thanks khlav

According to todays RL Express:



=#0000FF"Under the new system, prospective applicants from the Championship must first tick five boxes before earning the right to apply for a licence.

The Club must:

a) have reached a Championship final or won the Northern Rail Cup in 2009 or 2010

b) play out of a stadium with an operational capcity of 10,000

c) have undergone no insolvency issues during the 2008,2009 and 2010 seasons

d) have a turnover of at least £1,000,000 in the financial year ending in 2009 or 2010

e) have an average attendance of at least 2,500 in 2009 or 2010



Should they satisfy each one of these requirements, they are then entitled to throw their hat in the ring for a spot in Super League. They will then be measured alongside the existing 14 license holders, in the following areas:

a) Commercial, marketing, media and community

b) Facilities

c) Finance

d) Governance and business management

e) Playing strength and player performance strategy"





That seems to go against what has already been said. That statement does not seem to guarantee a Championship club a place.



However it then goes on to say



=#0000FF"The Championship club that is awarded a license will discover its fate in March 2011. Those clubs outside Super League must submit their applications by December, while Super League clubs will be given until April of next year"





Not sure how a Championship club that has been told in March that it has a franchise can then be measured alongside SL clubs applications if they don't go in until April.







Once again the RFL talking out of its backside and making things up as they go along.

How on earth can the playing strength and player performance strategy of a championship club compare with that of a SL club.

I personally think more than one club will go and it could be both of us to let toulouse and widnes in. just a thought , how much longer will the big clubs accept home games without away supporters ? as it stands there are 3 games out of thirteen that have no or very few away support, Catalan, quins and Crusaders, if toulouse get in then thats another slice of income lost for the rest of superleague. were not talking pennies either, if we take 2000 to leeds (usually more ), at 20 quid a ticket thats £40000 lost to the game , just in the name of expansion.



come the revolution

How are they going to measure criteria e) .... player strength etc of the Championship club against the Superleague clubs? Is there going to be a system of 'play offs'? How can you also measure this factor a season before the 'new' club enters? Aren't they going to allow the Championship club to strengthen their playing roster?

They appear to be making a mess of this process.

It’s not a competition between Championship clubs & S.L clubs.



The Championship club / clubs will get the nod around March time. The S.L club / clubs will be told their out around July.



If Red Hall decides to allow two clubs in, then, they (The RFL) will decide which two will make way.

This is a relevant observation but the decision makers appear to be looking at an NFL style model where away supporters are not important to the economics of a franchise because the overall product generates more 'home' fans who fill stadia. The 'derby' weekends become the exception not the norm. Our (Wakey and Cas) problem with this is that we do not fit as our home attendances are actually dwindling. The question is going to be one of which applicant(s) can deliver a stadium-filling home attendance.

I think most S/L home attendances are falling, the question remains , can any S/L club take a hit of £40000 or even more conservatively £20000 four times a season ?



Is the game so rich ??

It certainly isn't and there lies the issue. The decisions are being taken by commercially naive administrators who are failing to promote an effective strategy. But why should they worry? They will run the sport into the ground and move on to jobs selling widgets!

In reply to The Devil's Advocate, (can't do the fancy quotes!), the RL Express quote states: 'Should they satisfy each one of these requirements, they are then entitled to throw their hat in the ring for a spot in Super League. They will then be measured alongside the existing 14 license holders, in the following areas: ......... etc'

Which, to me, does imply that it is a 'competition' between Superleague clubs and the Championshiop contenders.

That's what they are good at.