You could make the argument that with 16 applicants and 7 on the shortlist, having only 4 is the conservative/safety first option? Hemel wanted to enter in 2012 and have been told to wait, so it seems like "all at once" is the preferred option.

Presumably the number of clubs and the 14/10 split is budget related; if the RFL is paying for all travel in CC1, makes it cheaper if you have fewer fixtures and fewer new clubs. And cynically, it makes it easier to get the clubs to vote for the change if most of them aren't affected because they're in the new, bigger championship and half of those left behind (Skolars, S.Wales & Gateshead) would welcome opposition closer to themselves in playing standards.

Still smiling at Rupert Bear's description of Oxford, Coventry, Hemel, Chester, Northampton etc. as "the back of beyond".

Teams at this level in France routinely travel 5+ hrs for away games - last weekend had La Reole v Lyon (both 70+ year old traditional clubs) which is 700+ mile round trip and Mille v Corbeil (over 1000 mile round trip). Those are mostly amateur players, BTW.

How would you know how many away fans turn up at Gateshead?

Gateshead might get more fans if they were competitive but in the meantime they need as many fans through the turnstiles as they can get, the same as all the clubs in that division.

I wouldn't know, but I would assume they get very little, especially as your own argument seems to be based on the fact that away fans are unlikely to travel very far outside of their own region in great number. I'm not really sure what you are trying to get at here, or what relevance this has to any of the new teams?

Gateshead isn't as hard to get to for Yorkshire based folk as say Cumbria let alone Wales or London. I haven't ever personally been there so can't talk first hand about how many of the supporters were away fans but I have seen Gateshead turn up at Keighley. They brought more fans with them than it would have expected, far more than Skolars do (think I've only ever heard the one chap shout for Skolars).

Workington and Whitehaven were part of Cumberland until then as well.
Cumbria didn't exist as a county until 1974.
People from the south of the county are every bit as much 'Cumbrian' as those from the West.

Sheffield are probably the only 'new' British pro RL team to make a go of it in the last 50 years - and even they merged, went bust and were re-admitted into the pro ranks.

Quite.

The word "Cumbria" predates Cumberland by centuries. It was the name of the Celtic kingdom that took in today's Cumbria and crossed the border into Strathclyde. It lasted until the 11th century.

It is unnecessarily pedantic to point out that Barrow wasn't part of the county of Cumbria until 1974. The Barrow (and Furness) area had been associated with Cumberland and Westmorland for some time.