But still at a totally different level to Celtic

And the point also being , there would be another backer

Think youself lucky , you try running a club in a council ' facility ' that you have to pay rent to play in , you cannot train in it , no gym , no income from any sales , no shop , pay rental for your offices , no SKY money , no away fans , no stadium sponsorship and no future

Oh, believe me, I know we have been lucky. We were rescued. By a guy with a lot of passion for RL and for St Helens who happened to be very wealthy and a very, very astute business man. Yes, we are lucky. We are also lucky to own the ground we play in, even if it is literally falling down around us. I agree with you entirely on that point.

Dont care rfl helping hand once again?Why not help halifax,widnes or doncaster when needed.I got no time for this corruption in the game and dont give a hoot.

Getting 10,000 fans in 10 years time would be very optimistic considering our union sides such as the one here in Cardiff which reached the European Cup Semi final last season only average around 10,000 forthe first time since the 'regions' were invented in 2003, the Ospreys with all their talent (AND GAVIN HENSON WHO WATCHES MANY CRUSADERS HOME MATCHES) only get around 7,000 and the other two are largely deemed as being failures in terms of success and crowds .


The Welsh people seem to love a spectacle when it comes to Rugby Union ,the national side can fill a 75,000 seat stadum on a fairly regular basis yet the professional game is not great due to the extensive local TV . coverage. One week Cardiff Blues attract 45,000 for a European Cup match , the next they can't scrape 6000 in a local derby against Newport. The 'establishment' here seems to still hold a grudge against League but many people's attitudes are changing . Newport RU have been very helpful in developing local links in the area and providing support to our club for the Leeds match.

All clubs regardless of the sport are suffering at the moment.We all knew it would be hard down here but I didn't think it would be this hard but if we get through it we will be all the stronger for it.

If we are able to build the links now in the area across Wales and the South West then we have something strong and built to last. Some clubs like Widnes and Leigh have those links through their hisory and local culture , and hopefully one day so will we. That is how Rugby League will survive and potential flourish as a sport , that goes for heartland clubs as well as us.

Do you not think Newport might just think ey up lads heres a good way to make a load of dosh in "our closed "season out of them "flatcappers"??

Don't Whelan and the people at the KC stadium do exactly the same?

Money makes the world go round.

Celtic Crusaders = Joke.

Nobody in RL really cares about you and despite the RFL trying to bail you out, you will undoubtedly fail.

Give me 'Fax, Widnes or Leigh any day of the week.

Mickey Mouse joke club (that's not actually at all funny).

Enjoy your pitiful existence ya leek-munching interlopers.

Still not over the 2 defeats we dished out to you lot last season then?

Encouraged. I see your words but all that reaches the brain is you saying "waah waah waah! i want everybody to love my game but I don't want any non-northern team to be allowed to play"

You can have 'Fax Leigh and Widnes. I'm sure they'd be grateful for your support.

well you do or you wouldnt waste your time posting drivel in our forum. hey lets hope you are right and you can look forward to the future of semi-pro league until the big clubs say sod this mentality and bugger off to union. then finally you whingers will be happy oh and you can blame the rfl and never, ever for a moment take a good long hard look at yourselves.

out of interest what club is that starbug and how did you end up in that situation?

Potentially Cassandra yes , but at the stage we're at now we're hardly going to be a hige cash cow for them.

I think its more to the fact that the great League and Union player ( the Only man to have captained both 'Lions' sides) DAVID WATKINS is involved with Newport RU and would be very happy to help us and see a game that gave him and many other fans up north such joy., succeed.

Also Newport play in black and gold so not much cosmetic work needs to be done to the ground!

Good point.

Leigh Centurions in the worlds newest RL stadium but a club without a future

There's no reason to believe that 10,000 for Celtic isn't achievable in 10 years. It all depends on how the club catches on. I know there has been talk of a move to Newport and I don't know how Newport compares to Bridgend in terms of population size or how far the two places are from each other, but one thing that is crucial for a rugby league club to succeed (as opposed to a union one) is community. It has to develop roots in a community. If you take Castleford and Wakefield, for example, with Featherstone a mere spit away, there you have three towns within breathing distance of each other yet each has sustained a separate rugby league club because each has its own community from which the club has grown and within which it is nurtured. None of those places is especially big but they do have a sense of community and their RL team is a part of that. If the club is growing roots in Bridgend then it might harm the club to move itself to Newport, unless there was a sense that community roots could be grown successfully there also.


The Welsh are not alone here. Saints manage to attract 30,000 fans to Wembley but this season for the first time in donkeys years we have averaged 10,000 crowd, just about (with Wigan - our only sellout - yet to come). Where do the other 20,000 go to for the rest of the season? As you said, they sit in front of the TV and keep their cash and their voices to themselves.


I think the big unknown was how your players would cope and they have fallen short of the mark, although only just it has to be said, and you have been hit with a serious number of injuries making the likelihood of success even more remote. Had you won some home games then you would have retained more interest but once you do start winning home games, as you will next season if Dixon makes some wise recruitment choices, then I'd bet a salary on you seeing your numbers grow, especially if the development work keeps having a positive impact within your community. In the meantime, I hope your club gets the right advice and has some good luck so that financially it can keep going during the tough times in order to enjoy the good times when they come, as they will.


The heartlands have had other difficulties. In the 1980s Saints' turnout fell to 4,500. We are not helped by the influx of scousers to the town. St Helens has been a rugby league stronghold since the outset, being a founder member of the northern union. There was no soccer or RU or anything else really to compete. With the influx of scousers has come soccer and also a dilution of the local sporting culture, as well as other activities competing for time and resources. So the heartlands clubs, especially in Lancashire, have had other challenges to face in retaining interest. Where we win over new clubs like yourselves and Gateshead Thunder and the Quins is that we have a long history to justify making a big noise when things are going badly, with the greater possibility of someone helping us out as a result.

Get away! You have Basil returning next season for three years! With him at the helm you can have a great future!

Will he be happy coaching outside SL for more than a year or two ?

And to tell the truth I think he will have a big shock how different things will be now we are at the LSV

His record in all honesty is not that good when you break it down

We couldn't go much lower when he came to us

Saints were already the champions

He did wonders at the JJB

Not made enough of an impression to get a ' gig ' in Oz

As I said Renting council stadiums ouitside SL doesn't work

Widnes,Donny and now us will all bear testament to that

Oh, stop being so depressed already!


He has family ties in Leigh. His wife is from there. He has two daughters there. He has interests outside of RL to keep him there for three years. He isn't simply relying upon Leigh, so take some comfort from the fact that he has ties to bind him.


Since when has Basil not liked a challenge?


Millward is recognised as a superb coach. And he did things to Saints, to the way we played, to the level of our success, that no other coach had done. He is highly innovative as well as a real character (and I am SO looking forward to having him back over here!). He cocked things up at Wigan but, let's face it, when only one coach has remained at Wigan longer than Nobby, it's not hard to cock things up at Wigan, is it? Millward is still seriously missed by a lot of St Helens fans and is remembered by as many with great fondness. For Saints it was Daniel Anderson who walked into a successful team. Millward helped create that team, as did McRae and Hanley. It wasn't just one man and even Daniel Anderson did wonders to our defence (not Millward's philosophy back then). No doubt he has picked up some new ideas under his present boss, who is supposed to be one of the best coaches in the world I believe. He's bringing all that to Leigh. Take heart! He'll do wonders for you guys!

, I doubt you will find any

Starbug, you be as negative as you want to be.

This is the Crusaders board so I'm leaving it there and hoping that the Celtic fans keep being positive in spite of their present situation.

It would seem their present situation is fine according to Mr Samuels and the RFL

So nothing to worry about

He also said same thing about Celtic Warriors! Oh and amzingly also talked about moving them out of Bridgend just weeks before they went belly up!

Sounds promising...

Have you bunch of pretenders gone out of business yet?

Super League my .

Encouraged, where did you get a smiley that so remebled your face?

Come on there having a great day today! It's gone 2pm and nothing's gone wrong yet!