truley, truley missed the irony

Like people have said most structures are in place bar attendances at the moment. I don't think that will come this season I think their will be a greater push at the start of next season and hit the ground running then as with the World Cup being on this summer then basically straight back to the start of the championship and league 1 most footie fans in the city will have thier sporting fix and i doubt will come along over the summer.

But Sheffield United want it and they want the World Cupmatch , Challenge Cup Semi Final double header or World Club Challenge held here in the coming years. The problem is Bramall Lane holds 32,000 so even if the eagles do brillantly well and get 6,000 - 7,000+ fans in 5-10 years time then people will still moan at it as not even a quarter of the stadium would be full and for TV, atmosphere etc I hope it holds up.

I'm from St Helens and a huge saints fan but live in Sheffield for the past 2 years as I go uni here and from my point of view the change to Bramall Lane has made me get up off my a*se and go and watch and i'm loving it and will be definatly buying a season ticket next year. Hopefully the eagles could (i doubt it though) win the NRC this year and then be able to apply. It will allow them to gain alot of feedback from the RFL then help work towards a better application in the years to come. It's a great city, not in the heartlands and would IMO be a great asset to the league and the game in this country in years to come.

Just re-read what I quoted







Long day at work . . . .

Must have been a very long day if you're getting owned by Dally Messenger

Because broadly speaking, attendances = money. If you're getting less than 1000 fans for a home game, it's hard to see how you can compete with teams that get around 10 000 fans for a home game. The Eagles can be competitive in the championship because the salary cap in that league is set sufficiently low that nearly all of the teams spend their full cap and the clubs with bigger incomes can't use the extra money to simply buy the best players. They always seem to be a well-run club who're doing their best to get people in their area playing and watching RL - the current £7 offer at Bramall Lane is a good idea. There is no magic wand to turn them into a big club, they just need to continue working hard and do what they're doing.

please who uses terms like getting owned.

what are you, like 15?

my apologies for under-estimating.

thats a fantastic crowd for the club against a SL side

heck probably good enough for SL.

it is too early for them given widnes are a shoe in, toulose and maybe paris want a spot, but its another area thats got a good chance

Once again


NO

I would hope that all Chp clubs are to aim for SL in the not too far future. It would progress the Chp a long way if all clubs were in serious competition for SL spots. In fact, along with the dual reg system, I think the Chp's looking a much better standard of late due to this competition.
I'd personally like a possible restructuring of the Chp, two different ways depending on SL's long term aspirations but that's another issue.
2012 is too close for Sheffield but attendances are played on far too much when in reality if a team can get by financially in a new area, nice stadium and growing juniors...who cares

Let me guess... L.Ron Hubbard/nickcat impersonation?

For anyone with current knowledge of Sheffield soccer, how does Hillsborough compare to BL? Re- capacity, quality of seating etc.

Similar, but no pig muck.

Wednesday fan? Mr Price?

pretty good post there.

yeah the more championship clubs with realistic chances at SL the better for the game

outside of widnes who are a SL club, fax and leigh have real potential as SL clubs.

leigh with that fantastic ground could easily be in SL. fax with their ground completed can do things as well, pressuring clubs like wakey or cas who arent doing much on their grounds

Leigh have other problems re Sl but lets not set Starbug off on one.
Fax.. unless we go to a 16 team conference system OR they get a full restructure youth setup I fail to see what they'll bring to the table above already established W Yorkshire clubs who run full academies, already guarantee say 6000 fans (i havent checked averages) and are competitive. Hypothetically if they now were in Barrow I think they'd be in with a tremendous shout even in 2012 but to destroy a current SL club.. I'm not sure Fax are/will be worth that risk.

Outside of Widnes, imho your best bets are Barrow (location and stadium holds back what is a big junior conveyor, RL heartland area starved of SL), Toulouse/Stade (for obvious reasons) and MAYBE Leigh. Leigh though, they're behind Widnes by such a distance and in exactly the same geographical location.
Drop a bomb on Widnes, and Leigh MAY have a chance

As I said in another thread though, I would hold back an expansion franchise for 2014/5 guaranteed to one clubs application put forward in 2012. South Wales would be a great shout and it would allow two or three years growth time, as the Catalans had.

leigh/fax have no chance for the next round, more down the track.

only one SL club will get kicked out, the rfl wont have the guts to do more, and widnes take that spot

theyll only add paris and toulose if they can get their own TV deal that covers their costs.

so it will either be 14 teams with one team dropping out for widnes, or 16 teams with the previous scenario plus 2 new french teams.

barrow should never be considered for SL. the only way any cumbrian team should get in is maybe as a joint venture, and even then i wouldnt go for it myself.

I disagree completely on Barrow. There's a great opportunity to get a LOT of talent up there playing to SL standard. Like Perignan it's almost the forgotten heartlands and a great opportunity for expansion. They need a new ground and if that comes about I wouldnt have a hesitation at getting them in.
It wont be 16 teams, they've already stated it will be staying at 14 for the forseeable future.

Salford/Cas for Widnes in 2012 will be the only change and it's the right one imo, no point destroying 2 established SL clubs.
I guarantee they wont add 2 french teams for a long, long time. One maybe, 2 no chance

its all hypothetical but if the french clubs get their own tv deal theyll be granted entry

and reports from france are that stade francaise are interested in a RL team

why would the RFL turn it down if it doesnt have to fund it.

barrow would add zero to super league. it would waste a valuable spot on a team which adds zilch

Interesting choice of words , will Messr's Lewis and Wood be using that term in 12 months time ?

They will not dilute the player pool by 200%. Absolutely no way. It would either be Toulouse OR Stade in your instance.
Barrow have a ready made conveyor belt of local talent, they have a winning Chp side with local talent, unlike Sheffield, Toulouse etc etc there's also Barrow born and raised players running around SL. imo they're about the same stage as Leigh without the ground but in an 'expansion' area. If Leigh produce GB quality players they can go to Wigan, Wire etc etc as it stands, if Barrow produce them, they never get the chance. We had to move B Harrison down here at 15 years old, home schooling and so on and he will be a quality quality player. There's hundreds more like him.
Im not saying they should definately be in, but there's more chance of them being in than BOTH french SL clubs I guarantee you.
It's Expansion with an almost ready made team who, don't forget knocked a SL team out of the Challenge Cup this year and wouldnt need 14 aussies.

I don't think so Starbug but let's be honest here...

Lets , we cannot have the RFL destroying a SL club can we , they will happily destroy heartland non SL clubs though

if its 14 teams only widnes get in

the only way a french teams gets in is if its 2 of them as neither get in ahead of widnes.

you watch the rfl pull a rabbit out of its hat

are you telling me if stade francaise want a SL team the RFL is going to make them wait?

please.

and barrow would be a joke in SL. any young talent cumbria produces will find its way into SL anyway, you dont need a SL club for that.

why would the RFL admit another team with poor finances, poor ground, tiny population and will struggle to spend the full salary cap

who cares who won the championship, its largely irrelevant now.

hey if newtown win the NSW Premier League does this mean they should get an nrl spot?

and newtown would add more to the nrl than barrow to SL.

yeah im sure the RFL did its best to stop the LSV getting approved and built but hey it just slipped through the RFLs net

how many SL clubs would love to have a ground as good as the LSV?

probably half of them