Championship Expansion

[bowes]

Yeah we have a good ground with 3000 seats. Probably the best ground in the amateur game (the biggest is Warrington Wizards who have Wilderspool which is Warrington Wolves' old ground)

 

[bowes]

Gloucester have been accepted as team 3. Appears to be Coventry or Oxford for the last spot unless a new bid surfaces.

 

[langpark]

Can't say I remember reading much about the Gloucester bid, but I guess they must have had a sound one. I hope Coventry get the final spot...

 

[bowes]

Originally it was a Bristol bid but they moved it to Gloucester. Though it's rumoured they may actually play in Cheltenham.

Not heard much promising about Coventry's chances but hope the silence isn't negative. Heard so little about Oxford that it's hard to compare. The RFL wanted Medway Dragons but the club didn't feel ready for it.

 

[langpark]

Originally it was a Bristol bid but they moved it to Gloucester. Though it's rumoured they may actually play in Cheltenham.

Not heard much promising about Coventry's chances but hope the silence isn't negative. Heard so little about Oxford that it's hard to compare. The RFL wanted Medway Dragons but the club didn't feel ready for it.

This doesn't fill me with confidence I have to say...

 

[East Coast Tiger]

It'd be good to have a team somewhere that union doesn't. Hemel is good but the other two so far are very much union towns. In any event the midlands was the last major area of the country to not have a pro team and now it has at least two. I suppose you could say south west isn't represented but Gloucester is pretty close. Whatever the last one the big challenge is to keep them affloat withour major problems and hopefully see some of them go up and be sustainable at a higher level as well.

 

[deluded pom?]

This doesn't fill me with confidence I have to say...

Me neither. I believe it was moved from Bristol to Cheltenham at the request of their major backer. That's all well and good but what demands will he be making in the future if he doesn't get his own way?

 

[bowes]

Gloucester is South West. The only reason Gloucestershire Warriors play in the midlands is their local league is very weak.

 

[bowes]

University of Gloucestershire All Golds are in.

Not impressed by it being a university side.

 

[nadera78]

It's a university side but it won't be a student's team, if that makes sense. The Uni will own and run the club, but the students team will still compete in the BUCS competitions. This side will no doubt have some students in it, but will have players from outside too. They will have access to all of the sports science, media, pr, finance, etc that is available at the University of Gloucester. And from the link up with leeds they'll have a shot at taking it a step further if they have the talent. For the Uni, they get a much higher profile in an increasingly competitive higher education market and will no doubt attract undergrads and post-grads from across the country drawn by the prospect of a pathway to semi-pro RL.

This club will realistically never gain entry to SL, but that's not the point of the C1 expansion process. It's about spreading the game's reach across the entire country, generating more players in currently untapped regions, and providing pathways into the pro game for more people.

That said, I hope the fourth and final spot goes to Coventry. The midlands is really cracking on at the moment and I think they're ideally placed to tap into that and push it even further.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

The idea of a uni-based club is a good one in one way but it probably limits the club's chances of becoming fulltime or anything of that scale. But that would probably never happen anyway. It would be good to have as many links to universities in the game as possible and the commitment from a uni in an expansion area to get involved to this extent is good. Hopefully a few more clubs will be set up along these lines.

 

[bowes]

My concern is having university in the name will put off spectators as noone would really want to watch a perceived student side. Would prefer Gloucestershire All Golds as the club'a name with the University prominent as a sponsor.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

How many folk go to CC1 games anyway? Most of the expansion clubs can hope for 500 at best. Many older clubs don't get that now. I don't know that it's going to be an issue unless they plan to climb the ladder, in which case their name will be the least of their worries.

 

[docbrown]

My concern is having university in the name will put off spectators as noone would really want to watch a perceived student side. Would prefer Gloucestershire All Golds as the club'a name with the University prominent as a sponsor.

That seems like the intelligent way of going about it.

 

[Teddyboy]

How many folk go to CC1 games anyway? Most of the expansion clubs can hope for 500 at best. Many older clubs don't get that now. I don't know that it's going to be an issue unless they plan to climb the ladder, in which case their name will be the least of their worries.

Well to get people in they need to have value for money in ticket prices, food and drink and not have security/stewards who think they are job's worth rent a cops plus they need to engage in the community with discounted season ticket prices for the local Rugby League and Touch/Tag club's even Rugby Union club's.Also they need to promote other activities at the club like Touch/Tag/Masters Rugby,Pool and Darts time/Circuit's etc,maybe as a local amateur Rugby Union team to be based there as what I have mentioned means money over the bar.

 

[bowes]

Northampton Rebels have folded so the RFL now have to try to find 2 more clubs to fill up the league.

 

[Teddyboy]

Northampton Rebels have folded so the RFL now have to try to find 2 more clubs to fill up the league.

Cornwall and Devon...hey see if Hartlepool need a team in some good comp.

 

[Foreign Legion]

Thats a shame, maybe they could still exist but at junior level...

 

[bowes]

Thats a shame, maybe they could still exist but at junior level...

That would be an awful thing to happen. Northampton Knights at juniors and Northampton Demons at open age do a decent job of amateur rugby league. Northampton Rebels were fly by nights from the soccer club who didn't recruit any staff, a coach or players for 9 months then when they interviewed a coach he told them how much it costs to run a team at that level so they instantly folded the club. Took them 9 months to find out something that fundamental. Total scum.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Wow. It gets better and better for the ROFL.