I don't mention fireworks costing £5k but I do the entertainment v Bradford. Everyone I know who attended the game and a few I don't know mentioned what a great spectacle the entertainment was and added to the overall atmosphere. Fireworks for example were used at home v Fev when we were on Sky. The point I'm making is that the club is trying different things to enhance the match day experience but it doesn't come cheap. SL want to see an atmosphere with pazazz and some razzamatazz so Halfax have tried to put on a show when the cameras are in town. What is wrong with that? I disagree with not attracting spectators because due to the effort at the Bradford game people enjoyed the whole package and may come again and guess what my kids all under 8 loved the fireworks best at the Fev game do don't tell me it doesn't work!! But hey I never expected anything other than cynicism from you Gav as the world owes you a favour and then some.

I cant believe some of the clowns on here. Put your money where your mouths are and if you dont have much money put your time forward instead. Makes my blood boil when people week in week out try their best for the club and all they get is criticism. I have never met Tony Abbott but i know he wants the best for Halifax and he is giving his time and money for nothing in order for us to move forward as a club which cant possibly be achieved over night.


Keyboard warriors again!

Well said Pete and it's all part of the problem!! When we ask for help many hide behind their keyboards again!! Thanks to Tommy though for offering support tonight and I'll do all i can to introduce him and his ideas into the club. I just don't get people on here sometimes!! So quick to criticise but even quicker to hide and bury their heads in the sand. Sad really

I personally dont like putting anyone down, especially people who try their best. Anything and everything is possible if you believe it is and try your best, and ideas are all taken on board when it comes to raising funds for our club. If there is any fan who can come up with something that has not been thought about, discussed or considered then there are many people who are easy to contact that will listen and help. If you are frustrated, annoyed or disillusioned regarding the direction on the club then get involved and lets build a bigger fans network for fundraising and ideas which is probably the best way for joe public to get involved other than match day support. However, we already have this network and its called the Supporters Trust! So please come along and speak your mind!

I totally agree Faxlad, the only time Bubba comes on here is to post negative comments re` the Fax Rugby Club , why bother?
Since starting the Faxbuilder fund for the Under 23s we have been more than surprised at the amount of support given to us but if anyones has any more ideas that they can offer to do with help we are here.
I was surprised about the posters myself or rather lack of them around the Town centre re` games especially the Bradford one but instead of being negative think positive. I will ask the Club if they can produce a poster that can be downloaded so all fans can print one or two off and take them every week to their local pub/ curry house / barber shop.
Incidently did you see the advert on ITV re` Wakefield Cass game this weekend I wonder how much that cost?

At our level a fundamental change in the way clubs think is needed , unfortunatly when you are in the ' hot seat ' at the sharp end trying to balance the pennies here and there you end up trying to run before you walk , you are that desperate for the income right now , it stops you from looking at what you really need to do , building a bigger fan base is THE hardest thing to do in any sport , look at Quins , and even Salford , they drew just over 2,000 for last nights game with HKR , with at least 500 from Hull in attendance

Basically you have to forget anything you have previously thought has worked , start with a blank piece of paper , and ask yourself simple questions on why do you go to matches , why do others not , what can you change in those peoples mindsets , and what you cannot , do you want to attract people who will only come a couple of matches till you suffer an unexpected defeat , or people who will become life long supporters

Lots of questions , think like those that don't come , not like those that do , when , why and how did you start to attend matches , will that work again , not forgetting to ensure when you answer these questions you do it truthfully , not with ' blue and white ' tinted glasses on

I also saw a advert by them for when they played Leeds Rhinos earlier in the season which shows they are pulling off all the stops to stay in super league as it won't be cheap.

Agree with some points, one area where Fax can improve is to stop wasting money preaching to the converted, they need to get the product sorted then start some real offers to get fairweathers back down, for years they have seemed unwilling to promote certain offers and take a hit for the bigger games, probably cos its hand to mouth for much of the time and the business model doesn't take risks, but i very much hope for the Widnes game this year we could let kids in for nothing and have a drive to reduce the cost and allow families to come without shopping at Aldi for a month. I do think the FB, email and other communications are a big step forward though, i just go back to preaching to the converted though, theres no real value in advertising to existing customers, its not washing powder or bathrooms were talking about, the drive has to be kids, and they really need to look at reducing the £15 and £18 costs or look at a more attractive season ticket offer. The model and plan seems to be very rigid they use, its been good to get us on an even keel but its time to kick on now.

It was a particular player that started me watching in 1953 ( guess who) and I know quite a few of similar stories of children who started watching because of certain players the best marketing tool the Club has have to be the players .
I also hear from fans how they were brought to the match by their grandad , maybe have a Sunday where you can bring your grandchild in for free and get posters up advertising it. As I agree it can be quite expensive in these times , how about introducing a mini season ticket now for the rest of the season maybe that might get one or two floaters to commit.
One thing I think that has increased the crowds at Leigh this year is the involvment of your Coach and players banging the Leigh drum. I have noticed they turn up to LISA quizes and meetings that has to be a big bonus for any Club.

Read my post again , properly this time

Ask yourself what is the purpose of your community dept ?

I've thought about this too, i cant see how it could be a bad thing, some extra offers too, we can have runs of home games in a month where the club perhaps would be better doing offers than just leaving it to picking games they can afford to come to. Season tickets at Xmas are not the only answer.
The spin off from getting more people in pays in the long run too. I think we'll likely limp along though and hope for Blackpool and a play off to bail us out though.
The best thing though would be for Nobby to get the players performing to the extent where people want to come and see the revolution, too good to miss etc.
IT'll be interesting to see how history reflects on this era and after the dust settles and players move on, 'whats really been going on' it might have been a laugh for the players, they might have had a scream, they might have won a trophy, but have we really been the best we can, promoting Fax hasn't been easy, it's got to start with the team, and its got to focus on youth and the future. I like the idea of a 'generations offer' Grand kids and grand parents week.
Cant go back to the 50's unfortunately though, competition for peoples money is like never before, but we can certainly do more thoughtful things.

What makes you think i was referring to your post

?
For what its worth, a lot of your sentiments are correct, we cant just follow the lead of others though, being original and better than others is improtant too.

Obviously you weren't , you state doing stuff to get ' fair-weather ' fans back

Why ? , if all they are is fair-weather fans , you don't want them back , ignore them , they are of no use to you , that is the whole point , all too often they are the focus of clubs attention , they are a waste of money , they already know you are playing well or not , they will come down if it's good , and then disappear at the 1 st bad result

Its a valid point you make re the fairweather types but people do reserve the right to be entertained! Unfortunatley not everybody is a dyed in the wool fan and they will take their attendance elsewhere if they are not happy. The true focus for me in Halifax needs to be getting the club to forge long term and genuine links with the dozen or so local rugby clubs (Ovenden, Boothtown, Kingcross, Illingworth, Siddal, Greetland, Elland, Irish etc) sorry if i missed anyone out. I know many young lads who play for their local area team at the weekend but dont ever go to watch Halifax. Im sure that Frank Watene in his community role has links with some of the clubs mentioned but these need to be long term. Giving free tickets to these clubs and other focal areas such as schools is a start, but the community link needs to be permenant in order to achieve long term success. Feel free to correct me if this is already the case.

Schools yes , amateur clubs possibly , although my experience is that it doesn't work with junior clubs , they tend to go to SL matches

Once again , what is the purpose of your community dept ?

Have Fax been ' entertaining ' the last few years ? , did those fair-weather fans turn up ? , or did they just go to the finals and moan when you lost to Barrow , did they turn up for the Bulls match ?

They will be regulars when you are beating Leeds in SL , till that happens any time or investement on those type of fans is a complete waste of time , they are the sort that will somehow manage to get hold of a free family ticket for. Tv game and then ' brag ' about it in the pub afterwards before slagging og Faxs performance ,you know the sort , they will be waiting in the pub after the Sheffield game and ask you the score

I admire the work that regular posters on this messageboard Linda ( JFFC ), Chris ( C_S ) & Pete ( FL66 ) do in supporting our great club. I also admire the B.O.D. & have stated a few times this season I don't think they deserve the crap that some speccies dish out on here, so reading threads like this one really wind me up.
The quote about the mess Calland has been allowed, get a grip, we're in the NRC semi finals, & two consecutive GF's. I can see us going to Fev & turning them over if we're anywhere near at full strength. Our results will turn around & They choke remember.

Thanks Col. However Linda, myself the rest of the trust board and especially the club BOD don't do it to receive thanks, they do it for the love of the club and to try make sure it does the best it possibly can. I showed Tony this thread yesterday and he was very upset at things being said and he took it quite personally. However he said it would merely serve as a catalyst to prove the doubting Thomas' wrong! He told me a few thing yesterday that made me respect him and the rest if the board even more as he and the others seem to certainly have made self and financial sacrifice to ensure recent changes have happened!! Please all think before posting criticisms on here (I've had to) and hold my hand up to doing it in the past. Tony and the rest of the BOD's need embracing , not driving away. Tony, Ian and the two Mikes are great guys who from this day forward I will have the utmost respect for and so should all of us!!

agree.

Spot on mate, agree totally.
Hate criticising the club but we do seem to be going for the same old as you say, why not get out there and give out some of those freebies I complain about at other clubs like Huddersfield who have a link with the Uni and target students why not do the same at Calderdale College who we have links with?
Come on it can hook a few extra fans although it helps when you get a good game and we win!
As for the signs outside the ground they are better than nothing but we could do with much bigger ones if the Council will allow?

As I dont live in Halifax I thought that this was just a mistake that would be rectified, but as I drew up to the ground yesterday the board at the top of the hill still showed "Halifax RLFC next game Bradford Bulls". ? This is just simple basic advertising?????

Why on earth does anybody ever bother to get involved with Halifax RLFC? If you've got something useful to say why not arrange a meeting with Tony Abbott or Matt and give them your insight face to face?

Perhaps (just perhaps) you'll have something useful they could use to take the club forward.

Or maybe (nay definately) you'll have naff all to say and you'll be creeping back behind the anonymity of a message board before taking more pot shots at the club and the Directors.

There may well be a few useful ideas posted above but the post which started this thread is more than enough to stop you reading any further.

I've always thought I'd like to get involved with the club should I find myself knee deep in cash but negative comments on here would keep people like me (and several other local business people) well out of it.

So you would be influenced by less than a dozen posters on an internet MB ?