Well when you consider for matchs against wigan,wire,bulls,cas(still to come i know) and saints the southstand is FULL then obviously the reduced capacity will have an effect on the averages!

I'm part of that 7.7% "Pursuing Other Interests"...

SO am I, so are a lot of people too, some of those attendance figures are the "bare bones" season ticket holder allocations - thats a dangerous place for a sporting club to be in when you're only attracting those who will come and watch anything week in week out.

And the annoying thing is that unlike seasons when the crowds were growing year on year, this year I haven't noticed any active marketing - they may be doing some but its not reaching the likes of me if they are.

Its a very simple and proven fact that you don't stop marketing when your market share is falling - you increase your marketing - unfortunately many businesses see marketing through a recession to be an un-necessary expense rather than a vital component for survival.

Fact is that a very large majority of the population, those without salaried "safe" jobs, are faced with a decision to make every week - do I have any spare money this week, and if so what do I spend it on ?

Those are hard decisions that are being conciously made these days rather than subconciously just wandering down to the ground without thinking about how much you are spending - any entertainment venue has to be attractive and more importantly cost effective, I'm afraid that Headingley doesn't rate a score on the second one of those two criteria when compared to the alternatives.

We have the 2nd worst decline, despite being back to back champions. Some teams have increased. For me this means:

Can't blame the weather, its been consistent across most teams this year
Can't blame credit crunch, as that will be proportionately represented against clubs
Can't blame SS capacity as I don't think that more than a couple of games have come close to the new capacity.

Reasons for this could be:
Lots of games messed about & moved from traditioanl Friday night
100% increase in ticket prices in 10 years
Poor entertainment/dominance of games compared to recent years
Club announcing in effect that regular season doesn't matter too much

It's been a factor for me - means the existing space will be so much more crowded.

That for me is the key, lack of entertainment. I have chosen to do other things than go to the rugby and watch us play the likes of Quins, Catalans etc. simply because of the poor entertainment (although Quins did beat us). Also, i have seen a decline in the away support, only on a few occasions have i seen the West Terrace anywhere near its capacity, the nearest i think it got was Saints in the CC.

Good point. which also ties in to any bad weather which will put people off standing in say the west stand cos they don't think or can't get into the south stand or can't afford a seat.

I agree with those 2 points. This year there seems to have been more moved from friday nights than before. The ticket price increase is also partly to blame but it ties in with the credit crunch no doubt. Does anyone know the prices of the other clubs tickets?

To some degree you can also blame the frustration of performances this season, which is a bit silly because we're 2nd.. i just think we need to get used to the fact we're not going to dominate or win as many games as years gone past going forward.

Also we may be the 2nd worst in decline from last year but how far infront of everyone else have we been ?

It is worring though, McClennan mentioned it as well at the wire game, that it was a good game and should bring the crowds back? We've never been the best club at marketing though since superleague came in.

As the only SL club in one of the UKs largest cities, I'd be worried if Leeds weren't out in front of everyone else.

That Wigan are so close when you compare the respective catchment areas is an amazing achievement and one for which they deserve great credit.

Is it coincidence that a drop in attendances at the Rhinos corresponds with Leeds United finally arresting their slide down the divisions?

But the grounds capacity is still 20,500. We haven't seen anywhere near that - 17,800 for bulls. meaning there is still space outside the southstand.

It was only £17 to get into the Bulls game earlier this year. Ok, they're pap, but its a big difference over a number of games.

Yes there is but the southstand would of been full taking the overall attendace to at least 19k+

Inadequate replacement of outgoing players leading to lower expectations

So you're saying that people don't come because they can't get in the southstand?

FWIW where we stand it has been quite spacious all season which would suggest the southstand still isn't full even with reduced capacity.

Won't a large number of those who would have otherwise fitted into the South Stand have taken in the game from elsewhere in the ground?

Unless you're suggesting that the partial closure of the South Stand is keeping away 1,200 paying punters from every home game?

Not sure it counts. being part of a big city also means there is more competition, with a top level RU, and Cricket team, as well as one of the highest supported football teasm in the country (despite their current position). Add to this the fact that, being in a big city doesn't mean that everyone has an affiliation with the club, as many parts of Leeds are closer to Bradford, Wakefiled etc, plus competition from other lower league teams.

Finally, you have to take account for the fact that the City has far much more going for it on a weekend, than the likes of Wigan or any other clubs form a small town, where going to the Rugby could be as good as it gets on a Friday night



The attendances as ER are actually falling despite stability in laying position. The relative falls and rises in attendances are probably more conincidental than any flooding of one set of supporters into the other. It just so happens that leeds united worst 6 years ever, coincides with the 6 best years of the Rhinos

that falls under the poorer entertainment category for mine

One has resulted from the other that's for sure.

I know what your saying but we did sign a major NRL star and the worlds best hooker in Buderus. Shouldn't that have helped the gates?

But he's only STARTED three home games ! More's the pity.

It's arguable whether he was the world's best hooker but he was undeniably world class. Unfortunately for Leeds he was well past thirty and injured by the time season tickets went on sale. He was also a signing that made little sense given he could only replace a player that would still be here rather than one who was actually leaving.

The non appearance of Eastwood has been a cruel blow to Leeds but it's been their unwillingness to fill that void that could have impacted on the fans expectations for this season. It certainly impacted on mine.