http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/25020860A blast from our past, but the London Broncos are going into administration. It's ironic looking back, that one of the worries about them ground sharing at The Valley, was that the pitch would be damaged. Now they'd probably reject our pitch as not being good enough :-)
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Shame this has happened but Dave Hughes does not have a well full of money and this was always on the cards if no one was going to assist him financially. Still RL in london to watch next year though, but at a lesser standard
Still... got the London Skolars around still...
Having said that, Broncos are absolutely awful
Would be a shame if they went out of existence. London has had league level rugby league teams since the 1930's, although as others have pointed out the city will still be represented at a lower level even if Broncos cease to exist.
The chairman of the Broncos wanted them to be guaranteed a place in super league. I suspect Broncos crowds would rise if they yo-yo'd between the top 2 divisions (under the new system due to come in) rather than just stagnate near the bottom of super league, as fans would see a regularly successful side at least in the promotion seasons. The big pool of young talent in London should see them promoted from the 2nd tier on a regular basis even if their players were then picked off and relegation subsequently followed. If they were able to hold together their team there is no reason why they shouldn't challenge in super league once in a while.
The large amount of Antipodeans and Northerners in the capital should provide a potential support base, and the amount of young Londoners playing the game also indicates potential. I suspect playing at Harlequins has not been good for crowds, as it doesn't seem a great ground for rugby league or even a great ground full stop, the location may not help either.
Thought Dagenham's ground might suit them, and big games could always be moved to a larger ground if necessary. Ideally though they would be near an underground station.
After 27 years David Hughes has put them up for sale. One bit of fortune for them is that their season has now finished, so they won't be affected by the Plough Lane pitch problems (they groundshare there now).
The fella has been amazing and can walk away with his head held high.
I fear this is it and part if me says feck it.
Rugby league is such a great game but it's run by eejits.
Let it stay northern & let union & the NRL benefit from all the quality southern players.
You don't deserve them.