Marwan Koukash Outlines Plans For A New Super League Club In Cumbria

[josie andrews]

Former Salford owner Marwan Koukash says he is looking to launch a new Super League club in Cumbria.

Koukash, an England-based businessman and racehorse owner, had five years in charge of the Red Devils. He relinquished his controversial ownership of Salford at the end of last year to a community trust. Now the 59-year-old has apparently set his sights on the county of Cumbria.

Speaking on the television program Rugby League BackChat, Koukash dubbed his proposed new club as the ‘Cumbrian Lakers’.

“It’s worth looking at, there is potential for it,” he said on BackChat.

“I was visiting there last weekend and it’s amazing, you walk in the centre of Whitehaven or Workington and you see the number of kids wearing Super League shirts, rather than Manchester United or Liverpool. Obviously there is a lot of potential there.

“If I ever get involved in Cumbria, or that part of the world, I would start from scratch. I wouldn’t be taking over from a club, or taking over a club. Hopefully the new venture that I’m bringing in, with the excitement that I will generate, will force the other three clubs to join in.”

Cumbria is one of the traditional heartland areas of the sport in England, and has three long-standing semi-professional clubs currently in operation – Barrow in the Championship, and Whitehaven and Workington Town in League 1. Despite a strong amateur presence in the region, these three clubs have struggled on and off the field, both to win games and attract fans in recent years.

Barrow, which were founded in 1875, has never played in Super League and neither has Whitehaven. Workington were part of the inaugural season of Super League in 1996 but were relegated that year and have not been part of the competition since. Koukash said a merger between these three clubs, which has been mooted in the past, would not work and that could be used as feeder sides to his new franchise.
“I think that will work,” he said.

“You can’t persuade them to join forces, that’s never going to happen. Whereas if you build a club that belongs to Cumbria, those guys that are travelling from Barrow to go to Wigan, from Workington to go to St Helens, surely they would travel to support their only club.

“So regardless if they want to keep their own identity, their own club, this becomes a team that represents the whole of Cumbria. My dream would be to have a Cumbrian side that’s made entirely, or 90% of that team, to be Cumbrian guys proud to be wearing the shirt.”

Despite not having a club in Super League, Cumbria continues to produce professional players at a regular rate. The likes of Hull KR trio Ryan Shaw, Shaun Lunt and James Donaldson, St Helens pair Morgan Knowles and Kyle Amor, Leeds forward Brad Singleton and Salford front-rower Lee Mossop all hail from the region.
The Sportsman understands a ground is being looked at for the new club and a sponsor, British Nuclear Fuels, is prepared to back it.

“If we’re looking for a new destination for Super League fans to go to, like we travel to Newcastle etc, just imagine asking them go to Cumbria,” Koukash said.
“It’s a natural process – you’ve got Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria.”

https://www.thesportsman.com/articles/m ... in-cumbria

[medlocke]

Really hope this happens, it is long overdue and will be great for the area. p.s. he could have mentioned the oldest amateur RL club in the world

[endoman]

What a great idea, take the game to where people want to watch it! A brand new team is the only way, mergers etc, I guess this is what Eddie Hearn was alluding to the other day, unlikely to happen, but from an outsider, it's the way forward.

[jaws1]

Really hope this takes off its what is needed for SL time for all Cumbrians to put aside their team loyalties and get behind the new team .Cumbria is a sleeping giant for RL.

[Fujiman]

Can’t see it happening because as soon as they start planning the fans of each club will kick off saying no mergers.

[markill]

What I wonder is whether Cumbrian fans of other teams, like Wigan, would drop those teams to go support the Cumbria team.

There's been loads of talk of a British NFL franchise and the assumption is that all British fans would support that team, but having been a fan of the sport for so many years I and many others have a team that I'm invested in already. I'm not going to change that team at this stage. Would Cumbrian rugby league fans be different?

Then the age old question is where to you put them. Carlisle would make some sense in terms of population size and transport links, but how long does it take to get from places like Barrow, Millom, Egremont and the likes? Probably not significantly less than it takes to get to Wigan. So again people won't swap teams. It's a tough one to crack, hopefully they get it right.

[Wandering Warrior]

Good luck with that. He'll have a big job on with it but it would be great for RL up there, but as has been said where does the team play and no mergers, that's the first hurdle.

[medlocke]

What I wonder is whether Cumbrian fans of other teams, like Wigan, would drop those teams to go support the Cumbria team.

There's been loads of talk of a British NFL franchise and the assumption is that all British fans would support that team, but having been a fan of the sport for so many years I and many others have a team that I'm invested in already. I'm not going to change that team at this stage. Would Cumbrian rugby league fans be different?

Then the age old question is where to you put them. Carlisle would make some sense in terms of population size and transport links, but how long does it take to get from places like Barrow, Millom, Egremont and the likes? Probably not significantly less than it takes to get to Wigan. So again people won't swap teams. It's a tough one to crack, hopefully they get it right.

It's around 70 miles from Millom to Carlisle up the coast route and 90 via the M6 though both are around an hour and a half depending on traffic but can't see it being in Carlisle, it was tried before and didn't work with the Border Raiders, hopefully the ground will be in the south (Barrow/Ulverston area) or the west, really hope it isn't being planned for Penrith or Kendal, although both would be great for M6 access they are a bit of a bugger to get to on public transport from certain areas of Cumbria

[thegimble]

Only way I feel this will work is for a regional side called Cumbria. In the similar way in Wales sides when forced to merge but kept the identify of the old clubs in the lower divisions. Which for us would not be a problem as Cumbria has no team in SL.

I think Swansea and Neath merged and became the Ospreys. But in lower division the old clubs are still there.

This would lead to no more promotions though. Problem is tribalism within supporters. Biggest obstacle to this is the fans themselves.

[AndyNick]

Only way I feel this will work is for a regional side called Cumbria. In the similar way in Wales sides when forced to merge but kept the identify of the old clubs in the lower divisions. Which for us would not be a problem as Cumbria has no team in SL.

I think Swansea and Neath merged and became the Ospreys. But in lower division the old clubs are still there.

This would lead to no more promotions though. Problem is tribalism within supporters. Biggest obstacle to this is the fans themselves.

Whilst the 4 current regions in Wales have worked, there was a 5th (The Celtic Warriors) who failed. The 2 clubs involved Pontypridd and Bridgend were assigned to other regions and this was a problem, particularly for Pontypridd as they were assigned as part of the Blues, who play in Cardiff wearing the colours of their biggest rivals, Cardiff RFC. To give the equivalent it would be like a new team being formed to represent Lancashire, being based in St Helens and playing in a White Jersey with a Red V on it. You've also got the Border Reivers who were the 3rd Scottish pro side, based in Galashiels, and failed due to lack of support from the other big Borders clubs such as Melrose and Selkirk.

The centre for Cumbrian sport seems to be in Penrith. The Rugby Union club had a lot of money thrown at it by the RFU and Cumbria cricket is also based there. With its M6 and rail access it would likely be the location to go for. The other option would be to put a Stadium in a rural location somewhere near Oxenholme (again for rail links) but I can't see that getting planning support.