Why dont they launch a team there? pretty sizeable place and some lads i met in a bar there said they thought RL was alright

There's the business case then

How many times have Birmingham Bulldogs come and gone now?

Put a year to go with the question please?

Otherwise we assume you mean next season, in which case it's a unanimous NO.

i know a guy here in widnes who likes ice hockey, doesnt mean a pro ice hockey team should be parachuted in.

I like to chuck bits of paper in the bin from a great distance.

Just on the phone to the NBA now to get a Wigan Franchise going.

Fingers crossed

Although it would be a dream for me personally (living 9 miles away from Brum it would in no way happen,,simply because it is Football mad....You could talk to anyone around Birmingham or the Black Country and they think the only Rugby is the 15 man code...

Birmingham Bears for Championship 1, yes, if they're good enough. Then who knows?

I don't believe Birmingham can get a team out at all this weekend, despite having their A and B team in the same division.

Hemel and Nottingham, and even Coventry, are in a much better state with more potential.

Coventry has much more potential. They already have a pretty solid team there, plenty of interest at the Uni and decent facilities.

Coventry has a poor football team, a rubbish RU team and an ice-hockey team which nobody really cares about unless they are playing Nottingham, Sheffield or Cardiff.

Would be a great place to launch a championship 1 team IMO.

Birmingham would be pointless, premiership football team and the current carling cup holders. What appeal will a new RL team have?

If they want to get in the Super League they should come through the Championships first

i think the way forward for expansion is to team up with a successful club of another sport in the given area(preferably football as the playing seasons are opposite) and form sporting clubs to the mutual benefit of both.the said clubs would get an income to their stadiums between seasons,potentially increasing profits,and given super league would no doubt subsidise them they would be little initial financial risk.
it really has to be in areas with a decent ameteur league as a base of support,and need marketing far better then the muppets at super league h.q usually manage(ie professionally promoted)

Why would a football club want to help out a rival sport.

A better idea would be for super league clubs to get more involved in the grass roots development in their area.

Then they should also link up with a team from an expansion area. Wigan have a link with Coventry bears.

Yes, it could work, London is also a sizeable place and there crowds are fantas....oh yeah sorry

because as i said,it would create revenue for the club/stadium during a period it would normally stand dormant.
and the other reason is because if you dont have a link with the dominant local team,you are essentially competing with that club for fans, and as they will be already established its a fight you will lose(especially given rl's extremely limited marketing abilities).the new rl club would have to have the same name as the said team to appeal to the locals.
for the times of year when the seaon overlaps the club could offer double headers with a minimal amount extra charged to see both games(possibly just whilst the fan base is being nurtured)
forget competing against local teams, as their fans will not jump ship,but they may support team bearing their name in another sport.
having links with a super league club would just be creating a feeder club,as the super league team would cherry pick the best players as they developed,which isnt the point of expansion
i agree links should be made with the local amateur league/team(s)

Nigel - why do you start up brain-dead topics like this? You must be bored out of your head. And why do some people try to answer him with reasoned debate? For those interested, Nigel is an avid Halifax Town Soccer fan and knows precisely dick all about Rugby League.

Why Nigel? What is the point? Literally, do you have nothing else better to do?


I must also ask myself - why do I get wound up by these pricks? Maybe I should get a life too

Dont know if Brimingham is the right place but I think there should definitley be some team from the Midlands in the Champlionship with the hope of developing them into a Super League Franchise in later years.

Maybe start playing one of the 'event' games, internationals etc in the Ricoh before even considering this as an option.

Plus i'd make sure the Welsh/London models were actually working before spreading ourselves even more thinly.

You are all Flat Cappers, SL should be a city game. If you are not a city then you should lose the franchise. Bring in Birmingham, Leicester, Coventry, Cardiff, Bristol, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Throw out Wigan, Saints, Wire, Cas, Wrexham, HKR, Widnes.

Absoloutly fantastic idea!

I remember when super League first started and I think it was Villa who were on about having a team playing out of Walsall.

HKR not in a city then?

If those lads went to every home game then the crowd would be up there with Crusaders from the start.

I'm not for the RLs expansion policy, the game has been around long enough already and if people haven't been interested over the last 100 years, why are we forcing it on them now? The crowds at Crusaders and Harlequins prove it's not working.

If we are to develop our game beyond the heartlands, I feel the only way to do this is through a 'snowball effect' - start in Yorkshire and Lancashire and work outwards. Cumbria was once a hotbed of Rugby League so lets start there, they already have the clubs but go largely ignored. The same with South Yorkshire. Why not try and bridge the gap between West Yorkshire and Sheffield? If the RFL were serious about expansion, they could have taken advantage of Wakefield's situation and have us playing in Barsnley for 12 months and bringing the game to a new audience.

We also need promotion and relegation. It's the only way to keep the fans interested - why go and watch a sport where by there is no end goal? What's the point in finishing top if you know you won't get a shot at the Wigans and Leeds of the world? And if your already in Super League, the game becomes dull if you're in the bottom 2 or 3 but know you won't go down. The atmosphere for Wakefield against Crusaders next month will be nothing compared to the Trinity Vs Castleford game in 2006 when the loser went down. The intensity will just not be there. And if the game doesn't mean anything, we will struggle to keep the fans we have never mind attract new ones. Again, this is just my opinion and may be wrong, but one I feel very strongly about.

You are not wrong.

I would sooner go and watch a match in Tripoli than Birmingham