This bit worries me , at Championship level , increasing attendances is the prime objective if you want to

A become self sustaining

B progres and build as a club

C ever to be in a position to get into and be competitive and self sustaining in SL

Yes but it is also chicken and egg - Its great to build your gates if they are all paying through the turnstiles. Giving away free tickets simply doesn't work. However gaining maximum exposure of your brand, ensuring you put on a good gameday experience (winning helps) and selling your corporate hospitality is paramount to also becoming self sufficient. I don't actually think there are many SL clubs who are self sufficient based on crowds alone? - However a brand does sell your merchandise, sponsorships etc if you become successful and there is the word that helps bring all of it together SUCCESS.

We have had our fair share (success that is) but until the shambles that is the RFL sorts out it's back office and realises (or should I say admits!!) its such a closed shop and about as transparent as a bowl of mud; Leigh, Halifax, Fev etc may as well just admit defeat when it comes to SL. I wish The Championship clubs could forge a breakaway comp with its own TV rights at a rival media company as SLE would then have to sit up and take notice. The gulf between SL and our league gets bigger and bigger in terms of finance and Sky allows that to happen.

What is stopping the Championship clubs doing exactly that ?

You say you need ' success ' to build / , if that is the case then you will never build , you cannot control what happens on the pitch , what happens on the pitch cannot finance your club , Corporate support will only come after you build a fan base , Corporate support will never finance a lower tier club without a large local fan base , would Steve o Connor have got involved at Widnes if they hadn't had the biggest fan base in the Championship ? , how much money does your merchandise sales really make ? , if you double your fan base your merchandise sales will also double , everybody in and around Halifax knows who you are they are aware of your brand , but your brand has little value , just like Leighs , yes the match day experience is vital , what improves the match day experience more than anything else ? , a few rockets or a healthy loud away following and a large home support , wether they have paid or not

breath

I agree 110% with everything you say but the sport (governing body) seem hell bent on ruining the game for the future generations. The game will stagnate as more people become disillusioned with the bureaucracy and ignorance that they show to the very people that love the game......its speccies.

outside the box , you attendances are what , 2,000 , so pick a game , make a concious decision to get 5,000 people in to see that match , by hook or by crook , just decide you will do whatever it takes to get them in , pay the buggers to come if you have to , just find a way

One thing is for certain , if you were getting 4,500 fans through the gates of the Shay , you would be playing in SL next season , simple as ,

We still might be.

As it says on my Tiu beer sign on the wall

Yeah right

Well if that turns out to be true even more reason to start geting 4,500 speccies in. I would volunteer (and have many times) to hand out free kids tickets in the town centre on a Saturday or wherever else or even just leaflets advertising the games . I am sure we could persuade a few others to do the same , it wouldn`t show much differance to begin with but if you keep doing it eventually you will get some who come down.

I asked what was the purpose of your community dept ?

I'll ask again , What is the purpose of your community dept ?

I asked the question earlier Chris

What is to stop the Championship clubs doing this ?

[urlhttp://www.halifaxrlfc.co.uk/page.php?id=777[/url

Nope , thats not why you do it

Try again ?

Really? You best tell the club they have it wrong.

then they do have it wrong

They wont put it on the Website , but THE main reason is to try to build up fan awareness of your club and ultimatley your fan base

So then the question is , why isn't it working ?

Ahh so it doesnt agree with your thoughts on how it should be, so they have it wrong. I suggest you give Frank Wantene a call and let him know that what he is doing, isnt working.

they only half ' close ' the deal , they offer a kids ticket , that requires the customers parents to fork out some money for little Johnny to go to the match , but this doesn't work

The club have to take a leap of faith and give out a full family free ticket , , but most club owners want a quick return , instead they dont get any return , they all take the quick buck approach , instead of the long term build real life long fans from juniors

chris_smith wrote:Yes but it is also chicken and egg - Its great to build your gates if they are all paying through the turnstiles. Giving away free tickets simply doesn't work. However gaining maximum exposure of your brand, ensuring you put on a good gameday experience (winning helps) and selling your corporate hospitality is paramount to also becoming self sufficient. I don't actually think there are many SL clubs who are self sufficient based on crowds alone? - However a brand does sell your merchandise, sponsorships etc if you become successful and there is the word that helps bring all of it together SUCCESS.

We have had our fair share (success that is) but until the shambles that is the RFL sorts out it's back office and realises (or should I say admits!!) its such a closed shop and about as transparent as a bowl of mud; Leigh, Halifax, Fev etc may as well just admit defeat when it comes to SL. I wish The Championship clubs could forge a breakaway comp with its own TV rights at a rival media company as SLE would then have to sit up and take notice. The gulf between SL and our league gets bigger and bigger in terms of finance and Sky allows that to happen.



=#40BF00What is stopping the Championship clubs doing exactly that ?

I'm not entirely sure really. Fear of reprisals? It could close the door on SL forever especially if the instigators fail to secure a new format or sponsors. I personally feel it is the only way forward for RL at our level right now and may even entice SL to rethink P&R. We'd have the most member clubs too so could take the Challenge Cup with us? - I think its just a dream

The reason is simple

Lack of supporters , double up the attendance figures and the Championships suddenly become much more attractive to a broadcaster , especially if extra effort was then made to get even bigger numbers for TV games , something which isn't done with any real conviction at the moment , despie what we are told , TV companies want atmosphere at sports shown on TV , they wouldn't bother with all the microphones and camera's pointing at the crowds if they didn't

But I do think people have fallen out of love with rugby league and the powers that be because of how it's administrated and is one of the major reasons crowds are reducing. I do think with a reinvigorated set up and fans really having a spectator sport that has something to play for the crowds would return. As it is now its resembles the Masons more than sport. Sorry (insert club) you've been Black Balled this time try again in 3 years.

Completely agree , thats why the CLUBS need to take the bull by the horns and start to sort it out , because for sure the RFL wont

Mate that sums me up at the moment. I have had enough of the Bull crap from the RFL. I dont see the point of following a sport where my team is said yes you are fit for SL and the chance of us playing there in the next 3 years or so are very remote. The way the club has been stripped of earning some decent cash due to that pillock Wood and his free Tickets idea that has not worked at all. A salary cap that does nothing for us as a club and there is little incentive for me to keep following a sport that is run by pillocks who refuse to care and listen. I respect the people (Board, Yourself, Linda etc) who give everything and I mean everything for the club only to be treated with no respect from the RFL.

Also my dealings with people who are supposed to be helping develop the game has left a bad taste in the mouth. The people at the RFL and the RLEF are both a joke and I want nothing more to do with the game whilst things are the way they are. Some people should have nothing to do with the game as they only care about their agenda and themselves and not the people doing the work. I am so angry and upset the way things I that I dont want anything to do with Rugby League again unless changes are made. I will watch SoO but thats about it. Its why I havent been posting on here and I think I wont be posting on here in the future.

I have felt much the same, a couple of years ago I felt like trying to organise all Championship Clubs to have a march on Red Hall to show our disgust at how they were looking after "our sport".
As Chris says we could try to break away and then try to reclaim the old Division 1 cup that the Red Hall baffoons gave to Wigans trophy cabinet when Super League came in and play for that. But I am mindful of the damage it may do to our club and sport as you would need a mega rich person to bankroll this.
So instead I tried to put my energy into helping our club to be the best it can be instead of following most of my old friends as they walked away from the game.I also took a concious descision not to be makeing negative posts on here re` our club , when the problem lies with Red Hall . The admistration of our game is not good enough and my views on this was reinforced back in Jan when I was at a meeting with Ralph Rimmer , (a man who sold his own club down the river ) what garbage him and Robbie Hunter Paul came out with. I don`t know the answer to any of this is it best to rely on the people runing the club to do the arm wrestleing with the RFL or take a more pro-active stance and if so how do you do that without damaging your club?
Answers on a postcard please to ........

It is frustrating , and I know I ' go on ' a bit , I'm not saying I know all the answers , but I do think I know most of the questions , as that has to be the starting point , the difficulty is in answering those questions honestly , without club or nostalgic glasses on