Quote ="Derwent"Exactly.
There are people on here who would pi55 themselves with excitement at the prospect of a game being played in front of 3 men and a dead goat in Mongolia, but would criticise a 4-5k crowd in Northern England.'"
Criticise, no.
Accept that one represents progress whilst the other represents the status quo, yes.
Major growth for rugby league is not going to happen in towns or villages that have had professional or senior amateur sides for 100+ years. Re-gaining fans that have stopped attending matches will happen, getting into schools and developing new generations of fans will happen - but neither will change the perception of a sport that the business and social elites have derided for being parochial and northern since its inception.
I hear a lot of fine words about the 'Energy Coast' and the input from nuclear companies to fund Cumbrian sport. What is in it for them? West Cumbria has little chance of attracting 20000 jobs to replace the nuclear industry if they upped and left, so beyond contractual obligations why should they fund any sporting developments?
Neither the Cloffocks nor the Recre have moved on much since they were first mooted though, so perhaps the dream of a super-stadium is still there.
