IT SEEMED, on the face of it, the sensible thing to do.

Disregarding the small matter of community identity and turning a blind eye to a century of tradition, what better way for rugby league to enter the bold new Super League era than by creating bold new "super clubs"?

With the help of a generous £87m broadcast deal from Sky Television, rugby league finally had the means to break free of the chains that had tied it to the M62 corridor and become a truly national sport.

Super League would retain a strong presence in the traditional northern heartland but there would be franchises in big cities around the country in a new summer competition which was guaranteed to fire the imagination of the British sporting public.

Or at least that was the plan.

Unfortunately, some of the people behind the Super League dream failed to realise that what they perceived to be the sport's weakness was regarded by many supporters as its main strength.

Rather than resulting in amalgamations and partnerships, the proposed mergers merely brought fans together in protest at plans to dilute or destroy everything the sport stood for.

Supporters of Castleford, Wakefield and Featherstone had spent the best part of 80 years struggling to find any subject on which they agreed (other than their dislike for Leeds) but the suggestion that the three clubs should combine to create a new club named Calder brought instant unity.

Similarly, the call for Bradford and Halifax to merge prompted marches on the town hall and the vilification of any club official who supported the idea while in Hull, well, no-one really believed that the twain would ever meet, did they?

The last Super League revolution destroyed the credibility of a lot of people, saw hundred of thousands of pounds frittered away in ill-advised legal action and irrevocably tarnished the standing of league among some of its long-standing fans.

The most vehement objections came from Keighley, who were set to take their place in the top flight for the first time in the club's history when they won the Second Division title in 1995.

Instead, their expensively assembled team, which featured star players such as Daryl Powell, David Creasser, Jason Ramshaw and Simon Irving found there was no room for them in the Super League dream.

The protest marches, the campaigning by prominent fans and MPs and the acceptance that the plans were misguided saw the merger calls withdrawn but there was no reprieve for Keighley, who had to resign themselves to becoming the first club to miss out on a Super League franchise.

That prompted a long and damaging legal battle, a situation which will not be repeated next week when the RFL awards the 14 three-year Super League licences from 2009 as all 19 clubs who applied for a licence have signed a legal waiver and agreed to accept the decision of the RFL's board of directors.