Was it ever? It seems to have become received wisdom that Sky insist on a London team, but I've never seen anything to back it up.

This is a genuine question by the way, not one of those facetious, VT questions.

Biggest ever comeback in regular season history, from team who previously looked like they had as much spirit as a teetotal Saudi Sheikh, and all you lot talk about is the attendance. That's why I've not bothered posting in this circle-j**k arena for a year or so, right there. Yawn.

Mate......I understand the attitude, but you can't say that the attendances at London aren't a major concern. The CEO has gone on record saying an average of 10k and a successful team are what we was aiming for....as spectacular failures go, I reckon that's well worth a mention...we're last with less fans than any other season of Superleague.

As for the come back.....it was brilliant, but in the greater scheme of things, it means absolutely SFA, whilst the attendance at the stoop has a massive impact on the games future as a pro sport in London.

Given where you live now, comebacks must be getting pretty boring now after the last couple of weekends

You've never been to Bahrain on a Thursday , plenty of Saudis with spirits there.

That said, 13 drunk Saudis would have defended better than Salford today.

I agree with this..it would be odd that sky demand a club be in sl that can only comand 2500 gates to justify ther investment in sl.
Having said that if rl is to ever be taken seriously outside of its heartlands then london must be broken..

Great win for London but if there was a Northern team with crowds between 1 and 2k playing in a Rugby Union stadium at the bottom of the table... would they seriously be in with a chance of getting into super league? No. So why should it be any different for a team in London?

Unless spending to the cap actually sees them get a trophy, I can't see anything changing.

You know it is bad times when a good comeback is the best thing that has happened to your club for a while.

This London club needs to average 5-10k to justify being in this league. Championship games have seen higher crowds! It makes the sport look so small-time.

Your mostly intelligent post was ruined by the bit in bold......or would it be OK if they were playing in a soccer stadium?

The Stoop is one of the better stadiums to watch Rugby League in, both in the UK and down here in NZ/OZ.....regardless of who owns it.

Fax get higher than this on a weekly basis with almost no away support and Im not sure Halifax is bigger than the area that is around where London play. All they are is a token team in SL to make up the numbers so the sports leading body can say that the game is expanding.

And in the next couple of years the other SL clubs are going to have to bite the bullet and give up income to retain a London presence in SL, but that in itself could see other clubs fall into severe problems, the game is in a very precarious place at the moment , I can only see major structural changes happening

In an interview that Sky's Vic Wakeling gave to the authors of a history of SL, he said that a London club was the condition of the initial Sky contract, not summer rugby or a French club, for whom they wouldn't have the TV contract, but it wasn't now (when the interview was given).

Thank you.

Given that there is no longer any stipulation from Sky, and that DH has said that his support will end after next season, it has to be said that things don't look great for the London franchise; it's a shame really, because a proper marketing strategy and some decent on-field results could have sparked a real success story.

I wonder if Richard Branson can be romanced into giving it a another go?

Londons average is 2,883.....what was the average for Fax in their last SL season......? 116 more per game with a fair few local derbies in there.... Don't get me wrong, I am London's biggest critic when it comes to their crowds, but fax had their chance and cheated/blew it.

So basically saying the worst team ever to grace SL in a single season still managed bigger average crowds than a London team that has been given chance after chance year after year to grow its crowds with a bigger catchment area? Not much of an argument really, lets face it if franchising would have been in place then we would still be in SL now.

My point is that they don't own it. They don't have a huge asset. Wigan and Hull make up for that with big crowds and decent teams. London offer nothing at the moment. It is a real shame.