Can Barrow provide a Cumbrian SL franchise? : Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:02 pm  

Interesting to see that Barrow managed a 6,000 crowd against Wigan last weekend. Riding high in their debut season in Championship (well, I suppose it's every team's debut season - if you want to be political), they could be among the top four come the end of the season.

With two more year's growth, could the Raiders prove to be the next club to reach SL in what is in essence, an expansion area in the current climate?

I also wonder whether if Barrow can emerge as a force in the Championship that SL could expand to 15 or 16 teams?

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:05 pm  

Already done recently - here on this six-pager. Cumbria & Super League

Already done recently - here on this six-pager. Cumbria & Super League

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:08 pm  

No , one off games mean nothing

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:13 pm  

Well they have my vote.

I was pleasently suprised in regards to everything surrounding the club form the stadium, the setup and the supporters. I believe they actually own their stadium but it's fairly compact and they would probably stuggle to expand as there are main roads five yards off the walls of the stand. Also, the seating stand is literally a few feet off touching one of the shops on the retail park. (Hey, how observant was I?)

However, there is a football ground too and surely it would be in both clubs interest to have a shared stadium?

Either way, the people of Barrow/Cumbria are clearly crying out for a Super League club of their own. There was all sorts of Super League replica shirts dotted about and many of the supporters there had Wigan jersey's on but were cheering on Barrow...It was strange to say the least.

After working in Whitehaven and visiting Workington a number of occaisions, I'd certainly say Barrow has the most potencial.

: Tue Apr 07, 2009 5:08 am  

can barrow be cumbria's SL team ? yes they can 2 things that need to happen though.. 1. get a new stadium built, theres a whole raft of 8,10,12,000 capacity stadiums built recently,nothing fancy but totally functional. http://www.scottishgrounds.co.uk/st_mirren.htm st mirrens new ground only cost £8million, holds 8,000...if barrow where to build a copy of it but leave one of the goal ends as a terrace,like leigh SV, then the capcity would nudge up towards 10,000.. the 2nd thing that needs to happen,and totally out of the control of the RL club is this http://www.imeche.org/industries/power/ ... he-bay.htm the morecombe bay bridge which will cut the travel time to barrow by a hour they reckon...

can barrow be cumbria's SL team ? yes they can 2 things that need to happen though.. 1. get a new stadium built, theres a whole raft of 8,10,12,000 capacity stadiums built recently,nothing fancy but totally functional. http://www.scottishgrounds.co.uk/st_mirren.htm st mirrens new ground only cost £8million, holds 8,000...if barrow where to build a copy of it but leave one of the goal ends as a terrace,like leigh SV, then the capcity would nudge up towards 10,000.. the 2nd thing that needs to happen,and totally out of the control of the RL club is this http://www.imeche.org/industries/power/ ... he-bay.htm the morecombe bay bridge which will cut the travel time to barrow by a hour they reckon...

: Tue Apr 07, 2009 6:56 am  

roughyedspud wrote:

can barrow be cumbria's SL team ? yes they can

Theoretically they could be Barrow's SL team but neither they, or any existing town's team, will become Cumbria's SL team. The fans of Workington would never support a Barrow based team, ditto Whitehaven and vice versa.

A Cumbria SL team sounds good in theory but will never happen

: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:02 am  

Starbug wrote:

No , one off games mean nothing

You've got to ask yourself though; would Gateshead, Workington or Haven have got that kind of crowd for the same game on the same day?

We need a Cumbrian side in Super League, Barrow look promising, but then again how close have Haven been for the last few years?

I think it is probably a case of finance and stadia, Barrow would probably just edge it here, but to stand a good chance they need a new stadium really.

: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:16 am  

ShayFax wrote:

We need a Cumbrian side in Super League

Why do we? I dont see how bringing a small town club into super league is going to expand the game? whats wrong with having three cumbrain sides in the championship? they can still produce players and those good enough for super league eg greg mcnally will continue to be poached by super league clubs.

: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:20 am  

rhinofox wrote:

Why do we? I dont see how bringing a small town club into super league is going to expand the game? whats wrong with having three cumbrain sides in the championship? they can still produce players and those good enough for super league eg greg mcnally will continue to be poached by super league clubs.

Yes they can, but it is also about building a bigger rugby league following, more people will go watch if there is Super League rugby available, as we saw this week with Barrow.

: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:27 am  

roughyedspud wrote:

... the morecombe bay bridge which will cut the travel time to barrow by a hour they reckon...

Bøllocks to that. It's the most beautiful natural bay in England and they want to put a bloody big bridge across it?