The next Exeter

Plymouth have a great following, just seem to be struggling on pitch. 

Moseley look strong now. DMP have a great base to work from. I'd say Pirates from a holistic viewpoint - fan base/financials/on pitch. 

Leicester were taking large numbers of Cov fans long before Wuss and Gasworks RFC were even in the picture. Still do.

Looks like Leeds are struggling in Nat 1

then the answer's surely clear, Coventry Trailfinders! Playing somewhere between the two, High Wycombe for example.... 

I will now get my coat, though not before thanking Mr Dropout most sincerely for giving me a good laugh this morning at the idea that Mose could be the next Exeter. For a few seasons I was more worried about our ability to be the current Moseley... On the other hand, near on 1000 through the gates last Saturday, and, as ever, the fundamentals are right. There's just a horror of spending money  and getting into debt (understandably) after what happened at the turn of the century - we get by on just enough, when more than enough is what you need.

I interpreted that as just a lack of care and support for Ealing in the community. I do wonder if/when they get to the Prem what kind of crowds they could expect. They managed c. 4000 for the Championship Cup final against Irish with about a 60:40 split in Ealing's favor. I would suspect that the games against the other London clubs (provided that Ealing can find a stadium in West London), would pull in at least that for the first season through visiting fans. Games against Bristol and Newcastle in recent years brought in about 2000, even in quite poor weather. Not sure how the community would get behind the team in the topflight, but it would have to be better than now.

Totally agree (especially about LW being the exception) however I don't think it's just a London thing - I'd be interested to know how many of the same Birmingham faces pop up at Leicester, Wasps and Worcester, for example, depending on who's at home. I know a few that do Worcester or Wasps on that basis and one that does Wasps and Leicester.

You could argue that they're the floating rugby fans who've drifted away from Moseley since the 1990s, and in a couple of cases you'd be right, but I think it's more the draw of match day spectacle. Whether the appearance of premiership rugby in Birmingham would cause them to desert the other clubs in favour of commitment to that side only I don't know.

I was as guilty of it as the next person I suppose, given that living in Oxford I watched Welsh when they played in Oxford but I haven't followed them back to ODP. I'd have watched Glaws in Oxford if it had been them. It helped that they played on a Sunday of course, so I wasn't forced to choose between premiership rugby fights for survival with LW and Championship fights for survival with Mose...

I'm up for an experiment.

There'll be a pretty decent stadium available in N. Brum after the Commonwealth Games. Do you reckon Birmingham City Council would offer W*sps an even sweeter deal than Cov City Council offered them for the Ricoh? I mean, it'd have to be genuine bargain basement, handful of peanuts territory to beat that, but...

No?

Just wishful thinking then...

Ah well.

If only.