Fax will still be part time if they finish 2nd. With teams apparently crumbling around them its probably the right thing to do.

This is a good signing for you. I for one was a little sorry to see him going. Definitely aggressive, has an awkward style and tries to offload. Best thing is he has a lot of improvement in him if his twin is anything to go on.

Fully understand what you say, but, if the top four Championship teams are to have any chance of competing with the bottom four SL teams next season, (plus London & Bradford) they must try to do so on as equal a footing as possible.

Of course, they must also do so, without 'breaking the bank'. And therein lies a problem!

Ultimatley to benifit from the new structure the most requires clubs to build their businesses, primarily their fan bases , failure to do that will result in just dropping back down or financial implosion

Despite what anybody says, you cannot operate as a successful susstainable SL club on 3/4,000 attendances, unless of course somebody has a million quid to burn every year

It appears we are a long way ahead of all our Championship rivals both on and off the field to take advantage of the situation.
In addition the struggling SL clubs will be likely faced with additional financial challenges that will follow in terms of reduced attendances. There could easy be some financial implosions depending how well they manage to 'downsize' with the better players leaving and perhaps the lower quality ones wanting to see contracts through on SL money.
A well managed fully focussed Leigh Centurions run on professional business lines will never have a better chance re-establish itself for the long term at the top level.

Welcome back Steve.
Top line is vanity bottom line sanity - run anything on that and you wont go far wrong(provided you get the cash in)
We must grow top line to have any chance of improving bottom line, and paying spectators have a great role to play in doing that.
We will be unveiling our 2015 season ticket details very, very soon - 3500 average as a min next season

So your plan/hope is for other clubs to ' implode ' /lower their incomes so that Leigh can compete? ,wonderful , fantastic businessplan that is

To re-establish itself ( if we ever have been ' established ' ,I'd beg to differ ) needs a threefold increase in the home support base, that wont happen overnight or overyear, until we see that start to happen ( irrelivant to our on field performances ) we are light years behind being ready

3,500 averages based on what? , home fans? ,or the visits of Bradford and Wakefield?

Good to see you back anyway, your positivity is always a great motivator to me

Neil

So Bradford,Wakey and London it is then

You need to get back to ripping into Smokey

Johhny Walker has just scored on his début in the Reserves.

Any score updates Mish ?

Won 62-24

Wow that is impressive

Agree Frank another great win, well done lads.

He sounds like you from years gone by

I think Fax are trying to sneak in the back door. Finish 2nd this season, make the middle 8 next as Sheffield look like their time could be over and Fev could face financial ramifications of the loonies running the asylum, then try and grow from there knowing that the last place in the top 4 in the Championship is well up for grabs and if they can make that it could be a good platform.

I hope you didn't mind me having an opinion on this Starbug.

I believe that Leigh's ability to build towards and survive at the highest level will be determined by how the overall business develops and is managed in direct comparison to its closest rivals (in a financial sense). Turnstile revenue will be one part of a complex equation.

To state the obvious - attendances need to increase and are very important but will shortly be a much lower proportion of our total income - noting the 5 fold increase in Sky money from next year and hopefully coupled with growth in all the other areas of our business.

In my view our chances of moving forward will be highly dependant on our club being able to punch above its weight (in a business management sense) in next years middle 8 group, in comparison to our rivals. Most of these rivals will have a bigger overall financial pot to work with than us - fact.

My point was that those SL clubs coming into the middle 8 will potentially come with baggage that will hopefully weigh them down giving us a chance to further close the gap. We can also anticipate that the gap will be further closed by our club by going full time.

The main point of my previous post was to suggest that we shall never have a better chance to realise the dream of a sustainable business competing at the highest level. The only other option is to find a mega-millionaire backer who can be trusted to deliver a sustainable future for our club.

In my opinion - if we believe the only way forward is a threefold increase in attendances within the next year or so then, if we are being honest with ourselves, we may as well throw in towel now.

Sounds like we should just pack in now, Neil-stop wasting everyone's time before the inevitable financial implosion causes the LSV and everything with it to tumble into a bottomless pit of doom to the centre of the earth.

best hiding under our duvets until it's all over.

//p.

Good interpretation of the current situation.

We are setting realistic goals and are working as best we can within budget and current staff level constraints trying new and improved things to get numbers through the gate as the retained profit from bums on seats is high so it is important.

Across the business great strides are being made all the while a rigid budget set by our Finance director and agreed by the board is being adhered to so we have to be realistic about what we can and can't do at this point in time.

Regards average gate for next season 12 months ago people would have laughed had we stated the average would be above 2k this season

Let's aim for the moon; even if we miss well land among the stars that's what I say.

Opinions are what message boards are for, yours seem almost out of the BOM s ' mantra ' .which one of them are you?

I havent suggested a threefold increase is possible within a year, but without it Leigh will never be a susstainable competitive SL club, to suggest otherwise would be to essentially say the bulk of current SL club are complete idiots, because they all suggest a 10,000 average IS what is required

Yes next season the cash through the gates will be a smaller % of income, but that extra income is entirely relevant to on field performance, something the board have limited control over, their 100% responsability is the clubs performance, and no matter how much they concentrate on improving corporate sales it will always be bums on seats that decide where a club is on the pro RL ladder

Andy, if you miss the moon it will take a million years to reach the nearest star, aim for the stars and you'll pass the moon on your way

A simple question, setting aside the ' Sugar Daddy ' situation, which clubs are the most successful?

Which clubs attract the most corporate and biggest sponsors?

Answer, those with the biggest crowds
Now if you disagree, fine, explain to me this ' complex equation '? , if it involves ' special relationships ' with the LSV? Dont bother ,I've heard that one before

In response to Starbug's further comments - I don't feel any need or obligation to identify myself or to offer any explanations to anyone.

However to put everyone's mind at rest and to avoid anyone getting carried away with any crazy conspiracy theories - I shall explain. I am quite simply an avid Leigh fan with some commercial experience through my employment and have followed the club home and away for over 30 years.
My wife is highly amused at Starbug's demand to know which member of the BOM I am.

I am most certainly not a Member of the BOM and have never at any time met or spoken to a single member of the BOM.

My opinions, expressed on the Forum, are nothing more than what I consider to be commercial common sense - arguably a commodity sadly lacking in our game and in the management of our great club for far too long. If Starbug feels my opinions run close to those of the Leigh BOM then I am delighted because that supports my belief that they are doing an excellent job and deserve the fans unwavering support as they address the very difficult challenges ahead.

I am equally delighted that Andy Mazey has decided to publicly acknowledge my interpretation and to expand upon the club's current position. This is despite my recent suggestion via this Forum that he should cease posting on here. My delight is absolutely nothing to do with a personal ego trip. In my opinion it confirms that the club - assessed in terms of a professionally managed business - is in a better place that it has ever been, certainly in the time I have been a fan and probably in its entire history.