Leeds re-branding

[jgriffin]

Quite so, Bill. Since the Championship doesn't have a cap, there is nothing to prevent a mini-Toulon being developed, is there? Promotion to where there is a cap may present some problems.

I think this county rebranding will catch on.

Leicester tigers become....Leicester Tigers
Northampton Saints become....Northamptonshire Saints
Harlequins become......Middlesex Hairy Queens

better stop there........

[Cardiff Tig]

I'm just amazed how many secret Rotherham fans we have on this forum

[drc_007]

I perhaps naively assumed it was intended to distinguish themselves from the rugby league team?

[SuperEagle]

Yorkshireman here (from nowhere near Leeds) and I'm all for this move and find the resistance to it on this forum quite baffling.

Before I set out why Yorkshire Carnegie is a good idea, I want to get a few facts about this straight.

Firstly this is NOT just a rebrand of Leeds - it's a genuine attempt to get a county (regional) team into the prem/europe. More about this later.

Secondly, Tigers fans must realise that we're in an incredibly fortunate position in that we have a great club, steeped in the community that does well on a national and international level. There are only half a dozen areas in the WHOLE COUNTRY who can boast similar. England has a population of 53 million and the VAST MAJORITY of rugby fans don't have anything like we do. Like I say, we are very fortunate and to accuse other areas of arrogance for trying to improve the standard of rugby in their area is just plain hypocritical.

Right, now onto "Yorkshire Carnegie."

Ian McGeechan is right in that the North (and Yorskshire in particular) produces a LOT of talent. 10/36 of the current EPS are northerners (Webber, Care, Dickson, Wigglesworth, Farrell, Ford, Myler, Burrell, Eastmond and Ashton). Considering there's only two northern clubs in the Prem (last season there was only one) this is quite incredible.

Rugby participation is very high in Yorkshire, but the best players always need to leave the region to play top quality rugby - Care, Burrell, Tindall, Hodgson, Biggs etc... The Yorskhire RFU youth/acadamy system is very good and very strong and the plan is to try and keep some of this talent in the area. Like it or not, this system mainly runs out of Leeds.

Now, as mentioned earlier, this is not just a rebrand of Leeds, but an extension of a policy that's been in place for a few years now.

The strong Yorkshire youth/academy system has always been very Leeds based/biased. Also, this season Leeds have been taking some of their "home" games around the region. They've played "home" matches in Hull and, I think, Rotherham as well.

I never got behind Leeds because as a youth, I hated them. Local rivalries were stoked so I loved beating the Leeds clubs (Morley, Moortown, Garforth etc) and always wanted to see them do badly. The natural extension of this was that I could never get behind the Leeds senior team because it represents all the clubs I used to hate. I was one of many across the county who felt like this.

For those who are going to say "just support your local club, no matter the level" I can honestly say I did/do. For most of my life, my club (Hull Ionians) were in National League 2N or below. The closest "big" club was Doncaster (1hr away) and I hated them even more than I did Leeds for similar reasons.

All the best players left my local club after a season (2 if we were lucky) to play for bigger teams. Imagine if Leicester Lions were the only "big" team within 1hr of you and the closest prem club (Sale) was over two hours away and in the middle of your rival county and you get the idea. Realistically, I was never going to see top-level rugby and only when I moved to Leicester was I able to watch it on a regular basis.

On the other hand, I and many like me am really passionate about the representative side of Yorkshire Rugby. My 1st trip to Twickers was as a child to watch Yorkshire vs Lancashire. Ian McGeechan is paying it very shrewdly in this attempt to tap into some of the passion that is there for Yorkshire rugby.

I really hope it succeeds. Yorkshire Carnegie will be my third team.

I do wonder what the other "big" clubs of Rotherham and Doncaster think of this, though.

These are interesting times and people shouldn't be immediately dismissive of McGeechan's idea, especially when they don't know the context.

[Jay C]

Firstly this is NOT just a rebrand of Leeds

But as you then say yourself :

Ian McGeechan is paying it very shrewdly in this attempt to tap into some of the passion that is there for Yorkshire rugby.

I watched the BT rugby show interview with Sir Ian himself last night and he basically said it was his attempt to rebrand Leeds as Yorkshire and then he said that he wanted them to be the equivalent of a NZ Super 15 franchise side.

So it is a rebrand of Leeds, but it is also an attempt to get the rest of Yorkshire to support Leeds' rugby aspirations to the detriment of their own...

[jgriffin]

'Secondly, Tigers fans must realise that we're in an incredibly fortunate position in that we have a great club, steeped in the community that does well on a national and international level. There are only half a dozen areas in the WHOLE COUNTRY who can boast similar.'

That is the Leeds with the worst gyratory traffic system on the planet ("stuck under the bridge with you"), poor RL and RU teams - that are the envy of where?
Speaking as a happy visitor to God's own country especially for the Kilnsey Show, I think even this poster's county compatriots would chuckle into their beer and say "tha's supped too long at Tetley's teat, lad".
Delicious hyperbolic (or bolix) post!

[tb1]

'Secondly, Tigers fans must realise that we're in an incredibly fortunate position in that we have a great club, steeped in the community that does well on a national and international level. There are only half a dozen areas in the WHOLE COUNTRY who can boast similar.'

That is the Leeds with the worst gyratory traffic system on the planet ("stuck under the bridge with you"), poor RL and RU teams - that are the envy of where?
Speaking as a happy visitor to God's own country especially for the Kilnsey Show, I think even this poster's county compatriots would chuckle into their beer and say "tha's supped too long at Tetley's teat, lad".
Delicious hyperbolic (or bolix) post!

Whoosh.

[tigerburnie]

It's that popular that Rotherham are looking to move out of Yorkshire and play in Mansfield,you'd have thought after the failure of exactly this in Scotland with the Border Reivers, someone would have maybe learnt something.

[tig1]

'Secondly, Tigers fans must realise that we're in an incredibly fortunate position in that we have a great club, steeped in the community that does well on a national and international level. There are only half a dozen areas in the WHOLE COUNTRY who can boast similar.'

That is the Leeds with the worst gyratory traffic system on the planet ("stuck under the bridge with you"), poor RL and RU teams - that are the envy of where?
Speaking as a happy visitor to God's own country especially for the Kilnsey Show, I think even this poster's county compatriots would chuckle into their beer and say "tha's supped too long at Tetley's teat, lad".
Delicious hyperbolic (or bolix) post!

Poor Rl team ? Havent they won 6 of the last 10 grand finals, been to 4 or 5 Challenge cup finals in the same period, and are by far and away the most successful RL team of the last decade ?

[SuperEagle]

Firstly this is NOT just a rebrand of Leeds

But as you then say yourself :

Ian McGeechan is paying it very shrewdly in this attempt to tap into some of the passion that is there for Yorkshire rugby.

I watched the BT rugby show interview with Sir Ian himself last night and he basically said it was his attempt to rebrand Leeds as Yorkshire and then he said that he wanted them to be the equivalent of a NZ Super 15 franchise side.

So it is a rebrand of Leeds, but it is also an attempt to get the rest of Yorkshire to support Leeds' rugby aspirations to the detriment of their own...

What I meant by rebrand was just sticking new colours/new name on an existing club in the hope of attracting more attention. For example Hull City AFC being rebranded to Hull City Tigers.

As you point out - this is not what McGeechan is trying to do - he's trying to get an equivalent of a NZ franchise. Therefore it is something new and NOT just a rebrand - but something extra too. My fault for not being clear in my post.

I'm not really sure what you mean by "to the detriment of others." As I said in my post, right now, quality players from Yorkshire leave the region to play a better quality of rugby. I'm not sure how having a successful "Yorkshire Carnegie" makes this worse. Could you please explain?

[SuperEagle]

jgriffin - I meant Leicester were in the fortunate position (I'm a Tigers fan), and Leicester fans shouldn't be so quick to look down on other areas of the country that don't have a good rugby club anywhere near them.

tigerburnie - I'm not familiar with what happened at the Borders. Could you please explain what went on there, what you think went wrong with the Rievers and why you think they were in a similar position to how Yorkshire is now?

I'm genuinely interested. Cheers

[Noggs]

Who is paying for the Leeds rebranding?

Not a Yorkshireman, or a Scot for that matter

For me the idea is simply wrong. Leeds is a big city and should, with the right marketing and a good rugby offer, be able to attract decent crowds. Renaming the club with a 'Yorkshire' tag only serves to cause confusion with representative county rugby and if I still resided in the county it would do nothing to attract me to the club. Like a f**t in a lift, it's wrong on so many levels

[Bill W (2)]

The biggest "rebranding" exercise has been the formation of the Welsh "Regions".

That has been successful has it?

[jgriffin]

I've got nothing against Yorkshire, can't have - my two holidays this year are fossil hunting near Whitby (love that place) and Wharfedale for the Kilnsey Show in August Bank Holiday week.
My point really was that Leeds are not on the map in the same way as Manchester sportswise and the idea of Yorkshire Carnegie was overblown.
The idea of a Yorkshire regional team - well one exists sort of, but not in the fully pro sense.
I do think a EuroRegion league would be a new market - Irish Provinces, Welsh regions if they still exist, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northern Counties, Devon & Cornwall......it could work as a marketable product. It could become the Tetleys Pro 12!
Club rugby, it ain't, in the same way the HC ain't a club competition currently.