So you agree that our bid was better. At least you can admit it.

Yes I did read what I wrote. Is it too hard to comprehend? SOC has stated himself he wants to make the club self sufficient, which surely requires investment in the first place to make it happen.

As for your last statement it's you who is talking cockles not me.

yes Nat, im sure we can all imagine it. but you didnt have that did you.
i can also imagine how rich i would be if i was a skillful footballer, but im crap at football. so i dont give it any thought really.
And clearly Steve O'connor has not spent 3 million pounds on the youth team.
please sir, this is foolish now.

nowhere have a said that was not the case. i was not one of those blaming anything and everything. and i do not claim to speak for all widnes supporters.

TBF what you do on the pitch below SL doesn't really matter as it is mostly a new team that a club needs for their first year in SL anyway. Financial sustainability, a strong fanbase and decent facilities are what matters in this day and age of modern rugby league. I suggest if its sport you want you stop watching a muli million pound industry and go and watch your local park side.

The only reason they have kept Halifax in the licence application in July is to give the impression it is an application process rather than an elimination process

Stick Huddersfield/Cas/Wakey in Championship for years with no automatic promotion whilst Fax are in SL and Fax will have the Higher attendences. It is ridiculous to expect Fax to match established SL clubs attendances whilst they are in the championship. If they got into SL their attendances would soon be little different from Wakey and Cas IMO.

And the same goes for turnover. A semi-pro team outside the top flight with a £300k cap is never going to have more turnover than a fully-pro, Super League team with a £1.65m cap. So comparing attendances and turnover 'head to head', as you put it, would be stupid.

I agree about the youth teams, they need to improve with that.

The stadium is way better than Cas' or Wakeys.

Of course 'head to head' they don't come close to the SL teams, but neither do widnes! But everyone knew THEY deserved their chance. Or are you saying that because Widnes can't beat Cas'/Wakeys attendances or turnover whilst still in the championship that they shouldn't have been 'promoted' either?

Instead of comparing Fax to the SL teams head to head they should look at what Fax could realistically achieve if given a license and whether they could fulfill the franchise criteria better than any of the current SL teams. If the RFL do this properly and apply their own rules then wakey/cas/quins/crusaders should be rather nervous.

Thank god for that! As a traditionalist, I was worried we'd never get a mention.....Not even 4 years ago this thread would have been about London.....

As for what fax could achieve? I challenge you to find one area where you are confident that Halifax would be better than Quins RL in the licence Criteria. Please don't say crowds, because you have a lower average crowd in a SL season than we ever did......don't say finance because we really are debt free, don't say stadium...we play in one of a few Rugby only modern stadiums, don't say development....don't say expansion, don't say SKY TV money, don't say contribution to the game as our record since SL started is better than some (2nd + 2 play-offs and a CC Final and never finished last).....in fact don't bother trying.
Halifax fans are right to feel a bit down......but let's face it, Widnes were bolted on from the moment they missed out last time. I would suggest that Fax keep up the good work and they will get another chance in 2014 when either a stadium will have failed to materialise (again) or the league will be expanded.

There's no way the RFL will reject two existing SL clubs in one go, so it's another three years wait for Fax I think. Even then, unless Crusaders go tits up in the meantime, I think it unlikely another English team will get a place.

I've made my thoughts very clear on this in the past and I'm really glad to see fellow Fax fans congratulating Widnes on their success. I'd like to add my congratulations too. I'd like to make this very clear before I go on to say why this is all nonsense.

Looking at some of the comments as to why this club should go up or this club should go down is all nonsense. I just think that licencing does not work. Just because someone stands up and says it on live tv before announcing the decision will not change my mind.

I'm sure my views will be picked apart by the licencing monkeys who are on here but here is my view.

The worst teams in Super League are the ones who lose every week. We got relegated for that very reason (along with a points deduction) and rightfully so. Castleford and Hull KR got promoted for being the best club in the Championship and have quite rightfully retained their place in Super League. If either of these clubs got relegated I'd consider it completely unfair.

In a fair system the worst team should be relegated. Simple as that. The best team from the league below should be given their shot - if they're good enough they survive. If not then they get relegated again.

Our current system rewards mediocrity.

When I see comments from RL fans saying 'Well Cas should go down cos their stadium isn't ready' or 'Wakey should go down cos they went into administration' I just feel incredibly sad that we've been reduced to discussing stadiums and business plans instead of the only business that actually matters - winning and losing on the field.

So you're saying Widnes Vikings are a mediocre 'club'? It's quite clear that you don't know very much about our 'club' and perhaps should refrain from passing comment until you are a little more knowledgeable as to what actually went into our bid which made it worthy of a license.

You're confusing 'best team' with 'best club'. Promoting the best 'club' is what franchising is about. I'd also be interested as to your insight into why licensing doesn't work?

There isnt one.
Slowly the Chp fans will see the light, they're just blinkered in general

"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"--Jonathan Swift

You only need to read any SL forum to see the irony in your statement.

A big well done to Widnes, they've played the system and got the rewards.

I thought you'd be pretty clued up yourself ...............................? 2.51220703125:10