With Fulham leaving, Brentford not interested in a groundshare, and London Wasps not ready to come back (although seemingly under contract to do so after next season), Rangers are currently without the rental income this season that would help the club so much financially.
There has been movement by a group consisting of South African interests, Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga, and a New Zealand businessman buying a Rugby Union club, moving it to Loftus Road, renaming it London Tribe, and stocking it with good numbes of players from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Polynesia. They've targeted West London as a location due to the large numbers of ex-pats from these nations in the area.
This May 29th article from the South African press (http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=4&art_id=vn20040529155341379C394993&set_id=6) makes it sound as if a deal to purchase Rotherham, who was just relegated from the Zurich Premiership, is all but done. This article also reports, "A deal has already been done for the club to play its rugby at Loftus Road, the West London home of English soccer side Queens Park Rangers."
However, this article from the Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2004/05/30/srroth30.xml&sSheet=/sport/2004/05/30/ixrugu.html), indicates that the sale of Rotherham has been denied.
This story in Sunday's Independent (http://sport.independent.co.uk/rugby_union/story.jsp?story=526347) looks at the overall picture (timing for a move, possible teams for sale, etc.) and does a good job of laying out the situation.
In any case, it looks possible that QPR could have a tenant at Loftus Road when the new rugby season starts in September and, if not then, I get the feeling that it's fairly likely that we'll at least have one in 05/06, when either London Tribe or London Wasps could make our stadium their home.
There is a seriously anti-London Tribe article in the South African press that ascribes some unenlightened racial attitudes (to say the least) to the London Tribe concept.
There are several reasons why it makes sense for the Springboks to play in the UK.
The main one is that there'll be no more pesky quota system. London Tribe, as the Springboks will be known (a witty reference to the "The White Tribe of Africa", a book about the plight of the poor misunderstood colonials of Africa) will be all white, unless you count several Australians (unconfirmed) and Breyton Paulse (I made that bit up). The link I accessed it through (when I found it on Google) sent you to a subscription area when I posted it here.
Here's that link:
http://www.news24.com/News24/Sport/Rugby/0,,2-9-838_1535738,00.html
So, in case it doesn't work for you, here's a bit more of it to get the flavor:
How will this benefit world rugby? Well, everyone knows that an all-white Springbok rugby team is much stronger than one that has been forced, by the malicious evil that the rest of the world calls Freedom, to include token black players in the squad.
And the world needs a strong Springbok rugby team because, according to several totally drunk supporters I met in a bar, God wants it that way. Or Louis Luyt, they weren't sure which. Without thick-necked, ear-biting South Africans at the top of their game, world rugby will become the home of nancy boys like Jonny Wilkinson, and we can't have that.
This is also a way to make sure that the Springbok brand remains strong, attracting the usual vast investments from beer companies interested in selling addictive alcohol to impressionable youths swayed by sweaty role models.
So what if the government wants us to use the Protea instead of our cute little Springbokkie! We'll just move the brand overseas. Unfortunately, we aren't going to be able to play in Green and Gold. But rumours are that London Tribe will play in bright yellow, to commemorate their large expat support base, most of who have done the chicken run from SA.
Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga,
That kinda comes out of nowhere.
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