Broncos head for Stoop to conquer

Two rugby codes come together as the London league side ditch their identity for the Harlequins banner. Dave Hadfield reports

The two clubs have unveiled a ground-breaking five-year partnership, under which the Broncos will move to The Stoop and play in Quins' pastel quartered shirts.

The clubs will continue to operate separately at board level, but will have access to each other's players, will share the same training facilities and will work together on development and marketing.

"What it will be is not a merger or a takeover in either direction, but it does represent the most exciting coming together of rugby union and rugby league ever," said Ian Lenagan, the new Broncos' chairman who has been largely responsible for brokering the deal. The Broncos have been successful on the field this season, with a play-off place firmly within their grasp, but they have been close to extinction off it.

They went into liquidation with debts of £3m and were only readmitted to Super League as a new company after acrimonious debate among their peers.

Although the Broncos' gates at Brentford's Griffin Park have gone up, their financial arrangements with the football club have held them back. The priority demanded by their landlords means that last Sunday's home game against Huddersfield was their first there for seven weeks, denying them any continuity in mid-season.

"The key, long-term priority for the London Broncos has always been to find a place to call home," said the club's chief executive, Nic Cartwright. "The very future of the club and the professional game in London depends on this and now we have found a true home."

The Broncos played at The Stoop Memorial Ground - now officially renamed The Twickenham Stoop - for four games in 1995-96 and then from 1997 to 1999, but their return finds Harlequins in different circumstances following their relegation from the Premiership.

That raises inevitable fears that this could be a short-term flirtation, destined to cool when the rugby union club regain what they see as their rightful place. "We have a firm agreement to a long-term commitment and [we are] not going to let that happen," Lenagan insisted. "I've done nothing else this week but make sure that the agreement is right.

"Harlequins is somewhat of an élite brand in rugby and what they are trying to do is expand their local base and broaden their appeal to ordinary people in south-west London.

"The exposure that rugby league will bring them will enable them to do that," Lenagan added.

That issue of brand awareness is why the two clubs have to carry the same name, Lenagan said. "London Harlequins would have been nice and I have regrets over losing the proud name of the Broncos, but it is a new era.

"A lot of people came up to me after the game on Sunday and said that they were happy about moving back to The Stoop but less convinced about the name change - but that is the key to a non-nomadic future.

"Our spectators are going to love The Stoop and it will be hosting rugby league internationals within the next two years, without a doubt."

Harlequins' chief executive, Mark Evans, was equally enthusiastic. "I've been thinking about this for six years. Although we're steeped in tradition, Quins is also a club with some very progressive and dynamic ideas," he said.

"Each club's owners, directors and staff have one common goal - to make Harlequins the No 1 rugby club in the country. Both clubs believe that, through this partnership, this goal is achievable."

The move brings together the only two fully professional rugby clubs within London's boundaries and Evans will no doubt have seen the benefits that Leeds Tykes have accrued from sharing Headingley with the Leeds Rhinos.

If rugby league can help Harlequins to change their image, then the new arrangement could also mark an end to the Broncos' long-running financial problems.

Not only will the Broncos have use of The Stoop rent-free, but they will also get their share of match-day income, use of 40 corporate boxes and an on-site merchandise shop.

Lenagan says that the old Broncos identity will go out with a major sense of pride at the end of this season, but that its demise is a price worth paying for a secure future.

The man behind the deal

* IAN LENAGAN Born: Wigan, 1946.

* Became a millionaire in 2000 with the flotation of his software company, Workplace Systems.

* Chairman since 2001 of the national bar-restaurant chain, Sports Cafe.

* Successful theatre producer, with more than 20 West End productions to his credit, including the recent version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

* Became chairman and minority shareholder at the London Broncos in July 2005, leading them into partnership with Harlequins a week later.