London Broncos are not nearly as popular as Fulham were in 1980 but their longevity should be applauded
By Gavin Willacy for No Helmets Required
London Broncos are celebrating their 40th birthday this week, making them old enough for a mid-life crisis. If truth be told, the club has never been far from crises, but they are still here and that deserves celebrating. London’s only full-time professional rugby league club has experienced most of the future-on-a-knife-edge moments now threatening the existence of their 21st century counterparts,
Toronto Wolfpack. Created by wealthy people in an exciting city with little rugby league history and only a few dozen amateur participants, the Wolfpack should have learned plenty from the Broncos’ story.
In 1980, Warrington director Harold Genders, a former Rochdale and Widnes scrum-half, was dismayed by the lack of coverage of the Challenge Cup final in the
London media. He managed to convince Fulham FC chairman Ernie Clay that he could have a team competing in rugby league’s top division for just £500,000. With the Cottagers struggling on and off the
Football pitch, Clay bit. Genders resigned from the Warrington board to become managing director of Fulham Rugby League Club.