Teams rush to join historic first season

Correspondent

Interest has been high in the new RFL run men’s leagues in the North West and Yorkshire with teams rushing to sign up.

With just days to go before the Sunday January 15 deadline 100 teams have now signalled their intention to be part of the inaugural season which is set to run from March until November.

Wigan St Cuthbert’s are the latest side to put pen to paper and in the last seven days they have been joined by other established North West outfits such as Blackbrook and Clock Face Miners.

“The clubs in the North West have really bought into the new competition structure and want to be part of the historic first season.

“The players were consulted about making the switch at many of the clubs and it appears that a vast majority have opted to make the move,” said RFL North West Regional Manager John McMullen.

“In our region alone we have 71 sides waiting to kick off in March and I’m confident that the season will prove to be a great success.”

“We’ve worked closely with the North West Counties League to make sure that the transition of clubs is as smooth as possible and we will continue to help clubs who decide to stick to the winter season.”

Nationally 83 per cent of community clubs will be playing between March and November in the new season structure and all clubs who will be taking part have been invited to Congress at the Galpharm Stadium on Saturday 28 January.

“We’re now less than 50 days away from the opening weekend,” said the RFL’s Yorkshire Regional Manager, David Raybould.

“Once the deadline has passed we’ll sit down and plan the divisional structure within our regions and these plans will be confirmed in due course.”

For more information on the forthcoming season contact John McMullen (North West) on john.mcmullen@rfl.uk.com / 07775 022795 or David Raybould (Yorkshire) on david.raybould@rfl.uk.com or 07764 470828.

For all the information on the historic summer switch visit www.abrighterleague.com