IMG’s London Broncos decision labelled ‘crazy’ as club face uncertain future

Jon Wilkin has described the decision to relegate London Broncos based purely on their IMG grading as ‘crazy’. It comes just a couple of days after Broncos owner David Hughes declared his intention to sell the club and step down as owner at the end of the season after 27 years at the helm.

The Broncos finished bottom of the league in Super League, beneath established top flight outfit Hull FC on points difference alone to pick up the wooden spoon after picking up just three wins all season. However, the club knew they would be relegated at the end of the season no matter what, with their IMG grading being considered some way short of the standard required to remain in Super League.

It’s a system that was approved by those teams in the top flight and the club’s relegation will be officially confirmed when the latest gradings are revealed on October 23 and with Hughes walking away, the future of London Broncos now looks uncertain to say the least.

“David Hughes has put the club up for sale. He’s invested tens of millions into making London rugby league a thing and supporting and pushing it,” Wilkin said on Sky Sports. “I think it’s a desperately sad day, in the light of the IMG gradings and London finishing bottom of the table, that it may be the last time we see David Hughes attached with a club in London.”

Asked about the future of the sport in the capital, Wilkin said: “It doesn’t look great, does it? There’s a guy there who has put £20-25 million of his own money into the game, he’s invested that much money into the game and through the rules we’re saying, ‘right, your money is no longer good’.

“I think it’s crazy and if that was a business and you had a customer who’d put that much money in, you’d do whatever you could to accommodate them and keep them around. The IMG system was voted in, all the clubs voted it in and that was their choice. The unintended consequence of that is you lose a man who has devoted a large amount of his wealth to supporting and growing the game of rugby league. I think it’s really sad.

“There’s a lot of clubs in the league that actually don’t contribute anything and just take the TV deal and survive. For a team like London there’s loads of reasons why they scored lowly in the IMG ratings but David Hughes selling the club for me is alarming bells for rugby league in London. You feel for Mike Eccles and the London club that at this point in history the game has decided that they’re not in.”