Quote ="urbancarrot"
Sour grapes and squeeky bums from Widnes fans...'"
Hardly squeaky bums and sour grapes. We can hit average attendance without freebies, you are hardly a threat to a Widnes Super League application.
[list[*You have a crumbling stadium[/*:m
[*No youth set up[/*:m
[*No reserve squad competing[/*:m
[*Poor attendances[/*:m
[*No finances[/*:m
[*All you have is a first team[/*:m[/list:u
Widnes on the other hand:
[list[*Have a top quality stadium that can host Super League Games & Challenge Cup Semi Finals[/*:m
[*Under 15 academy squad[/*:m
[*Under 16 academy squad[/*:m
[*Under 18 academy squad[/*:m
[*Under 21 academy squad[/*:m
[*Reserve squad[/*:m
[*Highest attendances in Championship[/*:m
[*Stong financial and business plan[/*:m[/list:u
It's all well and good you lot shouting about how you have ticked another box, but
you are ticking the wrong kind of boxes if you want long term success and stability.
Leigh are the closest threat to Widnes' Super League application, but they fall short on a few key areas and won't be in this time round. I do see tem realistically in Super League in 2016.
I also hear people banging on about "We are a heartland team, we deserve to be there". Well if these so called
‘heartland’ clubs doesn't start to invest in
heartland youth then there will be nothing left of the 'heartland'.
You can't just run a first team and no youth set-up and expect long term stability, it's madness! Bringing through top class British youth should be top priority for every club.
Quote ="marillion man"
they don't trust your lot handling contraband such as hard cash.'"
That's called having a modern, professional stadium. Still an amateur looking set up if people are handing over cash at a turnstile instead of a more controlled professional outlet via a ticket office. Even Whitehaven don't accept cash on the turnstiles, they have a hut outside the ground you have to buy your ticket from.
Quote ="faxtastic"
when we really need it the Halifax public does come out in numbers.'"
Yeah, only when there is a free ticket though
But again this comes down to a ridiculous business plan. How can your club justify £18 to sit in a crumbling stadium and watch championship rugby? I would expect to pay £18 for a Super League game.
If you reduced prices to between £10-14 I’m pretty positive you will be able to pull more fans. The £18 price tag is scaring people off.
Quote ="freddies wig"
As I said before, the RFL want two clubs like ours at each other's throats. We're more interested in putting the boot into each other than joining together to sort out the charade that they've turned our sport into.
Your dummy throwing has Red Hall rubbing its hands with glee!'"
Is it not made more of a charade when clubs add fuel to the fire by fudging figures? The RFL are trying to raise the standard of the whole game to show off the sport at the highest level, in the best possible way. The license system is the only way to achieve this. It will stay in place until all clubs hit these levels, only when all clubs hit a certain standard then the license system be scrapped and promotion and releagtion re-introduced.
That means, strong youth system, strong financials and high quality stadia. Who wants to watch Super League in a crumbling stadium? To show the sport in as good a light as possible, it has to be played in top quality stadiums. You wouldn't get into the premier league with a dump of a ground, so the same should apply for Super League.
So until clubs in this division start playing by the rules and putting together proper business plan and investing in the proper areas such as youth and stadia then they will have nothing to look forward to but rotting away in this division with no end in sight for the license system. It's not going to do them any good long term or do this league and this sport any good long term.
Bank rolling nothing but a first team is going to get you nowhere pretty fast and puts your club at a serious risk of going into decline in the long run.
Quote ="Ackropj"
You Mean like Steve O'Conner Syphoning money through your Club to get the £1million Turnover, I see how its ok for one club but not the other !!!!'"
I wouldn't condone any such behaviour. We also wouldn't need to siphon any money through to hit the £1 million. We could easy hit the £1 million mark with the sponsorships we have on board this year, the community funds, club lotteries, merchandise etc.
