He owns a large share.
There's another big backer too, Hughes is it?

Yeah he still has a big holding but Lenagan is still majority shareholder.

By fail I assume the OP means if Quins fold. That I think would be a big setback for development of RL in the south east. The issue of who would replace them in SL is a side issue I think but it could only be the best club in the championship (in terms of required criteria) and could not be Toulouse who aren't ready or another London club as if one failed then another, particularly a quickly constructed place filler, is very likely to do so. The survival of a club in or near the capital of a better standard than London Skolars is the important issue IMO. If the Quins can survive at Championship level but not at SL level then for them to continue the decision has to be made to drop them down to regroup.

Whether or not the SL has to have (by SKY or RFL edict) a London club is open to debate. To enable the development in the south east to continue there does need to be a club that gives a better standard of competition than Skolars to allow any players of LMS/Clubb standard to stay in our sport without relocating to the north (as many would simply switch to RU to stay close to home or stop playing altogether). If the RFL consider it possible that the Quins club may go out of existence then they need to be putting contingency plans in place. This would involve sounding out potential investors within some of the towns where it has been suggested that Quins relocate to. The objective would be to set up two or three clubs in the mould of South Wales Scorpions that would provide the fallback position where at least one club would exist should Quins not do so. By setting up clubs in for example Luton and Oxford you would have two clubs that could then develop to Championship level within a few seasons along with a reasonably local rival for fans to identify with more than the likes of Oldham, Rochdale et al.

In time this approach would mean that should the Quins fold then there will be other clubs in the area to continue to offer a pathway for south east players, meaning the development work from the Quins academy would not be totally wasted and the geographic spread would still be maintained. Should the Quins continue to exist and be in SL then it would provide an existing potential replacement club to fly the flag for their geographic region should one be required by the TV contract for SL. This would mean that the Quins club would not have to be maintained in the SL simply as there was no other option and would mean that should a club be needed to step into the breach then at least the foundations would be in place.

fev

the crowds would be the same

im not sure sky

funding would fall either without a london sl club

the viewers will watch now regardless and its not as if quins are raising the profile of rl to such an extent that they are growing the numbers of viewers meaningfully

And all editors agree that whether London is there or not, the RL coverage would still be at the same level. Harlequins staying/going out of SL won't make a difference to the press coverage.

I doubt it. With Fev in SL, they'd get a local derby against both Wakefield and Cas that would attract at least 5,000.

I always said let them set down roots somewhere but I do think it's time to move again.
Why does the club have to be IN London, why not look for somewhere outside the M25 with a lower sporting profile? Wiganer mike's idea was a good one, only difference between them and the Scorpians though is 30 or so willing union converts and some good dual registered players available localish.

one of your lot mentioned to me some place called milton keynes

new stadium there as well?

The Stadium:MK.

I reckon somewhere in East Anglia would be perfect. Massive loads of people - untapped area and they have a few sides down there fast improving.

Milton Keynes is possibly a bit tooo far north, I'd be looking at the other direction of London for future expansion. Although Cov/MK/Brum would be ideal expansion areas in the future, a Quins type saviour club wouldnt be though.

Why do we need a club in London?
The press ignore the one we've got!

I thought we'd two?



One ignored even more than the other, ignored one

I should have said why do we need a SL club in London?
But having said that why do we need any club in London?

Of course MK is too far north, a current England international was born there!

Tooting Titans or Balham Bulldogs would suit me perfectly...

East Anglia has 3 million people, but only 4 places of any size - Norwich, Ipswich, Peterborough & Cambridge, with Thetford, Yarmouth, Kings Lynn, Bury St. Edmunds and plenty of smaller towns. No rugby union to speak of, no county cricket, no pro teams in any of the minor sports except speedway. The soccer teams attract people from a big area, though - I know around 5-6 people from my village who make the 1hr journey to watch Ipswich and a couple more who make a longer trip to watch Norwich. If you stand on Cambridge railway station on a saturday afternoon you will see hundreds of people going down to London to watch Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham... The few active union fans I've met in 15 years here tend to watch Bedford, Northampton or Saracens - again around an hour away.

An England/France game in Norwich/Peterborough would be the first international sport they'd had in decades and could get a big one-off crowd if you got the local press behind it. Just can't see a pro team working though - akthough who would've predicted Wrexham seemingly going OK?

We left it too late to go after MK. 10+ years ago I think a pro RL team could have done really well.

a) Looks most likely to me. Toulouse wont get in after the fuss kicked up after the express said they didn't need the grand final appearance, and having just watched them, they wont be anywhere near the playoffs this season without an incredible turnaround, they're awful.

Another heartland club I can't see happening, Fax aren't ready for it, crowd isn't good enough. And though Leigh have the stadium (and look like possible finalists this year) I think they have the same problem with crowds as Fax, they just don't look up to SL level

That is precisely my thought patterns. Using Portman Rd at Ipswich would be within perfect travelling distance of those within London. Norwich fans are very loyal in terms of football and if RL takes off, I can imagine it having a massive pull for those two. The commercial opportunity and potential supporter base is massive.

The idea of another London club taking the place of Quins is nowhere near possible. No alternative exists, the only other club in the capital above amateur level is Skolars and they have lost heavily to teams that have come through administration and liquidation in Championship 1. A new SL ready club would have to be set up, the few fans that Quins do have would be unlikely to follow it as their club would have been allowed to go to the wall rather than be given the help available from the backers of the new franchise, they would feel just as alienated as fans of any northern club would in the same situation. So this new club would have to find a larger following than Quins had to be able to survive but without the only people in the area that want to watch live RL. If a backer existed to set up said replacement franchise then surely they would find it a better prospect to take on an existing club with an existing (albeit small) fanbase, stadium, youth structure etc than to try to start a new one up in the hope that it would work where the predecessor had failed. If such a backer existed then they would already be looking at setting up a club and the RFL when approached would send them the way of the existing Quins club and tell them to plough their resources into that club (as they are currently trying to find a new majority shareholder).

If Quins were to fold tomorrow there would be no London club to replace them. As I suggested in my earlier post if Quins are expected to disappear some time soon then new clubs in towns just outside of London need to be set up now to cover for that eventuality.

If what I suggested were to happen with two clubs outside of London but still near enough to cover the same catchment area set up in Championship 1 with a view to natural progression and strengthening over time then in the future at least one of said clubs could be strong enough to replace Quins (if need be). As things stand scenario A would be a fruitless waste of time.

everyone is overlooking the most important thing.

which communities are crying out for a SL team.

the idea that plonking a team full of aussies in norwich/milton keynes/mars etc will automatically bring in the hoards is ludicrous.

have we learnt nothing from london?

never mind the huge number of people who live there or the poptential the fact is the vast majority of the country dont give a monkeys about rugby league and never will.

the only sensible route regarding expansion at the moment is cumbria, where people care about the game and grow up with it.

Plenty of people in London care about RL, but Harlequins Rugby League (they dropped 'Quins RL' but then disgracefully failed to replace it with anything approaching pithy) have failed to reach out to them.

It is a great tragedy for the game, given the opportunity presented by having a franchise in a stadium perfect for Super League 20 minutes from Waterloo.

Can other users please not that af has a weird obsession with our name, and to ignore his comments on everything to do with our club.

Who suggested a team of Aussies? I think you were the first.

Why does expansion mean a SL franchise to you? Do South Wales Scorpions, London Skolars, Nottingham Outlaws, Hemel Stags, Bristol Sonics, Blackwood Bulldogs and other amateur and semi pro clubs outside the north not exist? Those places aren't along the M62 are they?

In the south east there are a number of amateur and community clubs that are well established and there are teams competing in the RLC in the whole of the south of England. This is all part of a development process that leads to Quins (currently) at the top of the pyramid. These development clubs and competitions and youth rugby that are springing up are all vital to a large amount of funding our sport recieves from Sport England. To continue getting such funding we need to have this as part of nationwide inclusion. The existence of a club at semi professional and professional level in these areas helps to keep the players from these areas in the sport as they do not need to relocate a hundred miles north to keep playing and have a way to stay where they live and grew up without switching codes or giving up the game.

The reason I and others suggest clubs in the south east is because the thread is discussing alternatives to Quins and what should be done if they fold.

The sensible way to expand is to stop associating the word expansion with SL and to have the game develop at RLC level and below until a situation exists whereby one or two clubs can be established within each region at Championship 1 level and can then gather the core of their squad and support from the surrounding RLC and amatuer leagues in the way that the traditional clubs do. In the case of South Wales Scorpions we may just be seeing the first example of this system being used.