Mad Monday took on a whole new significance for London Broncos: the owner stepped down, the stadium flooded, and star players began searching for new opportunities. It's a telling sign when your home ground flooding isn't your biggest worry of the day. But that was the reality for the relegation-bound London Broncos, as owner David Hughes confirmed he would no longer fund the club. Not only are the out-of-contract players at risk of unemployment by the end of October, but the entire club faces an uncertain future. Broncos fans are anxiously awaiting the outcome to see if they will have a Championship club to support next season.
When the Broncos' remarkable Super League journey concluded with a disappointing loss at Warrington last Friday, a somewhat awkward celebration came to an end. Stand-off Jack Campagnolo, a breakout star, is among a dozen players who are five weeks away from potential joblessness. "It was an emotionally challenging experience," admits the Italy international Campagnolo. "I've never been in this situation before. In Australia, you always know which division your team will play in the following year. I tried to cherish the moments with my teammates on the bus and shared a few drinks together afterward. I would have loved to stay, but I've already given notice on my house in London, and my belongings are packed and ready to move on."
On Mad Monday, there was no time to drown their sorrows, as several Broncos had already left the capital. Campagnolo was flying to Naples for a few days on the Amalfi coast, hoping to receive firm offers from English, French, and Australian clubs. His Azzurri teammate Ethan Natoli is heading to Perpignan, where he will continue his European journey with Pia Donkeys in Super 13. He may be joined by Hakim Miloudi and Ugo Tison. The pony-tailed centre (and electrician) Jarred Bassett is returning to Australia after an extraordinary rise that saw him play at levels four, three, two, and one in successive seasons in London. Bassett and Dean Parata made their top-flight debuts for the Broncos at the age of 32, 14 years after leaving school on the Gold Coast.
On Monday, Lewis Bienek was working at the cybersecurity company in Bexley, where he designs firewalls for law firms and banks, when he received the news that Hughes was stepping down. "It's the end of an era – and it's sad to hear," said the Ireland prop. "David has done an amazing job keeping rugby league alive in the south. It's a turbulent time, not knowing if I'll be playing next year." With most of the team that sat eighth in the Championship in August last year, and not a single player with 50 Super League appearances on their CV, London started a unique campaign woefully understrength and out of their depth but finished it fully acclimatised and competitive. Now, the club faces an even bigger challenge.
Broncos fans are accustomed to relegation – this was their third consecutive Super League season to end this way – but they have always known their club could bounce back, like Wakefield, Leigh, Hull KR, and countless other clubs before them. This time, however, is different. Relegation usually casts a shadow over the summer, but thanks to the IMG gradings, the Broncos spent the season working under pitch-black thunderous clouds that Mike Eccles’ team did all they could to brighten. Injuries damaged the Broncos’ prospects almost as much as IMG. Eccles never got to field his first-choice spine, the planned half-back partnership of Campagnolo and James Meadows reunited at half-time on Friday for the first time since March.
Their absences – that of the hooker Bill Leyland all season and the full-back Josh Rourke for the first five months – gave an extensive opportunity to Oli Leyland. Playing every week, Leyland improved so much that Warrington wants him. Their fellow title contenders Hull KR are expected to confirm the signing of the winger Lee Kershaw, likewise Wakefield with Rourke, who did enough in only the last 12 games to secure a move. Their adventurous approach brought plenty of admirers. Now, they need someone to want the club.
London RL have been in even more precarious situations in their 44-year lifespan. It comes with the territory. The oil magnate Hughes stepping down is an opportunity for someone very rich to do something very different and ambitious with the capital club – or watch them fall apart at the seams. With no parachute payment and central funding plummeting by a million to about £100,000, London will not stay full-time. They may not stay at all. Presuming he is not going to ask for his £27m back, Hughes is unlikely to let his baby perish. After all, that would also put a serious dent in the career prospects of his own son, the Broncos prop Jack Hughes. But Bienek is one of seven local players with a contract for 2025 but no idea if it will be honoured.
The club's sole director for a while now, Hughes’s 27 years on the board have cost him a million a year according to London RL Limited’s 2022 accounts (2023’s are overdue). With assets of only half a million, any suitors will need to view the club as an emotionally enriching expensive adventure rather than a sensible fiscal investment. This season’s playing budget was believed to be as low as £750,000 and yet still every employee fears for their future. The axe looms over anything that doesn’t harbour IMG points – and even those that do. No Championship set up could afford to retain both Eccles and his assistant Ryan Sheridan full-time, and the Broncos’ minuscule front-office team is already so stretched that the chief executive, Jason Loubser, can be seen taking down post protectors seconds after the final hooter at Plough Lane. Like Hughes, football manager Dom Fenton has been at the club for 27 years, longer than most of the first team have been alive.
While Super League brought a boost in commercial interest, it was no surprise the 5,000 who descended on Cherry Red Records Stadium for the opening night shrunk to little more than the Broncos’ three-figure hardcore, matched or even outnumbered by away fans. Next year there will no invasion of discombobulated Loiners or Leythers looking left at Topps Tiles and exclaiming: “I can’t believe there’s a stadium hidden there”; fewer fans taking photos of Orinoco’s Womble Bench; the queues for Crazy Gang ale mercifully shorter though hospitality guests will be able to fit on a minibus not a double-decker; and there will be no post-match press conferences because the media seats will be all but deserted. With no television deal for the Championship, not only will this Broncos team never be seen again, nor will their replacements. Having hardly been seen on Premier Sports’ Championship coverage, the Broncos emerged blinking into the bright lights of weekly Sky TV coverage. Every coach, agent, and scout in the world knows how good Leyland, Rourke, and Co are. Demise brings opportunity.
