And those fans who attended the Leeds match will not come again this year when they know that even if we win all remaining games, we will not be promoted and playing Leeds, Wigan or Saints next year.

They are well aware we will still be playing York, Keighley and Batley again regardless.

And crucially those meaningless games at £16 a chuck sadly only appeal to around 1,600 people (and falling)

They wouldn't turn up, even if the pinnacle of our ambitions (apparently

) is to get promoted just so we can play W1gan and Leeds in a league game. They would turn up for the GF just like the last time we was there. They will be there for Blackpoo. No doubt they will be there for our first GF for 8 years if we can hopefully make it. The 1600 to 2000 will be there to experience how/if we get there, but the big gamer fans will wait for the big games.

The Watcher has a simple way of getting extra income for the club, charge for car parking, even if its only £2.

Don'y they find enough to moan about already.

Go stand in the corner Mr Watcher and face the wall.

I suspect the reason there isn't a car park charge is that part of the planning application would presumably have had to guarantee x number of free parking spaces, especially as the car park behind the North Stand is shared with Leigh East & Leigh Harriers.

Our goals must be SL ticks, 2500 gates, Academies, financial stability etc
Our strategies must be focused on our goals ie To support beLEIGHve we must average over 2500 gates, to do that we will........ etc
To support our infrastructure we need income of £x000's to generate this we will ................... etc
We will also have secondary goals eg improve media/RFL perception.
2013 could be a great year for us.

I feel the watcher for once has a very valid point. If need be work out a percentage split of any match car parking revenue with LSV.

If you travel to an away game and choose to park on their club car park do you expect to do so for free? No of course not.

We need to look at ALL (and that does mean all) possible income streams if we really are serious about developing a sustainable club of the future.

We need to persuade our fans to buy:

Buy a ST in December and we reduce your shirt price by £5 or reduce other merchandise like fridge magnets,cups, coaster ect
Reduce the ST price by £5 or £10 for adults if they buy 2
Make a goody bag for the kids, shirt/rubber/ruler/pencil/bag/hat/scarf - £45-£50 if we can get them at a low cost price. Give the West stand the option to transfer over to the north (I know a few who do this already)
There's loads we can do!

But those who don't go regularly have their reasons for not going so I don't understand why they would want to buy 5 tickets now. What is the benefit for parting with a load of money. If you offer an attractive discount then I personally think that the only ones who would take advantage would be regular fans who didn't have a season ticket. Someone who does not attend normally is not going to suddenly hand over about £60 for 5 tickets.
Why do people not attend?
a) Can't afford
b) Can afford but not value for money
c) The opponent is not one of the traditional 'top' teams
d) Our team is not playing attractive rugby
e) Working
f) Family life takes priority (If this is the reason what day could you attend)
g) No p&r so games are meaningless
h) Lack of advertising / promotion of games
plus any other ideas.
Then we need to resolve the problem in whatever way we can.
As a major survey would need alot of effort maybe for starters there could be a survey amongst regular fans who could answer the above on behalf of friends and relations who don't go to games.

Sorry, but I think you just don't get it, And You are to negative and accept that there is no future. You say we need to solve the problem but you don't know what the problem is.

OK - so you know the problem and you have the solution...... please share it with us.

By the way, I am realistic - not negative. I just get depressed at the way the game is going, our gates are not increasing, our away following is dwindling and no one has a quick fix to turn it around.

Now tell me what I don't get in your post "[iThe idea of a book of tickets is that someone who can't always get to a game, can decide on the day[/i". What is your planned incentive to get folk to spend money in advance?

I know that if I couldn't get to certain games I would buy tickets for the ones I could get to. I wouldn't buy 5 tickets for future games unless there was a decent discount and if there was a discount it would cost the club revenue.
Please explain why you think a new / lapsed fan (surely these are who we are targeting)would want to shell out for 5 tickets when he or she can't be persuaded to come to the odd game.

Well at the minute if you decide to go to 4 games on the day to sit down it cost £72. Now a book of 4 tickets could cost say £55 so that is a decent incentive to try and persuade some supporters to come more often. NOW do you get it.You see early bird tickets only really benefit those who go any way. No matter how you look at it you must try and make it more attractive to make people to attend who don't often come.

And thats all that matters

bringing back promotion/relegation will help.

Yes I do get it, in fact I have had it all the time.
So, 500 fans take up your idea and buy 4 tickets for £55 = £27500
Now those 500 would have been going anyway which would have been 500 X £18 = £36000
Bingo !!!! we have just lost £8500 in 4 games -



We now need another 472 fans to get the income back to where it would have been.

Bit harsh that mate.

Your theory only stands up if those fans were definatley going to all of those games, but I see your point.

I think the idea of a 'half' season ticket would work, slightly higher price per game than a normal season ticket, but would appeal to more people. Some people can't make games on certain days due to work and other commitments, so a full ST isn't a viable option. But with a half ST a fan can go to games round other commitments and the club makes a slightly higher percentage per game too.

What about people whos shifts means they cant get to all the games, a book of tickets they would buy instead of season ticket.

Its also your bring Bob tickets also, enpowers the fans to help the club get more through the turnstyles

Book of tickets yes. Use by multiPles on the same day no. I agree with 24.7. Giving stuff away isn't really going to attract more and. Pups be a costly mistake.

Look at things from this angle as an example.
The club needs to generate £750k in income to finance ambition ie beLEIGHve.
This will be obtained from £60k Lottery, £40k LISA, £80k sponsorships, £90k RFL, £40k grants, £40k Touchdown club, £40k boxes/meals leaving £360k from gate/ST receipts.

Reaching GF/NRC or good CC run is not guaranteed.

Good pre season friendlies are a great source of income if a deal is struck with SL clubs, ie Wire at home could put £50k into the coffers - objective 1 secure pre season friendlies, with a priority being Boxing day. Target £60k income.

We then need to understand our different trenches of fan. 1 - Mr Loyal, proud Leyther who bleeds cherry n white and will go that extra mile. 2 - Mr Frequent Fan, proud Leyther, often fell into category 1 but for various reasons is not quite as passionate now as he was. 3 - Mr Ocassional fan, picks his games, still classes himself as a Leyther sometimes dragged along with his mates. 4 - Mr Lapsed fan, disillusioned with Club/Game, cant see point anymore but always checks scores and asks how we played. 5 - Mr I will only go in SL fan, likes his RL but cant see point below SL. 6 - Mr Everyone is bent and on the take, one of lifes winkers, if he won a million on the lottery he would be pd off he didnt win £10m. 7 - Mr New fan, new to area, kids just started playing etc

Our objectives should be to make 1 so proud of the role he plays he is almost bursting, make then integral to the club by a fantastic matchday experience - this trenche will be your biggest marketing tool if we get it right. If we get this right many 2's will move to 1's, 3's to 2's, 4's to 3's.

5's and 6's need to be made to look and feel like prix as a result of the experiences and actions of 1-4's, you will get some 5's going to games but you should stop the 6's causing damage.

If you get the first bit right then you can look at the new fans, but this is a gamble with few short term rewards and hence must not take too much time.

We have the facilities and history to make our future vibrant, 2013 could be a great year.