Match 13: Oldham, Home, Challenge Cup
fevnut’s
musings
League One - It
simply isn’t working
Fevnut is hugely in favour of expanding
professional rugby league beyond the heartlands of Yorkshire, Lancashire and
Cumbria. However, we need to think carefully about the nature of professional
sport. The main role of amateur sport is to provide enjoyment for those taking
part in playing the game. But professional sport is a business that needs to
bring in spectators in order to sustain itself.
One glance at attendance levels for the
newest clubs reveals that it can’t possibly be deemed to be a success. In all honesty,
the attendances are simply pathetic. Of the four newest English teams Coventry
Bears did best last season with an average at home league matches of 454. But
Hemel Stags, Oxford and Gloucestershire All Golds all had averages of less than
200 per game. So far, in 2017, there seems to be no signs of improvement with
all bar Gloucestershire having lower attendances than the year before.
Added to that, League One clubs are having
to rack up huge mileages in travel to away fixtures with all the costs that
follow from that.
Then we come to the farce that Hemel Stags
have become. What on earth does the name Hemel Stags mean when all their
matches are away fixtures because the team is now based in West Yorkshire and
have to travel down to Hemel Hempstead for their so-called home games. They
really should be called Dewsbury Stags but the fact is, on playing merit, they
simply wouldn’t merit a place in League One if they were not purporting to be a
team from Hertfordshire.
There are many community clubs in the National
Conference who have considerably higher playing standards and also regularly
attract more spectators.
Sadly, Toronto Wolfpack are also giving
major cause for concern, albeit for entirely different reason. They haven’t yet
played against any of the weakest teams and yet they have averaged more than 60
points per game and have only conceded an average of 6 points per game. If they
can beat Doncaster 82-6 what on earth will happen when they come up against
Hemel or Oxford? Who on earth would want to pay to watch such uneven contests?
How on earth did the RFL allow Toronto to spend as much as they are clearly
doing on their squad? IU can understand the decision to make them start in
League One but not to then allow them to put together a playing roster which is
of almost Super League standard.
It is grossly unfair on the other League
One clubs who have aspirations to win promotion to the Championship. The rush
into ill-conceived expansion is in danger of destroying the professional game
in Cumbria.
All the talk has been about possible future
changes to Super League and the Championship but it is far more important to
rethink the third tier.
Finally, to return to matters at home.
First of all congratulations to James Lockwood on his 100th game for Fev on Monday
against Bradford. I do hope Jon Sharp can sort out Rovers disciplinary
problems. The one positive is the opportunities it gives to our younger players
and, for me, Luke Cooper put in a man of the match performance against the
Bulls. With Thackeray out, I am really hoping that team re-organisation results
in some playing minutes for Sam Day. A lad with so much promise who has just
had one substitute appearance this year. He needs game time to develop his
potential.
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