The state of RL outside SL : Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:15 pm
In the Championship:-Leigh hitting the buffers this year even after a successful season.
Barrow heading down the toilet at the moment to Championship 1.
Fax having had financial problems a few years ago and with no major backer, fairly decent support but could be better (we need 2500 to 3000).
Hunslet now having to be run by their supporters in a stadium with only one stand in an industrial park.
Dewsbury and Batley having to appeal for help in the last few years and not getting much support in small grounds. Dewsbury stayed up by default.
Sheffield having a decent set up but are in the hands of Sheff United regards their ground and have no fans plus they rely on being classed as a 'development area club' so getting extra help from the RFL (youth set up and quota players?) What happens when Aston goes?
Keighley having the yo-yo syndrome so fans losing interest.
Widnes now gone who did have the best support outside SL.
Fev seem to be doing okay but are reliant on a money man I believe and support is poor for such a good team the last 2 years.
York seem to battle on but stayed up by default and are not ripping up any trees are they?
Swinton not having their own ground (yet) and poor support.
Crowds will be down I suspect for most clubs this season as only us, Fev and Leigh have any away support and Leigh may go backwards so their support may drop.
If you go down to the wilderness that is Championship 1 its scary:-
Barrow well enough said.
Whitehaven hitting the buffers the last year or so and still struggling.
Workington well been too long in the doldrums, same goes for Oldham who are now playing at a tiny ground, losing those 3 Finals in a row won't have helped.
Rochdale went bust and are now run by their fans and still struggling to get the locals to get into RL, not sure they ever will.
Doncaster same as Rochdale just cannot get the people of Donny into RL and play in far too big a stadium even it it is a fairly decent one.
Gateshead, London Skolars, Crusaders and South Wales all try but in areas where nobody is interested, well not more than a few hundred which just isn't enough and never will be plus they have no away support or appeal to home fans which hits the home teams in the pocket big time.
All the RFL care about is SL, they do not want any club outside the 'promised land' to be a threat to 'their precious'. Its a failed strategy as where are SL clubs going to get players from in the future, not all can come through their Academies and letting clubs wither away to almost nothing means that areas that were once RL hotbeds will become wildernesses a RL desert.
Its not just the player production line that is suffering, what about fans in these towns to support the national team, buy RL stuff such as the weekly RL papers and monthly magazines and support all things RL??
The RFL believe that we will all gravitate to support SL clubs, well no as where are all the Bulls glory fans now in Halifax??? Gone.
They will when their chosen SL club is winning trophies but don't care enough about the game to do so when their team stop winning and soon disappear.
Plus as has been the case since SL began only the Big 4 plus Warrington now (who look like replacing Bradford in the Big 4) ever win anything anyway (okay Hull once and Sheffield once in the Challenge Cup apart)but in 16 years!
I fear for the game at our level and lower with these idiots in charge, do they care???
I doubt it but the game is on its knees we have to admit, all we as Fax fans can hope for is a very competitive Fax team who will hopefully win something, we have to hope other clubs can survive, good luck we all need it!
I see a kind of RL apartheid sadly, its split the game in two SL and the rest.
