How come it's come to this?? www.leighjournal.co.uk/news/9516 ... _club_row/ Quite shocking really - who's to blame for this getting out of hand?

How come it's come to this?? www.leighjournal.co.uk/news/9516 ... _club_row/ Quite shocking really - who's to blame for this getting out of hand?

Very sad indeed , Mick Martyn and Gordon Lewis were Leigh through and through, i hope something can be sorted out soon .

This was mentioned on here last week. I note that Trevor Barton wishes to try and resolve the issues, and seeing as he was not involved in the previous administration, I cannot see why the Legends are refusing to sit down and talk things through. Yes it sounds like they were treated badly, but why can't they give the new guy (our acting CEO) a chance to sort things out amicably. Refusing Trevors invite to talk clearly won't change the situation but it sounds like he is at least trying.

Trevor is still trying to talk to the Past Players. Whatever the rights or wrongs of their situation, I would have thought that now (new Club, new beginning) would have been an ideal time to start a dialogue. If nobody is willing to talk, then nothing can be resolved.

It seems maybe the past players, the same as some of our ex fans have problems with forgetting the past and are resistant to forging a new future

Let's hope it gets sorted. Not good for publicity, but is it a case of certain people wanting something for nothing. Do they not realise that the club almost went bust a few months ago, yet they begrudge paying £40 per year (<£4 per match to go in the upstairs bar). The club must pay the LSV to use this room, so can't give away free tickets. Would they rather the club give thing saway and go bust. Unless budgets are met this year there will be a shortfall which has to met by someone. Haven't Keith & Phil said that they don't have the funds to put money into the club. Before anyone say sthey should step aside...... that what they did at the end of last year, but obviously no-one came forward as they are still at the helm.

Does anyone else wonder why they have suddenly given this story to the press at this time and not before?

Surely their beef must be with the last administration and not this one and to be honest it sounds a bit like sour grapes because some over zealous steward denied them access to the function room.

I know for a fact that Trevor has invited them to have a chat to see if they can somehow resolve the issue but they turned him down flat and instead have gone running to the press about how hard done to they are - and how can they even mention the Hall of Fame when they know that Bob gave it to St Paul's where it's hung for the last few years.

I'm afraid I've lost all respect for them and their cause.

They are just a bunch of bitter grumpy old men. The club has no control over who does/doesn't enter the LSV and it's function rooms. You would have thought they would have grasped this concept by now. The fans have.

If they had decided to walk away instead of stating they would step aside for new blood to take over, there would be no helm for anyone to be at.

CP has hit the nail on the head really. At HP the Mick Martyn Bar didn't cost them anything. It is a totally different kettle of fish at the LSV. Whatever you think of Trevor, he along with Keith and Phil and many others have worked their backsides off to give us a club and it would appear a team that far outweighs any of our expectations last November.

Message to the Leigh Legends - please let go of what has happened and give TB a chance to try and come to an agreement with you all. Time to move on, it really is. The money or lack of it (below SL) in our once great game means that clubs cannot afford to give things away especially when the club has to effectively hire every room it uses at the LSV. Entrance fees have gone up for the first time in three years I think which we the fans have to accept, especially if we want a team in the future. Maybe some may not be able to afford every game now, they will pick and chose, but they are still fans. All this bitterness does no one any good at all.

The club should try & set up a new past players association with recently retired players who understand the club's current situation and have the club's interests at heart

The thing that annoys me about it (and the thing I'm most curious about) is why, if they've decided that there's no going back, and no amount of talking can bridge the gap, have they gone to the press at all? Why not just go on their merry way and continue doing what they've been doing for the last 12 months?

It almost seems like they're purposely trying to sabotage the reputation of the new regime - and of course the new Leigh Centurions. Why would they do this to a club they're supposedly so passionate about? It doesn't make sense to me and I know know what they think can be gained from it because everyone I've spoken to seems to think they're bang out of order.

If the old PPA are not willing to put the past behind them, then why not start a new one? A fully functioning PPA can only be of benefit to the club. The junior section is a good example of how the club can move forward as it promotes itself within the local community. We can't all live in the past, Hilton Park has gone and we have to adapt to survive in this harsh climate. The PPA as reported in the Journal have given generously in the past, but staying away is doing yourselves no favours. It is now that your support is needed by putting "bums on seats" this Sunday!!! You may even enjoy what you see and come back again. But please if you want the perks of a corporate box or wish to enjoy the pre-match buildup in the banqueting suite, then all I ask is that you purchase the appropriate ticket like everybody else.

Completely agree with pretty much every post on this thread. There definitely seems to be an undercurrent of not wishing to pay for entrance to the banqueting room, but at the end of the day people pay good money to go in there, so why should past players get that benefit, particularly when they appear to have a discount on admission as well?

The £2,000 in 2009 is less than 20 people buying an adult season ticket each, so unless there are only 4 members it seems that they've been getting a very good deal!

Matt, i think that's the problem. At Hilton Park I assume everything was free, but at the LSV.........it's totally different.

They should be moaing about the LSV and not the club, but would the reporter/journal print a story about former leigh player having to pay to attend a council facilty to watch a rugy game....of course they wouldn't......however they would print a story about leigh ignore former great past players. Of course they HAVE......

How easily is history dismissed as unimportant. I suppose it is a sign of modern times but it is telling that past players of most clubs are accorded common courtesy and respect by their fans but it seems that past players of this club only attract derision.

Were they attracting this derision before the newspaper report....which is mostly one sided, bar the important line that our acting CEO, who wasn't around in this capacity before September, is trying to set up a meeting with them but getting no where.

Which other clubs have recently moved into a rented stadium almost completely out of their control?

Isn't reffy a Wire fan (who own their own ground) so wouldn't know how much the LSV once charged Leigh for renting a small office. Now I've mentioned that it might also be worth mentioning that the LSV, according to what I heard had vastly reduced its charges to Leigh to help them out, so maybe Trevor is armed with a compromise. It seems though we will never know if the PPA is hell bent on trying to damage the good work done just a few days before the start of the season. The newspaper report could have been written six months ago. My reasoning is that they may have felt they would get massive support from the fans to their 'plight' by leaving it till now. Reading some of the comments in this thread it appears it could have backfired on them.

I would say that as soon as it sorted - for the good of everyone - the should have a ball for all the past and present players and bury that hatchet good and deep.

let's hope it's backfired....it's only 3 day still out 1st game of the season & we NEED 2000 fans. you probably noticed I posted my guess of the crowd on sunday is 1598....i hope i'm wrong, but with newpaper article like this one....let's hope the rest of the leigh public ignore these moaners / journalist looking for a story to create an impact without thought of the consequences & prove me wrong with my crowd estimation. I hope I'm wrong....see you at the game on sunday. Come on Leigh!!!!!!

We should get a past supporters organisation going and try to get that lot back

To the past players who are more interested in their own entitlements than the wider interests of the club where it is today - thanks for all you've done in yesteryear. But please make sure the door doesn't hit you on your way out.

Fortunately I can't see this having much impact on attendances. It's pretty obvious to anyone who has a passing knowledge of rugby and the situation at Leigh that they are way out of line. Not attending a match for 2 years? Crazy...

I have not commented because at the moment we don't have all sides of the story.

Something which was sadly lacking in the report in the Leigh Journal.

Well maybe someone should write telling them what is the truth, instead of allowing a local Leigh paper try to destroy all the hard work done, alot of it unpaid, in the last 3 months.

That I agree (Demon's post) with and it just shows what an uniformative story was printed by the Journal.

Maybe the writer of the story would clarify why the report did not have responses from the club and the LSV.

After that trajic liner accident off that Italian Island the press reported the captain jumped into a lifeboat before the passengers had departed.

Does not mean it is true does it ?