York didn't finish in the relegation zone, Barrow & Dewsbury did.

One man's semi-amateur is another man's semi-professional

That sounds about right RB.

Does it? Or will the remaining CC1 clubs now be in a much more competitive division that suits their level?

You'd expect that the two 'established' clubs that don't get promoted in 2012 will be of a much higher standard than the new clubs for 2013, and the new clubs might not even reach the standard of Gateshead/Skolars in the first season, but there's only one way to find out. If the quality evens out over time then I think it's a risk worth taking.

But why not 12 and 12 Matt ?

Absolutely no idea.

Even at Doncaster hardly a million miles from the heartlands we rely heavily on players from the Wakefield/Featherstone/Castleford and Hull areas. So where are the players in for example Oxford going to come from to build a competitive team against ourselves who are hardly RL giants?
Nobody has come up with an answer for this.

And I like the York fan who thinks they deserve their place in the Championship. Not one to revel in the misfortune/mismanagement of others eh? I’m alright Jack!

I think CC1 was very competitive this season and it will be next season so no i dont think it will make it more competitive.

Both myself and Richie came up with the answer a few pages ago.

York do deserve their place in the Championship, but even if York were in Championship One next year I would still be wholeheartedly supporting this move.

For sure...

Yes for sure, because unlike some fans, I like to see the bigger picture.

Thats why you miss all the ' details '

Pah, I got the important bits!

If fans really don't want their club to compete in a national league, they can always a) switch allegiance to a club in, say, the Pennine league or b) convince their club to drop out of the semi-pro ranks and find a nice amateur regional league to compete in.





You do realise this is an argument against [iany[/i movement between amateur, semi-pro and professional ranks? By this logic, no club currently in the semi-pro league should ever be allowed into SL because they'd dilute the quality of the competition.

Have you never heard the saying , " The Devil is in the details " ? , its where all the important bits are

acknowledges that there will be quite a drop in standards , when he refers to a ' leap of faith ' , it is that drop in standards that could damage whichever Heartland clubs are left in Championship 1 , once again surely leaving 4 of those teams in a league of 12 would have been a better idea

You should sue yourself for misrepresentation then

You were making the geographical point , I was making the financial attractiveness of the opposition point , Quins bring very few away fans , which reduces atmosphere at matches and tends not to entice your floating SL fan , hence why the likes of W1g4n massively market the matches against them , I dont think even they would like to have to do that for 90 % of their home matches ?

CC1 clubs hardly have significant away support.

But the point still stands , new clubs dont attract your own supporters , that is where any heartland clubs will suffer , their fan base will see it as being in a mickey mouse competition

Just as a SL club playing a succssession of Harlequin type clubs would struggle , please dont ' act ' stupid , you know the point I am making , and you know it is a valid one , its like the feeder club argument , fans would not turn up to watch another clubs juniors ' masquerading ' as their club

I would think it would be a lot easier to market games against clubs from places like Bristol and Coventry than it would against the likes of Keighley and Hunslet, no disrespect meant. If fans don't want to turn up to watch certain clubs then that's their problem, these sort of fans TBH are ones that RL and the clubs themselves could do without.

You're right, the heartland clubs were literally turning people away from their grounds last season when Oldham or Doncaster came to town didn't they?

not true. I don't imagine that many make it as far as Wales but a Yorkshire playing another Yorkie club will bring a good number of fans (relative to the total attendance). That's true of a Cumbrian side playing in Cumbria or a Lancs club playing in Lancashire (or Pennines generally).

No, they aren't. There aren't enough folk interested in RL outside SL to wish away fans of any kind.