Atherton would be good as there is nothing ever about when Leigh are playing up in the town .

First 5 subject to being wanted and in no order East/Miners/LCC/TRUFC/LRUFC

Ashley and tyldesley cricket club at gin Pitt has a function room

True but it's not that big

It's big enough though is Gin Pit, sorry to argue Keith but its those new fans from these areas we need to get into SL, I just cant see the point in having a fans forum in places so near where the usual venue is.

Can I just ask the purpose of ' Fans forums ' ? , and are they something which attracts new supporters?

My only concern is how many of our fans who could attend a fans form at the LSV would actually travel to attend one in say Golborne on a Wednesday night? I doubt I would as I rely on public transport

It's no good a panel of Paul Rowley, Derek Beaumont, Rob Parker and Andy Mazey addressing a bar maid, one man and a dog.

Just a thought.

Historically Fans Forums are only well attended when we are knee deep in brown smelly stuff

Agree with Starbug & Harold - I'd say it depends what you want to achieve with a fans forum - if its sharing news, promoting accessibility & involvement, and opening the club up to fans then go local and get bigger attendances - if its a PR thing or an attempt to reach new fans then go on the road and spread the net like Fred said.

My personal suggestion would be keep the forums local to keep the regular fans engaged & informed, but find another format for an event (eg meet selected players/past players etc or some kind of entertainment/fundraising event) that could easily be put on in any pub, and could be taken on the road easily enough to target new areas & attract new fans, with maybe just a quick Q&A session or newsletters from LISA and the club available at the events to try and sell what's going on - news, upcoming games, merchandising, fundraising etc.

Town centre pubs I'd target with fixture lists/posters, drip mats, beermats with pictures of new signings or star players on etc, to hopefully provide talking points in the pubs. Then the pubs who are most receptive to taking up & displaying these kinds of freebies, maybe getting a couple of players to attend their next pub event, or given a signed shirt to either hang in the pub or raffle off for a pub charity etc - all good for the pub but also good PR for the club.

It depends on what the Barmaid looks like

, and what type of Breed the Dog is



.

Great post leyther 1,

I would agree with most of that. Leigh RLFC Beer Matts and Drip Matts is a low cost innovative idea that builds up brand awareness in the local pubs and clubs.

About 15-20 years ago when I was playing in the juniors at the rugby union club, We'd play a game on a Sunday be finished for 1 o'clock a few of the parents would be going to the Leigh game and naturally all the kids would want to go with them to see what the fuss is about. These are the fans that aren't there anymore and the type of fans we should be looking to find, surely it has to be upto this new Community Department set up to find them.

Its going to take a lot more than just turning up at these clubs with a fans forum 4 times a year though, it can't just be a one way street of expecting them all to suddenly start coming to games, Leigh would have to give something back to the Dancing Schools, the Cricket Clubs, the Rugby Union clubs, Athletic clubs and whoever else, even if its just having fun days at these places with a few players having a game of tick and pass, or cheaper tickets for the South Stand/ Family stand for people that pay yearly subscriptions/ life members of these clubs. Surely thats the best way to strengthen ties with the community and build crowds up slowly. There are100's and 100's of kids and parents playing sports in a 5 mile radius to aim at.

It needs a lot of poeple and a lot of time but by the sounds coming from the new BoM, thats what we have.

Now topless barmaids at Starbug's Beer and Lobby Festival will surely guarantee that event a success.

I myself am far to old for those kind of shananigans, Charlie.

I live a simple life these days.

Frank and Henry have already agreed to serve the booze, I suppose they might take their shirts off if you ask nicely, personally I'd rather they kept them on

Harold as I said it depends on what the Barmaid looks like

if she looked like Tessie O Shea , or Hattie Jacques ,it wouldn't make me attend .

.

Sorry I now have to withdraw my attendance at the event. I am almost sure I will have chess club on that day

Any message to any fan potential or old has to be got out anyway we can so if we are only moving 200yds then why? same fans same message different venue why should we stick with the 'Little Leigh' mentality aim high you COULD hit the moon aim high and you shoot yourself in the foot.
But then what do I know only I came from one of the towns Leigh RFC NEVER bothered with and thats why a great number of them go to other clubs as Leigh RFC never cared about them so why should they care about Leigh RFC

There are people here that like sports, they live a stones throw away, surely they have to be the people to target first, my parents were just in that generation when Leigh were in the top flght, when Leigh were doing well, when Leigh were attracting decent crowds, that must've been half the reason we used to follow our parents to games, that's all gone now though, we havent done anything, honours wise, notable in my life, at the moment we are 'Little Leigh' and it needs building from the floor up again, the people in charge are here for a few years, if they do it right, their plan might just work, I honestly think it will.

Fred it isnt the idea of getting ' out ' into the ' Regions ' that is the point, its the idea of a fans forum as being the best vehicle to carry the message, by its very nature, it is for ' fans ' rather than non fans

Can't see the point of a fans forum unless there is something specific eg in the smelly stuff as Starbug put it, especially with monthly lisa meetings. Would like a more roadshow element to them at the sports clubs previously listed

I am with Fred on this one, if you are having a fans' forum to preach to the faithful then there is no point moving to anywhere near the LSV, the same people will attend.
If you want to attract new blood then hold it out of Leigh.

I think we could do both. I don't see any harm in doing a travelling fans forum and I'm sure other local clubs would welcome the chance to hold an event like this.

More importantly I think we should consider a 'Centurions Roadshow' which we could take to Atherton, Tyldesley, Hindley etc. In my opinion, this would be a lot more light hearted than a traditional Fans Forum and would include players, coach and a couple of Board Members to talk about the club. We could possibly have a quiz or similar and it would simply be a way of engaging with those further afield who perhaps (as Fred Said earlier) have been all but ignored by the Club in previous years.

Again I have to question the value of an event that is only going to attract existing fans, I dont really see how any question and answer,quiz,meet the coach/players/board roadshow will entice anybody that doesn't already attend matches

LISA has held similar events and they have in general been poorly supported even by existing fans

Similarily the fans forums only seem to attract numbers when a crisis is on the horizon

The mind set you need to use when planning events is as a non fan

Mish thats the sort of thing I meant - emphasis on a fun event sponsored by the club rather than all about centurions, just use a section of it to promote Centurions news & events or give away some family tickets or summat.

We can't expect people turn up 'just because' - but as pointed out above, I think we could attract people if we make it a fun event.

Any ideas what we could do that might not cost a fortune?

Here's my suggestion: Sponsor the fair when it's in the area.

Does the fair go to places like Tyldesley and Atherton? I ask with genuine ignorance.