Why oh why does everyone on this and other sites go on about Gateshead.

As the owner of the club I read with interest the comments raised about our club and its special arrangements. I can tell you all (from the horses mouth) that Gateshead do not get any extra funding from the RFL. It has 8 possible players it can field from other countries but it actually has 3 used as the other players all have UK and or EC passports and could have played for any club in the competition using their status.

We are a developing club that has just passed its 10 year history mark who had one year in the SL and had its licence taken from it to go to Hull because they could not manage their finances so expansion in 1999 was given back to the heartlands due to mismanagment by a hearland club and some reward that was for failure!.

I come from the so called heartlands and have lived with the game for all of my 54 years and decided to go to Gateshead to support my son who played for them back in the dark ages when they were bottom of the then NL2. We are no longer in that era due to some good management, a bit of luck and a few quid lighter in my pocket.

We have come along way since those days and have invested both on and off the field to gain credibility. We won the NL2 cup on well within the salary cap and have survived this year under the same cap and the same rules as every other club in the competition. We are a developing club with little or no amature clubs around us but that is changing for the better. Expansion takes time.

No one likes to go down a step and we know what it is like in the NL2 lower league as we were there for so long. I wish the club well and hope that you do a Dewsbury.



Kind Regards



Steven Garside

But there's funding from the RFL for development in the Wigan and Leigh service area, too. Some of this is based at LSV (eg the new League for All officer, Phil Roberts, who's a top fella and one of the leading lights behind the England Wheelchair Rugby World Champs). That'll count towards our development (or at least, to the same degree that the NE RFL team's work is).

All in all, the heartlands get far more money and support from the RFL than development areas, simply because there's so much more there to support.

You honestly believe that

Not saying that money is not spent in the heartlands , just the way it is then presented and accredited

I think its unfair that Batley are allowed to play on an un-level playing field

Thanks, you have answered my question! Surely it's better for a team to have no advantage regarding the Pitch ( no speech marks)! playing with the elements has always been a feature of any field sport however, running uphill or, downhill should not be allowed hence, Level Playing Field!

Has anyone on here ever played on the pitch at Batley. Is the slope really that bad ? I would be interested to know. The results seem to show its a problem.......2004 anyone.