I'd sooner you go to Tripoli than Birmingham , I'm sure we can sort out a whip round for the plane ticket

I bet the language barrier would be less of a problem in Tripoli than Birmingham

Yes they speak bollax in Tripoli apparently

WWWWHHHooooooooshhhhhh!

Yes he is. It's not that people aren't interested after 100 years, it's that for 100 years playing league once meant a lifetime ban from the established rugby code, and so all attempts at running pro RL away from Lancashire and Yorkshire were attacked and systematically destroyed. There were a variety of pro clubs in Devon, Coventry, London, Newcastle, south Wales and Kent, but the ban stopped them building and the RFU allowed brief amnesties to drag the pioneers back into union.

But, in the places where league had a fair go, like Lancashire, Yorkshire, NSW and Queensland,it was far mow popular with both players and spectators.

Now union is professional. It is entrenched. It is rich. And even then, league is growing all over the uk. Look at the student game - last yea's semi finalists, Exeter, Newcastle, Leeds, Loughborough.

Expansion will happen because league is the best game. But it will be organic, not top down. When there is. Birmingham pro club, it will be because a bunch of people in Birmingham make it happen.

Don't be stupid, thats for lesser RL teams like Widnes and Halifax, not for such highly regarded RL teams such as Hemel and Brum. Get with the programme.

What an excellent idea a midlands team in CC1! What with S.Wales, London, Gateshead, Whitehaven and Workington already in there my Cortina will need a new engine by the end of the season!

Who 'they'?



Yep, that's a basis for business: some lads some bloke met in a bar once.

But they said it was 'ok', that worked for Del Monte.

Who are "Birmingham Bears" anyway?

They're a fantasy merger of Birmingham Bulldogs and Coventry Bears, which would go down about as well as the suggested (and actual) mergers in the 90s did.

Yeah, let's just keep the game secluded to the M62, shall we?

I think it's a great idea to have a Midlands team in Championship 1. We really need to grow the game to more levels professionally. Only two London teams and South Wales are below South Yorkshire in the professional game, which is poor from a sport keen to grow nationally. Hopefully Coventry and Nottingham apply to be in there, as that'll give them a local derby and help grow the game in the region.

Coventry could be a viable future expansion location, Wigan are already putting out feelers in the area and running training schemes for kids in the area this summer.

Cov Bears, Nottingham, Hemel, Medway, Bristol, CPC Bears, Gloucester, Warrington Wizards... that's the interested parties that I can remember.

Absolute rubbish. All of it. Except that league is the best game. But the rest of it is rubbish.

Expansion will happen when someone with money is given the opportunity to make it happen.

The most likely scenario is a bunch of people in Birmingham (or wherever) getting together, forming an amateur side, and that amateur side finding a backer with deep pockets to take that further.

But we just wont have a professional side 'organically' grow from amateur to semi-pro, to fully pro. It has never ever happened in the history of our game.

Except Hemel. and Skolars. and Scorpions.

That's not an argument. If you disagree, make points, supported by evidence. If you convince me I'll change my mind. I was at the SRL semi final, Exeter v Loughborough at Cheltenham. Felt pretty 'national' to me.

All those are semi-pro. None are, or are even close to being, full time pro.

Agreed.....I'll be interested to see what imwakefieldtillidie comes up with here, probably nothing.

They are as close to FT Pro as the Crusaders were/are , and yes the OP was about SL , but the sport is about much more than SL alone

This is mental even for you. How on earth are Hemel, Scorpions or Skolars anywhere close to being as close to FT Pro as Crusaders are?

Whats even more idiotic is you have spent ages arguing how when Crusaders were in the lower leagues they were spending money over and above the set SC on full time players like Duggan, Mapp, Dalle Cort, and Hannay. Now apparently they werent even as close to being as FT pro as Hemel Stags.

There is as much if not more infrastructure and local support for Hemel,Scorpions or Skolars than there was for the Celtic Crusaders

As regards the current Crusader incarnation , they are a plastic RL club with little to nothing behind or ' underneath ' them , they are as relevant as the old Gateshead experiment , and will probably end up in the same place

You mean infrastructure like for coaching, facilities, youth structures, marketing and development? and support like visibility and you know, people attending games? Maybe you would like to explain to us all why you think the Coaching, facilities, youth structures, marketing and development at say London Skolars are as good if not better than Crusaders? Maybe you would like to show us all how the visibility and attendances of say, Hemel Stages are as good if not better than Crusaders?

Except for their link with the scorpions and their youth teams of course

Hull?

"Gateshead" are one of the few success stories of Superleague. Top half of the table first season and then a successful relocation to the best stadium in the league. They are now one of the best supported teams in the league and one of only a few to play in a grand final.

Gateshead is actually proof that a well run and flexible organization can make Rugby League work rather than the usual idiots that run our game. Unless I am miss understanding you post and you infact are trying to say the Birmingham Centurians may work?