Listy, whats up? Is reality a bit hard for you

IF DH does not want to spend more money that we can understand (I have a lot of respect for him to what he has put into the club over the years), but then why move from a stadium which was perfect for championship / League 1 which had a great atmosphere, a season ticket area which was 90% full, and all teams playing and practicing together....

If your going to move to a larger stadium and try and make a new chapter in the club history, you have to invest and make a splash at your new stadium, get a lot of excitement flowing, and get a positive vibe around the club.

If your not going to invest in the squad and make it SL ready, then you should not be moving to a new stadium and giving a massive price hike to the very few loyal fans you have left, you should be preparing for life as a part time club, in a stadium which was perfect for that purpose (Trailfinders).

I wonder how many Dons fans are feeling about a "Superleague ready team who would bring 3K fans to them" right now ? Losing to a mid table part time team by over 30 points.

Most AFC fans will be more worried about losing again & relegation a real possibility.

I suspect the dons fans dont give a hoot what league we are playing in or how many fans we get through the gate. I doubt very much that any rent deal is linked in anyway to crowd size initially (just my thought, i have no inside information) As for comparison costs with wimbledon and trailfinders, i dont knows, for all we know long term costs may not be that different to staying put.
My personal thought is DH has not got the same spend ability, if he had why do we have such a poor squad.
If others on here think otherwise fine, but cant see anyone on here who seriously thinks we will be in the running for SL slot atbthe end ofvthe season.
Why wimbledon? Look at leigh stadium! Widnes, York, whats the problem with moving to a decent stadium.

Its not wimbledon per see, its that if you have 500 fans (which is what Part time we have) 500 fans in a 2000 capacity can make some noise and you get a good atmosphere. For instance at trailfinders the atmosphere was much much better than at Barnet.. Barnt was a 5000 capacity stadium... Now if Dons is 9000, and you have 500 fans the atmosphere is non existant.

I felt the atmosphere in the main stand at trailfinders was great, lots of banter, lots of singing. you just don't get that if you are filling less than 10% of the ground

The Dons Trust have explicitly stated the deal is worth £200,000 - £500,000 a year. Plus the Broncos are now renting Roslyn Park and Richmond. That's a huge increase on what we were paying at Ealing.

Looking at the move to PL and the club as a whole, the sad truth is that yet another employee has taken David Hughes' pants down with unrealistic promises, and we all know what primate it is this time.

I feel sorry for Danny as he no doubt faced some searching questions from the press after the game. However, the real pantomime villains are Hughes & the Lobster & they need to step up & explain what this season's plan is, if indeed there is one.

It's your constant stream of delusional posts that are hard to comprehend.

The club make what is obviously a poor signing - 'well there's nothing we can do, let's give them a chance'

The team put in an awful performance - 'well there's nothing we can do, trust in Wardy and Langers'

Hughes/one of his monkeys makes another disastrous decision - 'well it's his money, he can do what he wants, there's nothing we can do other than accept it'

Why should the fans 'accept' anything that is happening at the moment, purely as Hughes is continuing his path of setting his money on fire? As referenced by another poster, the club are treating the few fans they have left with an unparalleled level of contempt.

Why can the fans not speak up? Why can't they complain? Why can't they make it very known to the club that their support is not unwavering if the they continue down the path of destruction that it's currently on course for? We are currently at a point where the club feel it is the right thing to DELETE any perceived negativity posted in their direction on social media.

There is absolutely no fan engagement whatsoever. After weeks/months of secrecy (which the club later blame on our prospective new landlord), we're told that apparently it's too cheap to watch the club so they increase the prices to £25 - you can save money and buy a season ticket if you like, but we'll be playing at 2 grounds this season that are 45 minutes apart. How's that for reality for you? Should we find this acceptable?

If Hughes is unwilling to cough up the necessary cash, he should be vocal in announcing that he is actively searching for additional investment. He should then welcome it immediately and clear off along with some of the other clowns that he employs. Otherwise, the club is finished. I'm afraid I have no sense of 'gratitude' - he's turned the club that we all support from being a competitive Super League side into an embarrassment to the sport.

Im the same. I cannot really see what the club are trying to do here. If the plan is to go all out for SL (Ground, Raise profile etc) then you need a team to match that. We currently have a side that is mid table at best. We now have PL, RP, RAA and Ealing as expenses. Why not.......Stay at Ealing this season, build a side to get promotion. Have PL in your back pocket ready for when the promotion comes. If the club think that fans are going to magically materialise at PL then they have learnt nothing. IMHO, if you want to grow crowds, you need a product worth selling, not a side getting turned over by PT sides week in week out. The youngsters we had playing so far this season, any that have a half decent season will gone next year anyway if we are not in SL as a club will come in for them. The best way to keep hold of your players.....be in SL. We saw that when we were relegated. Even in SL its tough. Im fed up of being a feeder side for SL teams. People saying "oh isnt it great seeing all the London products n SL " Well actually, no it isnt if they are not playing for London. I couldnt care less.
Ive seen us lose plenty of times, seen us relegated before (as many on here have) but yesterday I felt angry and gutted. Im not knee jerking by saying that is probably the weakest London side I have seen (and that takes some going). Im not knocking the kids, they tried their best, its just that you cant throw them all in together and expect them to do the business. Im sure they are delighted to be playing but tbh, its not really fair on them, all thrown in the deep end.
The lack of clarity from the club is not surprising. What is the plan?? If they come out and said "we have a 3 year plan for SL, this involves X Y Z with regards to the squad, facilities, fanbase etc then that would go someway to placating people, but currently its "what is going on, will Hughes walk if we dont go up, will we go PT next season if we dont go up". People may point out we lost to a PR side yesterday but for me2 things are important 1) being a PT side up north is much easier than down south and 2) The club does not seem to be able to build a squad capable with FT players, so god knows what would happen if we were PT!!!!

Rant over...for now

I have to agree entirely with you Mr Lister.
You have, in my opinion, summed up entirely the situation as it is, at The London Broncos today.
For myself and my family, our 2021 plans were very much in the balance, following some very disrespectful communication and being blocked on SM by some Monkey at the club.
We have purchased memberships however after some thought. Mainly for the social side of games
As a family we followed the club both home and away. We have decided that we will drastically cut back on away games.
Rugby League was what we did on a Sunday. No more. It will only now be part of the mix.
I am not traveling a 400+ mile round tripe very other to watch a poor team.
Last year we enjoyed doing other things. I am sure we are not alone in this.

Re the squad, I dont actually think we need wholesale changes, a couple of clever/decent signings could make a huge difference for us. A couple of big nasty props, that cant make yards (like most teams props manage to do against us), A decent BR cover. Some beef in our pack would help out no end. Get some front foot ball for the backs

You may be right if we had not suffered so many injuries in the backs to the extent where we are already looking makeshift.

As for the forwards, a lot of the damage was done down the middle by Halifax. On paper it appeared obvious to many that we were lacking in this department but for whatever reason the club have not addressed it.

2015 I thought was the worst year for the club....
Who remembers this result
Sun 23rd Aug 2015 London 24, Hunslet 41

But after 2015 it seemed like the club was moving in the right direction, we cut our losses, realised that for the time we were not super league ready, only have around 700ish fans, so the club put in place a plan to get back to super leage.. They moved to a small ground which fit the circumstances, employed a really good coaching team, and built the team up over a few years to get us back into SL...

AND IT WORKED

People started coming back to watch, there was a real sense of optimisim around the club, and we had really good seasons while at TF, to the point we missed staying up in SL by a whisker.

Then as was obvious the squad was decimated as our players went to the super league clubs, at that point we should be in a stablization phase build squad up again, and the look to move when the time is right. Moving now when the squad is rebuilding and we are at least 3 years away for SL again does not really make sense. Unless we are paying less to rent it that we was at trailfinders, we should not have moved.

What were/are we paying at trailfinders

Listy,
Just a few things, all i have done is stated the obvious.
If the club make a signing thats the clubs choice i am a fan not a lot i or you can do about it, so yep see how they get on. Example being sammut! First stint with us he got critisised massivley, now he is seen as vital by some so let em get on and see what happens.

Same with the owner spending the money the way he chooses, again, unless me you or anyone else on here comes into some serious family money, not a lot any of us can do about it. As for new investment and owners, like most business deals they are very seldom public domain until nearly done, bit like the wimbledon move, club were in discussion with several grounds, if you announce that openly then deals fall through and costs change.
Fans have the right to whinge and moan as much as they want, it aint going to change anything though.
But your "jesus wept" comment was in relation to a simple statement of where i think the club is possibly going, its noticable that you dont have an opinion on that thought.

If the cost we are paying for wimbledon / rosslyn park and richmond in 2021 is less than trailfinders would be in 2021 then moving was the correct choice, if the funds saved then can be repurposed towards the squad

If we are paying more for this, considering we are at least 2-3 years away from being SL ready unless somebody spends alot more on the squad we should not have moved.

Thats my only point here

Forgive me. But werent we told £250,000 year at Harlequins was too much.
At least we'll get a.lonfon derby next year when were down with skolara

I thought we payed Quins 400k???

Your second paragraph is spot on.

Yeah I've had that feeling for a few months that this might be it.... Or League 1 status.....at least we'd get the competitive London derby

Agreed

You claim you only state the obvious but in reality Wimbledon fans have been asked to vote on the groundshare deal based on finances that depend very much on numbers through the gate.

Specifically:

[iThe range given was between £200k and £500k per full London Broncos season. The primary reason for such a wide range is that the higher end will only occur if the London Broncos are in the Super League. The lower end is the minimum net amount based on the Broncos playing in the Championship and for a full season at Plough Lane with attendances slightly higher than they have currently....in essence, the more people attend Broncos games, the more revenue we are likely to generate. And the more successful the Broncos are, the more rewarding the deal is for us. [/i

The accounts that were "leaked" back in 2012 showed £257,000 as a figure for facilities hire. This could have included the training facilities and I'm not sure when the desk space at Quins was given up, but there's not a chance it was £400k at the end.
It would seem that one of two things, or maybe both are true here.
1. Mr Hughes falls out with partners and landlords and decides to leave
2. Mr Hughes employs peoe.out if their depth who then scurry to.find a distraction that will make their shortcomings secondary. Like moving grounds.or changing names.
My theory is that we are being touted to wimbledon as a potential addition to their stable when Mr Hughes steps down.
I'm no fan of David Argyle, but what he and his marketing team did in attracting fans to a new sport in decent numbers on a regular basis, regardless of free tickets or not is a beacon of what London could have achieved. Especially at Trailfinders, where there was room for a beer tent/festival scenario.
Now all we have to look forward to at best is being called Wimbledon Broncos, playing in the 3rd tier and praying for the end.

Where in the deal we have seen is there any statement on numbers?

My theory is that we are being touted to wimbledon as a potential addition to their stable when Mr Hughes steps down. And that would be a bad thing why?
Is a new owner not what everyone is suggesting is needed?

This bit should give you a clue as to how the deal is structured [i.in essence, the more people attend Broncos games, the more revenue we are likely to generate[/i.