One decade on, has it in fact worked out best for all four parties concerned, the least bad of several options available in 1999?



Mildly mischievous title I know, but it's a serious question and without considering myself overly well-informed I'd give a guarded 'yes'. Feel free to put me right below.

all 4 clubs would have gone under without the help and mergers from the rfl



some clubs directors did their best to see the death of one club from hull

Thank You. Now **** *** and can this pointless thread be locked

Happy Birthday Huddersfield and Hull.

Well, two of the four clubs haven't done too badly.



I still don't see how a 'merger' can work. Teams represent towns and we know how 'territorial' we all are, so mergers of sports teams - in Britain at least - end up being a case of one death and one survival.



I mean, how many of the original Sheffield Eagles and Gateshead Thunder supporters now support Huddersfield and Hull respectively?



And how can these be considered "mergers" when, almost straight away, new teams with the same names and colours as the teams that disappeared emerge a few divisions lower down?

Huddersfield at least spent half a season trying to play SL in Sheffield.

For arguments sake then had Sheffield and Gateshead only been relegated and handed a parachute payment with help from a central fund to manage the debts incurred trying to stay in the top flight could those two clubs have survived better than how they were reformed?



I am not exactly sure how this merger worked (was pretty young back then!) but I guess the two "new" clubs were given financial aid by the RFL??



If this was the case then the monies may have been easier to distribute between two NL1 clubs and two SL clubs with a potential interest free loan if possible from the RFL to the two remaining SL clubs??



I guess options and avenues were explored and this was the best of a bad bunch chosen however in hindsight was there better options available??

Thing is, it's not even like those teams are close to each other!



They tried to do a Warrington-Widnes merger, which whilst a stupid, stupid idea that wouldn't work, at least they were towns actually next to each other. I mean Gateshead and Hull? FFS!

It wasn't meger, it was rape!

It was just another way of helping a then struggling Huddersfield side keep hold of their Super League status.

Looking at last nights MOS Awards I suppose it was more than succesful, eventually.

Why, were they not very good?