1 & 2 no idea, hoping for a yes but not if the outcome is the same recycled dross that we have had for the past few years.

3 Hive all the way. The Stoop is a great stadium but 20% full soulless, access issues, huge costs plus the continual pandering to the might landlord its a non starter. Lets get somewhere where we are 1) wanted 2) not dwarfed by the landlord 3) has a suitable capacity for our CURRENT needs 4) accessible. The idea that moving away from SW London will in some way hinder development suggests that no development goes on anywhere else across the metropolis. Young players travel from all over to be part of the Broncos junior programme so nothing changes and to add to that, if a club cant stand on its feet without Broncos input, they aren't really a club.

5 the Broncos interface with the junior game is very poor.

1) On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 not at all / 10 very) how confident are you that the team will be in Super League in 2014?

1) =#FF00005. We are the last non 'heartlands' top level British club in the competition. The RFL has stood idly by whilst the rest fail. These include Crusaders, Gateshead and Sheffield in the Super League era alone. They will not want another failure and I believe will agree to nearly anything to prop us up for one more year, after which they would expect us to drop down out of public view. But I'm not sure the club is up for that arrangement and the RFL will need to sweeten the deal by again treating us as non-heartlands club in the quotas and agreeing not to bar us from SL on the basis of any Stadium we move to. The silence is ominous from the club.

2) On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 not at all / 10 very) how confident are you that the team will be in Super League (top division) in 2015?

2) =#FF0000 1 We have been in the bottom three every year since 2007 so would have at least a 2 in 3 probability of being relegated in a normal season, however the other direct relegation rivals of Salford and Castleford have attempted to strengthen and are probably closer to Bradford and Wakefield than us in quality. I'm expecting London and Widnes to fall through the trap door at the end of the 2014 season. Our only hope is reinstatement of a quota ruling akin to that held by Crusaders to build a squad that is more than just whipping boys.

3) Where do you want the team to be playing next season and beyond (area/stadium)?

The only Rugby Union fans who have any interest in Rugby League are those who genuinely like Rugby, especially running Rugby. This is not the case for the 'Chattering Classes'. In general those based around the National Rugby Union Stadium are there for social occasions and networking opportunities that Rugby Union presents and because the sport appeals to their heritage and background. They will not attend something that is about a code of Rugby associated with the Northern working class and seen as a traditional rival to their sport. So there is no point in being based around one of these areas, even if the Stadium is a pleasant one, and in general those who are 'for' staying at the Stoop find it convenient to get there versus the alternatives.

I would take the club out to a working class area, where people do not have a pre-existing affinity to Rugby Union, almost certainly a football area. I'd prefer us to share with a club with a decent level of support.

Fulham would be perfect and I wouldn't mind any Championship ground, less keen on Barnet/Leyton Orient but grateful for anywhere if truth be told.

4) Do you think its more damaging that home grown players are looking to move on or that its becoming hard to attract top players from outside?

I couldn't blame anyone looking to move on with the man mismanagement of Gus Mackay. However the best home grown players are McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Clubb and Dixon and two out of three are still here. A second list have dashed for cash such as Worrincy, Sharp, Caro and now Sarginson but they are now playing in the lower tiers, whilst a large number of other juniors have gone to Skolars. We don't have many assets to strip. What is more important is that we cannot sign top Northern based players. You will sometimes get the commentators from the North who talk about London such as Peacock and Tomkins but they would not entertain moving here. Our only real market is Australia and in identifying talent that the NRL has overlooked, perhaps players on one of the Pacific Islands or a guy who is about 21 but is still second tier, he could radically improve us, but might need some polish.

5) Do you play/coach/support any of the junior or amateur teams and do you think there is a sufficient link up between the SL club and the amateur/junior scene?

I have no involvement with the amateur/junior scene and the sole reason is that I try to go to every Broncos game (this season have done every game except Catalans away) and Skolars home games. The games are on different days and have an overnight stay. I'd be up for helping on a Monday to Thursday basis but that wouldn't be enough I'd guess. The pride of the southern development is Medway Dragons. Dragons? This could be a Broncos flagship!

6) What do you think is the biggest obstacle facing the Broncos? (i.e. location, financial support, isolation from heartlands, crowds)

The club is in a vicious circle whereby a single benefactor without a long term vision puts in just enough investment to bring in a 'last pick' squad, but he does not properly fund off the field, so we have a very poor infrastructure around areas such as support coaches, training facilities and conditioning and the weakest commercial/marketing operation in professional sport. As other clubs have advanced we have stayed the same or weakened, especially with the unfair interpretation that we are no longer a 'non heartlands' club. We now win 1-3 home games a season and many visitors to the Stoop do not see support as a 'whole of life' thing, more so an opportunity to hammer the club on social media without being there, or showing a complete apathy. To change this cycle of decline the club needs to find a new home and one where we can win 5-6 games at home per year else put off the fickle. But it won't be easy.

7) Would you still support the team if they dropped out of the top division and do you think a step down would help or harm the long term prospects of the club?

Yes. The long term prospects of the sport will be harmed if there is no club in the South of England playing in the top level. The club will lose players to Rugby Union and top flight clubs. But a string of wins and a winning culture could revitalize the team in the short term. However, I think Tony Rea will turn things round with a fair chance and without Gus crippling the club we'd do much better.

This 'working class' argument is horrible. There aren't any working class areas in London. Plus those that attend events at Twickers come from all over the South, even the country, not TW1.

Football and Rugby League are traditionally working men's sports and working class sports.

The Football League began in the Midlands and North of England with Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Rugby League began with the original clubs of Batley, Bradford, Brighouse, Broughton, Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull, Hunslet, Leeds, Leigh, Liversedge, Manningham, Oldham, Rochdale, Runcorn, Stockport, St Helens, Tyledesley, Wakefield, Warrington, Widnes and Wigan.

If you were to overlay the origins of both sports you'll find a tremendous alignment in geography between the areas and a very strong correlation in proximity between football and Rugby League.

Football has been more gentrified in the past few years but the real long term supporter has many of the values of passion, tribalism and enjoys the 'blood and thunder' of a big tackle and can watch either sport with real meaning and this has transcended mere geography.

I don't think there is any Rugby League club in our nation that enjoys support from the burgeoning middle classes who have a predisposition to another code of Rugby.

Fulham would be fine because it is a middle class area but has football in it's heart and the two sports of RL and football are correlated - someone can and will enjoy both. Leeds, Hull, Bradford, Wigan and Huddersfield show this, whilst many others are only a few miles apart. The Pit Villages are perhaps the only ones less closely connected.

I would correlate Rugby Union with something like the Boat Race - the same types watch both.

Good lord.

Alert, it's 2013.

So Fulham is now middle class. Where are these working class areas in London that you would advocate setting up camp?

Quite. To suggest that the club should be aiming for a demographic that is the same as for a team in a northern post industrial town is nonsensical.

One might as well say that Catalan Dragons should be aiming for an English supporter base.

It gave me a pretty good laugh too.

I'm sure Dagenham would be open to a groundshare.

I agree with Mark! Just as there are predominantly middle class areas exist (see Twickers) there are also working class areas in London. Newham, and Barking and Dagenham to pick two for example. It is usual today to deny classes exist but the economic reality cannot be denied. Neither can the working class origins of RL be denied, and that is the perception of the population who are aware of our game. There are a number of reasons why the Stoop has not worked and the games perceived class basis is one of them. Wherever we end up, roots have to be relaid, and I am convinced that football supporters are a more natural fan base to target than Union fans.

Of course as you say there are working class areas in London, not sure what world some are living in, if they deny that!

I'd disagree. Rugby league always had a decent middle class following in its heartlands. The club owners tended to be industrialists. The game would never have got off the ground without investment from mine / factory / mill owners.

Whilst there is an overlap between league and soccer in terms of origins and supporters social class, I don't think it has any meaning in terms of likelihood to follow both games. Rugby league is equally alien to middle class and working class folk outside the heartlands, few people are brought up with the game.

There is no reason to think that Dagenham folk are more open to league than Twickhenham people.

No but Twickers folk already have a rugby team and see no reason for another one!

Upper, middle and working class?
What year is it again?

There are the have's, the wanna have's and the chavs.....especially in London. Without going down a socio-demographic channel, Newham and other so called "working class" areas of London are predominantly a melting pot of multiple ethnicities, with a very high proportion of unemployment and are disproportionately a massive drain on the resources of the NHS (or whatever it's now called) and the benefits departments.

Rugby League, like soccer, Union, basketball, cricket, etc is a BUSINESS in this Century.....it makes little difference where you play games so long as you create demand for tickets. Saracens have shown how it is done......it makes little difference that they are now in Barnet as opposed to Watford.....they have shifted the extra 5,000 tickets for each home game through creating demand.

there is an underclass now of a generation that doesn't know what work is and who expect everything to be given to them on benefits...this is the new 'LOWER" OR "WORKING CLASS" and they are not the target audience any business should be looking at!

I can understand that but I've never understood the argument that working class Londoners would have more of an affinity for rugby league than their posher brethren. If anything you might argue that middle class folk might be more open to new experiences.

Lower Classes go dogging...middle classes go Swinging...the upper classes just enjoy f**king the other 2

You don't understand it because that argument is a fallacy. We have surely played at enough places in London to know that location does not make much difference to how many fans we attract. What does make a difference is having a team that gives a and doing a bit of marketing.

It's 2013! thought you would know that!



There are classes still, and it can be seen by property, many are proud to be working class, and they do work! but they will always live in a council property or rented, there is no shame in that. Middle classes tend to own their own property! they are both that appeal more to football and rugby league. Of course this is not always going to be the case, there will be some upper class, but not many.

What impressed me at that first game at Fulham, was how it was working class and mainly Families, not just children and parents, but grandparents, it felt as if the club was part of the community. I wonder if we had continued to play at Fulham what our attendances may have been now? with a good fan base, would the team also have been better, no one will ever know that answer.

I don't agree completely with jbuzza, yes what happens on the pitch is most important, you can spend all the money in London, but if the product is not right, fans will not come back over and over again. Fans in the North are 95% from that community, they have grown up with the game and club, we will not have that for a long time and we have to stay in one area if we are going to achieve that, but I know it will never be Twickenham.

@jaybs

I don't know that these working class communities really exist any more. Fulham RLFC was the early 80s - since then we've had the loss of traditional jobs plus gentrification; further mass migration and white flight.

I remember reading Nick Hornby's book on soccer. On moving to Highbury, he had expected it to be full of Arsenal fans loyally making the pilgrimage every Sunday, instead he found that Arsenal fans travelled in and the local community viewed home games as an inconvenience. And that was a book written in the early / mid 90s.

Broncos need a base to create a community but the community needs to be created, it does not exist naturally. Even if Fulham had stayed Fulham, there would have been a need to keep recreating the community of support.

My point is that it is no more likely to be successful in any other place in London. Remember we had some good crowds at the Stoop first time round. By focusing on location we are simply trying to solve the wrong problem. It is a smokescreen for all the other failings at the club. Frankly ridiculous that our future is dependent on this. Makes you wonder if David Hughes wanted an excuse to get out when he saw what a failure things had become.

Don't know if you will remember, but first time around we always did well with corporate boxes all full every game, there was also a time when we did a promotion with Capital Radio, who at that stage were the Number 1 Radio Station, also we had a fair team, think of some of those big names.

Seriously David Hughes could have got out at any time, he never needed excuses, you just cut off the tap! be fair the personal money pumped in has been way above what any owner has put in any club in Super League virtually. Wakefield is in a mess for £400,000, David Hughes put in just over £2 million a season.

I didn't intend to start a class debate but its funny how these forums go on here. An argument between posters always results! Ha.

Anyway, here is the piece your comments helped inform: [urlhttp://markillsport.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/should-we-be-worried-about-london.html[/url

Good luck to the Broncos for 2014 and the long term. Keep supporting Rugby League and your team and don't keep the Rugby League secret to yourselves like many northerners want to!

You would have to be a total simpleton to want to return to Fulham.

Anyone who has visited the ground will know it's not particularly accessible by car for visiting supporters and has a lot of parking restrictions in the area so even less 'away' fans will bother coming. Even from a home supporters perspective the nearest tube station is a good 10 minute walk.

Griffin Park (Brentford) was in a not particularly nice area with only on street parking for away fans (as far as I can remember), a 10 -15 walk to the nearest tube station and the ground itself was nothing special.

Loftus Rd (home of QPR) has been mentioned on other forums and might be a reasonable option. Parking in selected streets nearby to the ground is free at weekends, Shepherds Bush is the nearest tube and is a 10 minute or so walk. There is a large Westfield Shopping centre in Shepherds Bush )about 15 mins walk) with an underground car park if you don't fancy parking on the streets around the ground.