52916_1378593744.jpgA pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood. - George S. Patton
In war, resolution; in defeat, defiance; in victory, magnanimity. - Winston Churchill
It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it. - General Douglas MacArthur
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. - Isaac Asimov:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_52916.jpg
Quote: ricardo07 "I am very sorry to see the player exodus at Leigh and feel extremely sad for their supporters.
They have a very tidy ground which should be a blue print for teams like my own (Wakefield) and on my visits there I have always been made welcome by Leigh supporters and the ground stewards.
However it seems that balancing the books was not a priority.
I was under the impression (forgive me if I am wrong) that after the problems experienced in the past by my own club and more recently by Bradford, the RFL had insisted that financial due dilligence was to be improved. Indeed at Wakefield, wasn't Kath Hetherington launched into Belle Vue until Michael Carter (CEO) found his feet.
I believe that RFL have failed miserably in this respect as they have the powers to act as internal auditors and advise against overspending.
I for one will not put all the blame on Derek Beaumont. He is passionate about Leigh and used some of his own money, but the RFL must have been aware that his budget was not sustainable and should have insisted that some type of financial director was appointed.
The danger of boom or bust was examplified many years ago by association football's Leeds United. They chased adream, failed to catch it and 20 years later still have not made it back to the Premier League.
I offer my own club as a model of how it should be done.
Within the last 5 years we had to sell our best players and operate on a shoestring for a couple of years. Full credit must be given to the directors Chris Brereton and Michael Carter for doing this.
I hope DB does not walk away and that their may be a local Leyther prepared to invest both time and money to support him.
The Leigh supporters deserve it.
RFL hang your heads in shame.
I sincerely hope that Salford are not heading in the same direction.
Widnes at least seem to be waking up to the fact that their super league place is in danger but please RFL make sure that financial due diligence is scrutinised over there.'"
Non of that is the RFL's fault. Derek Beaumont, for all his passion for Leigh, failed to stabilise the finances at his club and spent his own money chasing a dream. He is now leaving and the club will pay the price. I have been to Leigh many times and it has great potential, but, the club needs to grow their regular crowd numbers, as their current crowd numbers are not big enough for Super League.
[b:3w2ur1db]Superleague Titles[/b:3w2ur1db]
Warrington Wolfs - 0
Wakefield Trinity - 0
Leigh Centurions - 0
[quote="Budgiezilla":3w2ur1db]Surely it can only be a player from Catalans. Probably the best RL side I have ever witnessed in this season's comp.[/quote:3w2ur1db]:
I am amazed that the 3x8 format is being blamed for financial difficulties. As it stands a championship club already has to be in a position to beat SL clubs before moving up. Under the old one up one down system you only had to be good enough to beat championship clubs and the outcome, year after year, was that the promoted club took the players of the relegated club, who were already not SL quality, and who again ended up in a relegated team. Personally I would like to see any promoted club being given a license that guarenteed safety in their first year or the new system will be just more of the same. You can already see too many teams preparing not to get relegated and a long summer of dead rubbers.
438_1551258406.jpg"If you start listening to the fans it won't be long before you're sitting with them," - Wayne Bennett.:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_438.jpg
Quote: wrencat1873 "Of course the clubs voted for it….So, who will be next to fail ?'"
They voted for it because it gives Championship clubs a chance of promotion but some bigger gates at the end of the season. It also prevents some SL clubs from drifting without any sort of risk.
Who will be next to fail? The club that has no contingency plan obviously. From a championship perspective the key is to approach the top 4 with a long term aim not a or bust attitude. That way missing out won’t mean dramatic changes are needed overnight.
Perhaps we need a parachute payment for clubs that finished in the top 4 that then do not the following year? Perhaps a more gradual distribution of funding is needed so that success is rewarded but failure not penalised so heavily? I don’t have all the answers.
What I do know is that many SL clubs are no better run than clubs in the Championship or L1 and they remain their solely while their backers are in place. In some cases there are healthier clubs in L1 and the Championship than in SL. Consequently any system for movement of clubs between L1, Championship and SL should be a majority agreement not something imposed by a minority.
76030_1540929970.jpgJESUS WEPT HOW MANY TIMES?????
£20 a ticket and £15 on beer and merchandise.....so an away fan is worth £35. At best, 1,000 is the average away support split across 11 rounds and I am being really generous here, so Toronto, replacing say Wakefield will cost a SL club £35,000.
The minimum turnover of a SL club is £4,000,000 so Toronto instead of Widnes is worth less than 1% of a SL clubs turnover.
There are many valid reasons for and against expansion into America, but "AWAY FANS" isn't one of them. :d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_76030.jpg
The RFL will happily let millionaires throw money at expansion clubs because it saves them the trouble...even if these millionaires are "fly by night" merchants like the guy at Crusaders and now Del Boy Beaumont......the minute David Hughes passes way or Argyle gets bored, London and Toronto will vanish, but the RFL won't care, because they'll still collect their wages, sky will still pay us a pittance and the fans will still (in fewer and fewer numbers as we die) roll up to games......
22575.gif"Brian McDermott, with a wry smile, nods when asked if he remembers a specific incident which made him realise he was a prick. 'I do', he murmurs.":22575.gif
Beaumont is solely to blame if the club has financial problems - in the absence of a viable business he was underwriting/guaranteeing the club's position.
If you want the RFL to micro-manage every club I'm sure you won't object to funding the organisation properly to do so? Another £500k slice of TV money might do the job.
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HOW MANY TIMES?????
£20 a ticket and £15 on beer and merchandise.....so an away fan is worth £35. At best, 1,000 is the average away support split across 11 rounds and I am being really generous here, so Toronto, replacing say Wakefield will cost a SL club £35,000.
The minimum turnover of a SL club is £4,000,000 so Toronto instead of Widnes is worth less than 1% of a SL clubs turnover.
There are many valid reasons for and against expansion into America, but "AWAY FANS" isn't one of them. 
:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_76030.jpg
