As angry as I am with how the club is currently being run, forcing them to deal with Barnet Council is one punishment too far.

Besides if you think the atmosphere is flat at the Stoop, wait until you hear it at a half converted athletics stadium. As a disgruntled BFC fan, trust me, the Hive is a much better bet.

Ok, wasn't aware of the planning issue, and it's too late anyway, but if you could have your time again and go back 10-15 years I do think that there was scope for a London RL team to be developed in tandem with Saracens. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck, I would love London to survive and those of you who have maintained your support are heroes

Thanks for the good wishes. I don't see any reason why we'd regret not joining up with Saracens when we had such a 'joyous' link up with Quins in the meantime! In truth I think staying away from Union is the one thing we've learned from all this. 10 to 15 years ago Saracens were in no position to even think about owning their own ground. They were exiled in Watford as very minor tenants of Watford FC. RU wasn't the dominant beast is has since become hence why so many clubs left the city borders. I would imagine that had we have linked up with them then we'd have been swiftly brushed aside once RU's rise too hold.

What it might have done though is steered Saracens away from Barnet (a borough they have no historical link with) and forced the vilest council on the planet to pay some attention to finding a home for the loyal 120+ year old Football Club. And so, for that perhaps, I have some regret.

Quote ="willow6666"In answer to the op. i think not. I think Al-Jazeera will buy the Broncos. The following article shows their interest in rugby league. www.theroar.com.au/2012/02/12/al ... by-league/ No brainer for me, a TV company who are investing in rugby league, buying a team in LONDON.'"

Quote ="willow6666"In answer to the op. i think not. I think Al-Jazeera will buy the Broncos. The following article shows their interest in rugby league. www.theroar.com.au/2012/02/12/al ... by-league/ No brainer for me, a TV company who are investing in rugby league, buying a team in LONDON.'"

Not on his own he hasn't. It's been a catalogue of poor decisions by CEOs and probably the Board as well as coaches. Though I would point out you state earlier in this thread 'Personally I don't blame any individuals'.

what game our current landlords play is neither here nor there....neither is the name of our club nor the colours in which they play...

I am not sure if the fact I keep repeating it makes people think it's not true, but here we go again:

Harlequins Rugby League/London Broncos.v2 have NEVER, EVER EVER....since the end of the 2005 season up until June 11th 2013, NEVER, EVER, attempted to engage the local population. Visits to schools is a great tactic, but nothing works like engaging local businesses, bars, corporates etc. As for the local population themselves, other than a few adverts placed in this, out last season at the stoop, in the local free sheets, nothing at all has been done to attract them. A random guess would say that there are 70,000 residents between whitton/St Margerets/Hounslow and Teddington Stations......about 8sq Miles...with plenty of busses, trains etc to get to the ground. We have a poster here who is involved in the local press set up......take it from him if not me, the efforts of the cub up until now, our last season at the stoop have been worse than pathetic.

Yet again the club are moving as a result....nay...as a 100% direct result of their total failure to understand the concept of community based marketing strategies.


The club can move to wembley ing stadium and it will make no difference until the total culture at the club changes....and alas, that involves saying farewell to Mr Hughes...with a massive thank you card and life membership to the club and maybe even one day a stadium named in his honour.

As for the rest of the back office.......maybe SELCO need a go getter like Gus

I blame every CEO since Brown, I blame Hughes and the other board (sic) member(s), I blame the RFL. I don't "individually" blame them but collectively.....

Gus's role in this has been the most dramatic on and off the pitch, but in reality, he was handed a poisoned chalice in the first instance and secondly, he was patently not qualified for the role he was given.

Paul Brown (glad to hear he's better now) and Ian Lenegan are the only two people I find blameless for the fiasco unfolding before our eyes. Collectively, everyone else including Mac, Towell and Rea are all in some way responsible.

London Broncos. 1996-2013 RIP!

Steady that's close to praise as far as Gus is concerned.

Gus is just the poor sod who's there at the moment....prior to him, Blanchard was another failed cricket admin who was in the process of being found out at HKR and Hogg never wanted the job in the first place.

There is a common denominator through all this....I wasn't the first to point it out, but around about 2007 there were a few murmurings as to the role being played by our benefactor in decisions he should really have left to others.

As I say, I'd be happy to one day watch a Superleague RL game being played in London at the Sir David Hughes Stadium........but that will not happen whilst he controls the club!

Apparently Stevo was repeating the rumour that DH will be calling time at the end of this season. Now Stevo isn't exactly known for talking sense but (apparently) he is a good friend of DH. The totalrl thread link www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php ... ry-afraid/

Apparently Stevo was repeating the rumour that DH will be calling time at the end of this season. Now Stevo isn't exactly known for talking sense but (apparently) he is a good friend of DH. The totalrl thread link www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php ... ry-afraid/

Quote ="Hedgehog King"Apparently Stevo was repeating the rumour that DH will be calling time at the end of this season. Now Stevo isn't exactly known for talking sense but (apparently) he is a good friend of DH. The totalrl thread link www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php ... ry-afraid/'" I'd be taking this very seriously. Stevo announced Scott Hill, Powell's sacking and 2013 at the Stoop weeks before it was confirmed by the club. Close to Hughes, there could be something in this.

Quote ="Hedgehog King"Apparently Stevo was repeating the rumour that DH will be calling time at the end of this season. Now Stevo isn't exactly known for talking sense but (apparently) he is a good friend of DH. The totalrl thread link www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php ... ry-afraid/'" I'd be taking this very seriously. Stevo announced Scott Hill, Powell's sacking and 2013 at the Stoop weeks before it was confirmed by the club. Close to Hughes, there could be something in this.

Forum rumours* often are true. RL is a sport where a lot of the fans are on first name terms with a director or a player.

* aside from obviously stupid ones like the RFL pouring millions into London or paying for hotels for Crusaders

Quote ="Hedgehog King"Apparently Stevo was repeating the rumour that DH will be calling time at the end of this season. Now Stevo isn't exactly known for talking sense but (apparently) he is a good friend of DH. The totalrl thread link www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php ... ry-afraid/'" How some get great satisfaction with rumours! and putting down clubs! If I was David Hughes I would have pulled out before now the support the RFL have not given! now look what they did for Bradford!

Quote ="Hedgehog King"Apparently Stevo was repeating the rumour that DH will be calling time at the end of this season. Now Stevo isn't exactly known for talking sense but (apparently) he is a good friend of DH. The totalrl thread link www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php ... ry-afraid/'" How some get great satisfaction with rumours! and putting down clubs! If I was David Hughes I would have pulled out before now the support the RFL have not given! now look what they did for Bradford!

Stevo and David Hughes certainly used to be very friendly, I know of no reason to believe that has changed. It was Stevo who introduced Ian Lenegan to David as a potential investor.

I think it would be the best thing for the club for DH to walk away now. The club desperately needs new investment & management, however new investors/RFL are only stepping in to aid struggling RL clubs at the eleventh hour these days. Whilst DH continues to pump in just enough money to keep london alive and limping along, I can't see any new investors or the RFL being interested.

I understand that you are upset. This is not a good thing right now (though it might be seen as such in the future) but very few people genuinely want to see an end to London Broncos.

Given the way rumours aren't so much flying around but landing and starting to build nests, I'd have expected an official club statement by now.

New investors stepping in who dont have some 'long built up attachment' to club will only do so f they can see that they can at least breakeven and not lose money. The higher cost of living down here and the lack of a decent london weighting allowed will always mean we are not competitive and hence not viable, as supporters will not put up with defeats week after week with no sight of being able to change the cycle. Supporters dont come means money lost all the time.

You'll learn soon!



Although I don't think one or two forum threads needs an official statement.

I hope they get a move on - there will be no fans left to tell!

Very true. So it would need to be someone with a vested interest in RL expansion i.e. the rfl or to a lesser extent sky. I think DH would have to walk away and all other avenues would have to be exhausted for either to get involved (if they were prepared to anyway). I think it's time to take that risk of new investment or bust.

When DH leaves new investment will come forward, but will it be enough for SL

I was thinking out loud at work today about the future of the Broncos and I couldn't really come up with a lot of positivity, as you could expect.

The Broncos were called the Broncos after a link up with the Brisbane club and that got me thinking. Rugby League is up there as national sport in Oz so there is widespread interest in the game out there. As interest in the game is limited in this country, surely heading to an area that has a huge following would be better for finding new investors. A possible link up again with an NRL club was something I thought of. Obviously the downsides for potential investors would be the exchange rate and distance between London and Australia.

This!

The Club is worth $0 so why bother trying to "sell it".

Much better it is offered to any bidders who provide a detailed and specific business plan to grow not only the club, but also the game in the region (with assistance from the RFL).

We are constantly told by the RFL that there are thousands of London based RL fans buying tickets to games and watching on SKY TV....if an "investment" group can be found who believe they can tap into this market, then they should be given the club, with a 30% London weighting on the cap.

The trick is to forget the sport side of it......the business has a product that it needs 10,000 people to buy into.


Saracens have essentially started again this year...their year 1 went pretty well I'd say. MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE THEY ENGAGED THE FUCKING LOCALS

It was a rugby league guy, a close friend who started the Saracens revival may years back and did what he had done for Bradford at the time, why did he leave our game, because the way people at RFL treated him, they did not want new ideas as they think! they know best all the time, it's not just Our Club that's a Joke!