Rugby league needs 'pot of money' to succeed in Wales - Leighton Samuel

[Badly Overdrawn Boy]

Samuel says RFL directors 'are not visionaries'

Leighton Samuel, the Crusaders' former owner, has claimed rugby league will never succeed in Wales without "a pot of money", as the club confirms its relocation to Wrexham tomorrow. Samuel has sold his stake in the club to a consortium led by the Wrexham FC chairman, Geoff Moss, but left with a parting shot by claiming that the Rugby Football League's board of directors "are not visionaries".

Samuel revealed that he has put £1.64m into the club since its inception in late 2005, but that they had as few as 275 season ticket holders despite earning a three‑year Super League licence. This year they had advancements on their central funding from the RFL against personal guarantees from Samuel himself, and he has claimed that recouping those payments was the governing body's main priority when looking for new owners.

"The trouble is that rugby league in Wales isn't going to expand unless there is a pot of money," Samuel told League Express. "They [the RFL] were happy to let the franchise go to north Wales because they think they will get their money back. But I am personally very sad that the Crusaders are not still in south Wales. We were looking for investment over time and I am pretty disappointed that no one in south Wales came forward to help me finance the club.

"What needs to be understood is that extra money is needed to support an expansion club. We needed a bit of financial support and the other Super League clubs said, 'Hang on a minute, you are using our money to finance an expansion club'. Unfortunately the RFL directors are not visionaries. They are looking after the game, but they haven't got the cash with which to do it properly."

The Rugby Football League has declined to respond to Samuel's comments.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/dec/14/crusaders-relocate-wales-rfl-leighton-samuel

[Badly Overdrawn Boy]

Guess he and the RFL got their sums wrong.

What were the chances of THAT happening I wonder?

[reg warner]

According to the summary of Celtic Crusader's SL licence application "There is supportive independent market rersearch for Super League in South Wales, although this can be only fully tested by the club's actual participation in the competition."

http://www.therfl.co.uk/about/page.php?areaid=193

275 season ticket holders.  What a con job.

[Myles Offside]

According to the summary of Celtic Crusader's SL licence application "There is supportive independent market rersearch for Super League in South Wales, although this can be only fully tested by the club's actual participation in the competition."

http://www.therfl.co.uk/about/page.php?areaid=193

275 season ticket holders.  What a con job.

I agree and there's a rock solid business case for the new Wrexham club as well!!!!!The new owners will have exactly the same problems as Samuels, albeit their might be a bit more away support.

They'll be lucky to get 275 season ticket holders, at least the Crusaders had a couple of seasons in the lower divisions to build a fan base (I use that term loosely), rather than just being dropped in so the RFL can get their money back and the new owner can spread the cost of running the football club. It is almot a certainty they will be gone by the end of next season.

[AB]

I think th right thing for them to do is make a 10-year plan, abit like Blackpool from 2007 onwards, they are now going into the 4th year of their 5 year plan and in that 5 years they have won a trophy

[Huggybear]

No problem with this 'pot of money' going to South Wales. As long as it's diverted from the way over-subsidised Yorkshire area.

[RB]

No problem with this 'pot of money' going to South Wales. As long as it's diverted from the way over-subsidised Yorkshire area.

Their has to be some reasonable expectation of success though.
Bridgend was the wrong place, Neath is the wrong place (as is Wrexham for that matter)

Perpignion is a City and the Capital of a region they didn't offer a franchise to Albi.
In the future Tolouse is a major city and the Capital of a region nobody is suggesting they offer a franchise to a small town 50 miles down the road.

The NFL went for Melbourne and are prepared to stick at it as long as it takes. The AFL went for Sydney and ditto over a longer period.
Can anyone imagine the AFL going for Penrith.

Can anyone imagine the NFL going for Galverston and not Houston.

If they have courses on this '' expansion of sports franchises '' the RFL effort will be a text book case on how not to do it.

[King Viking]

Melbourne are massively funded by News Ltd (a shareholder of the NRL). That's the only reason they've managed to make it work, because News Ltd are underwriting massive losses. There'd be outrage here if SKY or the RFL did the same with Crusaders.

[Huggybear]

Their has to be some reasonable expectation of success though.

I think Red Hall would be much much more careful with their decisions/expansion projects if the money was diverted away from the currently heavily subsidised Yorkshire area though.

[POPPY1]

According to the summary of Celtic Crusader's SL licence application "There is supportive independent market rersearch for Super League in South Wales, although this can be only fully tested by the club's actual participation in the competition."

http://www.therfl.co.uk/about/page.php?areaid=193

275 season ticket holders.  What a con job.

It seems the RFL believed every bit of cow-spangles around crowds and grounds from some clubs, but wouldn't believe a £0.5M investment in a Trust Fund as financial security for the vikings.

We should organise a rally from Widnes to Red Hall and from Gateshead the other way picking up fans along the M62 corridor as we go and demand Lewis and Wood step down with immediate effect.

[Peter]

Guess he and the RFL got their sums wrong.
What were the chances of THAT happening I wonder?

The Article has demonstrated that Samuels is an idiot. It has also demonstrated that the Directors of the RFL are also idiots.

Yes, a pot of money needed, and this would be my plan.

1. Buy the Millenium Stadium.

2. Offer three year contracts worth £1 million over the 3 years to 25 of the current Welsh RU Players, to play RL at the new Cardiff RLFC club.

3. Set up a youth policy signing another promising 25 youngsters.

It might succeed!

[NAT]

  I still struggle to understand how the fools at red hall think , I'm sure I'm not the only person who understands that there way of expantion is a run away train to disaster .
  There are as far as they are concerned two ways to expand neither of them being truly realistic . Firstly they create a super league club in the south of france then turn to the world and say see how good we are we have made something from nothing and they come to watch . Well lets be truthful which is a luxury red hall avoid these days , the south of france was is and has been for some time the heartlands of the french rugby league so in fact red hall did very little work there .
Secondly lets create a club miles from anywhere we play rugby league get a guy with lots of cash interested give it every advantage for a few years and hope it will create a ground swell of love for the game . As far as this way of doing things goes well we only have to look how things are going in south wales and london .
 
  Maybe I'm a fool and some may call me a flat capper but the only way to get real expation is to move out of the heartlands gradualy encourage the youth game get a grass routes following for the game then add semi pro teams . Dont mess about trying to fast track teams it wont work anything like aswell its a quick fix that wont last , working the other way will pay dividends in the long run and like it or not its the way we should take our great game .
  Unfortunately the move into north wales by crusaders may do the game there more harm than good in the long run , I always thought north wales would have been the best place to start with a gradual move south but this half cocked way of doing things will be a killer for the game there if it fails . The people at Red Hall realy need to take a good long look at how they are attempting to run the sport they are trying to do things upside down by putting to high an emphasis on Super League and not enough work into the lower leagues and amatuer game .

[RB]

Melbourne are massively funded by News Ltd (a shareholder of the NRL). That's the only reason they've managed to make it work, because News Ltd are underwriting massive losses. There'd be outrage here if SKY or the RFL did the same with Crusaders.

The RFL have already thrown well over £1 Million Pounds at a Bridgend Franchise and they are about to throw another £1 Million Pounds at a Wrexham Franchise all as far as I am concerned with little prospect of success.
In the Past they have thrown Money at Gateshead, Sheffileld and Paris Franchises and then withdrawn the money and destroyed the Franchise after a relatively short time.
I am outraged as it stands right now.

The ARL a Sydney Competition essentially has now succesfully expanded out of State to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Townsville, Auckland, Canbera and Melbourne and in State to Newcastle .
Samuels is right you have to pick the right place for the right reasons throw money at it and keep throwing money at it.
Not pick the wrong place ( Bridgend, Neath , Wrexham ) and then pull out after one year.
 

[RB]

I think Red Hall would be much much more careful with their decisions/expansion projects if the money was diverted away from the currently heavily subsidised Yorkshire area though.

Their is a Yorkshire Bias but since the original Super League Teams Wakefield and Hull KR both earned their place through promotion and Castleford beat us in that very very very crucial match in 2007.
I have a bigger problem with Celtic and Salford to be honest although it's difficult to see how both Castleford and Wakefield can both progress in Super League in the long term it should probably be one or the other.

[Huggybear]

I don't have any problem with any specific club. It should be on playing acheivement but it's not. If Samuels is saying that geography is so important to the RFL then I've no reason to dispute him. Looking at the geography of SL part of the importance seems to be in establishing a massive stronghold in Yorkshire. It's reasonable to assume that a good way of focusing the minds at Red Hall with regards using pots of money for satellite geographical expansion clubs would be to do it at the expense of pots of money for the favoured geographical stronghold of yorkshire.