Ok just got back from a great weekend in Toulouse They are shoe ins for a franchise next time(location skill factor set up...did you see the sponsers list on the hand out it covered a full page?? Commercial manager take note!!!) Really really great set up and....PROFESSIONAL!!!

Right i have posted a few times on this board so far and have been as guilty as lots at slating players, passion, skill etc etc....

BUT that all changed in the time spent speaking with the players in the melting pot on friday before the game(AND NO none of them drank and when kelly said lets go they left as one)....

Shocked amazed astounded at being told 3 x one hour training sessions a week?? and not on the LSV??? How on earth can we play against full time teams with that in place?? Halifax Widnes Gateshead Barrow toulouse all full time and will be for next threes seasons getting stronger and stronger as we get weaker and weaker...People keep saying buliding for the future there is no future if we cant compete?? I genuinley feel sorry for the players who are being short changed by the mangement of the club....

Now before the i love Arthur Thomas Alan Rowley all directors and wheres your money why dont you cough up(well close to thousand pounds already this year in my case in support ...i dont think thats bad???) A decision has to be made?????

If a) they wont put money in or b) havnt got the money then facts is facts sell it put it up for sale?? if no one comes in then so be it BUT and its a BIG BUT RFL wants Championship to be proffesional and if we cant get the backers that the 5 mentioned above have got we really have got no where to go......I am really really fearful for the future and can we stop using the Leigh buzzword "building for the future"" i have heard that for the last 30 years of supporting Leigh...

Sorry for such a dour post but am really worried about the club i love!!!!!

C`mon lottery let me win the dosh to make a differance!!!!!






Also...the LSV worries me i dont think we are wanted there does anyone else feel that because the players i spoke to certanly did...again worrying

We cannot afford a full time squad on gates of 2000 nor is AT going to fund it. That doesn't make him unambitious, it makes him realistic.

If folk want to hang him out to dry then thats up to them but there isnt a queue of folk in the town willing to stump up the extra £300k it would cost over and above what we're forking out now with no gaurantee whatsoever of getting into SL.

And if the RFL think clubs in the NL are going to be FT forever, they are more cuckoo than I gave them credit for.

oh well thats that sorted then??????
I dont intend to hang em out to dry BUT we have to face facts yeah RFL are in cuckoo land but obvioulsy the backers of the 5 in the championship dont think so???
WE need money and fast and we cant rely on the speccies of Leigh to roll thro the gates they never have before so whats new now the stadium(that feels like we are away all the time??) AT has done a grand job but maybe the same cant be said of the commercial dept ...sponsers need attracting and we need big sponsers not chippies,corner shops and the like (no offence to any of them).. Am being realistic here we are way behind the 8 ball???? sorry

And which world do you live in?
If SL clubs cant attract blue chip sponsors with all the TV and media coverage they get what chance has any championship one got.
Tolouse have no championship rivals in that country never mind county because they have been allowed to cut their own deal with a TV company (rather like Celtic were allowed to do last - is their a pattern appearing here?) their sponsors get good coverage what can we offer them? absolutely sod all, do you really think IBM are going to plough money into a two-bit backwater sport which gets minimum TV coverage and thats run by idiots, whats in it for them?, so I dont think AT will mind the odd chippy stumping up a couple of grand here and there but after reading your post why should they bother as it would seem that money isn't good enough.
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you, you have not got a clue, its local mone from local people and thats all that a team like ours can expect especially as their are no blue chip companies in the town anyway.
If AT feels that his employees are not doing their job he will sort them out not some internet jockey.

you really are the all seeing eye arnt you theres only one internet jockey on here mate and thats you!!!! opinions are a two way thing but on every post you have a go at peoples??? i am the hand that feeds them and as such am entitled to my opinion!!!!! i want success for my TINY club!!!! ambition i think its called !!!! so less of the know all stuff am no bit of a kid who you can dismiss like YOU do with so many on here!!! we can be every bit as good as your salfords, hull krs toulouse`s etc however will never be with no drive!!!!
Remember Lifting gear hire i do ..a bloke who wanted to put his money where his mouth was ...but oh no dismisssed?? emirates??? we have no commercial activity but then again with posters like yourself Leigh will never escape from "the good old days" and "littlen old leigh" awwwww

get your facts straight on both those 'sponsors' as we were in the 'big league' when they sponsored us Emirates flatly refused to sponsor a div 1 club and Bill Parky wanted all his own way and a bag to put it in, though he was hardly a 'blue chip name anyway.
Opnions are great but the truth is greater, then again why let that get in the way of a good moan

at some'at you know sweet fa about

You really are that egotistical!!(get a dictionary) I was a little miffed last night when i posted origanal post i apologise to chippies and shops everywhere...I am a med/small business who over the years has tried to help in what ways i can BUT this is because i am a Leigh supporter who knows the club exists...What do i mean ?? well i have fellow business men who when i chat about Leigh some dont even know they are still around in any league why?? because you have to go out and chat sell beg if necesary and invite companies in.....Blue chip companies were never mentioned but we have some fairly decent sized ones in the area have they ever been asked because going off my colleagus and friends thats a NO...
Players sponsers ...look through the program the only team to have less than a third sponsered why?? they havnt phoned us my friends were asking how they do it luckily I could tell them but i dont work for the commercial dept??
Bill Parky wanted his own way but wanted to spend cash oh how awful!!!





You cant sit there as a commercial dept in these times and wait for your phone to ring....like you said its a business and you have to sell in todays world. But your the oracle so guess you already know that!

Just one more point before i start my working day , i have a very good friend who works in a local community high school who also is a loyal Leigh fan...he spends his time taking Wigan and St Helens posters down at the school why?? because as of yet Leigh havnt sent any or done any marketing there?? no problem theres only 1200 kids there plus parents half of which again dont know the club exists!!

Have a nice day and next time i need some advice (professional or personal) i will keep you in mind oh mighty oracle

:shoc

We will never get into SL again. Difficult to take, but true.

No Blue Chip however, there is a RED CURRY company, Pataks

i was told on sat that toulouse arnt full time and yesterday thru the post came a card from salford giving me 1 free adult ticket to the hull fc game dont kno if anyone else got 1, why cant leigh do sumthin like that ??

did they send it to you because you have been before?

The club need to market to new people the problem with free tickets is I always find people who have them are people who would be going anyway who don't have a season ticket!

They need to market to a new audience don't ask me how! maybe just send a free family ticket to a few hundred random houses in leigh and see what happens i'm sure some would take it up!!

only ever been to the willows to watch leigh reserves play there last year never been to watch a 1st team game

1. Understand your current customers, value them and make them feel special
2. Understand the next trench of customers, what will turn them into customers, target them and make them feel part of the team
3. Understand where the next generation of customers will come from and set long term plans in place without wasting too much cash

We dont do 1.2. or 3. So is it any wonder we fail. We have a fatal cant do, wont work, tried it before attitude that will kill us.
Somebody needs to come in with a large broom taking the club by the scruff and changing attitudes and cultures, until then we will pee in the wind.
We have so much opportunity but unless we have a total clear out within the club we will never reach the potential.
Whats the average age of the'management' 85?

Barrow certainly aren't full time and also train 3 times a week (although a lot longer than 1hr I'm sure!).

Club Captain Brett McDermott lugs bags of coal around all day for his family business, Jamie Butler digs up roads full time, a few work full time in the Shipyard, some have management jobs and others work in the schools for Barrow RLFC. Even coach Dave Clark is part time as he is also involved in the community work.

Full time doesn't guarantee anything - look at Widnes, the only full time English team outside SL.

fair points, re; marketing


last season i went watching rovers at wire, booked my ticket on the web, and since then i have had loads of really good offers in the post and by e-mail from the warrington marketing people

although not likely to go when matches clash, its nice to be kept informed

How many more times?

Fax are NOT, I repeat, NOT full time. Yes, we have a few players who could be termed "full time" if you include work in the community, school visits etc. but the vast majority have a full-time job as well as playing RL.

...........So Fax are full time then.

Just like when we were doing well (ah, those were the days!) everyone decided we were full-time, even when we weren't!

The simple rule of thumb is that, any team who are better than us, must be full-time. Boy, is it lonely, being the only part-time team in the Championship?!

No we are not full time we have 4 or so players who are that work in schools and community .

Sarcasm is lost on some

It's ridiculous. Not only can these fax fans not understand sarcasm, they cannot tell us categorically whether they are full time or not!

They are from Yorkshire though they can only just manage to put the pants on the right way

Got to say I do have a lot of sympathy with what Thudder is saying I think he feels the club should be marketing more agressivly(in the nicest possible way) I know I keep banging on about this but why don`t the NL1 clubs all get together and try to make our division more atractive to watch and share a few ideas.The idea there are large companies out there wanting to throw money at NL1 is daft so we do rely heavily on smaller company supporters.What we need to do is increase the crowds ,wonder how the NL1 clubs would consider for instance offering a bit cheaper entrance to all away supporters with their clubs season ticket.I have noticed a drop in away support of late as it`s hard to find the money to support home and away when moneys tight.Maybe it would help in selling season tickets too for your own clubs if fans saved a little bit on the away games too.It would have to be reciprical though as it would not be fair .All it needs is for the clubs to get together sharing ideas and working together more because if they don`t we will end up being nothing more than feeder teams for Super League which is what the RFL wants.
It`s time to start thinking out of the box.

At least we can do it unassisted though. You Mancs (

) need a guide dog to help you with yours.

What we also need to remember is not many companies in the current climate, beit big or small, have money to give away in terms of sponsorship.