The Celtic League was set up in 2001 but only got a sponsor in 2006. That's five seasons with no sponsor before the world wide recession.

You are not talking about the same thing nor are you correct to say the fans want certain things. It is some fans. There were many posts from fans wanting both Crusaders and Bradford thrown out, just as a quick view of the VT thread shows there are plenty who want to see the back of London.

Equally some fans just want the club supported taking into account the difficulties of being outside the heartlands without necessarily wanting good money pumped in after bad.

When the Lenegan share issue was resolved David Hughes made a speech on the pitch saying the RFL had agreed that it shouldn't be left to one man to advance the game in London. The RFL would assist on development and marketing. Earlier this year the RFL shut its media, marketing and development office in London and it would appear again expecting a struggling club to pick up the tab. Now there are rumours circulating that they are not going to assist with the academy either. No wonder he has had a gutful.

I cannot see how this is sensible long term planning for the good of the game in the UK let alone something to applaud.

Btw if the retreat is unavoidable because consolidation has been avoided for years, isn't that the fault of those in management who should be planning for the future. We have been in recession for five years now. Surely someone at the RFL must have noticed before this year.

Well yeah but the Crusaders and Bradford things were more than just a "We're in a recession now". Hence why I say we are now paying the price.

Sorry but are you trying to say that the RFL's present problems are due to supporting Crusaders and Bradford. Weren't those debts iae guaranteed by charges against the respective stadiums (and already repaid in the case of Crusaders)

No.

Crusaders have not paid their debts and the debt is never likely to be paid. The 700k might be secured against the stadium but that means nothing.

Bradford pay rent. The RFL won't have had anything like their initial outlay repaid.

I know you like the last word, but is Football & Rugby Union not in a recession, other sports that get TV coverage like Super League does, do obtain major financial sponsorship, the reality regardless of what may have happened years ago with the Celtic League, and is Fact The RFL has now failed for two [ast season's to obtain major financial sponsorship for Super League, that is why they are having to make the current cuts, which I agree with Ian Lenaghan is not acceptable. When this happens in industry or commerce someone has to take responsibility & suffer the consequences.

We're clearly not comparable with soccer and much as I would like us to be comparable with RU we aren't.

As a sport we're the fourth largest team sport in the UK (cricket being the other). We have never been able to get deals like the other sports and that's done to our precarious position (on-going since 1895). WHilst I agree that Woods has done buggerall about it and should probably go, he didn't cause this problem.

If you look at the attendances in the top flight for RU, they are about the same as RL, however, the ticket prices are about 50% higher. That's why they generally get better deals than we do. Their fans have more money.

Quote ="gutterfax"What has Wood done that needs to be applauded? Difficult period? The Welsh farce was purely down to bad decisions being made at the RFL, as was the Stobart deal. The troubles at Bradford (3 owners inside 2 years), Wakefield, London and Salford (nearly) are not his issue, yet he involves himself heavily in 2 of them but ignores the other 2. The NRail cup is no more, he has tried to placate the Championship Clubs by buying them with SL TV money and binning licencing, something a majority of SL clubs now seem to have an issue with and the premier comp in Europe is still without a naming sponsor 3 years after Engage announced they were offski! I for one a thrilled that IL and the dissenters have chosen to have a go during the RLWC.....Wood will quite happily take all the credit for what has been a great comp and try to use this as a position of strength.....I suspect he will have to back down on a number of issues or face being in charge of a sport that is missing it's top 13 English draw-cards....he can then fight BARLA for control of what's left of the game below Super League.'" Even the Aussies saw this coming. www.leaguefreak.com/what-shall-w ... ncos-6201/

Quote ="gutterfax"What has Wood done that needs to be applauded? Difficult period? The Welsh farce was purely down to bad decisions being made at the RFL, as was the Stobart deal. The troubles at Bradford (3 owners inside 2 years), Wakefield, London and Salford (nearly) are not his issue, yet he involves himself heavily in 2 of them but ignores the other 2. The NRail cup is no more, he has tried to placate the Championship Clubs by buying them with SL TV money and binning licencing, something a majority of SL clubs now seem to have an issue with and the premier comp in Europe is still without a naming sponsor 3 years after Engage announced they were offski! I for one a thrilled that IL and the dissenters have chosen to have a go during the RLWC.....Wood will quite happily take all the credit for what has been a great comp and try to use this as a position of strength.....I suspect he will have to back down on a number of issues or face being in charge of a sport that is missing it's top 13 English draw-cards....he can then fight BARLA for control of what's left of the game below Super League.'" Even the Aussies saw this coming. www.leaguefreak.com/what-shall-w ... ncos-6201/

Quote ="Cassandra"Even the Aussies saw this coming. www.leaguefreak.com/what-shall-w ... ncos-6201/'" A good article but one small error .... The RFL have not pumped millions in to LB. As you often point out to others on the VT

Quote ="Cassandra"Even the Aussies saw this coming. www.leaguefreak.com/what-shall-w ... ncos-6201/'" A good article but one small error .... The RFL have not pumped millions in to LB. As you often point out to others on the VT

It wouldn't surprise me if the board did a runner and ourselves and the players learnt our fate from the TV or twitter, than the club themselves.

It seems most are confident we'll still be around next year, but I haven't seen anything to make us so confident. The Barnet chairman doesn't sound too enthused about it, judging by his comments on the BBC website and they're not short of offers. Is it just another 'money making' factor for a football team, before they lose interest and we're once again looking for a new home and identity? I must say the idea of having 17 Aussies and wanting to be exempt from relegation doesn't make me want to go running back and I don't see why we should be treated differently from the others.

Is there even a back up plan in case we can't find a saviour? The academy kids seem to have already been told they're not needed anymore judging by twitter comments and that's the worst part. Maybe it'd just be better to start again as a new fan owned club in Champ 1 with the current yoof and work our way back up, Crusaders seem to be a good model to follow. Find a local identity and link up with a local non-league team.

Anyway, I shall enjoy what will probably be the last top flight RL in London I'll see in a good while tomorrow.

Quote ="Cassandra"Even the Aussies saw this coming. www.leaguefreak.com/what-shall-w ... ncos-6201/'" League Freak says he saw this coming in July 2013.....I trump that with Sunday Feb 24th 2002 when I first watched the Broncos in a CC tie v Castleford. We lost and there were only about 2,500 there...I said at the time "what a brilliant game, why the don't they market it properly". I lived 50 yards from Griffin Park yet it was a mate from Stevenage who dragged me to the game. Someone needed to take the bull by the horns but whilst DH was bankrolling the RFL's expansion, he wasn't prepared to market it for them as well......his stubbornness combined with the RFL's ineptitude have brought us to this.

Quote ="Cassandra"Even the Aussies saw this coming. www.leaguefreak.com/what-shall-w ... ncos-6201/'" League Freak says he saw this coming in July 2013.....I trump that with Sunday Feb 24th 2002 when I first watched the Broncos in a CC tie v Castleford. We lost and there were only about 2,500 there...I said at the time "what a brilliant game, why the don't they market it properly". I lived 50 yards from Griffin Park yet it was a mate from Stevenage who dragged me to the game. Someone needed to take the bull by the horns but whilst DH was bankrolling the RFL's expansion, he wasn't prepared to market it for them as well......his stubbornness combined with the RFL's ineptitude have brought us to this.

The club's idea of 'marketing' is an advert in TNT magazine and a flyer in Shepherd's Bush walkabout, even though the Aussies have never been interested. Can't remember them ever attempting to promote the sport to Londoners or a local community.

In my view it is SL suicide overseen and by GM.

The Racecourse was sold to the Universty when the owners of both Wrexham and Crusaders pulled out, as I understood the RFL were paid back out of the proceeds. Was that not the case?

If it is the case then it would be the first that I have heard of it. It has not been mentioned on any RL forums.

The Uni definitely bought the stadium.

That much is true but there were a lot of debts secured against the stadium. AFAIK the RFL didn't get their money back.

I'm no marketing genius, but it strikes me that if I was looking to market a company through sport, I'd prefer that sport to have a national profile.

Lots of eventers at Wembley today.

Marketing could convert a percentage into a viable fanbase for a London club.

Not holding my breath though.

^^^^^^^^^^this^^^^^^^^^^
Saracens got 60K+ at Wembley for a H-cup match and will probably get 40k for their annual Aviva game there as well.....100,000+ fans at 2 games.....no reason why a RL club couldn't achieve the same.......but Mr Hughes preferred to spend his money on e players and coaches in the hope that a winning team would deliver more fans.....36 wins out of 135 games over 5 seasons since the cricketing revolution occurred.....18 of those under Mac in 2 seasons and 18 under Rea and Towel over 3 years. At 1.5 million a year that's how you 7.5 million down the drain in 5 years.

Well obviously. The problem is how you achieve that.

Melbourne Storm.

The pretty obvious answer is that you put your money in a sport with a national profile - there's a number to choose from.

However, if your question is about RL having a viable national base, then GF has answered your question (although equally I think you could also select Brisbane Broncos, New Zealand Warriors, or from other sports the likes of Sydney Swans). Of course, that wouldn't happen in UK, where progress would be seen as putting Featherstone in Super League (no disrespect to Fev, by the way).

I don't believe that a struggling London club does the game any favours. However, if RL is not to become an almost exclusively semi-pro sport in the country, it needs a strong London presence.

The RFL will have the details of everyone who bought tickets for yesterday and anyone who buys tickets for any Rugby League event. I know that there may be some laws against passing on the information to a third party but wouldn't it be nice to see everyone within a 50 mile radius of Barnet or wherever London Broncos end up receiving an offer from the club for a reduced ST, a three or five game ST or any sort of offer for the 2014 Super League season?

Yes, it sounds too simple to happen however.