Re: New welsh team in championship 1 ? : Fri Dec 11, 2009 7:54 pm  

Wether it's 20 miles or not isn't the issue , just asking the question of the Celtic Crusaders fans , will you follow either or both clubs ? , and if not , why not ?

Re: New welsh team in championship 1 ? : Sat Dec 12, 2009 9:00 am  

I can't imagine what it feels like to be a Crusaders fan at the moment, especially one of that small bunch of heroes that travelled to their away games.

I can't see many people from South Wales travelling all the way to Wrexham for home games. If I were in their position I'd probably transfer my allegiance to the new side. This of course begs the question as to where the home support for Crusaders is going to come from. You couldn't blame recent converts for just giving up on the game.

Didn't a team called South Wales die a death a couple of decades ago? I suppose a lot of ground work has been done since then and I fervently hope it succeeds but I can't help that feeling of deja vu.

If that really is going to be the new club's name, maybe the Crusaders should adopt "North Wales" to get a bit of rivalry going. I never liked the name "Crusaders" anyway. It has far too much historical and political baggage with it.

I enjoyed my one and only visit to Bridgend. The Celtic fans were a good bunch and I hope they stick with at least one of the teams. Who knows, maybe in the long run this could turn out well. It would be a crying shame if all the development work that produced such an exciting crop of young players went to waste.

Re: New welsh team in championship 1 ? : Sat Dec 12, 2009 10:45 am  

Shame that the Neath club isn't looking to play home games in Bridgend, a two-centre club playing at grounds 20 miles from each other - not that far and building on the Crusaders' fanbase.

Re: New welsh team in championship 1 ? : Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:25 pm  

Starbug wrote:

Wether it's 20 miles or not isn't the issue , just asking the question of the Celtic Crusaders fans , will you follow either or both clubs ? , and if not , why not ?

To answer the question I will always follow the Crusaders and try to get to what games I can, but in reality the C1 team being 30 minutes from my door and the Wrexham team being 3 hours from my door will obviously have a bearing.

I've only been into League for the last two years and whilst I've been happy to travel silly distances to watch my team play away games it's always been tempered with knowing I had thirteen games at home (even though that is about 70 mile round trip it still does not compare to a 250 mile round trip).

I can't stop watching the game now (nor my wife and son) so we'll probably land up doing the away games for C1 instead and try and get to a Crusaders game if it fits in with away games or no games for C1.

Am I right in thinking the majority of C1 games are Sunday?

FWIW I think the club has treated the fans appalingly and whilst I'm always grateful for someone putting a lot of money up to get us into SL this whole episode has caused me some angst. I always remember though that without the Crusaders I wouldn't have discovered this great game. Given the last few months events I just need to decide whether that's a blessing or a curse!!

Re: New welsh team in championship 1 ? : Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:35 pm  

Traffic wrote:

To answer the question I will always follow the Crusaders and try to get to what games I can, but in reality the C1 team being 30 minutes from my door and the Wrexham team being 3 hours from my door will obviously have a bearing.

I've only been into League for the last two years and whilst I've been happy to travel silly distances to watch my team play away games it's always been tempered with knowing I had thirteen games at home (even though that is about 70 mile round trip it still does not compare to a 250 mile round trip).

I can't stop watching the game now (nor my wife and son) so we'll probably land up doing the away games for C1 instead and try and get to a Crusaders game if it fits in with away games or no games for C1.

Am I right in thinking the majority of C1 games are Sunday?

FWIW I think the club has treated the fans appalingly and whilst I'm always grateful for someone putting a lot of money up to get us into SL this whole episode has caused me some angst. I always remember though that without the Crusaders I wouldn't have discovered this great game. Given the last few months events I just need to decide whether that's a blessing or a curse!!

I would hope that one of the reasons the fixtures have been delayed is to have the Crusaders and the ' New ' South Wales at home on opposite weeks , we are talking about the RFL here though

Re: New welsh team in championship 1 ? : Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:20 pm  

Will still follow crusaders unless they change the name to Wrexham/northwales then it wouldn't be my team. I'm in Devon and made about half of the home games and 3 away games last year. Wrexham is essentially all away games so will only make maybe 1 all season plus quins away. It was my local team and I embraced them as my local team now this cc1 team is the local one I'll try and get to a few of their games.

Re: New welsh team in championship 1 ? : Sat Dec 12, 2009 10:31 pm  

Traffic wrote:

FWIW I think the club has treated the fans appalingly and whilst I'm always grateful for someone putting a lot of money up to get us into SL this whole episode has caused me some angst. I always remember though that without the Crusaders I wouldn't have discovered this great game. Given the last few months events I just need to decide whether that's a blessing or a curse!!

It's a mixed blessing.

Following an RL club is an up and down experience because RL clubs are invariably linked to a community (Quins aside). That's just what RL is like. So when your club dies or moves or behaves irresponsibly in some way, it's kind of personal.

I don't know anything about the sports politics around Neath. Is it a big Union area or is there room for League to build on the work done in the Bridgend area? Hasn't Leighton Samuels pulled the plug on another team growing at Bridgend and isn't that why Neath has come into the equation? Isn't a consortium funding the Neath venture? If there is room for League in Neath and if it is a consortium funding the club then perhaps South Wales (how original!) has a chance, bearing in mind the work done under John Dixon in developing the youth participation in the area. If the club at Neath does manage to get off the ground and if the Crusaders begin to seriously challenge in Superleague next season then having the two clubs in the professional leagues in Wales could be a really good thing for the future of the sport there.

However, that doesn't take away the impact of the dismal manner in which the fans have been treated and that they are now left with a choice of a Championship 1 team which is further away but nowhere near as far as the Superleague team they were supporting just a few months ago. I really cannot understand how this situation has been allowed to develop by the RFL. They have the leadership skill of a sheep.

Re: New welsh team in championship 1 ? : Sun Dec 13, 2009 12:47 am  

Traffic is right, the fans have been treated appallingly, but I've got the bug, I can't just let go. More fool me I guess.

Saints Fan - Neath is a traditional Union area. They do have a Welsh conference side in the area; the Neath-Port Talbot Steelers, and although they're not as successful as the teams from Blackwood, Bridgend etc. they do get regular numbers playing/watching as far as I've been told.

Samuel didn't pull the plug on the Bridgend CC1 team. That was being put together by Brewery Field Limited, who pulled out because the RFL wanted Mike Turner to have a strong influence on the club. There are a lot of people unhappy at this, but as far as I know, Turner has no official capacity at the new club. Phil Davies is the man heading up the bid, so I'm not sure if it's just his money or if it is a consortium.

Lots of rumours that a couple of the Crusaders boys are willing to take a pay cut to play for the new side because they feel they've been shafted by the club moving North.

Re: New welsh team in championship 1 ? : Sun Dec 13, 2009 2:21 pm  

ajhcrusader wrote:

Lots of rumours that a couple of the Crusaders boys are willing to take a pay cut to play for the new side because they feel they've been shafted by the club moving North.

Rumours, there would be. Question is, if those players stayed could they make the Championship in one year, to free up a salary cap they could live off? I could see someone stay in S Wales for a year on little/no money, but they would need better money the following year.

Re: New welsh team in championship 1 ? : Sun Dec 13, 2009 5:29 pm  

Good post Trsffic. I hope you can turn Grendel around too.

Looking more long term - although I agree the Bridgend situation has been handled badly - the outcome isnt too bad.

a) Crusaders are still alive in a cracking stadium though I accept the 3 hours drive is a huge downside. The new Chairman has already sold his business for mega bucks whereas LS was struggling to keep afloat.

b) A new club - not a million miles away from Bridgend - will be created without the huge debt burden faced by the existing club AND playing at a more viable level in CC1. Hopefully we will see a 75%+ Welsh outfit this time around.

I really feel there are many positives to come out of this mess.