Ralph Rimmer has said the RFL has carried out a huge amount of due diligence on Northampton's bid. In an interview Northampton Town's chairman (and presumably the chairman of their RL club) says it's not going to be that difficult to attract crowds because 80% of the RL season will be when there is no RU or football. and so there will be a lot of people with time on their hands.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/16003949.stmNext season Championship 1 begins on 12th February with the NRC and the league ends on 2nd September for clubs not in the play offs. Northampton Town began their season on 6th August and complete their league fixtures on 6th May. This would obviously be extended if they reached the playoffs. Taking the dates of Championship 1 matches for next year, between 6th May and 5th August only 10 of their fixtures (home and away) would be played when there was no football out of 22 games (home and away). And there would only be 5 home games out of 11 during this period. As regards RU Northampton Saints began their season on 12th August and will finish it on 5th May (excluding any play off games) so the position is very similar. So unless the timing of the fixtures in Championship 1 in 2013 or those for RU and football are going to be drastically rejigged it's difficult to see where the 80% comes from.
They said they did a huge amount of research into basing the Crusaders Super League Franchise in Bridgend.
They make it up as they go along.
The switching of Amateur Rugby is another case in point - It may be a success and it may be a failure but the consultation process was breathtaking in its hypocracy.
Trust in Widnes
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