Re: Ealing is the new venue : Tue Jul 14, 2015 2:19 pm  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33470801 I know the article is about football clubs, but these ones appear to be doing the phoenix thing!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33470801 I know the article is about football clubs, but these ones appear to be doing the phoenix thing!

Re: Ealing is the new venue : Tue Jul 14, 2015 3:37 pm  

Maidstone United certainly have come back from the dead. They now have a lovely stadium by the river, get good crowds and the people of Maidstone, who hardly support anything,are starting to get behind them.
They too lead a nomadic existence since they went under, but without doubt they are on the rise now.
Of course, their old London Road Stadium, was home to the short lived Kent Invicta. So a Rugby League connection there.

Re: Ealing is the new venue : Tue Jul 14, 2015 4:16 pm  

i believe the original poster is correct. I heard on July 5th from someone within the game (although not within the Broncos) that the move to Ealing Trailfinders was a done deal. Not ifs or buts. He seemed very certain and I have no reason to doubt him. Very disappointed. My Broncos attendance has nosedived as my head has been turned by other RL offerings but the club is VITAL to all of us in southern RL. This for me is just confirmation of the end of our dreams. Another semi pro club in London with absolutely no chance of ever getting back to Super League. Very sad. The writing's been on the wall for years, it's the slowest death of a sports club I can think of. Third Lanark FC maybe! I'm sure it'll be dressed up as shared ownership/long lease & a bright future (number 123) but from where I'm sitting it's terrible. Ah well, hope I'm wrong and it turns out to be the best thing evah!

Re: Ealing is the new venue : Tue Jul 14, 2015 4:20 pm  

Bostwick wrote:

Maidstone United certainly have come back from the dead. They now have a lovely stadium by the river, get good crowds and the people of Maidstone, who hardly support anything,are starting to get behind them.
They too lead a nomadic existence since they went under, but without doubt they are on the rise now.
Of course, their old London Road Stadium, was home to the short lived Kent Invicta. So a Rugby League connection there.

Yes, I'd forgotten about that!
Did actually take in a couple of Maidstone games in the late 80's when I was living that way for about a year. They had a decent sized following in the Conference then, might have been the season before they made it into the Football League.

Re: Ealing is the new venue : Tue Jul 14, 2015 6:52 pm  

What a terrible move if true. I just don't understand this. Pretty much confirms the club have no interest in SL rugby anymore. If that is the case I am asking myself why bother?? lets say we have a stormer next year and make the top 4, who cares, we wont be going up. Lets be honest if we did make the top 4 our ground would not be fit to play anyway when the SL away fans turn up!! Maybe Eailing have plans to develop the ground and we want in but that I very much doubt.

Re: Ealing is the new venue : Tue Jul 14, 2015 7:38 pm  

Woeful and to make it worse Greene king are advertising next to the pitch which means even the beer will be poop.

Thats me done.

Re: Ealing is the new venue : Tue Jul 14, 2015 8:02 pm  

jaybs wrote:

I will wait until we get all the Facts, on paper (if true) it's not a very good prospect, ironic when Leeds Rhino's are so keen to play Wigan Warriors in London this breaks?

Supporter owned club, is there any real evidence there is there is a real thirst for this? would those involved be able to really raise the funds needed, where would the club be based then? how would you replace the real money Hughes has and is putting in? why we have never been able to break through with other investors I can't understand, when a man with money goes from London to Bradford to buy into rugby.

It is only the last few seasons that we kept hearing here how The Skolars was the future, what are they doing currently? perhaps the game will only ever be amateur in the South do we have to accept it? seeing Oxford beat as they were at the weekend with a record score, one journalist said straight after the match, Swinton break records Great, is it great.

As a sport we have been fed and so many believe we The Greatest Game, one that attendances are still dropping, a Challenge Cup that attendances are a disgrace and a top semi is taken to a ground that holds 13,024? just to make it look good on TV, play it on a Friday night kick off 7.45pm a time that fits BBC TV, try getting across the M62 at that time on a Friday. The Academy League is rumoured to be reduced to 8 teams? many clubs joining together? who does a real talented player sign for, which club? The game itself so predictable with the kicking on the last tackle, scrums which are a joke, last Friday night watching Sky I turned off with 15 minutes to go I was bored.

Where's The Cranewife when you need her?

Re: Ealing is the new venue : Tue Jul 14, 2015 8:06 pm  

wire-quin wrote:

Woeful and to make it worse Greene king are advertising next to the pitch which means even the beer will be poop.

Thats me done.

Every cloud and all that....

Re: Ealing is the new venue : Tue Jul 14, 2015 8:18 pm  

So....just to clarify.
The only person attempting to put any positive spin on this is Mickey1234, who claims to have hard from a Rah mate that they're looking at going from 970 to 8,000 seats

Re: Ealing is the new venue : Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:09 pm  

Seriously worrying to see some of the names saying enough is enough in this thread. Southern RL is a complete mess, at professional, semi professional and amateur levels, at the moment and it very difficult to see a way forward for the sport down here.

It seems incredible that so much money could be spent and so little left in the form of a legacy. Strange to think we have almost certainly lived through what history will view as the high point of southern / London RL. There were some good times but somehow they always seemed to be outnumbered by missed opportunities.