do you not think a scottish club could step up and do it the same way london scolars do it ?
theres loads of RU players up there who cant go any farther since the game went pro.

The FFR does not have any money but certain clubs can generate the cash ie fabricated clubs such as Paris & Dragons or the more traditional clubs like TO & FCL - it's stupid to suggest english clubs joining a french league

the big difference is that france does not have dozens of clubs who could realisically be monetarily successful - the RL network at semi-pro level is small compared to the northern english heartlands
France couldn't sustain any more than three clubs in the SL/CC set-up tho' it could support two SL clubs ie Dragons & TO (or a new Parisien outfit) plus Lezignan in the Championship IMO
the big problem continues to be the sheer saturation of clubs in such a small geographical area that is the M62 corridor - that's not anyones fault except the RL community in general who have always,without much choice of course confined themselves to that particular area.Work should have been done thirty years ago to spread the game countrywide to maybe avoid the current problems.
If the RFL are intent on spreading the game europe-wide then this is the future of RL,if they realise that actually it doesn't warrant the investment then such ambitious plans will be scrapped and RL in england will go back to being a parochial sport as it always has been with it's hardcore support and clubs teetering on the brink.
The french leagues will then continue as before so we are back to square one.But beware,france is catching up and the good news is that good young french players are coming through the system (aided by Bobbie G) and will be more plentiful to the uk SL clubs so,it's not all bad.

It's quite sad how much you wish your club were in SL.

its a shame isn't it we've only got three,maybe four over here.

Very Sad, Championship 1 just doesn't seem sustainable at the moment.

I fear for that League.

Sad to see them go.

Maybe a long time in coming from the days when the club first split and moved around.

The only teams that could step up are Bramley & Warrington Wizards.

with a maybe from Nottingham or Coventry.

yeh,the outlook doesn't look at all bright for RL in general tho' of course the so called 'big names' will get through it (mind you,Saints made a hefty loss last season) with the majority always having to somehow make ends meet

sad for Blackpool but a sad endightment of todays game - maybe a second London based team could fill the gap and help spread the word at the same time ?

The Skolars are doing a grand job with development and taking time as it is, another side could just cut their numbers and make them struggle. If we are talking someone new and low budget with a RL backer who is willig to support them in the early days (without promises from the RFL left, right & centre) then naturally i'd go with the midlands clubs!

Though hopefully we will have a Blackpool club back by 2012 at the latest.

People in the Midlands don't care for any sport other than football. It would be pointless putting a club there.

Looking for a basis of an ameteur side with a few hundred following I guess. Nottingham / coventry don't have top flight football and have decent RL set ups for their size so who knows... unless they hit Devon?



Key word PATIENCE! Expansion can happen, but we just need to remember it will take 10 - 20 years to do it properly not 3!

The clubs already exist though. They should at least be given an option to apply.

Really? Remind me where Leicester and Northampton are?

Believe it or not I have been saying that for years.

However, as someone who is running their own university's rugby league team in the Midlands I can categorically state the huge problems we have recruiting players every year. We currently have just 17 players signed up. Two of whom I'm pretty sure thought they were signing up for "proper rugby" as they put it. At the beginning of the year we had people coming up to us saying they didn't know the difference between the two sports, with some insisting wrongly that both sports were virtually the same.

On top of that, thanks to the kind people in the RFL Midlands offices, we displayed the Challenge Cup for a while at our freshers fair and not one person was seriously interested in "that huge trophy." Me? I was buzzing off the wall when it arrived. But no one else gave a toss.

Have you seen the amount of miles that have to be travelled by CC1 supporters already? You have got to be having a laugh with some of these ideas. why not set up a club on the moon? We'd be better off helping the Blackpool supporters trying to get a new backer for getting a sustainable new club off the ground that would live within its means.

thats a good idea,we could call them the clangers

Is Jason Robinson still playing for Fylde RU side.
If I am right this is where Blackpool played,can he not get involved and try and help them out or is he now too deep in the union way of thinking,in other words fook them.

that would be good if it comes to fruition - hopefully there is enough desire and enough willing backers in the area - maybe use the Dons as a model to get restarted ?

I would make Ian Holloway Blackpool coach...........

Could you imagine the interviews after the game.

I don't like football but they would be fantastic,he comes across as a very funny and passionate fella.

Basically that puts them out of the running , what they actually want is a club that doesn't currently exist , thats called ' expansion '

How many former players actually get involved in running clubs ?

Only Mark Aston and Carl Hall at Donny come to mind , players , even the football millionaires are not stupid enough to get involved in putting their money back into the sport that paid them for years

I noticed tonight that Mike Fords son was in the Leicester Tigers RU team playing at Bridgend , the former RL players involved in union push their offspring where the money is

Id much prefer the Soup Dragon i/c....

he's a breath of fresh air to a sport full of overpaid prima donnas etc etc

pity RL or the RFL couldn't find someone with the same passion to promote our great game...

I wonder how much actual ' marketing ' the Panthers have done in the fylde area ?

Perhaps we invite the best French team to Championship 1?

Instead of spending £ 250 grand a year doing that , why dont we just give that money to a Blackpool club ?