You were never in competition with Celtic though, they are an expansion team and you are not.

How Salford got in over Widnes though...

Salford won everything last season. Widnes won zip.

Totally agree with that one.

A town with RL in its blood, decent facilities and reasonable crowds. Another local derby for us and at least they have travelling fans.

Whatever. So you wouldn't have Catalans in because they haven't got many who make it down the M62 in time for 8pm on a Friday night?

Widnes have had enough chances to prove they are worthy of a place and bar the stadium they are not. Halifax deserve it more than Widnes do.

Geez. How dull and parochial are some RL fans.

But didn't have the solid backroom, nor stadium. But I still feel that the heartland teams like Widnes were going against Salford rather than Celtic.

Of course if we're going on finishing positions then Celtic were the losers in the GF that year and therefore deserved their place.

Im all for expansion, but this type of thing just puts a massive dent in the sports credibility, and in the attempts to grow the game.

Celtic Crusaders look at best shambolic, and at worst a criminal organisation.

It would appear that the illegal visas relate not to this year but to earlier seasons. Therefore Celtic gained promotion through the divisions and ultimately into SL under false pretences.

That must leave a very bitter taste for fans of clubs denied entry to the championship and also SL.

Consider alos that Salford gained their franchise via a mythical stadium plan, whose trading company Red city developments collapsed into liquidation within days of them being granted a franchise.

It therefore makes a mockery of the franchising process and brings it into disrepute.

You have jumped the gun. The Borders Agency haven't completed their investigations yet where the club is concerned so we have no idea whether they were deliberately complicit, accidentally so or entirely innocent.

Didn't Leighton Samuels say that that some had been brought over with visas for his other company a few weeks back? When there was a big deal about their finances?

But was that the problem which resulted in the deportations? That information hasn't been released has it? Only that there were irregularities with their visas. As yet, investigations into the club have not been completed so we don't know whether that arrangement or indeed any other was the cause of the problem or meant that the club has been complicit in some way. We'll find out soon enough. Personally, I hope the club is cleared. The fans down there could do with a break.

Sky text says that the visas were 'insufficient' so it may be. Added to that, weren't most of these going to be binned by the club after this season?

I get the feeling that the club won't get away scot free from this, but you are correct, we don't know the facts as yet so it is all supposition at the moment.

But it is so far unknown how long they have been over here illegally. If it is (as looks likely) longer than just this year then these illegal players, many of which are some of their best players ( Jace van dyke, mark dalle cort, tony duggan etc) had a huge part to play in securing that finishing position.