Clan in the league but out of the challenge cup.

[rocketbob]

News all over Twitter that Glasgow Clan will be joining the league in November this year after declining the opportunity to take part in the challenge cup.

 

[Wannabe2]

As long as the Clan are still in the league that has to be the main issue, they have encountered many set backs in Glasgow,it’s obviously not the perfect answer, but would have been very disappointing to see them going to the wall.

 

[Earnie]

Well that’s a whole pile of games they will not be earning revenue from!!

 

[James]

Well that’s a whole pile of games they will not be earning revenue from!!

I assume its not out of choice. They are going through the process of taking over running the arena, I guess that takes time.

 

[moggy#9]

I assume its not out of choice. They are going through the process of taking over running the arena, I guess that takes time.

I can only see a season of struggle for them. As far a recruitment goes, it surely means a disadvantage. Then, when their games start, everyone else will have been playing matches for months, or we could have hit this winter's covid cancellation....

 

[rocketbob]

This is the details from the Clan website. Link.

 

[mjh]

It's going to be a bumpy ride for all teams this season. Hopefully, we'll get to see a substantial number of games and get things back on track. Even in the regular times, teams have struggled to keep going in this league. I'd like to see it settled for the next five years before any other teams are invited to join. Keeping the current 10 together is really important as it gives good representation across all four UK nations.

 

[moggy#9]

It's going to be a bumpy ride for all teams this season. Hopefully, we'll get to see a substantial number of games and get things back on track. Even in the regular times, teams have struggled to keep going in this league. I'd like to see it settled for the next five years before any other teams are invited to join. Keeping the current 10 together is really important as it gives good representation across all four UK nations.

I expect us to see the repercussions of covid for many years. Getting more teams into the league is dependent upon decent buildings and ownership. I really can't see too much involvement from existing arenas in places like Liverpool, London or Birmingham, and where new rinks are being built they don't seem to have the capacity. With the financial hit that business has taken, is be surprised if there are many potential new team owners around the country. To be honest, to be stable, I think the league needs 16-20 teams in 2500+ seat arenas.

 

[Wannabe2]

Wow 16-20 teams well I won’t see that in my lifetime unfortunately, 12 would be a huge step forward and will take some doing. But we all live in hope.

 

[moggy#9]

Wow 16-20 teams well I won’t see that in my lifetime unfortunately, 12 would be a huge step forward and will take some doing. But we all live in hope.

I agree, it's not going to happen any time soon. But it should be the long term aspiration.

 

[matbur]

You're right, it has to be the long-term aspiration. The lack of teams is definitely a weakness.

Even before Covid, although the quality was improving the structure of the league itself was still quite insecure. The last two years will have put the league back several years in it's long-term planning which is completely understandable given the circumstances, and the next year or so is going to be a testing period for many teams. You can easily envisage a situation next season where teams are postponing games are short notice or facing a fixture backlog. It's all about sustainability now, more than ever!