You are right moving from the stoop is a joke and if the rumours are correct we deserve to be thrown out of the SL

Andy Wilson should get his facts right. We have been forced to move to this Frifay night because of the World 7s over the road. God knows how the police think our 2000 crowd will have any impact on the 60 or 70 thousand they will get for that but they forced the change.

Overall very poor article.

Very good chance of getting Harrow's Rich and Famous involved - it's the name of an Indian takeaway on Rosslyn Crescent!

Harrow, like Barnet, seems to be famous for singers and actors rather than entrepreneurs: Benedict Cumberbatch, James Blunt, Peter André, Elton John, Matt Lucas.

Leeds did something at Harrow School last year I think (or did the RL World Cup go there?) - there's money there.

And in the last seventeen years of Super League our average attendance has not exceeded the capacity of the Hive.

In that time the club has only had 20 attendances that have exceeded the capacity, 4 games in 1996, 8 games in 1997 (including WCC games), Wigan in 1998, Bradford in 1999 @ Leicester, the Cas game in 2000 when they had a promotion on, Leeds in 2003, Leeds @ Perpignan in 2005, Wigan and Saints in 2006 (first year as quins), Wigan in 2007 and err nothing since.

Provided we remained in Super League, I do not think a drop down a division would benefit the club, perhaps savings on current outgoings might enable the club to get on an even keel and build its own fan base. It would certainly make a change to have people winging about not being able to get a ticket.

I believe Barnet have plans within the next ten years of achieving a 10,000 capacity stadium (but probably not at the Hive). It could be a good move but there are probably other options being explored.

Just when I thought you were actually becoming more even handed you spout this codswallop.

When will you get it into your head that it doesnt matter how accessible or not The Stoop is, folks will not turn out to watch a poor side, in a stadium lacking atmosphere and presenting 1000s of empty seats. It won'st happen. Market it all you like, the horse has bolted.

So, lets not forget the issues of the past, but learn from them, draw a line in the sand and move forward. We know we are out of The Stoop at the end of the year so the club needs to find a suitable home for short, medium or long term. I suggest their options are limited and in fact whatever option they chose, holes could be picked in that choice. Faced with the current uncertainty in Super League as a whole and the stature of London Broncos in that overall picture, the club needs to cut its cloth accordingly. Lets say we are given dispensation and we move to The Hive with the objective of 1) establishing a competitive team 2) 75-100% of capacity attendances, build up a momentum that currently does not exist, save on rent that could be put into other areas (marketing!!!), take advantage of the excellent on site training and social facilities, sell ourselves to a whole new audience at a venue that is accessible to Londoners and away fans alike, a venue that when full (Super League) will rock, if half full (Championship scenario) will not be a millstone.

Talking of being a laughing stock, why ? who ? Do folks laugh at London Welsh or other such clubs in different sports who struggle for local appeal?

Anyway, lets get the Bulls game on and have abit of fun tonight.

What PC Plum said, with bells on.
Gutter, I think the foam that comes out of your mouth must have gotten into your eyes if you cant see this as a great opportunity to finally get it right. Anyway, I hope to be enjoying my rugby at the Hive next season while you bash futilely at your keyboard on the other side of the world.
Staying at the Stoop aint going to happen,take a deep breath and accept.

edit - something else that I'm not sure has been mentioned is that Barnet, officially at least, still harbour a desire to move back to Barnet. This for them isnt necessarily a permanent move. Broncos with their very own ground is a real future possibility. Where else is that going to happen?

As our crowds have tumbled and as a consequence the atmosphere gets worse at the Stoop, I can't see why anyone would want us to stay there! We could all probably be herded into one of the stands behind the posts and still have room for more! Yes it has good corporate facilities, the longest bar etc .. but my God it gets more and more depressing seeing more and more empty space as just 1.5 to 2k turn up. The 2 on the road games did it for me last year, Orient and Gillingham reminded me of how much better the atmos was at Griifin Park by comparison to the Stoop.

We're moving on, for better or for worse but I'm not going to be shedding tears or spitting feathers over us not staying at a ground that feels less and less like our home with every visit. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that moving to the Hive might, and I mean might just get us to the Holy Grail of a permanent home for London Broncos.

What are the possibilities of developing the Hive capacity wise? I don't know the place and wonder if there is room for expansion.

I think the new Main Stand borders the tube line and the other side looks like it's the sports centre/gym/bar etc but both ends have more than enough space for anything a club the size of London Broncos (past,present,future) might ever need

I think the Hive would be a good move. I'm very positive about it.

But I hope Gus isn't in charge of yet another rebirth of the club. He's had his chance at a relaunch and failed very badly.

PC Plum's just got a 'like' from me.

I don't like north London, it smells there. But it's better idea than Gillingham.

Gus out (GOUT), in any event.

Coming from the sh*te hole of London that's a bit rich!

"gritty south London" haha - I think we are getting down to who will have us, even this week Gus still claims there are still several offers, yes????

North London:



South London:

Terrible. Sun shines right in my eyes.

And the pitch is even more flooded than the Stoop was a couple of weeks ago.

Because I have a differing opinion to your doesn't mean it's not correct.


....ah, so because we now have even fewer fans than beofore, your solution is to move again.....guess what, we've moved a few times before and it hasn't worked.

Business and marketing are like sharks and swimming......and youknow what happens when a shark stops swimming!



Move again?



cover up past failings by moving?




I though accessability wasn't the problem?



I don't follow London Welsh......I voice my concerns over the shambolic way in which the club I do follow is being butchered.


Good win tonight....will have to wait a few more weeks to get my hands on a decent London broncos shirt!

My understanding was The Hive was merely a temporary home for Barnet till they moved back to their home borough, however unlikely that looks. Whether any of this has changed since Barnet got relegated from the Football League I do not know but as I said, my understanding was it was going to be temporary.

The criteria for a franchise spot was a ground with a minimum of 12,000 seats at the last round of selection. A mark above 5,000 isn't even half of the 12,000 minimum. Of the discussed venues I've seen named on here in the past, only Brentford meets that 12,000 and does so by just scraping past that number.

I'm also quite sure that a big thing was made about old grounds in the last round of selection and forced Saints and Salford to move into modern stadia, you could argue (and rightly so) that Brentford's ground is definitely not modern whereas what Orient lacks in numbers (their capacity is just over 9k) makes up for in the fact that three of the four stands have been rebuilt since the turn of the millenium so are in the modern category.

I'm just dealing in speculation and "what if's" but the only other venue I can think of is Saracens' Allianz Park. However, that is only a 10k capacity (which has shocked me), is modern and the pitch is plastic so there would be no getting kicked off to play elsewhere.

Moe I'm not sure if there are going to much said about ground standards if the new structure for Super League is accepted, not many Championship grounds are up to standard and with the current popular solution?? four teams will go up to SL1 after teams have played each other in the first part of the season. I'm sure that I read once about The Hive that there was no availability to extend.

Saracens yes but are we back to the same position we are in currently competing with union?

And you have to bus in the fans because of no trains ans buses dont they?

Yes! we are in a no win situation now, just think if we had invested in some land way back after we first left Fulham, if the RFL could buy Odsal, why did they not look at owning a ground in London then and making it a HQ for the game.

Or alternatively, just think if we had bothered to try and grow a crowd at The Stoop.

oh but

walkways
too affluent an area to care
sometimes the sun gets in my eyes

all bollox....the club never tried to get the buy in from locals and that is why they are sloping off to pastures new with their tails between their legs. The funny (sic) thing is,I honestly think that the really believed changing the name back to London Broncos was going to go someway to sorting out the crowd issues????

The bad workman blaming his tools ?