Unfortunately I was one of those daft enough to pay & watch my club & I am far from being daft!

What do some of you people want!
It to far to walk, I cannot get off the car park, the team is not good enough, I am not paying £20

We have a guy here who as backed us to stay in super league, we have been very lucky but what do we do, we vote with our feet.
If I was backed into a corner I know what fans I would not want to support me. Well done to all those who continue to support the Salford City reds.

I am sure there are loads who have sat behind there key board in the last few months saying we cannot let our club die.
I get sick of hearing the ground as no soul, it as no soul because the very people who are supposed to fill it are not interested.
Don't start bleating on when the Dr turns to Manchester or other areas to attract new supporters the Salford city reds become the Manchester reds.
As a Salford supporter & season ticket holder I was embarrassed by the lack of Salford supporters attending a local derby & for me we were out numbered with more Warrington fans.

Although I am not a football fan many Salford fans remind me of the armchair United fan who can tell you everything about the team & what should happen but surprisingly have never been near the ground.

Proud to follow my club.

I too was one of those and I'd say more than a few people would consider it daft. We were always getting hammered on Friday night, reason being because our team just isn't competitive at the moemnt. So unless you're one of the 2000 or so "die hards" you're not going to choose to come and watch that game. Where's the entertainment in doing so? Not everyone has the love for the club that we do and will support the club regardless.

Harsh fact but until we start competiting and even beating the likes of Warrington on a consistent basis I can't see our attendance figures improving much.

It is a sad fact, the club has taken the safety net away & quite rightly stopped the free tickets. Now for the first time we see the real hard core, sadly it is only around 2000!



I stand by what I said previously, Look at other clubs, one striking fact remains when there clubs are in trouble they rally behind, we have gone the other way wanting instant success.

I know where we are; I am under no illusion but walking out of the ground on Friday night there was one big difference I know things are changing for the better & with that thought I am happy to support & get behind my club.

.

It will just make success all that bit sweeter when we do finally lift the Super League trophy in front of over 30,000 Salford City Reds fans at Old Trafford!

You can say you we're on the 2000 or so die hards who were there from the beginning.

The Bradford scenario has the possibilty of being repeated again.

Should United overcome Chelsea in their reply, they will play the semi against City on Sunday 14th @ 4pm, whilst we will be at home to Hull @ 3pm.

The situation will not change overnight as previously said the fans have been dwindling for years starved of success but more importantly a competitive team on the pitch we have wasted god knows how much money on Simms, coaches and poor players .The Doc has lots of issues to address but most importantly get the coach sorted out then he can start to sign players not before . Veivers and Hunte both had no chance its not their fault but they have nothing to work with , Sheens or Smith or whoever wouldn't do any better ! Need coach now and then 6 at least quality signings to have any chance of competing . Once we compete the crowds will come . There are lots of issues as we know but get this right and people will be patient for the rest , i.e access ,parking ,prices,getting a ticket,merchandise the list is endless !!!!

Have to agree, Boggles61. If we were watching a competitive/winning team, all the smaller issues would feel less important. As things are, the team on the pitch become another thing to moan about along with the parking, lack of merchandise, etc.

There is only one thing that will get more people through the turnstiles and thats consistently (year on year) winning a lot more games than we lose.

If you analyse our Superleague record over the past 17 years the team have only achieved a 30% win rate in 385 games. The question is were we financially equipped to really compete in Superleague considering we couldn't spend anywhere close to the salary cap before the takeover? I can't think of any other team in rugby league with a worse record than that. You could argue that the franchise system over recent years has made it worse because with P&R it at least gives your team the chance to drop down a level and start winning more than you lose.

It's really surprising we have any fans left at all.

This.

Although, to get some of the wavering fans to return all we need is for them to look at the fixture and think 'Salford Vs XXXXXXX, should be a close game.' At the moment, nearly every fixture has a guaranteed outcome, and not the good kind. Those fans are going to look at the same fixture now and think 'I'll save my money'.

Doesn't work because everyone says ‘I was there when...’.

It's not entirely true that you need to win a lot more than you lose to get improved crowds. Look at Wakefield since their change of ownership. Crowds really picked up quickly, well ahead of results improving. They created a positive vibe that people bought in to.

I hope that the crowds come back and support you,

I know that the sky's the limt with Dr Kookash and when you appoint a top coach, sign your marquee players, challenge for honours on a year by year basis, but, realistically what do you think is an acheivable average gate?

Does the City's appetite match the Doctors ambition?

There was over 10k there for the last match at the Willows, we know these were all Salford fans aswell as we were playing Catalan. So there is atleast 10,000 who have an interest of some sort. I'd be happy In 3-4 years if we're averaging 7000 a game

Iain if you can think you can get more people to part with their 20 quids by creating a positive vibe I'd be offering my services to Dr Koukash, because I'm sure he could use your help right now.

I'm not sure its true that those 10,000 were solid Salford, I spoke to a fair few fans from other clubs who had come to see the last game at The Willows.
For all the criticism it got, that ground was well liked across the RL family.
My best bet would be we'll be edging towards an 8,000 average by the end of next season - to break into the 5 figure average requires an absolutely massive change in the Friday night habits of an awful lot of people, I'm sure it can be done, but it'll take some serious marketing effort (and I'm taking it as read that we'll have a product to market).

Not quite sure where I said I can. All I said was that Wakefield succeeded in boosting crowds after a particularly grim period before the results picked up. They must have done something right. There isn't only one solution.

Appoint a well respected coach, recruit well and make sure season tickets are on sale as early as possible (ideally in July/August) and we should make up some of the ground lost this season in terms of attendances.

The daft location of the ground is something we can do little about and we have to work around it. While our crowds are dire, the earlier poster who said at least everyone is paying is right, I hope we don't panic and start giving freebies away again.

Better to increase by 500 fans a year who are all paying full price, than artificially boost the crowds temporarily by devaluing your own product.

The numbers can be misleading and certainly have been in the past,and maybe at similar clubs.
What's important is how many tickets are sold,as opposed to given away in promotions.
We need paying fans not just rentacrowd.
Many people were prepared to help with the SOS bail out. Those same people,and more,may need to support higher ticket prices,so that we avoid putting ourselves in the position of needing a bail out.

Please don't interpret my post the wrong way I wasn't trying to be smart. I just find it hard to see how a positive vibe can be grown or maintained (To lapsed and new fans) without winning more games and showing real potential to improve this year, without a few quality signings which aren't realistically possible until next year.

Perhaps Wakefield is different to our region with fewer recreational choices?

Good luck with that.

I think that this is acheivable with a competative side over a decent timescale. providing we are still pushing for honours as well last Friday's crowd should be double.

It's all speculation of course and your fans seem to be realistic, but, is the 'good' doctor willing to show some patience as your fan base rebuilds? Will crowds of say 9k against Wigan, but, 6k against London keep him interested?

Im not even a Salford fan, but I find this all very frustrating!!! I dont know exactly what Salford have tried, in the way of enticing fans to the Barton stadium, but a few ideas/thoughts I have had are as follows...I work in Urmston, and work with a lot of people from the Urmston area, who, if I wasnt there wouldnt even know Salford rugby league existed!!! Swamp this area with leaflets, postal and in the town centre, get into the schools in this area, as they are untouched by other rugby clubs...union or league, get these kids interested, and the parents will follow. The biggest lack of use is the Trafford centre, even when you were sponsored by them, you could walk around there and never know about any links with Salford Rlfc. Koukash should invest in a walkway, from the Trafford centre, directly to the stadium, this would benefit both Trafford centre and Salford, as free parking at Trafford centre, and easy get away from Salford. Wives could go shopping, men/kids to the rugby, all meet up afterwards for meal, cinema,etc. Salford match day programmes to have vouchers/money off deals for Trafford centre, and vice versa, spend £50 or more in any shop in Trafford centre and you get a ticket for Salfords next home game. Also in the event of a direct footfall link to Trafford and Barton, how about free Rugby only buses, every ten minutes from the Trafford centre?? Im sure there are many more links/ways to advertise the club and get people through the turnstile, these are just a few of the ones Ive been thinking about!!! Dr Koukash if you're reading...Good Luck!! And to all the Salford fans......keep with them, you are a sleeping giant, it will come good!!!

Matt

The club should get stuck into Trafford as a whole, particularly the dozens of schools. I'm one of an enclave of supporters from in and around Urmston. Flixton, Stretford, Urmston, Davyhulme are as close/closer to the new ground than Weaste is! But there is never any promotion in the area, and the lapsed fans just need a reason to visit - a decent team I believe will provide that. And there is more chance of them coming to the new stadium - with all it's faults - than there ever was at the Willows.

No relegation does not help. Think if the Warrington fixture was on the usual Good Friday 3pm KO we would of got around 8k.

Agree with no relegation, this has been the worst decision possible but as for 8000 turning on a good Friday you need to keep off the beetle juice.