Quote: forwardpass1 "Andy Burnham MP is writing an open letter to the new chairman of the RFL on this very subject, he too is dismayed at the way the game has gone and is going, and would like all Rugby League supporters to back him by signing said letter. Please follow this link and add you name to the list..... He is not the only one speaking out against it. Sam Tomkins has his say menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... mfort-zone Also Eamon McManus, chairman of St Helens has spoken out against it.

Quote: forwardpass1 "Andy Burnham MP is writing an open letter to the new chairman of the RFL on this very subject, he too is dismayed at the way the game has gone and is going, and would like all Rugby League supporters to back him by signing said letter. Please follow this link and add you name to the list..... He is not the only one speaking out against it. Sam Tomkins has his say menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... mfort-zone Also Eamon McManus, chairman of St Helens has spoken out against it.

Here is the link to the full Andy Burnham MP Article, I didn't have it when I put my original post on.... www.andyburnham.net/ Sorry it's exactly the same......

Here is the link to the full Andy Burnham MP Article, I didn't have it when I put my original post on.... www.andyburnham.net/ Sorry it's exactly the same......

I was interested to see Boots N All this week when Eddie posed the question to Paul Cullen and Shaun McRae. Understandably both supported the current system which will probably come as no surprise to anyone.

McRae talked about the current license system being about business sustainability. A nice word, but what does that actually mean. Money over an agreed period and allows planning and forecasting possibly. What about the Dulls/London who have all had issues?

I know on the Wire forum Mike Smith's article was discussed and to be honest got some disappointing answers from in my opinion short sighted fans. They talked about the jump from part time to full time. If I recall correctly the Cougars were in the main full time for a season to two prior to our grand final win. I'm not sure but I guess others in our league may well have players on retained full time contracts at that time. This outside SL is now unheard of. With that in mind, surely SL has created a gap in this sense.

SL clubs in the main would appear to be richer and the clubs outside poorer. Is that what SL was all about?

More money has to come into the Champ from SL to bridge that gap. Is that ever going to happen? Are SL clubs ever going to hand over £100K? I think we all know the answer to that.

Let's face it, RL is not football and does not have the same income stream or revenues. However, for me opening up P & R would involve drastic changes to the admin of our game. Widnes are a classic example of how this system does not work. I could be bias and probably am, but I'm not convinced the Cougars would have suffered the same issues Widnes are having now if we had been rightly promoted. Look at London who also got promoted from nowhere. Has that ever worked?

On Boots N All they talked about Catalans being an example of how the franchise system works? I'd first like to know how much money has been thrown at them by the RFL. Then I'd like to know how this corresponds to that being provided to the standard SL club to see if there is a clear disparity. I bet there is.

This post probably creates more discussion that answers, but I for one am disillusioned by the admin and set-up of this great game. I think now is the time to change for the better.

I think the first thing that has to be addressed before P&R can be brought back is making the Championship a vibrant, viable competition that's able of producing teams of a sound footing that can be promoted in to Super League. The product on the field is superb, but who's turning up to watch it? There were 700 at our game last week, why? Is there anybody in the Championship at the moment that would add more to Super League than a current side?

Would P&R be purely based on League performance? Or should criteria need to be met? Personally I think you need criteria perhaps along the lines of.
- Minimum ground capacity of 10,000
- Average attendance exceeding 3,000
- Not been in administration in the last 10 years
- No salary cap breaches in the last 5 years
- Debt (excluding loans for stadium improvements) does not exceed £250k.
- No debt owed to HMRC, the RFL, other clubs, club directors or club staff including players.

Is there anybody in the Championship at the moment that would add more to Super League than a current side?

Though it pains me to say it ,Personally dont think you have to look further than Post Office Road to say without doubt yes .

I've visited Fev, as well as many other clubs a few times over the past few season not just as a speccie but through work and I've got to say on most occasions the professionalism of the place off the field shines through in comparison of most if not all Championship Clubs and puts a lot of the SL Clubs to shame as well.

I would tend to agree with Rach in that adding Halifax or Feav would add more than having London who in fairness would not meet the attendance criteria you outlined. The RFL have clearly tried to expand the game outside of the M62 corridor, but under several guises now has London worked? I think P&R has to be about the on field performance again, rather that off field capability. I agree there is a need for a minimum criteria but promoting any team who have not finished top or won grand final to me is ridiculous.

I spoke to a guy a last Thursday at the game,he said this time last year the excitment was there watching Keighley Cougars even playing so called lesser opposition,this year it all feels a bit flat.Why because there was promotion and each each game ment something,this season we are playing for,well maybe a chance to put your name on a list with 4 or 5 other clubs so in 3 years time some nameless group of people get to decide if you can join there gang,and people wonder why the crowd is not what it should be,by the way some of you may know the guy, Mike Smith.

By the way the Union game is just about to go through the same thing league did many years ago.With 2 teams who should be fighting it out to play in the top flight,being told no,I believe at least one of those clubs may take legal action,does that sound familiar.

Automatic promotion and relegation is essential.

If all the clubs knew that there was automatic P&R and for the long term, they would over time gear up to be successful.

You don't need to set minimum standards such as above; so long as your ground has a safety certificate that should be enough. If, over time, your attendances are not big enough for whatever reason, you probably won't get promoted anyway as you won't have the revenue to finance a winning team.

You get league points deducted for an insolvency event, salary cap breaches etc anyway.