How to solve a problem like Harlequins RL – The Prologue

“Rugby League was a game whose laws had been codified by workers in the forlorn north of England; miners and mill-workers of Bradford and Wigan, Hull and Warrington, were invaded by that peculiar genius which concerns itself with the serious business of human games, and produced what was the supreme code, a cellular structure composed of thirteen players which mimicked life and art and war so exactly that it became them”. - Thomas Keneally

In my last post I raised a subject close to my heart, the future of Harlequins RL. For the uninitiated Quins RL are the only top flight rugby league club operating in Greater London and their history, one of trials and tribulations, can serve as a major subplot in the history of the expansion of British rugby league over the last thirty years. It’s a subject that I’ve spent a lot of time debating and arguing with friends and fellow fans recently, and I though it would be a useful exercise to formalise some of those thoughts, opinions and ideas.

I don’t intend to spend a long time explaining the history of rugby league in London or specifically that of Harlequins RL (see here and here) as that’s not the intention of this exercise. It will however be necessary to refer to them as I go along. The main thing to understand is that building a successful rugby league club has been an arduous challenge, one that sees some fans thankful simply for continued existence.

Over a series of posts I will be discussing the challenges facing the club as it attempts to make good on the Super League license it has been awarded for the next three years. The club must build up its supporter base and it must develop potential investors and sponsors if it is to stand any chance of progressing both on and off the field. In previous posts on the subject of rugby league I’ve explained why I believe expansion is crucial if rugby league is to compete in the market for professional sports; and a successful club in the nation’s capital is a major part of it.

The failure of several traditional northern clubs to gain Super League licenses has only fuelled the long standing bitterness of the “flatcappers”, the parochial tendency of rugby league support, who hanker after a long-gone era of semi-professional rugby league played between teams from the “heartland areas” of Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria. The commercial and economic realities of professional rugby league bypass the flatcappers and their cheerleaders; but as long as a London based Super League club struggles to build and consolidate its supporter base they will have legitimate ammunition against expansion to bolster the many bizarre conspiracy theories and delusions they cling to in mitigation of their own failings.

I realise that not everyone who passes through this blog has an interest in rugby league, in fact most probably don’t, but I’d be interested to hear any (sensible) comments as I go along, as the perspectives of non-fans are arguably more important in this debate than die-hards such as myself.