Leeds have been very shrewd in making ground improvements on a regular basis over the years. I wonder though if being part of the whole Headingley setup (that includs the cricket ground) has helped to make this more financially viable?

Headingley has also been used many times over several years for Internationals, Yorkshire Cups and Challenge Cup Semi's. Perhaps the Leeds club have a policy of reinvesting ground rental revenues for stadium improvements?

I also believe that the latest stand they built behind the posts cost the Rhino's very little due to the college using classrooms built into the back of the stand.

Yes they were two of the clubs, silmilar to ourselves, who were hit financially during seasons spent in division 2. Around that time you played 14 or so home games if memory serves me right against the likes of Nottingham, Trafford, Fulham and Chorley. Swinton for example had a very active commercial scene but I imagine suffered big losses in the 2nd division as their operations was geared for top level rugby. Lots of clubs only had one asset, we were fortunate we never got shafted by our owners.

Leeds' relationship with Yorkshire CC as part of the Headingley setup is almost certainly a financially sound arrangement.

As business models go, Leeds have led the way for a long time. Linking up with Leeds Met' is yet another example of such.

I wrote an essay along similar lines about changing to summer rugby and the impact of Sky Sports on the game when I was at University. Get hold of a book called To Jerusalem And Back by Simon Kelner, it will be very useful for your purposes. I wrote to every club in the league back in 1997/8 when I did it and the only replies I got were from Castleford and St. Helens. Richard Wright at Castleford wrote me a letter 3 pages long. If you want to get in touch with anyone, both clubs were very helpful to me then, so I'll suggest them as a place to start. Good luck with your work.

when i drafted that message I actually put a bit more then took it out...the point i was going to put was that we should be thankful that money was invested in building the North Stand at the Willows when it was...the Willows needed lots of money spent on just maintaining it over the last 15 years (which was an ongoing buden on the club!) but maybe not the huge costs that would have been needed to maintain/upgrade many other grounds (some of which - Station Road as an example - were much bigger grounds and hence costs would be greater still!).

rlLeeds Met is close to bankruptcyrl

Hardly surprising considering they helped finance a multi-million pound grandstand in return for a few classrooms. A couple of rented portacabins would have been a much cheaper alternative.

So perhaps Salford have invested when they can. The problem being that they seldom could?



That's very helpful. Thank you very much!

It's encouraging to see that some clubs are prepared to engage with academics. I've certainly had some doors closed in my face although. I must knock harder and on more doors!
There certainly seems to be a degree of mistrust regarding academic researchers. But, there's real potential, imo, for rugby league and academia (especially the social sciences) to form mutually beneficial and complimentary relationships.

No, I missed that. Thanks.

There's also a lot of unrest amongst Yorkshire CCC's Members that there's a spanking new facility in the ground that they can only use a couple of times a season when the powers that be deem them worthy. Looking at the way Lancs have treated their Members recently and the use of The Point, I can understand that completely.

Again slightly off topic (but a point worth making) RL is unique amongst sports for the way its history is recorded. I think I'm right in saying no books, or maybe two at most, (save for official handbooks) were published about the sport until well after the second world war. I think Risman's autobiography was one of the first ones published and it slowly built from there with people like EM Waring. Similarly, no official records existed for the sport until Irvin Saxton and the rest got started compliling them in the 1970s. It just wasn't viewed as a necessity which again says things about how the sport viewed itself. There are still games in Salford's history where a complete record of the team that played doesn't exist.

I don't think this should be viewed as a negative though, on the contrary it adds something to the way people look at and remember the sport.

Back on topic, the two books by Geoffrey Moorhouse are a good resource for your project as well. At the George and other essays on Rugby League and The People's Game I think they are called. Both written just before Super League and touch on some of the subjects that will no doubt be covered by your essay. In one part he derides daft nicknames on clubs and say it would be awful in Rugby League. Thankfully he died shortly after. Moorhouse is a cracking writer as well.

Were you his undertaker?

What exactly is the arrangement at Headingley? And what exactly is the new facility used for (besides terracing)?

Oh, 3rd question, highlighting my lack of knowledge yet further, what has happened at Lancs?

You're not far off there. According to Tony Collins, Risman's guide to rules of Rugby League (I can't remember the exact title) was the first book written on RL, although I believe it was written in 1937. I'll check that and get back to you.

I agree that it isn't necessarily a negative although the lack of literature, in particular academic literature, has certainly resulted in a lack of a voice in some important circles. The power of the written word is dominant in western cultures and as such, RL is somewhat incapacitated. However, the culture of RL in this respect is unique in that it can be viewed as a positive. If anything, it is a reflection of the folklore culture of the game. Which I see as like a castle or fort; culturally rich but limited in terms of potential wealth-creation and expansion by its own impermeable walls. I guess you're saying the same?

Cheers for those resources. I'm sure they will be perfect for what I'm trying to demonstrate.

Just shows the progression of the sentiment for sport from a pastime to, in extreme cases, a matter of life or death. You could say early rugby league stalwarts were more likely to be averse to chronicling the game because they sought to disown anything that happened before the meeting at The George Hotel. This jettisoning of history is an issue with early books on RL club histories.

By the way a second-hand copy of Moorhouses's [iAt The George[/i is available for 1p on Amazon.