The worrying English geographical drift to the south.

First topic message reminder :

This is a list of the English urban populations

1 London 8,294,058 Greater London, Epping Forest, Broxbourne, Dacorum, Three Rivers, Watford, Dartford, Gravesham, Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, Runnymede, Spelthorne and Woking
2 Birmingham 2,293,099 Cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Walsall, Sandwell and Solihull
3 Manchester 1,741,961 Cities of Manchester and Salford; Metropolitan Boroughs of Tameside, Trafford, Bury, Oldham and Stockport
4 Liverpool 830,112 Liverpool, Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley and Metropolitan Borough of St Helens
5 Newcastle 794,500 Newcastle upon Tyne; Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside
6 Nottingham 667,218 Includes the towns of Beeston and Stapleford, Carlton, Long Eaton and West Bridgford
7 Sheffield 656,160 Includes the town of Rotherham
8 Leeds 596,027 Part of Leeds
9 Bristol 558,566 Bristol and South Gloucestershire
10 Middlesbrough (Teesside) 472,200 Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees
11 Leicester 447,328 Leicester, Blaby and Oadby and Wigston
12 Portsmouth 438,489 Includes the towns of Gosport, Waterlooville, Havant, Fareham and Portchester
13 Bradford 417,061 Metropolitan Borough of Bradford
14 Bournemouth 382,536 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
15 Reading 373,836 Includes the towns of Bracknell, Wokingham and Crowthorne
16 Huddersfield 367,976 Kirklees
17 Stoke 360,810 Includes the towns of Newcastle under Lyme and Kidsgrove
18 Coventry 335,274 Coventry
19 Birkenhead 331,232 Wirral and Ellesmere Port and Neston
20 Southampton 305,887 Includes the towns of Eastleigh and Bishopstoke

(source (with more) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Primary_Urban_Areas_in_England_by_population

The worrying thing is that the gravitational pull is to the south.

English rugby is is being dragged down south.

Premiership centres in Newcastle/Yorkshire are being lost. Manchester (Sale) retains a foothold. Liverpool and Birmingham are gone.

Will all top-grade English RU be played south of the Trent in the next five years?

Diamond seems to have big plans for Sale. He said in an interview their academy had swelled from 19 to 90-odd in a few years and they're trying to get to the point where they're self sufficient in terms of players. It'll be interesting to see how they develop. There has has been huge turn arounds in playing staff in the last few years so it's good to see them maintaining most of the team as stable.