yes, of course - loads of local businesses are involved but the big boys in aerospace etc are being lined up for SL funding
Toulouse had it's own mini Harrisgate type affair a few years back due to bad judgement and had to pay out a tidy sum to ex employees which knocked the club back - they managed to rebuild over the past few years with the help of these sponsors plus better management

wll FM, it's a pity your RL logic isn't as flexible as your excellent musical tastes...

there's no point putting TO13 in the Championship - the experiment failed due to the uneven playing field - I would love to see the Fax players & coaching staff have to lose one or two days pay from their regular jobs then travel to France every other week and still try to maintain a decent level of form - it can't be done other than being full timers.

I don't 'preach' - just tell the truth as I see it and based on what I know having followed the saga from the start

London isn't a RL heartland - Toulouse is despite having a top RU side and a decent football team - as I said in a previous message, RL isn't the main sport in Perpignan but the Catalans have managed to build a decent following from almost nothing - even you have to give credit for that

as a matter of interest i'm French & British with a family eiter side of the channel - i'm a Saints fan since the 60s and Toulouse is my nearest RL team which is THREE AND A HALF HOURS DRIVE from my home so i'm not a 'local' by any means - how many times in a season do YOU do the seven hour round trip to watch RL ?

FWIW I would prefer that TO13 remain in the LER - it's great entertainment and I reckon SL could ruin my enjoyment of the game the way it's going but the RFL, gawd bless 'em seem intent on expanding to a second french club and I reckon Toulouse has more 'potential' than the other candidates

For someone who doesn't want fax in SL you do spend a lot of time debating the pro's and Con's of other teams either in or being elevated to Superleague.....I think you should just 'fess up and embrace your bitterness.

Same for me with Fev. Stay where we are and when the current house of cards tumbles they will still be there, essentially solvent, to carry on.




Yes, the 'experiment' that anyone with a modicum of intelligence could predict the outcome of.

So we are agreed then, the likes of Halifax, Leigh, Featherstone can stay in a semi-pro league with a smaller cap, fewer facilities and play each other in a league they are more suited and everyone can be happy doing so, and the bigger clubs can be in the pro league, with a higher cap, more demand in facilities and play each other in a league in which they are more suited, and everyone can be happy with that.

No more whining about how unfair it is, no more complaints about how the RFL wont promote certain clubs, we all agree some clubs are championship clubs, some SL and we can move on.

I think its just a case of talking down their chances.
Everyone wants a chance at the big time and yes, there are some negatives but, its better to be playing with the big boys and get spanked occasionally then have to stay in the CC.

That may be true for the relatively small amount of fans the smaller clubs have, but not for everyone else. One of the problems with SL is the regularity with which clubs get ‘spanked’ and the uncompetitive nature of too many games.

As long as we have Franchising , yes , none of these clubs would flourish in that enviroment , in fact they would be risking their very existence , a bit like the Bradford Bulls really

Now , if we had yearly P and R , a totally different situation

As proven by the long history of success those clubs had in a professional P+R environment.

Oh……

They die either way , in a franchise , locked outside SL , or at least fighting with P and R

Or die with P+R, like Halifax, very very very nearly did, numerous times.

So we agree then , die is the preffered option , its just how we do it , fast or slow

Slight exaggeration, nothing to do with P&R and we're still alive and kicking, in profit and healthier than ever.

We did the right thing at the end of the 2002 season. We faced our debt and cut our expenses to the bone which included our players and consequently cost us our SL place. If that was now we could have done the same, kept our place in SL and been able to rebuild which Bradford could have done and had they done so would have earned the respect of a great many supporters. Instead, while screaming for help from all and sundry, they flatly refused to release a single player.

Ive followed Fax for about 25 or so years now and only remember us really struggling only once. The `problem` that we had in our relegation season and mid way through the one before is that we got very good business men in to the club who in their hindsight tried to run the club as a profitable business by trying to get rid of debts like you would do in a normal business. Unfortunately a RL team cant be run like that as many teams are now showing, most teams will lose money, that is a very simple fact. So although it did cut a lot of our major debts it also cost us our SL status which Im sure had we carried on like other teams do then we would have kept. The sad thing is that if we had of stayed in SL theres a very good chance we would be still there now as has been shown that unless you are a total white elephant like Crusaders then its very hard to get thrown out.

Are we talking about the time in 2003 when ‘fax nearly went bust? Or the time in 2006 when they nearly went bust?

We didnt nearly go bust in 2003 if my recollection is correct.

Why would the "big boys" in aerospace invest if Toulouse were in SL? Why wouldnt they be investing now if they were going to?
Would it be that appealing to them to be involved in a club that only has one rival in France andplays half its games in England with no coverage on French TV (unless that changes)?

Halifax's financial misdemeanours eclipse those of Bradford don't they? All that bad press Fax got compared to the current media blackout of Bulls. Fax went into Admin in 1990 and started again. Plenty of lean times since but didn't bust the bank again. SL clubs with licenses have also hit the wall - but by all means - carry on banging on about Halifax.

Halifax certainly are at their current level as are other Championship clubs. Apart from the odd fan gripe and the obligatory license application - we know our place. There are plenty in SL however who do not. Completely out of their depth and in some cases financially retarded (Bradford).

I wasnt banging on about halifax, Halifax werent the point. P+R was

You highlighted Halifax as the turd in the pipe of P&R. Are Bradford the cillit bang of licensing?

Halifax should buy The Bradford Bulls and use them as a feeder club

No, i highlighted the fact Starbug was evidently, again, talking bollox by using Halifax as an example which disproved his point.

Putting a traditional RL club that has won major silverware in the last 25 years and has attracted crowds regulary of 8-9000 at times in their history (whilst been in the top division) would surley be daft!

what the RFL should do is take another risk with another expansion team.

- yeah! thats it one that couldnt attract more than 1000 home fans for any games at 10 euros a pop!

Toulouse is a lovely city (i have been twice with fax - both occations fax had nearly as many fans as toulouse in attendance!)


If Fax were given a chance in SL there is no reason why we couldnt make a good job of it.

Yes we would need some major investmest, we would need crowds to steadily rise (like Hull KR did)

and would need to attract a higher quality of player, but why would this be so unbelievable with a higher salary cap and SKY money to spend?!

we have a board in place at the minute that has managed to make a profit last year on a very limited budget....more than nearly all SL clubs can boast. And are likely to do the same again this year having already won silverware and are well in the race for another GF appearance.

TBH i couldnt care less any more if we get the chance or not. I just thought id put forward an arguement against wasting more time trying to expand a game further than the North of England. Its not working.

clearly, neither is not expanding the game outside the north of england

Correct.....except for the team sitting 4th in the table averaging 9,311 fans at each home game this year and who will continue to increase the interest in the competition and the sport.

Also, I question your version of not working.

If you mean "they have no fans" then yes, London are a shambles, but if you mean they are a financial drain on the competition, they don't help attract thousands of youngsters to the sport that would otherwise be playing soccer/union, they don't win awards for their community work, they don't give the competition a "national" feel that gives advertisers a warm glow and they will never be competative, then I am afraid you are to be congratulated on your induction to the flatearth society of the M62!

London have never cost a penny more than the other 21 SL teams, with the exception of Bradford and the Wrexham Crusaders, who have cost a lot more....they have never been found to have cheated the competition either...unlike a few other clubs over the years.

The only thing not working with regards to expansion is the RFL. A quick glance at how the Aussies look after the Storm in an AFL heartland will point you in the right direction......they want the game to grow so they INVEST heavily and none of the other clubs complain or whine....they are a unified (to a certain degree) sport.


You also say..


...I suggest you'd be walking around with a hard on for 3 weeks if it was announced Fax were in SL.......but like the others in this thread who've had enough of SL, you keep trying to play it cool fella.....you've got most of us fooled