Quote: Dropkick Murphy "I must admit, if the RFL are serious about expansion I do think going out into other communities (not just planting new clubs there, giving them an SL franchise and hoping for the best) is vital.
I don't know how much of this goes on already so I'm not going to pass judgement as it might be a lot for all I know.
As an example though, my ex-girlfriend was from Stamford and I discovered plenty of people there support Leicester RU. Leicester is about 45 minutes away from Stamford but because RU is widely played in schools there, they grow up with the game and Leicester are the nearest professional team so the support develops.
I can't imagine many people from 45 minutes outside Warrington supporting us unless they've either moved from Warrington in the first place or have family who did. Getting the game played in schools across the north in particular (most people I know from Manchester and Liverpool never played RL at school and look how close those cities are to the heartlands - Saints, Widnes and Salford in particular would benefit from increased exposure there) is potentially far more beneficial then creating new franchises or taking games "on the road".'"
This is what I was thinking. Warrington, geographically, are in a good location to tap into the Cheshire-Stafford populace. You've already built strong links with the University of Chester, so it makes sense. I just thought that if you're expanding HJ there could come a point where matches would have to operate with a reduced capacity due to construction. Would it be better to run with a capacity of under 10k or take a game on the road to try and gain more support to make sure when you have the 18k capacity you definately consistently nearly fill the stadium whilst developing the clubs identity in the region?
Anyway, I was just having a muse and wondered what your thoughts were. Cheers for the responses. Good luck with the rest of the season.
