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Expansion favourites Bedford are already up against it, even if they get the vote to join League 1
Later this month, professional rugby league will get another new team. One from a shortlist of three amateur clubs, two of whom are recent newcomers to the sport entirely. And the favourites to join League 1 are from a county that hasn’t hosted a senior match in the code’s 130-year history.
Given the RFL’s record with expansion, the overall reaction to the latest project has been one of at best apathy, at worst, mockery. Why should this be any different to the string of failed ventures before it, from Southend to Scarborough, Cardiff to Cheltenham? And as only three clubs bid, what does that tell us about the challenge ahead?