The year is 1996. Britpop is dominating the airwaves, football is coming home and rugby league is undergoing the most significant transformation since its formation a century before, with the switch to summer rugby and the creation of Super League. In London, arguably the most important development in the capital’s hit-and-miss history with rugby league, is about to take place, too.

David Hughes is a director of Charlton Athletic when approached by London Broncos, who are looking for a sixth permanent home ground for the capital’s rugby league side since their formation in 1980. Hughes, a dyed-in-the-wool league fan from Swinton who made his millions as an oil trader, does not only help the Broncos move to The Valley, he joins the board of directors.

“My goodness, have there been some highs and lows since that day,” Hughes says. Within three years, he and the then-Broncos owner Richard Branson were leading the team out at Wembley for the 1999 Challenge Cup final and it seemed as though league had cracked the formula for developing the game in the capital.

Two years later, however, Hughes was forced to put together a rescue package after Virgin withdrew its backing amid mounting debts. Since then, London have had yet more home grounds than noteworthy on-field successes. After The Valley came a move to Griffin Park. Then The Stoop. Then came The Hive and, most recently, Trailfinders Sports Club in Ealing.

London even rebranded as Harlequins Rugby League during the mid-2000s for a brief period. So much has changed since 1996, but as the Broncos prepare for their 40th season in 2019 as a Super League side once again, following promotion from the Championship, one suspects none of it would have been possible but for the persistence – and sacrifice – of Hughes.

“There’ve been plenty of times when I’ve wondered if I’d taken it as far as I can, especially when we were getting hammered in Super League and I was ploughing money in,” Hughes, now 73, says. “I would estimate it’s somewhere in the region of £20m probably that I’ve invested, but that’s why I’m working in my 70s.

“I had no intention of robbing the family pot. I wanted to keep earning and I keep making money that I could use for the club. I’m still trying to do that now to make sure this club, and also rugby league in London, has as bright a future as possible.”

It is no exaggeration to suggest that Hughes’s financial investment has single-handedly kept the Broncos alive: and he has no intention of slowing down any time soon.

The new-look London are keen to establish roots as they take on the top-flight again. “Being so nomadic just hasn’t helped in terms of having consistent success anywhere,” Hughes says. “You can’t build any foundations anywhere, but now we think that’s changing.”

Indeed, 2019 will be their fifth season at Trailfinders; it is modest, nestled away and has had to be expanded to meet Super League standards following London’s promotion. But it is home.

“It’s the one place we’ve settled,” Hughes says. “We can train on the artificial surface every day, and we’ve brought all our junior teams under one venue. I see no reason why we’d need to change again. The challenge for us now is to build a gate and a local fanbase. We’ve dined out on excuses whenever we’ve moved around the city. Now, London Broncos have a venue that works.”

Another season in Ealing awaits the Broncos. Photograph: Max Flego/London Broncos

Hughes is aiming to revolutionise London’s approach on the field too. In the past they had relied on big-money imports – now, they are endeavouring to build from the bottom up by tapping into the south’s growing junior development programmes. “Name a big rugby league academy in the north and our boys beat them last year,” Hughes says. “It’s massively underestimated and overlooked what we do down here in terms of youth development.

“It’s a huge operation and something we’re very proud of. You can’t bring a dozen 30-year-old players over with their families any more ... we’re not geared to do that. What we are geared towards is bringing the best kids from the south of England into our setup. We work across the capital and beyond; Medway Dragons in Kent, Staines ... we want to get as many youngsters in the south playing league. That’s our remit; they’re the future.”

Crowds remain a talking point; a core of around 1,500 watched them in the Championship last year. “Ealing is a big place,” Hughes says with optimism. “It’s time for us to get tapped into it. I’d hope being back in Super League means an uptake in visiting fans too, and if we double or treble our attendances here next year, I think that would be considered a success.”

And results-wise? “I really don’t like saying finishing 11th would be a success, but we have to stay up as a starting point,” Hughes says. “I’ve always said Super League can never be classed as Super League without a London team. We were written off this year, nobody said we’d get promoted. We’ll be written off again. I just hope that now we’re back, lots of people in London want to come and experience what we’re about. There’s huge competition in terms of sport down here, but we can offer something different.”

If anyone deserves long-awaited acceptance from the people of London then it is surely the northerner who has sacrificed millions to keep the dream alive in the capital.