I agree with you that the whole process is flawed & unfair, but, rules are rules, and for the moment anyway, looks like they're here to stay.
What annoys me is the fact that supporters from other championship teams (and some Super League teams, may I add), seem to take great pleasure in putting the boot into how Widnes gained promotion to Super League, at the end of the day, The RFL set out the rules, Widnes followed those rules to the letter, and guess what, we got in.
If Barrow & Halifax had bothered to put the effort into their business plans, and academy set-ups, instead of trying to "buy" their way into the top flight, then maybe, just maybe, they may have been given the nod ahead of Widnes.

I'll be 110% honest with you, I'd much rather see Halifax in Super League with us, than either Quins or Crusaders.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for expansion, but when "expansion" clubs who are clearly struggling, are getting preferencial treatment from the powers that be, then its time to stand up for what you believe in.

Stop sniffing the fumes in your neighbourhood. It's hard to "make a Widnes million" without the right sugar daddy. Widnes have done what the RFL wanted but have been able to do so with the surety of finance. This is a good thing but they couldn't have done all that they have without SOC. You suggest that other clubs could have done exactly as Widnes have done and that actually, they couldn't be bothered to put the effort in?? Are you for real? Couldn't be bothered? I can just see the Halifax Directors sat on their boardroom sofa smoking a joint and chillin' out and generally goofing off because they can't be bothered.

I completely agree with you, Without SOC, Widnes wouldn't have had a cat in hells chance of going up, but, hey such is life.

I'm not saying both Halifax & Barrow boards didn't put the effort in, I'm saying they didn't follow the criteria properly.
Whilst Widnes were being quite poor on the pitch over the last few years, Halifax & Barrow, with their better quality & more expensive players, were fighting it out for the honours.

Oh dear.

Im sick of it all now, be glad when were gone.

Halifax met the criteria thats why they are still in the process.

And when you get knocked back you'll get told to improve your yoof and probably boost your attendances.

So will I! Gone gone gone...

...to super league

And that didn't happen with P&L?
Why does being a competitive championship team mean the above?

get rid of the NRC....


bring back the lancashire & yorkshire cups for championship,championship1 & super league under 20's sides

So, are you saying everything we now have in place, which got us a SL spot, is entirely due to Steve O’Connor?

Didn’t we have the biggest attendances in the Championship/NL1 before the O’Connor era?

Didn’t we already have a ‘World class’ academy set up before the O’Connor era?

Didn’t we already have a new stadium before the O’Connor era?

These are all aspects which have been talked about as being the major assets that help bring SL, and we already had them before Steve O’Connor arrived.

All Steve O’Connor has done is bring us on even further, after an initial large investment of £1.2 Million, and negotiate advantageous agreements with the local council. He has brought in a plethora of excellent sponsorship and runs the club far better than we have ever been run before. This ensures that, what we have always had in place is now sustainable and not likely to drag us into administration again.

The fact is, it would have been far more difficult for him to have done this, for the money that he has spent, at any other Championship level club, including Halifax. Because they do not have in place, the things Widnes had when he took over. You could probably include some current Super League clubs in that too.