Initially granted a Licence for 3 years (2009/10/11) back in July 2008, the club were informed that the RFL felt this about the club and its applicationHarlequins' home ground, The Stoop, had all-round good facilities and it is hoped stability at this stadium will lead to an increase in attendance as the club attempts to attract the population within their "catchment area" and utilise a "robust" community programme. The club relied on "significant" shareholder support. The club had been "reasonably successful" in Super League and there were local players emerging through player development schemes but the club's junior players are "not regularly attracting national honours".'"

Points are awarded based on facilities and location, so how can it be possible to change grounds part way through the licence period (unless such plans were documented and factored into the scoring).

Does copious scaffolding count as a facility?

Can't think what else Gillingham has got going for it.

I used to really, really love watching the team in the 2000’s. There were some wonderful characters and while they got beat plenty of times, I generally enjoyed the rugby they played. Also, the players, and the staff (including Tony as coach) were so accessible. I had a tonne of fun days and nights, and it always seemed like the club was doing something.

I thought they tried some really good things marketing wise in a tough city to market anything (pre-social media) – it was usually pretty interesting, anyway. Back in that period they seemed to have much greater financial restrictions than they do now, and things like databases and CRM systems were more expensive and difficult to manage. I can’t particularly knock them for trying the Harlequins brand or the Stoop.

Hopefully, I’m not just worn out by it, but it seriously seems like they’ve just completely abandoned any pretense of operating that club in a way you might consider professionally the last 3-4 years. I guess they compile 25 players and pay them each £1.6m a year – that probably qualifies as professionalism.

The rebrand didn’t do much to inspire anyone. The colours look lucky dip. The jerseys are bland and late every year. Incredibly, this year, we’re the only team that didn’t change either home OR away jersey. The season tickets are late. We off our landlords who raise the rent and we don’t have any other options except becoming…. The Non-London Broncos. We search for coaches by not searching, which doesn’t do anyone any favours - coach, players or club. I’ll defer to Gutterfax or other smart people on what would work marketing-wise, but whatever we’re doing is creating crowds that are worse, not better. They don’t seem to have any actual staff there that might create any interest in anything beyond a few hundred friends and family and whatever the away team bring. These things just all seem like they're handled in a half-assed way.

Some things just don’t sell, and I understand the club is going to lose money ad infinitum, so maybe all they’re actually trying to do is just field a team of rugby players and pay them £1.6m a year and do whatever else it takes to keep the Sky money and licence (like have under 20s, London training, and scholarship programs). It certainly looks like they care about it a whole lot less than we do. I'd probably respect them if they just said "we're just trying to field a team - we have no plans".

Winning more would be nice, but I’m usually pretty lubed up win or lose, so losing’s not the end of the world for me. But it’s just really, really hard to like anything else about the place.

POST OF THE YEAR - I LOVE THE 'NON-LONDON BRONCOS' - BRILLIANT!

If this is the case (and it probably is), then even more so now, the RFL/SKY TV/Superleague need to wrestle control of the club away from captian meglomania (DH) and corporal self preservation (GMc)....because with these two at the helm, this is never going to end well

4 Years into 6 years of Licencing and other than Crusaders, we are the only ones who have gone backwards in real terms...the other strugglers seem to have investors lined up, new stadiums in the offing and are getting decent crowds, while we are about to move again, with less fans than some Championship clubs and are still 100% reliant on the health and insanityof one man

Who hacked Jays account? first time in 10 years he has made sense

Tonight rugby league and its future is featured in the northern edition of the BBC1 opt out show "inside Out" at 7.30pm, this is a preview issued to northern media.

SUPER League clubs are on the edge of "a financial abyss" with combined debts of more than £60m, according to a leading sports finance specialist.

Rob Wilson, from Sheffield Hallam University, came up with the conclusion after analysing the balance sheets of 11 of the 14 Super League teams for the BBC's Inside Out programme, which will be screened tonight.

Whilst information was not available from three clubs in the competition, Wilson believes the state of the game is in a perilous position.

Wilson said: "You have three or four teams that are doing very well, three or four teams doing poorly and a group of teams that struggle to wash their face financially.

"The overall effect of that is that League itself will struggle for finance.

"The biggest challenge for the Super League is that there are too many teams generating insufficient turnover and generating too much cumulative debt.

"And that alarms me as someone who looks at finance in an academic environment, so using a term like rugby league is staring at the financial abyss isn't too harsh a thing to say."

In the last six months, Bradford and Salford have both teetered on the brink of bankruptcy before being saved by new investors.

Super League clubs are guaranteed an income stream in excess of £90m from the Sky TV deal but the new season will start on Friday without a main sponsor.

The Rugby Football League has issued a strong rebuttal, with director of standards and licensing Blake Solly insisting the game remains in "robust health" as clubs prepare to kick off a World Cup year.

However, BBC Inside Out presenter George Riley has spoken to some of the sport's leading figures to test the financial health of the game and whether there is any room for optimism.

Hull KR chairman Neil Hudgell issued a warning on the state of the game last year and, 12 months on, he sees little improvement.

"I think probably on the whole it's a little bit worse than it was last year," he said.

"Every year we make a loss and every year as directors we've funded that shortfall. I think it'd be very hard for us to argue otherwise than we live beyond our means."

Gary Hetherington, chief executive of Super League champions Leeds added: "The majority of clubs are working hard ... it's some of the others that have let the sport down quite frankly."

But in a game where the fans' passion for their teams is legendary and loyalty is fierce, Solly insists there are still some real success stories.

In a statement, he said: "Rugby league is about to embark on the most exciting and most important season in its history and the sport is well placed to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead.

"Compared to every other major sport, rugby league is in very robust health. Attendances were at an all-time high in 2012, more people saw the game on TV than ever before and the RFL was able to make record levels of financial disbursements to clubs.

"We expect standards in Super League to continue to rise in 2013 when a more geographically diverse Championship will showcase the sport to new audiences whilst the Rugby League World Cup will elevate rugby league's profile to new heights.

"This year will also see more commercial income flow into rugby league than at any time in its history and with a growing stable of sponsors and partners, the sport is approaching the new season with confidence.

"The salary cap and licensing have both brought the stability that is allowing many clubs to operate profitably and helped attract the new investors who coming into Super League.

"However, no amount of central legislation can guard against some of the decision-making that takes place at local level."

THE BBC One programme will go out on air at 7.30pm tonight, just hours after the new Super League season is officially launched in Manchester.

It will be interesting to watch, I'm not always convinced with some University Professors reports, but it may be a wake up call to many who feel everything in the garden is perfect with our game.

Are we really the only club to have gone backwards during the licensing period. What about Bradford, Cas, Wakey, Salford

Cas probably have but the others have all been taken over by owners who seem to know what they're doing.

The Bulls have a number of issues- previous debt, no income(or reduced) from the RFL

The Reds haven’t got an owner currently-They also have no/few recognised players

Wakey are steadily moving forward under new stewardship but nothing significant.(crowds have grown)

Add to that the owner of Widnes Vikings has been looking for a buyer, approached a local scrap dealer? who was not interested.

Then you read today's rugby press and Big Nigel is saying what rude health the game is in and how even though we do not have sponsors for the super league or championship monies will be higher and how he expects a 5 star season?

The game is not in a good place.

1. There are too many teams in Super League for the country's talent pool. Reduce to 10, merge some of the northern clubs.
2. No promotion and relegation. Turn the Championship clubs into feeder clubs.
3. Keep the licensing with reviews every 3 years.
4. The RFL and or Sky to take control of London Broncos until it can support itself, not unlike the Melbourne Storm model.

These are general ideas.