toulose do exist as a RL club

indeed if you check, youll find they are currently playing in NL1, or whatever name the comp is now

and they will be in SL next time

Widnes, Toulouse and Barrow in, Bradford out

yeah kick out a club which averages 11,000 for one that will average 3000 (barrow)

Its been a while since they averaged 11000, Bradford are bankrupt and slipping into an abyss. There are 3 much more viable clubs within a 10 mile radius

Am I missing something here?

Surely this discussion is irrelevant until we have seen who has/hasn't managed to reach NL and LER finals?

No, not really.

I was just interested in what other people, fans of the game, wanted to see happen.

Whether it will happen is another matter.

The only problem with AP is that he is not the head of the RFL. The sooner he gets a position at Red Hall the better the game will become.

It is not the same old thread.

In other threads I have said what I wanted to see happen.

In this one I am asking other people what they want, within the parameters of reality that the RFL criteria have created for these licenses (crowds, modern stadium size, not being within a certain distance of another SL club, financial viability etc).

I just want to know whether three years after Les Catalans has come on to the SL scene, with great success, and two months after Toulouse has joined the Championship, whether people on here are more open to new expansion clubs than before.

Thanks for following the criteria of numbers of choices I requested, and using up the full six.

I wish that there was a place for a club in Leicester or Nottingham, but RL is too weak in those places at this time for the game to be realisticaly able to get a team into the Championship by 2013. If some rich businessman were to appear suddenly, and start funding a club in either place, then that would be a reason to reconsider.

However in most of the Anglo-Celtic areas I had specified there is grass roots rugby league being played, several are already in the Championship, and there is an active search by the RFL for new expansion candidates for the Championship (the RFL called for proposals from Scotland and Ireland last year).

In the continental European case there is grass roots rugby being played in all the cities mentioned. Obviously Toulouse is way ahead of everyone else. But you have Elite 1 clubs in the Lyon-Villeurbane-Rhone valley region,, and in the Vaucluse region (both Avignon and Carpentras). You have an Elite 2 club in the Paris region (Corbeil) though a lot more grass roots work would need to be done to get Paris ready for a Championship team.
You have less advanced teams in Mille, and a recently started competition in Spanish Cataloniia, around Barcelona.

The admission of Toulouse into SL in 2012 is going to excite a lot more interest in France (and perhaps Spanish Catalonia), and maybe some of these other cities will get active and enthusiastic backers to make a bid.

I agree

I thought you would TBH.

Forgotten about Celtic Crusaders, have we?

It is, isn't it.


So why do people still bite?

The RFL want Toulouse in. But are they going to reach a GF?

Other than that, IMO Widnes have to be next in line.

AS said the question is do you keep expanding SL. This is the first year in a while that anything like a balanced fixture list is out, (MM weekend aside).

More games are unrealistic, so would they drop teams

If the RFL want to expand Superleague they should look no further than Cumbria, 2 good teams with good setups and (barrow at least) good financial backing. Traditional and expansionist.

There is genuine interest up there Dally,unlike Bridgend and London.Barrow,in my opinion,would have no problem pulling in 5000+ home fans every game.Add the away support then I believe they would average 6500-7000.

Yes, but where do you base the club?

Would Barrow fans be willing to travel to Workington or Whitehaven?

Would fans of those two clubs be willing to follow a Barrow based team?

Whichever teams "tick the boxes".

The RFL supposedly have laid down a set of parameters to qualify for a franchise although I suspect that, nearer the time, they will once again bring out their sliding goalposts although the rails must be getting worn out by now.

Look, I was dead against the franchise system and still am but it's here so I'll just have to learn to live with it. All I ask is that the rules for entry are set in stone and adhered to so that clubs know what they have to do and can plan accordingly.

As far as geographical location goes, I would rather see 2 clubs within a few miles of each other pulling combined average crowds of 15 to 20 thousand than bung a club in a big city somewhere where no-one is interested and they only manage 3,000 and I'm not having a go at London here but am referring to future expansion.

which 2 clubs could come in and do that?

Salford out. One of Cas, Wakey or Bratfud to be removed as well.

Leigh, Widnes, Toulouse and Barrow in.

Bradford, Wigan and Warrington out.

Bangalore and Uzbekistan and Keighley in.

Keighley!

Good call, but why Keighley

You missed my point. What I'm saying is that interest in the game and the potential to draw support is far more important than location.

While on that subject though, Cas and Wakey fit the profile but some on here would like to see them thrown out of SL, despite them being in the top half of the table, to make way for an expansion team.

Also, has anyone noticed that Barrow are suddenly being mentioned because they have started the season well and Bradford are being reviled because they are currently doing badly. I've followed RL all my life and I've seen clubs at the top of the league for a few years and then at rock bottom a few years later. RL, like life, goes in cycles.

Thats the problem.
At the moment i would go with barrow for the Finances alone. They wont admit it now but lots of worrkington/whitehaven fans would go to barrow (i know its not a 5 min walk either

) to watch the likes of Saints/leeds/wigan etc.