Valencia aiming to join League One

[yakstorm]

Article:
Valencia set to stage Grand Final repeat as part of ambitious plans to take professional rugby league to Spain

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/valencia-set-stage-grand-final-20721898

I had read earlier on in the year that there were rumours that a bid could be coming out of Spain, but this is the first time I've seen anything actually outlining the Valencia Huracanes plans.

Double Header is a good way of showcasing if there is a market for a Professional team in Valencia, and playing in the Spanish league to grow the squad are all sensible approaches... Feel 2021 might be a bit too ambitious considering the issues Ottawa and NYC have been having.

 

[adamkungl]

This would be great. Don't see it in 2021 but.
The poor old flatcappers are gonna be struggling

 

[Walter sobchak]

I thought that league 1 was for the chop??

 

[deluded pom?]

I thought that league 1 was for the chop??

There hasn’t been anything definite decided about the future of League 1 one way or the other.

 

[Walter sobchak]

There hasn’t been anything definite decided about the future of League 1 one way or the other.

Sounds about right. They’ll probably make an announcement with 2 weeks of the 2020 season to go.

 

[RedVee]

Orange jerseys for the new Valencia team ?

Seriously good luck to them I hope it goes well.

 

[deluded pom?]

Orange jerseys for the new Valencia team ?

Seriously good luck to them I hope it goes well.

No. Orange shirts for the team from Seville.

 

[Walter sobchak]

Couldn’t any potential RL team in Valencia not start the 2021 season in elite 1 or elite 2 in France?

 

[Springs09]

Would it be worth re-branding League 1 to a full trans-atlantic semi-pro comp? With this hasn't there now been French, Irish, Canadian, American, Serbian and Spanish teams interested in joining?

 

[siv]

Would it be worth re-branding League 1 to a full trans-atlantic semi-pro comp? With this hasn't there now been French, Irish, Canadian, American, Serbian and Spanish teams interested in joining?

At some point we will need to rethink the strategy of having clubs join English comps


I'm not sure the goal of the ESL is to become the World League

 

[taste2taste]

Let's hope it happens.
Is Belgrade also a chance of joining at some point in the future ?

It looks like it's up to the Super League to grow the game

 

[titoelcolombiano]

SuperLeague have already separated out from the RFL as an entity, they probably need to go a step further and create a separated European second division (with P&R) too for ambitious clubs and let the RFL run the English domestic setup for the clubs that want to stay there.

European SuperLeague:
Wigan
St Helens
Leeds
Warrington
Hull KR
Hull FC
Salford
Castleford
Catalan
Toronto
Huddersfield
Wakefield Trinity

European Championship:
Toulouse
Bradford
Leigh
Featherstone
Newcastle Thunder
New York
Ottowa
Velencia
York
Widnes

New franchises / clubs enter through the Euro Championship.

 

[Pommy]

Is there any word on how this is going to be funded?
Toronto have been bankrolled to the point it can’t fail. Not a criticism just a fact.
Catalan have a history and a fan base in place.
How are Valencia going to make this work?
Without either of the above the hopes of this really lasting seem small.

 

[Nuke]

Most of the clubs in the domestic Spanish Rugby League are based in or around Valencia, so I'd suggest there must be a bit of an interest in that area.

 

[yakstorm]

As mentioned above, the central hub of Espana Rugby League is Valencia and as a result the game has been building quite strong relationships with the local communities, including the regional football association and clubs.

The Hurricanes both have a strong association with the Espana Rugby League as well have sourced private backers for the franchise, who are helping fund initiatives such as the upcoming Double Header involving Featherstone, St Helens and Salford plus the teams involvement in the upcoming Spanish domestic season.

One big advantage Valencia have over say Toronto is there are cheap regular flights available daily from Manchester, London, etc meaning travel costs won't be anywhere near as high as the North American clubs plus depending on kick off times / etc, arguably teams could fly in / fly out same day (although you'd be spending 5 hrs in the air).

Naturally there is still plenty of unknowns with this franchise, which I'm sure will slowly start to get answered after the Featherstone match.

This is why I don't think they'll be in L1 in 2021 and will possibly be pushing to be in by 2022.

Still I do hope it happens, would be a massive boost to the game in Spain.

 

[Pommy]

Most of the clubs in the domestic Spanish Rugby League are based in or around Valencia, so I'd suggest there must be a bit of an interest in that area.

I don’t mean to sound negative but I know this series of questions is going to sound it in this setting.
Is there any idea of how many players there are in this area, what crowds are they getting, are they actually league players or union players in the off season?
its just a few guys having a bit of a run out on a weekend is different to paying for an opposition team to fly out and stay the weekend every other week.

Again I hope it comes to fruition it just seems a little left field.

 

[Nuke]

Pommy, I know what you're saying.

Unfortunately, I have no further info or stats to share, however.
I just have an overall interest in the Spanish game, and I designed a number of the clubs logos, so by that chance happen to learn where all these new clubs that were popping up semi-frequently a few years ago were based.

And if the heartland of Rugby League in Spain is indeed Valencia, there are certainly far worse places it could have been instead!