he has already tweeted "guess i'm looking for a job then"

rumour started overnight that the onwers of wrexham fc wanted to sell up and with that, sell the ground. no ground = no need to maintain the crusaders whose role was to make summer revenue and use of the facility.

second rumour was that a club had an emergency meeting with RFL yesterday

ps. Keith Senior's tweets are worth a read!!! he is livid!

So when do we know who weve signed?

and whats keith seniers twitter?

Yeah it seems that they did apply but have withdrawn the application at some point. It would be some story if the pulled the application yesterday.

I feel quite sorry for them ( cru) as I enjoy the trips to wales and still believe that if tapped into properly it would become quite a strong RL country.

Looks like Crusaders are going out of business, withdrawing their bid at the last minute so to say would appear to be their final swansong with Rugby League and that they could not make it viable in Wales whether north or south, I wonder if the RFL will get back any of the money it has put in this season to prop them up.

Good Bye and farewell

at least we won our last game against them.

Thats over a million quid of RFL money up in smoke then.
Should never been in in the first place.
Underprepared, badly managed.
I hope that the effort now goes in to South Wales Scorpions instead of the failed idea that is Crusaders.
I for one wont miss them.

Very happy for Wakefield a club very much like ourselves.

Crusaders were put in at the deep end way too early. Congrats to all teams granted a license for the next 3 years and i hope we really kick-start from now.

What he said.





And again.

if the rumour is true then i'd presume the RFL money will be secured via the sale of The Racecourse Ground

how they don't own it as far as I can tell, I thought they were renting, both them and Wrexham Town

Pev, the RFL are holding a charge against the Racecourse Ground for the amount of money that they pumped into them last year - effectively a mortgage.

that's what i understood. the rumour is that the ground is to be sold which is actually a good outcome for the RFL from a straight 'getting our money' back perspective. if things were to plod along then it'd be hard to get the money out.

in fact thinking about it, I know the RFL are being slated all over the place but how they managed that transaction shows how professional they are in many of the things they do. They ensured that the money could not be 'sunk' and that there was a way of getting it back if the proverbial hit the fan...

ps. not sure Crusaders will be able to put a team out at weekend if the mood on twitter is anything to go by! players outright attacking the club and the management!

Quote ="mmp" ps. not sure Crusaders will be able to put a team out at weekend if the mood on twitter is anything to go by! players outright attacking the club and the management!'" something I referred to in an earlier post about the team not getting the Franchise would they bother over the last 5 games, or will the players put themselves in the shop window, will the fans turn up? It seemed very strange annoucing who was succesful in July instead of September when the season is over, but thats the RFL for you, as for the charge on the ground I am sure I read an article on the racecourse ground in WSC which debated the ownership of the ground and mentioned the Crusaders in the article and the rent they owed, i will dig it out. www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/6501/38/ PS Halifax are not happy www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 87,00.html

Quote ="mmp" ps. not sure Crusaders will be able to put a team out at weekend if the mood on twitter is anything to go by! players outright attacking the club and the management!'" something I referred to in an earlier post about the team not getting the Franchise would they bother over the last 5 games, or will the players put themselves in the shop window, will the fans turn up? It seemed very strange annoucing who was succesful in July instead of September when the season is over, but thats the RFL for you, as for the charge on the ground I am sure I read an article on the racecourse ground in WSC which debated the ownership of the ground and mentioned the Crusaders in the article and the rent they owed, i will dig it out. www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/6501/38/ PS Halifax are not happy www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 87,00.html

so cas wakefield & hull kr get away with having a crap hole of a ground for the next 2-3 years again the,ll soon be more excuses from them why they cant modernise their stadiums . more fiction than Enid blyton.

I thought I read that Hull KR's ground improvements were underway?

No need to lump the mighty HKR in with all your "Grade C" rabble!

Considering its taken your good selves nine years of false promises to finally get to where you are, lets not talk about fiction.

Delighted Crusaders have gone, they should never have been given a licence in the first place. One home match with no atmosphere gone, to be replaced by a lively encounter with Widnes. GREAT! Hopefully, that other complete waste of time, known currently as Harlequins will get the boot or fold next time. Come on Leigh / Fax etc.

It's amazing how arrogant fans become when your club has a new stadium in the works. Cas might not have the best stadium however building will commence once PP has been secured for Wheldon Road.

Also it's not all about the facilities, Cas have given more to SL over the last 3 years than Salford. A better youth setup, league positions and currently a cup run.

Anyone else see the irony?

An embarrassing day for the game which appears to be stumbling from one disaster to another. The whole Franchise concept is flawed and has been from day one. The press release from Crusaders today could easily have been read out three years ago when they got in. They should never have been allowed in initially.
As it is Widnes have now got in despite having been in administration themselves. There admission now though again exposes the sham of the franchise system. Surely the best 14 franchises should be selected and yet Widnes were picked months ago without full assessments of their competitors i.e the current SL clubs one of whom was going to be dumped regardless of whether their application was better or not than Widnes'. Having said that it is good to see one of the traditional clubs in the top flight. Perhaps the Rugby League will finally start to see the light in their expansionist policy. It will never work.
The concept of minumum criteria is a good one but should be applied differently, i.e as in semi pro football. There is promotion and relegation but you can only go up if you meet the criteria. If this was introduced clubs would still have to work to get their house in order but at least would have the realistic chnace of getting in the top flight. To further aid this I would reverse the Championship season so that the league is completed before the Northern Rail Cup giving the promoted club time, as in Widnes this year, to start recruiting and preparing. With the cup at the end of the season clubs would still have something to look forward too even if their league season was floundering.
As for Super League and the game in general it needs to look at itself. Although the Sky money has kept the game alive it has also started to kill it. The game itself receives increasingly less national newspaper coverage and does not merit mention on news bulletins outside the region. Even the local press (i.e MEN) gives poor coverage considering how many teams are in the area. The only true National coverage is on BBC with the Challenge Cup but even then the station gave no mention in it's news bulletins at weekend of the games it had covered. The draw itself is sometimes shown but the next round could be on radio or confined to BBC North (Yorkshire), BBC North West don't show it.
The whole SL concept is also killing the game in other areas as traditional clubs flounder. Pre Super League the likes of Oldham, Halifax and Featherstone to name but a few used to bring as many to the Willows as thye now get for their home gates. Outside of the RL press it is almost impossible to find the scores of games outside SL.
The game itself is not the product it was. Too fast for it's own good to suit the big boys to the point anything goes. The number of forward passes now is a joke. The game needs tightening up. I suggest linesmen earn their money and should police the 10 yards/offsides and forward passes leaving the ref to focus solely on the ruck etc. And, how about saying the ball must go backwards, not even flat. That would level things out a bit and increase skill levels in terms of pass timing, run timings etc.
My final beef is the structure of the season. Summer rugby was brought in to encourage families to come down and spend the day at the game. Everyone plays Friday night nearly. I would advocate all games are played Sundays except the tv games. (On this topic there should be a limit like football on the number of times a club can be shown say upto round 20 to even exposure and fairness re video refs etc). I would start the season the first Sunday in March and end later, the weather is better in October, early November than Jan/Feb. The Challenge Cup is crammed into a few weeks and should be spread more evenly throughout the season. Thought needs to be given to the length of the season. Take the play offs out of the equation and some teams have five/six months with no game. Look at Salford, taking it from the beginning of July when the last home game was played upto the start of next season in mid Feb they will have just 3 home games. Hardly good for the finances, I think there is still room for a further competition even if say it was only open to non play off teams or some play off teams got a bye.
Rant almost over but there is so much wrong with the game I have followed since my Dad took me down to the Willows for the 1st time in 1973 to see the legendary side of Watkins, Fieldling etc. This season has been a tough one for us all at the Willows but even putting that aside I can say I have had less enthusiasm and interest in the game this season than at anytime in the last 38 years.

Well said that man Stadge.

Wales and London will never work. The loss of promotion and relegation has taken more out of the game than the franchise system will ever put in. Although I'm glad to see Widnes back in, I can never agree that the decision of a committee to gain them their promotion is better than achieving it on the pitch.

As things stand this season, Crusaders are bottom and should have been relegated and the winners of the NL Grand Final (Probably Leigh or Halifax) should have got their place in SL. Instead Widnes have been 'chosen' and all the remaining clubs outside of SL have to wait another three years to get their chance. IT'S NOT ON!

If Cas and Wakey get their new stadia, Salford and Widnes are competitive, London and Catalans stay afloat, what happens in three years time, particularly if Halifax, Leigh and maybe two or three other NL clubs have achieved the necessary criteria? One place for five or six teams and the losers ANOTHER three years to wait. It's MADNESS.

It should be a game of the people, why can't there be a referendum of season ticket holders to vote for Promotion/relegation or a franchise system. Because, as in most things the 'people in charge' think they know best.

Keep the Red Flag flying!

Unfortunately SKY run SL.
They wanted a franchise system and they have got it.
If they could just have Wigan,Saints,Leeds Saint Helens,Hull and now Warrington in a league they would be very happy.
After all that is all they ever show.
We are caught between the devil and the blue sea here, take away SKY money and we are fooked, with it we are also fooked.
Until the game is given more exposure on terrestial TV and SKY have some challenge to their monopoly then nothing will change and the RFL will continue to be dictated to by News Corp and their cronies.

Epic post by stadge sky rule the roost