Quote:
Originally Posted by Widnes
I think it was a disgraceful decision by the RFL but as a Widnes fan I am not at all suprised by the decision as we have become use to it, when super league was set up about 14 years ago the RFL had said that teams needed to sort out the stadiums and teams like salford are still years away from doing so, widnes have a stronger fanbase, better stadium and better youth set up than many of the teams that have been allowed into super league. I will be supporting New Zealand in the World Cup as I don't want the RFL to profit just to invest in welsh rugby.
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With respect to the stadium situation in Salford, it wasn't the clubs fault that they had to endure an enquiry by the government before they could go ahead with building the project. Work has started and should be finished for the start of the 2010 season.
As someone else pointed out Widnes probably failed mainly due to the financial problems that they hit last year. That's certainly one of the area's which made Salford a strong candidate, in that respect. The fan base part is something to debate, as right now I don't know where Salford think they'll get an average crowd of 10,000 from. Which is what they are suggesting in the new stadia.
I said before that the RFL are trying to expand the sport, but have over the years made a mess of it all. Wales has been tried before, but so had London before the Bronco's came along, and even they with the backing of one of the larger Aussie clubs didn't last and so merged with Harlequins, before being taken over by them. There is an interesting article over on the Superleague pages going over each bid and why they failed or succeeded, and it does suggest that London need to start producing more local talent.