My bit of "London" is Wiltshire.

With the lack of stability they have had over the past decade its not a shock. They have moved half a dozen times. They really need some stability.

Most of us want a good solid team in London. The trouble is at the moment, the skolars seem to be the better bet. Decent results, crowds are up and decent club marketing especially cup final weekend. Time for a swap?

followed by a community love of the club. What the Skolars can do is look at the "growth" of the knowledge of the sport in the South and cut their cloth accordingly within their own community.

Rugby League as a sport will never break into the mass psyche of the southern sports fan, there are too many ingrained alternatives, based mainly around the territory football teams which is the heritage equivelent of a Hull or Leeds resident growing up with a love of League. We cannot even blame Rugby Union as their support is also based in small pockets around the greater London area with most permiership teams playing outside the M25.

The sadness about so called RL supporters wishing that the Broncos would fold flat and die isn't one of those people cast as flat cappers who could probably see how difficult it would be to seed a regional sport into a metropolis and expect a growth, it is those who supposedly love the sport yet will willingly be joyful about it's demise in any area of the country for the simple reason " it shouldn't be played there". That is what will ultimately cause a sport we love to become even further marginalised than it currently is.

I agree Homer, that is an excellent post.
I started this thread, nothing personal against Bronco's really !
It's not like they are staying in Super League on merit, if they avoided relegation (albeit with a generous overses quota) then fair enough. More of a dig at the RFL/SKY who feel the need to have a London team in our top division,
but I really don't see why we HAVE to. If the people of (a particular district) of London want a team fair enough, but it doesn't look like they do. Look I'm not being daft here, if my team Leigh were in SL, we would only have about 3500 home fans, but crowds would be boosted by the 'local' away support.
London is a 'long trek' in the Rugby League world, doubt many teams take 1000 fans down south.
For what it's worth, I don't think Catalan's should be in SL, it just gives it that European flavour, even though there is no welsh team in there at the moment. 12 English teams in SL, and bring back promotion/releagtion.
People forget that years ago, the team that WON promotion, didn't automatically get relegated the next season, about 10 years ago, Widnes (under Neil Kelly) finished 6th in their 1st season in the top flight.
London Skolars are having a great season at the moment, only get crowds of 300, but local lads who want to play Rugby League, now these guys I have nothing but admiration for, even signed Michael Worrincy, who played well for us earlier this season. It' about 30 years since Fulham had over 10,000 fans at their game v Wigan, now what has happened ??? Like I said 'nothing personal' that's why I didn't start this thread on their rlfans site, anyway time for my 'curry' - just thought I'd explain myself.

no place for Catalan! Thats madness!!

And you did that very well. You're an anti-expansionist who won't travel past his garden gate because he doesn't understand the "REAL WORLD" and he likes it the way it is



What you have said and what hundreds if not thousands of narrow minded idiots have said before you, is that you'd rather have not had in excess of 300,000,000 in TV money injected into the game in the UK, but rather be planning a trip to Wembley this year to see Wigan continue their 25yr unbeaten run in the Challenge Cup



London take 1.3 million of the SKY money every year......pro-rata, that's 22,100,000 over 17 seasons.......with almost another 270,000,000 distributed to the other clubs over the same period.

Superleague was created in conjunction with SKY TV, who it is said, wanted a team in the South East. In 2005, it is rumoured that when we were "voted back into SL by democratic ballot", SKY money was again muted as a deal clincher....in 2007 we lost our owner to Wigan, in 2012 we are 100% debt free.......we have NEVER received a penny in assistance from the RFL.

London RL has, indirectly contributed the funds to RL that have enabled the sport to go from a laughing stock with Wigan winning everything, to a relitively competative league with about 7 teams in with a chance of winning it in 2012.

Yes, RL in the UK isn't perfect, but because of Londons ESL team, it's in better condition than it was in 1995!

On the other hand, remember in 2013, there are a number of 'new' clubs entering League 2

In terms of relevance to London, not-so-very-far up the M1 is Hemel Hempstead, who have been doing their thing for 20 years now and started from little more than a pub team to something that has their own ground, club house etc.

Less than 60 miles up the M1 will be Northampton and let's face it, there are plenty of people that commute from Northampton to London each day.

What I am saying is, that with a number of additional pro clubs within easy travelling distance of London, there is a wider scope to unearth a Louis McCarthy Housebrick on their own doorstep or a route for players who have come through the London youth system, failed to make the grade and will not be lost to the pro ranks, as they will have Skolars, Northampton or Hemel to go play for.

[size=150"thousands of narrow minded idiots have said before you"[/size

Did you have to make a personal comment !

There is NO need for any Rugby League club in London - end of.

Sorry but are you suggesting Skolars and all the amateur, junior and school sides should pack up?

no, sorry. That is doing very well, no need for one to be kept in Super League.

A lot of RL clubs are struggling for cash, they bring NO away fans - well they do, in our challenge cup game last season, they brought about 10 of them. Their home support is fantastic, benefits the RFL in a small way ???
It's a geniune 'northern sport' but let's see how Northampton, Hemel Hempstead etc do shall we ?
Blackpool, Prescot, Runcorn, Bramley, Carlisle, Chorley, Huyton...RIP.

If London were bringing in gates of 25000 a week, took 10,000 fans to away games and were entirely self sufficient, there would still be "fans" on here saying they were a disgrace.
You know it, I know it, the whole sport knows it.

And Budgie - you said there was no place in London for RL, not for SL. Why would that be? Is there no place for RU clubs in Lancashire?

OK - I GIVE UP.

WE NEED RUGBY LEAGUE IN LONDON !

Well debated argument there......not one shred of evidence to back up your assertions, but hey, you're a narrow minded idiot, so I wouldn't expect anything from you anyway



Londons home attendances or lack of them are nothing to so with abyone other than the clubs owners and a few interested home fans...


Londons total lack of away fans are of interest to the chairmen and CEO's of the other 13 clubs, but if you work on the basis that 1,000 away fans is the norm, then this costs these clubs maybe 20k a year in lost revenue.........not a bad swap for the 1.3 million in TV funding they get every year from a broadcast partner who it is said, wants a team in London


London have never borrowed or received any financial assistance from the RFL......they have no debts to banks or financial institutions and have an owner who swallows all running costs......we don't even have an overdraft.




Yes....I did. For too long, w$nk3rs like you have been allowed to post unsubstantiated crap on here with the conduit, "I'm not having a go at london..really" added.....it's trolling of the worst kind


You were having a go at the club I support and with no evidence to back up your assetions that London is bad for Superleague. By all means debate with facts, but 1,800 or 180 fans at the stoop has no direct effect on any of the other clubs in SL or RL in general.....but SKY taking their money away certainly would.




1,300,000 great british pounds a year because SKY wanted a London team.......by all means have a whine, but a 20k hole for the visit of London is peanuts when you consider the funding the clubs receive from the TV money.

Clubs folding like Blackpool, Prescot, Runcorn, Bramley, Carlisle, Chorley, Huyton etc is really sad, but it has nothing to do with London (of the dirty french).......

RL is a Northern sport.......and well done you for spotting that, but in reality, if it wants to exist in another 10 years time, it will need to attract revenue from sponsors and TV partners and having a team in London opens up a NATIONAL audience.....

No they wouldn't. Why would they? On what grounds? Don't be such a drama queen.

They'd simply pick on someone else - the next crappest club in SL - Wakefield probably.

I really, really cannot see the point in London anymore.

...as a Capital City? As a centre for Government? As a condition of receiving millions in revenue from SKY TV for the rights?

Come on kids everyone's entitled to an opinion...


....they're just wrong

Exactly! And that is how clubs survive, even super league clubs. By having fans that actually care about the club. If Bradford didn't have deep roots within the community they wouldn't be a club at the end of this month.

Survival isn't all about having a rich backer. They come and go and can leave a club in a real mess. A loyal fan base is more important. Long term unless Broncos settle somewhere fast, I see more of a future in London with the Skolars.

As i said in the Catalans match report, they lack in numbers but boy do they get behind their team... I want to give London fans some praise for that rather than knock the volume of them.

I can't see any point in Castleford, hopefully they fold soon.

Come on, I'm a Broncos fan but by absolutely no means are we deserving of a SL franchise in our current state. Kick us out and bring in another French club. Until we or someone else can put in a decent business plan for a club into capital.

Shame the Cumbrians are so narrow minded, that place is ripe for a SL franchise.

So here's the scenario....

Your team's next home match is against London, Catalans, Northampton, etc.
Do you:
a) Sit on your hands and accept that you'll get a poor turnout and then bitch about it?
b) Realise that you have a prime opportunity to go out and sell yourself to the local population?

Any club that is reliant on visiting fans - customers who'll only buy from them once a year (or twice if depending on cup / play-off draws) - has absolutely no place in the elite league. If you know that your opponents won't bring much support, you know that you have plenty of space to sell to natives.

The whole "away fans" argument is absolutely ridiculous.

I don't know where is stand with London Broncos.

One side of me says that they are a shambles of a club watched by a few hundred people, nobody cares about them, and they are a blight on RL, without a filthy rich benefactor they would have gone to the wall by now.

The other side says that a London presence is vital (I'm not sure about this sponsorship/advertisements business) but a presence in the capital seems important.

How much longer will Hugh's flog the dead horse/bronco? . It's a shame really that nobody goes to watch them any more, really sticky situation. Feel sorry for the owner and the true fans that have stuck with them.

Could not disagree more with this point. Your view seems very narrow minded, and only thinks about the one time financial benefit of away fans.

To get more home fans at games you have to provide a product that they are want to be involved in. That involves both a good on the field product, and an atmosphere in the stands that captures the imagination of the newcomers. In my opinion, it is hard to create a great atmosphere with no away support whatsoever.

If SuperLeague is to move forward I think we need to have 14 (if we are going to stick with this format, although personally i would have 10) clubs that bring the full package.

now that is going to be difficult with catalans, who will never bring a solid away support (and no one expects them to). I understand the local promotion at games that bring little away support, and wigan have done this very well over the past few seasons, but if your are having to give away tickets 3 times a season then people are not going to buy tickets for regular games, just wait for these special (free) tickets.

also, if anyone truly believes sky would drop rugby league because we don't have a london club, then I am sorry to say you are wrong. The amount of viewers for the money they pay is the best they get for a sport. It may be there preference for a london club, but they are not going to pull out if we drop them, it would be financial madness, as another corporation would pick it up, and take sky's second (according to viewing figures) sport for a price that is insanely low for the value it offers.