When I lived in the east end, a mate of mine was on a course for a fortnight at the National Athletics Centre in Crystal Palace, so he stayed at my flat. As the crow flies, it's about 7 miles away. To get there, he had to leave at 6am, walk to a DRL station, get a train across the river, get an overground train, then get two buses. It took over 2 and a half hours.

As he pointed out afterwards, he was doing a course in SE London so he stayed with a mate in east London - sounds simple, but in travel terms it was like doing a course in Coventry, and staying with a mate in Preston.

Which is a long way of saying: no, its not like it is for other clubs. London is not one city, it is 100 towns all bolted on to one another with no gaps in between. It took me 3 hours to drive to Quins from Exeter (180 miles). It would take about the same time to drive (through the middle) from Tottenham (at least on a work day... about 15 miles).

The thing is though we aren't talking about the difference between 10,000 & 15,000 fans into attendance which is where you may say you can't call London one place... We are talking about less than 1800!

Hence why I wouldn't live in a god forsaken place like london , or Manchester , or Leeds , or Liverpool , and definatley Newcastle or Birmingham , cos they talk funny

why is it that when it suits Quins are important as they represent the millions of London, yet when it comes down to getting to games they claim they are all too far away and in reality their local popualtion is about the size of Cas! Which is it, big city team or outer suburb park side?

If I was an actual Londoner, why would I have any interest in a club called Harlequins? If it was called London, I might.

And who spouted the bull about Quins RL being 6 years old? As a name, maybe, or a new company, or whatever, but as the face of London RL, it is many years older than that, under it's different guises.

They are doing a lot for the amateur game, by all accounts, which might bear fruit in the long run, but attendances are going a long way backwards, and unlike a lot of the heartland teams, there probably isn't a lot of part-time support to tap into (ie, if a lot of the established clubs do well, there are a lot of people who will turn up again). They need to sort it out, because it would look like a defeat for the game if London failed, but how long do we keep trying for? It is more than 30 years since Quins first started, if you work on the assumption that Fulham was the original guise, and we are no further on, apart from the amateur game.

What about moving to somewhere where there isn't a big alternative sporting presence but an appetite for rugby league. The Crusaders move to Wrexham was a good one, away from union territory and into an area where there isn't much local alternative for sport. What town around London would suit that? Hemel Hempstead was often touted.

Unfortunately, it's attitudes like that, that are preventing more support coming through. I've heard people say they'll only support us if we go back to Broncos and blah, blah but if you're an RL fan then it shouldn't matter what we're called.
As for people complaining about our location, we couldn't be closer to central london if we tried! 15 mins away from Waterloo on the train, one of the biggest tourist attractions in London. As for a new home, where are we supposed to move to then? The only other option is Brentford, and the Stoop is a much better stadium.

Dissapointed that the sole focus seems to be on a crowd anounced lower than was, as it was a good win and we played some good stuff, there also seemed to be a lot of new comers where I usually sit too. However I suppose it's virtually impossible for us to not be criticized by some. If it's not our performances, it's always something else.

Slugger- If you were from London and liked football would you be happy to follow Arsenal?

As bad as the crowds are we are not that far behind well established RL icons! such as Wakefiled, Salford etc

Lets see who gets kicked out next year Slugger- Enjoy your trips to Batley.

Its only correct clubs with bad finances are removed from the top tier of the game-how about that? Lets not focus on one aspect lets focus on the whole club management- goodnight

TBh if I lived in London I wouldn't support a club that has jumped into bed with RU, wears a stupid looking kit and based itself in the heart of Union territory. Call me old fashioned but Union is and always be the enemy as far as I am concerned and any RL club that stoops so low (excuse the pun) as to become a pseudo RU club wouldn't get my hard earned.

I see the tradition of wild and wonderful travel stories getting accrosss london get more mythical by the year.

:1auvwvoe]

Not sure when your friend was on this course but given he was catch a DLR the jubilee line was already in existence in some shape or form. Why would he need to get two buses from an overland train stop when there are 3 railway stations within a few minutes walk ? From the east end it would typically take less than one hour. Not sure where you were in the east end but your distances do not tie up with the journey time you have stated. Take jubilee line to london bridge (20 minutes), there is a regular service to crystal palace that takes around 20 minutes, from victoria very good service to penge again about 20 minutes. That does not equate to 2.5 hours and does not involve any buses.



[quote:1auvwvoe]As he pointed out afterwards, he was doing a course in SE London so he stayed with a mate in east London - sounds simple, but in travel terms it was like doing a course in Coventry, and staying with a mate in Preston. "When I lived in the east end, a mate of mine was on a course for a fortnight at the National Athletics Centre in Crystal Palace, so he stayed at my flat. As the crow flies, it's about 7 miles away. To get there, he had to leave at 6am, walk to a DRL station, get a train across the river, get an overground train, then get two buses. It took over 2 and a half hours."
'"

I will enjoy my trips to Batley, actually, because I think you will find that it will have more people watching the game than Quins had. And Im not sure what your analogy about Arsenal is all about.

The point is rugby league is way down the pecking order in London, whereas in Yorkshire, Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire, it is second. You have to attract the vaguely curious to get your crowds up, and so a name change might do that. You used to be called London and got much better crowds than you do now. Look at a graph of your crowds since you became Quins, and it is only going one way.

As I said, I'm in support of RL working in London and the south. It is about finding the right formula. Right now, they haven't go it.

He means Arsenal are the only London club who are not named after the borough they play in (Islington), so why should we have to be named 'London' or 'Richmond' (if you go by borough)?

Also I doubt Batley get higher crowds than us, only Widnes in the Championship can match/better our crowds.

Well jog on then. You're not missed, you gibbering imbecile.

What's wrong with Batley?