how will the RFL respond?

a) award a SL license to another london franchise
b) allow in toulose
c) another heartland club other than widnes

cant see them lasting much longer on their current crowds

they are an embarrasment.

im an expansionist but you have to be aware when its not working

Why other than widnes ? They are the best choice

I would love to know how they are still in business now, never mind in the future. There is just no realm for improvement either, no signs that they could go better. It's a shame but they are well and truly gone.

They will probably allow them to carry on until a better London option is available.

Can't get rid of them . It is the best away day of the season .

im assuming when the next franchises are around widnes will be in anyway.

widnes are the best club outside SL atm

as an away day though aint they .

Don't think it will be a case of RFL kicking thm out, more them going bust. Fianancially I have no idea how they are surviving on less than 3,000 fans. Frustrating as I am sure they could be succesful with the right people in charge making the right decisions.

If RL in Britain is ever to grow/expand, it needs a strong London franchise.

You can call it bias, conspiracy, an Establishment plot, whatever you want ............but there is a reason that media coverage of RL is so poor. All the major media outlets in the UK are London based.

We can moan all we want about the fact that the RU Guinness Premiership gets 4 pages in a newspaper whereas Super League gets 4 paragraphs, but if you're a journalist living and working in London, and your Editor gives you a choice between a 400 mile round trip on a Friday night to watch Saints, or a 5 mile journey to Twickenham on a Saturday afternoon, then unless you're a Northern born lad, it's a no-brainer.

I dislike it as much as anyone, but as far as the British media is concerned, if it ain't happening in London then it ain't happening. That's why all the best shows are in the West End, all the major football Cup Finals are at Wembley, the big tennis tournament is at Wimbledon, etc etc.

The RL won't let Quins die, they need a presence in the capital.

To play devils advocate, though, why can't they survive on less than 3000 fans? Plenty of lower division football teams do - and they don't have the benefit of a tv contract. Quins don't have huge overheads in terms of stadia, the amateur development work is paid for by the RFL. The majority of football players in the BlueSq conference this season are on full-time wages, for example.

I agree that it will be difficult for them to be competitive in SL on such crowds - but I don't see why they would require significant annual cash injections just to stay afloat.

Take a look at their latest published accounts and you will see why.

=#400000Total income was barely enough to cover the salary cap plus NIC alone. the loss was something crazy - well well over £1m.

Maybe another re-branding?

Calling them Quins is a bit misleading... (know this has been said before, but I think it is true). It was a lot easier to associate with the Broncos.

Quantify Fail?

The team is poor currently- So were Warrington this time last year

The owner is a multi millionaire who will bank roll the club until his last heartbeat-his words

Crowds are not good but what does that matter to other clubs - see line above regarding finances

When responding can I ask that you all forget the quality ground, the youth development, the need to spread the game..................

When are those accounts for?

Do you mean their income was just enough to cover the £1.65m maximum salary cap? I assumed from this years squad that they are spending significantly less than that. Hard to see how they can make an annual £1m loss if they spend max. 50% of income on salary.

Who is Quins owner now then? If he's so rich, why do they no longer sign quality players and why do they not promote themselves?

Going by the numbers that Leeds usually brought to Widnes in our four SL seasons, I'd hazard a guess that you have no clue.



I agree with the RFL that rugby league needs a pro presence in London. But once again, the Quins are failing just as the Broncos did. Is another move in order, perhaps to Loftus Rd or something?

First off let me make it clear that I am not knocking Quins. It is sad that any RL club struggles, for whatever reason.

One question I would ask from your response though is, if the owner is so wealthy, why doesn't he put a million pounds in now solely for marketing and getting the business running right? Doing that means he might not have to bank roll the club at all.

He probably thinks for what a million pound will get you the return on attendances will never be enough and so therefore it's more cost effective to run on 3000 crowds

QPR are owned by a consortium including Lakshmi Mittal (europe's richest man, in the sense that he lives in kensington some of the time), Bernie Ecclestone (not sure if he's still a billionaire post divorce, but still fairly well off) & Flavio Briatore (former owner of Benetton & Renault F1 teams before his ban, along with various fashion businesses). I doubt they need the rent from a rugby team.

The options in terms of moving ground are pretty limited, unless it's out of London or to an amateur sports club.

I'd like to see A Cumbrian club in SL

Short memories some folks.

A club in London is a requirement of SKY and there loss almost certainly would result in the Sky deal being de-valued. Now whilst I agree 100% about heartland clubs and the need for continuing progression, the larger picture has to be looked at.

1) The French expansion is logical and I think most fans agree with there inclusion in the SL. Of all the "expansion" clubs this is the one that has the best chance of success indeed it has to.

2) London has to be looked at long term and we have seen a second club sprout up in the capital, we need to support and help if required for a while longer yet.

3) The Welsh experiment, too early to state if its going to be a success or not yet. I do feel it has a good prospect and having visited the ground and with a bit of help and support this may be the best opportunity we have ever had in establishing the game in Wales

The constant deriding of Quins crowds is now getting boring, other SL (heartland) clubs have had similar in the past and will do in the future. Clubs have got into SL and have risked everything on a place, to leave themselves in a financial mess for years is it worth it.

One day a club will fail completly chasing a dream that becomes the poison chalice.

One day?

Workington, Oldham, Paris St Germain, Halifax, Widnes - off the top of my head clubs that have tried to live beyond their means in an attempt to retain SL status and paid the price for it.

I mean go out of existence ..................

But it re inforces that finances need to be right and clubs have to stick within a budget

Ian Lenagan still owns them.