Wonder if QRL season ticket & semi regular supporters would be willing to put to use their 'wallet's' to provide £150/£175 + each by mid May to sign and pay for 2 top line forwards & 1 big strong centre at least for the rest of this season & again next.

If only 50% of the fan base contributed would hope the 'fans' could for once really 'help' the team in a positive way. Based on a conservative estimate of 1400 fans contributing this year & next the 'pool' for 3 'new' quality players - and perhaps 1/2 more in '11 - should total £448K.

Clearly the concept needs refining but one thing will be vital, namely that the 'pool' be ring fenced from the existing salery 'pool'. As to where to recruit my personal view is to look to recruit British 'passport' holders from Oz playing either reserve NRL or Queensland Cup level. Am sure a number of ex Bronco players & coachs would be willing to acts as scouts and recruiters.

It should be noted that this project could be a fitting commeration of the upcoming 30th season of 'professional' RL in London. We need a top four play-off team by next season and this is a possible route. Clearly the Board are unable or unwilling to take the risk so lets see if the hardcore fan base are willing/able to help - it will cost each of you just over a pint of bitter a week........to become members of the "London 30th Season Crusaders"

Over to you all ....... will be noting the 'moaners' and 'meanies'.......and more important the 'negative' thinkers........ for you will be ever dammed as the 'real killers' of London RL.

Id do it. would be keen to involve Tony Rea in any recruitment from down under.

so would I

Yes.

Clueless post, awful idea.

I'd say the idea is a non-starter in a recession.

Amusing at least.

Is it legal and within the rules of the competition?

Tony R has a limited market

Its been done at Oxford United. A fund was set up at the start of the season known as the 12th man Fund where fans contributed to a fund which was offered to the club for players. Its been used 3/4 times this season to bring players in and cover their wages and in one case transfer fee

I guess its rauised about £30k and been used wisely. Whether people have got £150 to put into a fund is questionable in this climate

I would argue the same as I have done with the football fund

Why is it up to the fans ?

Also done at Ebbsfleet United, Barcelona and Real Madrid

His current employers may not be happy, but there's nothing to stop him mentioning names to London. People had been doing that to him from Oz for years. Agents, mates, coaches etc. etc.

Those clubs are owned by the fans, which is entirely different to fans paying players' wages for a club that is privately owned. For 100 euros a year at FCBarcelona you get membership of the club, voting rights for the club management, access to certain club facilities and discounts on a wide range of things.

This proposal is for fans to hand over £150 a year (on top of tickets, merchandise, etc) and get what in return? It would merely paper over the large, and rapidly increasing, cracks.

Just a cynical point. Is this the Storming Bronco who has not parted with £150 to buy a season ticket this season? Apologies if I am wrong.

Stormo only parts with Cr*p ideas and complaints-He has them patented

Stormo hows the new sporting club you follow getting on! Quins are struggling as you predicted although we still have Jon Wells to come back into the team so its not all bad.

Apparently so according to another post on the Quins messageboard.......take a peek at the Giants site!!!!

Problem is we do not have the fanbase to make it a viable proposition

We have Squadbuilder at Wakefield, which is a monthly direct debit and the fan can choose to make it £5, £10 or £20. Ours goes towards young players, but a few seasons ago it was just for general players. Every little helps.

Your Board / Management are probably more proactive with the fanbase than here at Quins which is non-existent at the moment. For a scheme like that to work at Quins we need a) a fanbase and b) a proactive management structure, neither of which we have at the moment..............we can always live in hope.......

So what is being suggested is the fans replace the money that IL was putting in, but with no share of the business


Sorry, but I'd rather finish bottom of the league with a 5k average than 8th with the same gates as 2000.....

While I will expect a certain amount of critical/negative comment am both sadden both by the 'personal' attacks & the seeming lack of true commitment to SuperLeague in London by many of our fan base.

Am of the view that unless the squad is strengthed & quickly we are likely to:
a. end the '10 & '11 seasons as strong 'wooden spoon' contenders
b. face being demoted out of SuperLeague at the next licence renewal stage.

If the 'negative' posters do not get the message then regret to say they do not deserve QRL to even remain in existence.

As for my refusal 'failing' to buy a season ticket - after 30 years might add - the reasons are simple. I longer reside in London having become a 'non-dom' and as such need to be show that I have no commitments of any kind in the UK. and this includes even being a season ticket holder - that was the advice of my accountent. Futhermore was becoming somewhat disalusioned with the Board and it's failure to find a
alternative investor/s for the Lanagan holdings etc.

While do not want to be 'sarcastic' must indicate that as many of you seemingly can not grasp the 'squad builder' idea and are 'unwilling/unable' to even 'forgo' say one or two pints of beer to meet the £150 target suggested you really do not deserve a SuperLeague club in London. Might add that our fans are quite happy for the Board to continue to meet the annual shortfall but when a 'squad builder' is suggested your unwilling to 'contribute'.

Perhaps someone needs to ask the QRL management how they would feel about the idea and how much under spent we are on the salary cap etc etc ....... before 'mouthing-off' in such a negative way........as at the very least am certain that they would not reject or be unwilling discuss the basic concept.

exactly. this is why this idea is a non-starter, and even if it were to get off the ground, the benefits would be minimal.

I am absolutely stunned that nobody else thinks this and people are actually supporting this idea. I've already wasted enough money on a season ticket, why should I as a customer give the business money because the idiots in charge can't manage to generate any themselves? A business is not viable if it is relying on ideas like this. It's absolutely laughable.

I cannot believe the PM exchange I have had with 1 user who cannot seem to grasp this fact. No points for guessing who that is.

I think everyone else ignored the PM!

If the club said that they would be open to a supporters trust investing (key word that) in the club then that would be something worth discussing. But blindly handing over £150 quid a year to the people currently running the club and having no say over how it is spent or how the clubs is run? That's just nonsense.

Quite. An investment would be a different proposition but then investing £150 wouldn't get you much, and rightly so. I can't imagine attracting 5 figures of "investments", yet alone anything significant, even with the tiniest ownership incentives.

I consider that via a Squad Builder fund - and the attendent conditions attached - the QRL supporters will be able - at last - to have a real say in the running of the QRL club. It might also be the only way we can be even certain of retaining our franchise.

I think that the Directors are either unwilling or, perhaps, worse unable to provide the extra funding needed to ensure that QRL operate fully to their salary cap. Further the poor level of attendance & low table position - in the seasons since we moved to The Stoop - does not make the Club attractive to new Directors or major investors coming aboard.

As for the Supporters Trust suggestion regret to say that seemingly died because of lack of either understanding of the 'concept' or poor follow up etc by the supporter fan base. I for one was never contacted by the RL 'organiser' from the Trust after expressing interest. Hence seeing the urgent need for a stronger squad and funds for same floated the 'investor/squadbuilder' idea thinking that might be a better way of of 'floating' the Supporters Trust concept and so ensuring at least one or even two board representations for the long suffering QRL fans.

However, must say the the excuses and negative attitude coupled to the crass stupidty among the majority of views expressed leads me to doubt if any fund raising concept would be supported by the so called 'fans' of QRL. It seems that they really are not interested in investing or seeing the Club progress, rather they want others to pay for this 'cake' they then eat and happy with the poor quality [

I don't know, £150 would probably buyt a fair slice of the club. A business can only be valued by its assets and in all honesty there isn't any of them !! The clubs only asset is the goodwill of its fans