run juniors at u11s, u13s, u15s and u17s, with two senior teams. I'm curious to see how we develop with Project 30 ongoing ( http://www.nottinghamrl.co.uk/project30/ ), as this will give us a degree of stability/security that not many rugby league clubs benefit from, particulary in expansion areas! However, any talk of professional/semi-professional clubs here is a long way away IMO. I chose: 1) Newcastle - Recent attendances seem to show the potential for a decent following. Not quite as dominated by current teams as the likes of Manchester which gives more potential for our growth IMO. Also seems to be a decent amateur scene in the area which suggests genuine interest in the sport. 2) Tolouse - Growing, wealthy city which gives another TV market (which should increase Super League revenues), a local derby for Catalans, twice the number of French players coming through as now. Not only this, the player pool is (mostly) already established, i.e. they won't be fighting over mostly the same players as everyone else, like Sheffield would for example. 3) Gloucestershire - I think the South West has real potential in terms of growth. To be honest, I'd have preferred to see a Championship 1 club in Bristol rather than Gloucestershire, with there being a rugby league academy in Bristol and it being a bigger city. However, the partnership with the University of Gloucestershire is interesting and has lots of possibilities. It also gives us an 'outpost' in the South West from which to base further expansion from, for example Bristol or Exeter. Hillbilly_Red wrote: NOT Toulouse: I know the author has an interest here but I ccannot see why SL should prop up another French team. I love the Catalan project but he does not have to put up with the sneers from most of my football friends. They see the addition of a French team as false, as false as many "Irish" pubs. The same funding into Sheffield or a Midlands team would have been more successful. Catalans have the second highest turnover in Super League, and sell their own TV rights. SL don't prop them up. If anything, they're less in need of propping up than most heartland teams.

Re: Expansion clubs you most want to see in Super League soo : Thu Jul 30, 2015 9:32 am  

Yes, Nottingham does seem to have well run and popular amateur RU clubs. I live in Arnold and we have both Mellish and Paviors who seem to go really well. They just don't seem to make the transition to professional RU, though it might be different if Nottingham were in a higher division.