Aren't Barrovians really from Lancashire !

The ones born before 1974 are.

As for Des's quote on the TV after the final......I think he was making a joke about the fact that we had just won the Grand Final and in other years that would've meant promotion to SL.

Once again, self interest kills the game.

They are already in the application process by way of appearing in the GF. The need for a new stadium/current revamp now stands in the way of a successful application.

I could see Barrow making the grade, re-branding as "Cumbrian Knights" and there being another club started called Barrow (probably amateur).
I could also see younger/newer/occaisional fans of the other Cumbrian sides starting to support this "new" club as their SL club, even if it only extends to a club shirt and follwing them on SKY.

I can't really see that happening.

Your opinions probably do just as much damage to the game over here.

Well my widely distributed views and opinions on the horrific state of the game are meant to crush the spirits of the British nation as a whole.

The game itself is just part of the collateral damage.

I could see your drug habit turning into something dangerous.
I could see you finding your way onto a computer and coming up with even dafter ideas than this one.

Neither Whitehaven nor Workington will ever get into SL, and I think a lot of their fans not only know that but also don't seem to mind it. Barrow won't make it either, there are other cliubs in front of them despite their fantastic improvements this year.

Given the distance from Barrow it's probably safe to exclude them from this and concentrate on haven and town.

About a year ago I was trawling their fans websites and opinion seemed to be split 50/50 at both clubs regarding a new, independent, club being set up to play in SL with haven and worky playing in the championship. The hardcore fans of those clubs seeing it that way is interesting because they are the ones you'd expect to be most against it.

However the opinion that really counts from a business perspective, and will make or break any potential SL club, is not the combined 3,000 or so that follow those clubs at the moment but the 165,000 people living in Copeland and Allerdale that don't go and watch them. Everyone knows how popular RL is in the area, and that the amateur scene still produces talented players, but people are unlikely to go and support a neighbouring town in SL at the expense of their own. If that love of RL can be translated into support for a team that doesn't step on the toes of traditional loyalties then there is the potential for a strong SL club in West Cumbria.

And if it turns out that respected and influential members of the local amateur RL scene are involved in this project (which seems to be the case) then that surely would only increase it's chances of success?

Like who? And why?

Would you be saying this if it were you club people were calling to be merged? I very much doubt you would.

Why is it killing the game , we have 3 small clubs instead of one big one , besides which as you point out we're all crap at RL anyway , so having one SL club in Cumbria isn't going to turn us into world champions is it

Carlisle as a base? Brunton Park's a half-decent ground, 2 minutes from the motorway.

Get a good support structure in place, cheap coach travel for the fans from all parts of the county, etc.

By rights, it should succeed. Everyone in the game knows the passion for the game in Cumbria, and if it was anyone else other than Red Hall involved in the decision-making, then we know it would work.

And how far from Haven and Town is Carlisle , let alone Barrow ?

A bit like Leeds fans going to Birmingham to watch their local SL team