We know Cumbria loves Rugby League, as I've been told it forever and I don't doubt the sport's popularity up there. They have three semi-pro teams - Championship Barrow and League 1's Workington and Whitehaven. They have three sides in the National Conference League Premier Division, the top amateur competition, as well as a number of other teams lower down the pyramid, including the oldest amateur Rugby League side in the world, Millom. They've also been able to play a number of times as a county, either as pre-tournament warm-up games for home nations or against touring sides from around the world.
So let's have a look at the idea and maybe some of the potential issues that could get in the way of what we all want - success for Super League in Cumbria.
Crowds & Support
According to that ever reliable source Wikipedia the best crowd they ever got for one of their county games was around 8,800. More recently, Scotland have played their major tournament games in Workington, with two 2013 World Cup crowds of over 7,000, and 6,628 turning out in 2016 to see them draw with New Zealand in one of their greatest ever results.
In terms of domestic crowds, it doesn't paint a great picture for fan interest. Workington played in the debut Super League season in front of average crowds of 2,308. All three of the semi-pro teams played in League 1 in 2017. The promotion decider between Barrow and Whitehaven drew 3,128, which was the biggest English League 1 crowd of the year, but season averages were down on that - Barrow averaged 1,063, Whitehaven 687 and Workington 654.
So, the numbers don't look good. The idea though is to give fans of all those sides a top tier Cumbrian side for all to support. You would guess games wouldn't clash so the Lakers, as Koukash has put forward as a potential name, could be a Super League club for the fans of the other sides to unite behind, in the knowledge that Super League for any of the existing clubs is highly unlikely.
It's a nice theory, but lots of those potential fans already have a Super League club they support, and fans aren't so fickle as to jump to support a new team and disregard the emotional attachments they've already forged. They might attend a few games casually, but not become season ticket holders or regular merchandise buyers. Also, the Rugby League fan community in Cumbria who do fall for the new side might not be able to afford two games in a weekend, and choose their local town loyalty to the regional team to spend their money on.
Population & Location
Cumbria is the 3rd largest county by area out of the 48 English counties, but the 41st largest by population, leading to it having the 47th best population density.
To make things more difficult, the two largest population centres are at opposite ends of the county - Carlisle in the north and Barrow-in-Furness 65 miles away in the south.
When a Cumbrian merger was mooted at the dawn of Super League it was planned to be based out of Workington. Recently Cumbrian James Donaldson has been suggesting Penrith. I know other Cumbrians who think around the Ulverston area would be best. Koukash has spoken about what he's seen as potential in West Cumbria, which takes us back to Workington, or Whitehaven. But if the new club is not a merger or a takeover, you can't go where they have a team already surely.
Penrith, or Carlisle, make good sense on the transport front - they have mainline rail and M6 motorway links better than some existing Super League locations. But they sit a little distance away from the core Cumbrian rugby league hotbeds. Any sensible sporting business needs to rely on it's home audiences first, so whilst they might be great for away fans to get to, that's not what success is built on.
Location, as the London Broncos have found, is one of the toughest choices any new Cumbrian operation will need to make. I hope they get it right, although even if they do the population of Cumbria isn't huge, so there's still going to be a challenge filling the stands wherever the side lands.
Players
Another of the ambitions stated by Koukash is to have a side pretty much full of home grown Cumbrian players.
It's a noble but unrealistic ambition, and I don't think he meant it to be an absolute. I think he more likely meant that his mistake at Salford of focusing on signing loads of players whilst binning off the academy was a mistake he doesn't want to repeat.
Whilst it's unrealistic to have full Cumbrian squad, that doesn't mean a Cumbrian core isn't possible. With the amateur sides all with age group teams and the local semi-pro sides, there would be a clear pathway and proving ground for local talent to rise up.
And the is talent there, just look at today's Super League squads and from a quick look through you see:
Will Maher at Castleford
Shaun Lunt, James Donaldson and Ryan Shaw at Hull KR
Brad Singleton at Leeds
Lee Mossop at Salford
Kyle Amor and Morgan Knowles at St Helens
Jordan Johnstone and Brad Walker at Widnes
I'm probably missing some, but already they've got the makings of a good forward pack production line. These players are making it without the clear local pathway. That is a good sign, but obviously a Super League club with ambitions of a Cumbrian core will need to produce a lot more.
I really do think there are issues, and Koukash's involvement doesn't fill me with confidence after the unfulfilled promises out of his Salford time. BUT I'm one of so many that wants to see something fixed in Cumbria, and to me this seems more feasible than past talk of mergers.
I hope it's attacked with realism that crowds will be slow to build, reach will need to be county-wide and it's the young end of the potential fan base that needs to be focused on as part of a long-term strategy for Cumbria and for Rugby League. Good luck to those involved.
Let us know what you think, and make sure to listen and be involved in our shows, where we try to cover all aspects of the greatest game!
Mark
SLP
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