said no one in Widnes ever

great to see a club took that period serious and have built from it, even last season there was a couple of results they lost by 2 points and in they managed to see them out they would have been in the play offs last season.

any way well done Widnes.

Franchising doesn't work. Millionaires with patience and smarts running rugby clubs does work.

They would have been relegated, there is no patience with promotion and relegation. some people have short memories jesus.

Jesus has never typed anything on here.
'Short Memories'...Championship used to be 4 up, 4 down. Imagine that, you'd be suicidal !

Obviously it would be much better for clubs like Widnes to be relegated and lose all their assets every two years.

if a team such as widnes (or anyone for that matter) next year can't finish in the top 4 of 8 clubs consisting of the worst 4 SL clubs and 4 championship clubs then quite frankly they don't deserve to be in SL. Simple as... people really need to get over this

relegation was STILL on the table during franchising. what do you honestly think would of happened to a club had it been thrown into the wilderness for 3 whole years?? would they have kept their assets then? At least this way with improved funding to the championship they can keep a full time team, just on less money

Well I am happy as worked for Widnes, and we would have been relegated if relegation first season.We have slowly built a squad, and brought youth in too.We will be close to the top 8 this year.

Franchising works......it all depends on who's driving it.

Since SL 1 we've had 12 Teams, then 14 teams, then 12 teams again, then 14 again, no play-offs, top 5 play-offs, top 6 Play-offs and 8 team play-offs. A Club immune from relegation, clubs saved from going down on technicalities, clubs go into administration, clubs go into administration more then once, loans, cash advances, lease purchases, clubs created, clubs dissolved and only 4 teams that have won 18 competitions from a total of 21 clubs who have taken part.

Now, in the 19th year we have 2 down to be followed in 2015 with a circus that will require a team on half the salary cap with 20% of the overseas talent quota to beat a SL outfit TWICE to stand a chance of being promoted. This will make the top 6 even more ELITE in the UK, with the bottom half of SL never confident enough to rely on their own young talent, but who will instead, as they did before Licencing, look to overseas imports to keep them up!

In the Licencing era, Wakey went tits up due to the now not required search for a new stadium and spending money applying to the wreck they currently use, whilst bad management at Bradford has caused their woes. Both clubs would have wobbled, regardless of there being P&R or not.

Crusaders was entirely of the RFL's own making.......it was PSG but worse, because they spent the games money doing it.

In the same timescales that I have laid out above, the NRL has gone from being a moderately supported, but by no means wealthy game in Australia to a 200 million a year TV deal, 200 million a year in other income, record breaking, sponsorship attracting business with healthy and viable expansion club in enemy territory.........

....sorry, but the fate of the 2 competitions since 1996 are like chalk and cheese......as much as it pains me to say it, the Aussies have shown the way it needs to be done and P&R or some convoluted 12/12-8/8/8 system from Switzerland isn't it!

The RFL (and this goes for a great many RL supporters too) have the attention span of a gnat and the patience of a 2 year old!

They would never have been promoted

Very true.

Difference is, that once they were promoted this time, they had the luxury of 3 years to build, with another 3 years after that.
The problem you have now is that let's say, Fev manage to win the million dollar game in 2015 and go up, they will have 3 months to assemble a squad capable of staying up, which will involve at least 4 more foreigners than they would have been allowed in 2015. The extra million quid in funding will also have to go towards conditioners, coaching staff, a trip to France etc......London Broncos first team costs in 2012 including wages, travel, accommodation, Insurance, medical treatments etc but EXCLUDING coaching wages was £2,674,000......if Fev were to go up, the chances are that trying to stay there would result in them being bankrupt within 15 months of winning promotion!

GF, Fev' have been in the top flight before and didn't go bankrupt then, so why should they now?

Hunslet and Bramley have been in the top flight before, let's promote them too.

They paid their players 2/10ths of all then........welcome to reality!

When fev were last in the top flight their players were on a decent wage........3 times that of your average miner....nowadays apart from a few stars, Argos pays as well