What If........????? : Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:35 pm  

As a Bridgend born Rugby Fan based in Yorkshire I really wanted the Crusaders to work in Bridgend and believed in the reason for the award of the Franchise on the basis of expansion.

With the relocation of the team to Wrexham and the close proximaty to the established teams who missed out like Leigh and Widnes this is no longer a valid reason to justify the Crusaders above these teams.

But now, with the chance of a five figure crowd for the Leeds game and a much improved squad who will give a much better account of themselves what happens if this actually works?? If there is a momentum behind the team and the crowds stay strong and the team make an attempt on the top eight??

Will the League continue their support for the Crusaders now that they are based so close to "The Heartland"????

Hmmmmmm...

Re: What If........????? : Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:27 pm  

If the football club know how to promote the club effectively then the club could be a success, there should be a greater following of home fans away and away fans in Wrexham to get bigger crowds too considering the vastly reduced travelling distances. The previous regime based in Bridgend didn't have a clue!
plus some South Wales based people seem to be blinded by an innate distrust of RL and stop anything the club would try to achieve . Hopefully this won't be an issue in Wrexham as there is no history of top level Rugby of either code there.

Its not the same though in North Wales, its a different club , different people , different players,different kit and different fans.

Its not the challenge and potential that a club in South Wales could be if done right.

Re: What If........????? : Thu Jan 28, 2010 8:04 pm  

[quote="cardiffcrusaderrob"]

Its not the same though in North Wales, its a different club , different people , different players,different kit and different fans.
quote]

Different club name , and different venue too .

So why not leave the Celtic Crusaders in Bridgend and admit that the project failed ? Then let one of the 'teams that should have got a franchise' replace them in SL . The franchise was given to a Bridgend team , not a Wrexham team .
I was all for giving them a chance . And yes , I did go to watch them at Newport . The Cru fans I met both there and at Headingley were fantastic . I will be at the game tomorrow , but I fully expect it to be the last visit down there for the forseeable future .
I would expect any of the other SL teams to have their franchise withdrawn if they were to make such drastic changes , and that includes the so-called 'big' teams .