Author: Sedge Tiger
Subject: So who wants to be promoted?
Posted: 22 Mar 2015 at 10:28
Fake_Shemp wrote:SK 88 wrote:Mowden Parker wrote:
Cov only had 2 teams back in the day? Fair enough. I would imagine the 95% plus of clubs need several senior sides to secure the long term future, and i think allowing 2s and 3s into the league system is the way to increase competivity.
I presume Cov traditionally had the same structure as Leicester, Northampton, Bristol, Bath and Gloucester in that they were really a de facto representative side. The west country trio all had "combinations" of the junior clubs then second teams called "United" before the First XVs. Leicester and Northampton had local "Alliances" of local junior clubs.
Tigers and Cov never had second teams. They had "Extra Firsts" !!
Leicester had clubs including Westleigh RFC and Wigston RFC (now combined as Leicester Lions), with former players including Martin Johnson, Louis and Brett Deacon and Billy Twelvetrees.
FS
Sorry for staying off topic but your point is a bit mixed here, as not all the players highlighted above were Wigston or Westliegh developed players.
The Deacon brothers were, but the other two were Leicester players first, and loaned to the two Leicestershire Clubs for player development. Martin Johnson and Billy Tewevletrees were never developed by both junior clubs as kids nor were they from the areas of both clubs.
The latter practice has not changed from then to now. The trickle down effect from the top sides within areas to lower level clubs has been in that time, not down to the augmentation of other clubs structures, it is a result of a joint objective between the clubs, player development from one, to league aspiration by the other. This practice in general has honest honourable objectives but in my opinion the reality in most cases has had a negative and corrosive effect on the lower clubs senior sections.
On a different and positive point great first season for DMP in National One
All the best
ST
Edited by Sedge Tiger - 3 hours 12 minutes ago at 10:48