Options to try and save Celtic Crusaders .. whats the plan?? : Tue Jul 07, 2009 5:12 pm
RL sadly doesnt seem to be catching on in Bridgend to the extent that it warrants a long term superleague club.
I was interested to see that Celtic Crusaders are thinking of playing 'home' games at both Newport and Wrexham in order to try and improve crowds.
Will this work??
I've been to Wrexham twice (the first time I blinked whilst driving along the A5 and missed the exit, so kept on going)
From what I saw the second time I doubt very much that its the sort of place that you could describe as a 'hotbed of Rugby League' I imagine anyone who lives in the area already who likes RL will already be a supporter of St Helens or Warrington. The only good thing about it is its closer to the traditional RL heartland so you would be almost certain to see crowd figures rise. But by how much??? Will the locals take to Rugby league?
As for Newport ..... realistically can you see the supporters of Newport Gwent Dragons turning out on a regular basis to support Celtic Crusaders??? Clearly its a bigger place than Wrexham ....but is the interest there for an RL side???? Geographically its not a million miles from Bridgend.... yet clearly its still in South Wales where the interest doesnt seem particularly strong.
Personally I really like South Wales and the people. But realistically can Celtic Crusaders survive for more than 5 years????
Personally I can see Celtic going the same way as London Broncos. But after a couple of name changes (Wrexham Dragons anyone?) and a couple of relocations I feel the club will lose its SL franchise like London/Harlequins/Crusaders/Broncos should have done about 6 years ago.
Is there a plan in place to try to save Celtic Crusaders???