this is the best post for humour i have ever seen on here.well done to who ever started this.only one problem

its not april fools day, come on folks get a grip.

To be fair to the smellies - with regard to their previous sojourn in SL, Widnes had gained their place in the top flight on merit - by winning promotion via the NFP Grand Final (although everyone knew who was by far the best team in that division in 2001!!

). They hadn't been gifted a place at the behest of the expansionist dream!!

Headhunter was being sarcastic. He hates Widnes for some reason I don't care about.

Which two teams played out the Co-op Final before licening took hold.

Oh it was Salford and Crusaders.

there is no need to do anything as controversial as this at the current time - in a few months they can pick and choose the teams they want in the league without breaking any agreements.

But they had already been given a franchise by that point

....and they were playing with 6 illegal immigrants

Spending grossly beyond their means in search of short term success and then going belly-up.

Sorry I didn't realise we were still in 2007.

Quote The Chronicler of Chiswic="The Chronicler of Chiswic"Spending grossly beyond their means in search of short term success and then going belly-up.'" Spending grossly beyond their means (£3m in fact) on clothes via a bank in the Netherland Antilles, was the way the law courts saw it. www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co. ... 09984/1031 Going to 16 teams (Widnes + Toulouse) seems to make far more sense than 15. Adding Toulouse doesn't dilute the UK SL player pool much as their squad will be Franco-Australian. It avoids having a bye week and causing magic weekend problems. If half the clubs will go bust due to image rights tax-dodging, losing 100k a year due to splitting Sky money 16 ways instead of 14 won't make much difference. And it avoids having to condemn Cas/Wakey/Salford/this week's favourite to oblivion when they're on the cusp of getting a new ground.

Quote The Chronicler of Chiswic="The Chronicler of Chiswic"Spending grossly beyond their means in search of short term success and then going belly-up.'" Spending grossly beyond their means (£3m in fact) on clothes via a bank in the Netherland Antilles, was the way the law courts saw it. www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co. ... 09984/1031 Going to 16 teams (Widnes + Toulouse) seems to make far more sense than 15. Adding Toulouse doesn't dilute the UK SL player pool much as their squad will be Franco-Australian. It avoids having a bye week and causing magic weekend problems. If half the clubs will go bust due to image rights tax-dodging, losing 100k a year due to splitting Sky money 16 ways instead of 14 won't make much difference. And it avoids having to condemn Cas/Wakey/Salford/this week's favourite to oblivion when they're on the cusp of getting a new ground.

And yet the Crusaders failed to win, Winning the GF being the usual route to SL. They won their place in SL because from the viewpoint of the RFL they had the best, most financially sound application of all the clubs outside of SL ( Barring Salford )

Since entering SL they have, Broken the law with regards to Employing foreign nationals. Gone into administration twice, Set some of the lowest attendances ever for SL level Rugby league. Finished bottom of the league and, not sure if this is confirmed failed to pay players pension money.

Its hard to believe some people still support how this club has been handled by the RFL. On the list of terrible decisions by the RFL the Crusaders must be top of the pile. Their fans are a good bunch and i wish them all the best, as i do with any genuine RL supporter but that does not make how this situation has been handled right.

I believe we should expand the game, and on this thread you have seen people give good ideas on ways to do it, but fastracking teams into SL will never work. They did it with London ( A club with a decent history at the time ) and it has failed, if not for the hard work and dedication of one man they would not be here now. Gateshead? Absolute disaster to anyone who isnt a Hull fan. Paris SG? Another complete farce.

The only expansion team that has taken hold is The Cat's, a club from an area of great RL tradition, so its not really an expansion of the sport, more an expansion of the SL. And The Dragons are not setting the world on fire as things stand with bellow average crowds. But the potential is there and it was handled properly.

To answer the Why Widnes questions with regards to who could come up. The answer is simple, we have done every single thing the RFL has asked clubs looking to join SL to do. We have the best Support outside of SL. One of the best stadiums in the game. We have the required Financial clout to make a go of SL. We have one of the best youth systems in the sport which competes with and beats SL opposition almost every week. We Run at a Profit. And we have a coaching set up already at SL standards. We have also done what was asked of every club on the pitch, Win a Cup or appear in the Grand final. If you take the Number of boxes we have ticked and compared it to Barrow Season ticket sales, Widnes would have 4 more Ticks than they have season ticket holders.

Halifax need to put some more groundwork in place and get their academy systems and club in order, as do Fev. If you have ever been to Barrow you would know they are a none starter, Probably just behind Batley on the list of SL hopefuls.

If the RFL ever wakes up and turns RL back into a Sport where winning matters i would be as happy as a as can be, But as it is you have to play the system not the sport.