Does anybody know when clubs must submit their applications and when the announcement about who will be involved 2012-2015 will be announced?

About this time next year is announcement time, I'm guessing applications will have to be in jan/feb time tbh

Ok thanks somebody said yesterday that they had to be in for November. The championship club would be told in Spring and the leaving Super League side told in the summer. Didn't sound right so thought i'd check.

That could be right, im completely guessing tbh it could well be november but I think they'd announce the winners of the franchise together in June/July

wonder if any club as been told already

Wouldn't it be better announcing the licence apps at the end of the 2011 season ?

No.

It gives the promoted club a chance to recruit a better squad, if notified earlier. Otherwise there’ll be no one of any real quality left, because all the SL clubs will have snapped up all the talent, leaving the newly licenced club with the scraps.

I think they’ll announce the promoted club around june/July 2011, and the demoted club will probably find out at the end of the season, for obvious reasons.

=#8040FFYep, imagine the agro at games with the SL team kicked out, what's to stop riots/protests/players head hunting etc?




=#8000FFIt's the RFL, they will balls it up somehow, probably tell the teams the wrong way round

Unless the RFL and clubs have made a change since it was first announced, the applications will be submitted in 2011. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2%80 ... e_licences

Unless the RFL and clubs have made a change since it was first announced, the applications will be submitted in 2011. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2%80 ... e_licences

Were not allowed to tell anyone

So its

from me.

Is it absolutely certain that at least one current Super League club will lose its place and that at least one Championship club will get a license? The Wikipedia article cited above simply says that Championship clubs which win the cup or reach the Grand Final are eligible to apply not that they are guaranteed a place. People occasionally say that the RFL has promised that at least one Championship club will get a license next time around but I can't find any official statement to that effect.

there was def a comment to that effect. Seems crazy to me, what if teh Sl club is stronger than than the CC1 club, what would be the sense in relegating one to repalce with a weaker one?

That's not the case though is it? There's about 4 SL clubs on a weaker footing all round than Widnes and about 3 behind Leigh. Plenty of scope for kicking out. And that's how it should be. That's the whole point of the system - not only to improve those clubs without licenses but also to make sure those with them don't sit back and fart their privilege away. 2011 will be a wake up call for some clubs and rightly so.

You have been smoking something seriously bad for you, if you honestly think that!

Get a grip! No matter how many times people post dross on here, it doesn't make it any more truthful or likely to happen.

There certainly is room for improvement, but there are not 4 clubs that Widnes could replace (and the RFL haven'the balls to get rid of the one they could).

There are no clubs that Leigh could replace.

...... and sure enough - the first reply from a fan of one of those clubs

Yes, a fan from one of those clubs that aren't behind Widnes (and definitely not behind Leigh).

There are about 12 such clubs Sherlock!

I can see no obvious reasons.

I think they'll announce all 14 successful applicants for licenses around June/july 2011, just as they did in 2008, whether those clubs are in the Championship or SL at the time.

A club moving into SL for three years from the Championship needs time to prepare, true – but so will any club moving into the Championship for three years from SL.


riots? wtf??

=#8000FFYeah, you've seen how Cas fans get after a few bad refereeing decisions so how do you think they'd act at games if they got kicked out of SL?

The difference being that they weren't removing any clubs from SL - just adding 2 new ones. The only controversy was Crusaders ahead of Widnes - whether you think it was a good reason or not, there was a logical argument for this. The Widnes club reacted with dignity, and there is a good chance their patience will be rewarded this time around. Depriving a club of their current status is going to be more controversial, and it is going to ruin the last 1/3 of somebody's season, throwing players' futures and that of the club into doubt. There is no way around it and riots is a bit ott, but there will certainly be anger.

The RFL have confirmed that at least one Championship club will get a licence.

They have never said that a current SL club would lose it's place in order to accommodate them.

However, the recent decision by the SL clubs to remain at a 14 club league kind of means that's now a certainty to happen.

I think so too.Both clubs,the one 'promoted' and the one 'relegated' need to know where they stand as early as possible.

Even under P&R clubs, players and fans knew they were going down half-way through the season (Halifax definitely, Leigh …). Yes some people will be upset. And every club has a few morons around it.
It won't make the situation any easier to leave 13 clubs in doubt for a full half a season and then drop it as a bombshell on one or more clubs that they're leaving the league on the last day.

Remember - no club has a licence for 2012-15, leaving them all in the dark (except for those successful applicants from outside the current SL) until the end of the 2011 season would be a recipe for disaster

I agree. Fans understood and accepted P&R a little better though. There are plenty of pros to licensing, but I think this is one clear con. Also a relegated club could hope for promotion, it was achieveable in a way that self-funding a new stadium in the championship is not. Been booted out will have a sense of finality about it, I fear. Doing best and doing right aren't always the same and no system is perfect.

There was definately some missive from the RFL stating that clubs can only move up or down the license grades by one step at a time. I read into that, that any club with an A license last time must get at least a B license this time. The implication being that there are already clubs which know they are in next time. If that is correct then presumably any club with an A or B license last time will be in and those clubs with a C license are the ones whose places are uncertain.