Is it me or are the Celtic Crusader flirting with a familiar path of doom?
Disturbing rumours of financial problems have been first denied, then admitted, then bolstered by an RFL press release that reassuringly informs us that they have experts in Bridgend supporting the club during its inaugural engage Super League season.
The Crusaders, (founded in 2005) have met many of the targets they were set as part of their winning a three-year Super League licence commencing in 2009, but have been experiencing difficulties due to the adverse economic climate.
However, Leighton Samuel, the Crusaders’ owner and chairman, has at least reaffirmed his commitment to creating a Super League success story in South Wales, a goal the RFL is helping them reach by providing expert assistance under the auspices of the governing body’s Clubs’ Support Programme.
That support is essential too, if the Crusaders are to survive. It is the key lesson learned from previous abortive expansion plans, most notably the PSG and Gateshead debacles, that saw the RFL in full retreat as promising starts crumbled under financial pressures.
The RFL is offering similar support to other Super League clubs too and so, I’ve no problem with that aspect, nor with the fact that the recession is exerting unprecedented financial strains on the fledgling club. No, my worry is the itchy feet syndrome that seems to be developing in Bridgend, with the club eyeing a ‘temporary’ move east to Newport.
Now Newport may or may not be a better prospect/catchment area/temporary home for the Crusaders, I know not. But I do worry that the club is in danger of disaffecting the small fan base is has so far accrued and following the nomadic path of the Cardiff Blue Dragons.
It’s one thing to spend a season somewhere whilst a new stadium is being constructed, but it remains to be seen whether that constructions will go ahead. If it doesn’t then there’s no reason to go back is there?
But the so called ‘on the road’ venture, which would see the club playing at diverse venues throughout Wales would be a massive gamble if it were to be implemented in the form hinted at. It is something best left until the club is on far firmer foundations; the Catalans recent venture into Barcelona being a prime example.
I was working in Cardiff when the previous Super League application failed; it was a devastating feeling. The media had built-up the application all week and then … nothing, not even tumbleweed in the streets.
It would be an even bigger blow where the Crusaders to fail now. The sport cannot afford it to happen — the last thing we want is another Gateshead scenario, with the Leigh-Bridgend Crusader Centurions turning out in Super League XV.
ibridge
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