Loads of options mentioned time and again

Zero reception from the club

The issue isn't so much about what day games are on as the fact that there is ZERO knowledge of when any games are actually on beyond ticket holders

Take away a regular fixture time and then anyone but a ticket holder doesn't know when the games are so disconnects from the club

Answer? Advertising

Which the club never does

Oh well

I've given my idea's to the board face to face and they've all been dismissed instantly by Mr Thewlis in the past.
As for advertising, to be fair to the club in the past they have accepted this has been a problem and did ask fans to help by printing off or collecting posters/flyers etc for their workplace/local area but as usual there was a very poor response from the fans ...yes i know it's not the fans place to do it but it wouldn't harm just helping a little bit if it indeed did help the club, who had acknowledged they hadn't or couldnt do more in the past and we're actively looking for the fans to help. Fans won't help the club but then slate the club for not doing anything.

I'll do them a swap. I reckon I might get some free time if the club want to take my kids to football & swimming lessons, help me tour open days for secondary schools in West Leeds and fill in my daughter's preference form. Then they can reorganise my man-cave, get my windows refitted before the Winter draws in.... and do the extra hours I need to put in at the office this week. Hell, maybe they'll do me breakfast in bed and give me a 'livener' before I leave the house? After all, I'm their fan; I deserve it!


I won't bother asking for help with the Christmas shopping cos I know they're skint!

It was obviously aimed at fans who had some spare time on their hands or wouldn't mind giving up some of theirs to help. Not everyone could or was willing to....

Daz we are talking here about a business, professionally run by some highly paid people, It costs enough to go and watch a game without having to do your stint at getting the job up and running.
What would you think if M&S asked you if you could do a stint sweeping up, next time you went for a sweater, I know what I would think.

There is yourself, Meast and probably quite a few more on here, whose support and commitment to the club is admirable , It would seem to be a big part of your life, There is nothing at all wrong with that, but you are few and far between mate, The average supporter wants to go and watch a game " if and when he feels like it " and he wants to be entertained.

It is up to the club " with it's highly paid staff" ( and I don't care if it's only a quarter of what Wigan have ) to let the people know when a game is on, and more importantly to make sure those people get what they want to see, " or they just wont come back for more " It's that simple in business. And Rugby league is a business.

With regards to Sky, Each club get I believe around £2 million a year. It doesn't take much working out what the club are going to do, when Sky says you are playing Thursday night. They own the game and clubs will do what they have to do to get the money.

Sadly though those who "just want to turn up and be entertained" are the ones that moan about the club not doing enough. The sad fact is if you just want to turn up and be entertained you get what you get as without commitment the club can't move forward. And that is exactly why the RFL have chosen saints......

Who mentioned sweeping up ? hardly comparable to asking someone to print something off their computer to stick in a shop window when they go in !!

And yes the club is a big part of my life but i also realise that the club isn't this huge. self sustaining, multi million pound, successful business some seem to think it is or should be, and needs help now and again.

See this is part of our problem, fans (people) complain that the club do/don't do something right/wrong and when they try and do something they get complained at for trying to do something cos it's not the right thing ! either the club will never ever do the right thing in some's eyes or some people like to pick fault and complain for the sake of it ......what exactly do folk want the club to do ?? obviously not the things a huge. self sustaining, multi million pound, successful business would do as we aren't that !!.

If people have any ideas then why join the [url=http://www.giantssupporters.co.uk/Forms/Membership.htmlSupporters Association[/url and let's get the club to listen to our ideas, that's what we're here for !!

I know where you are coming from here but sadly or otherwise the "just want to turn up and be entertained ones " are exactly the ones Mr Davy is trying to get through the gates< the club are perfectly safe with the Daz's and Meast's. ( no offence )

I would have thought that despite the clubs league position, the fact that crowds are falling is a fair indicator that the people who are running the club are definitely not getting something right. But that's not the case for some is it ? It's the people's fault, It's the day of the week games are played, It's this, it's that , It's the Huddersfield people who don't deserve a club, it's something else, but it is never anything to do with the club being at fault.
Now if me stating the blatantly obvious makes me a moaner then fine , but then anyone who posts anything on this board , that is remotely critical of the club is branded as a moaner.

I was being told only Yesterday that Huddersfield has the biggest percentage of golfers per head of population in the North of England. I don't know if that's true , or even how he knew that, but it proves a point, If you want to win those people over to League , then you have to attract them away from golf or whatever else it is they spend their money on , If you can't then you just go down hill, " same as any other business " But most businesses tend to look for problems within, rather than blame their customers for expecting too much.

Daz I have said before that your support and commitment does you credit, if the club is a big part of your life , then good for you, But it's not a big part of my life and many thousands of other Huddersfield people's, It's entertainment, they don't want to be part of the club, or the supporters association, they just want to turn up to watch Hopefully a good match " when they feel like it". That's the nature of entertainment mate, and if they don't like what they see, they won't go next time, If they do they may well go back for more, that has to be the aim.

You being such a dedicated fan may well not like what I have said, But I think the real problem for you is that you can't understand why other people don't feel about the Giants like you do, But the size of the Population of Huddersfield and the size of the Giants hard-core fan base is the answer staring you in the face.

According to jools the reason the RFL selected Saints rather than the Giants, was because of people like me who want to be entertained, and are the reason the club can't go forward. Once again It's the people's fault, nothing to do with the club, or It's lack of ambition, They are being let down by the very people who are helping to pay the wages.

Bottom line is , Rugby league 60/70 years ago was a major source of entertainment, Today by comparison is Space age, with an absolute wealth of things on offer. If League in general and Giants in particular want there share of punters, they had better get their act together. That's not a moan or a criticism it's a fact.

to some extent there are things that can't happen because the giants / other clubs have agreed to pander to sky and their audience. I'm sure the Giants would love to guarantee a sun 3pm kick off each and every week- but they can't. I'm not sure why some think that's down to the Giants being at fault but they do.
There are things the club could do to counteract this such as mini season tickets, 10 for the price of 9 or some such. They've decided for business reasons not to as it would mean they would lose out.
Whether they are correct is another matter.

Can't argue with much of that jools, The RFL for better or worse have sold the game " so to speak " to Sky, The reasons they did that was quite clear at the time, Summer Rugby, less competition, lots of Sky money , The alternative , back to a semi professional game "at best ", The consequences, When Sky say jump, you jump.

Sky pay Rugby league very poorly in comparison to other sports, " I suspect that's because they know they have the game by the short curly one's " Whatever, should they decide to pull the plug the game would be down the pipes faster than a Rat down a drainpipe.

So the Giants as you say are no worst or better than most in the scope they have for making decisions, Where I feel they are failing is the people who are running the club, I'm sure they could all justify themselves, but whatever they have been getting paid to do has just not been working, There have been some really stupid things done in the last few years, yet the same people are still there, bleating out the same old messages.

I'm really disappointed about the world club games, I know if say Wigan had have finished where we did, there is no way in this world or the next, they would have allowed the RFL to pick another team, I may be wrong but I haven't heard so much as a whimper from the Giants," except we didn't want to play it because we didn't win the league " Great message to send out.

A favourite saying on here is " we are punching above our weight " and I don't have a big argument with that, on the field. But in all honesty the overall impression I get from the club It' self, is the same as I get from Rugby League, compared, to Union We are lucky to be where we are, Whatever you do , don't rock the boat, We can't expect to do as well as them, Look where we used to be.

The big problem for the Giant's is that the vast majority of people in Huddersfield seem to feel the same, As I said whatever the club's doing isn't working, I would be very happy to have 10 years of Bradford style and see us up at the top with the best, I know that sort of talk horrifies some people, but with all our nearest competition struggling, NOW is the time for the Giants to get where they want to be , They will never have a better chance.

It's interesting to read about what the club should be doing to raise its profile in the area and increase support. I suspect there is really one hurdle to overcome ie. win one of the 2 major trophies. That really brings exposure and a feelgood factor for fringe/potential supporters. We are close to achieving that and the club does warrant some recognition for continual improvement over the past years. The future looks bright - the future is claret and gold.

That paragraph is the key for me. The club has a strategy, a strategy that has been in place for round 10 years. That Strategy has been succesful, up to a point. The attitude seems to be that that is sufficient. Where is the desire and the will to take the club further? Where's the folow up strategy to build on the fanbase? Is it just hope we win a trophy and people will turn up, this isn't Field of Dreams.

However the big question is accountability. We are consistently told that the club needs more fans to get more income but there are other income generating streams. If the person responsible for generating this income can't do it then they need sacking and someone who can brought in.

I despair when I hear that the clubs MD seriously thinks that getting fans to print off flyers and stick them in shops is a genuine marketing strategy. Maybe if you're selling a lawnmower or trimming hedges or a prostitute but for a professional sporting club it's an embarrasment.

Beggars belief don't it. This is a business with an annual turnover of Millions.

I really don't see the issue with asking fans to print off flyers. Or is the consensus Let's be getting the staff paid by the club to go around posting them rather than getting in match day sponsors etc.
Even less would get done if that were the case....

What a set of moaners we have at our club.
Firstly the club has no control over SKY for the days games are played when earmarked for TV. The club do their best as regards Sunday games. But if we have the club at heart, we should do our best to get to the matches whichever day the match is on. We can all come up with excuses why not to attend. There are no scheduled home matches for Thurs nights, unless sky arrange one for us, but if they do, I know it is late for school age kids, but as a one-off, I am sure they could manage it, as I have seen kids playing out at 10pm mid summer. Friday nights no excuse as regards young ones, as they have Sat off school. So that leaves shift workers. It does effect attendances, as in my own family two work shifts and might only be able to attend Sat or Sun games. This stops them from buying a season ticket for this reason as they might have to miss up to 5 or 6 games a season. This upsets them but they understand there is nothing the club can do, apart from what they already do regarding Thurs games, but that only applies if SKY reschedule a game to Thurs, not one that is already scheduled.
ATEOTD the club needs to make a profit, and there must be a limited budget for advertising, and previous efforts have not increased attendances so it may be throwing good money down the drain trying to appeal to an apathetic people of Huddersfield. The product on the field is the main promotion for the club, and they have done their job very well, I know they have tripped up on the big end of season games, but they have done a good job over the rest of the season. We tend to forget that Wigan,Leeds and St.Helens have been at the top of the tree for the best part of 50 years, and we have been there for 6-8 years, also all the 3 towns mentioned have larger populations than Huddersfield and pro-rata population wise we don`t do badly, in fact we beat Leeds hands down, because taking populations into account Leeds should be having 21000 at each home game.
The 2 members of my family who work shifts do their best to get there by asking for half a days holiday, or trying to get another person to swap shifts with them.
So all those moaning, stop trying to find excuses and make a concerted effort to get to the game, because if you are really interested it will pay off in the end eventually.
If people can`t make it after trying all well and good, and excuses accepted, but if you havn`t tried, just go and do something else and don`t go on moaning.

Well said.

Ditto that. We've more to be happy with than complain about. Remember - Enthusiasm is catching, unfortunately so is moaning.

I didn't realize you needed an excuse for not going, I thought the idea was to go if you wanted, or it looked like being a decent game.

What you and Giant Scorpio seem to miss in your posts is the poor attempts by the club to undertake things.

FIVE YEARS ago in a meeting at the club i raised the issue of getting the supporters involved in undertaking things to help the club out.

I talked about a whole host of things but made it clear it should be part of a co ordinated strategy. Everything from posters to the club, attending carnival attempts in the town,.

I offered if the club would advertise to make work books for children in maths usin g Giants as a theme.

I explained it should not just be a simple appeal but should be motivated as part of a coherent strategy.

I talked about them making a poster like the WWI one with kitchener replaced by Eorl with the slogan Your club needs you.


We suggested that Ponner be supported to make his youtube videos on a monthly basis and for them to be sent to everyone on the clubs email list etc.

I suggested that for volunteers they had a bit of a do at the end of the season with the players there as a thank you.


NONE of this required lots of Money.
None of it required lots of time
None of it required lots of resources.

I offered to pay £200 and to undertake one of the suggestions myself but wanted the club to sanction it.


Not one of these things has been done.

The club continues to do things piecemeal, half cocked without thought, imagination, initiative.

The band good idea planned badly. No one really knew it was happeneing until it started. Where was the consultation where was the planning with the singers before the event

They are all qualities that have fook all to do with money or resources.

Anyone that goes on about moaning is speaking . You just accept mediocrity, you are blind to the facts, your loyalty does you a disservice.

The club treat many supporters with disdain.

They treat the ex players association appallingly. Rarely send first team players to meals etc, withdrawing season tickets etc from them.


I moan because i care about the club.

I moan because i am sick of watching appalling manangement and actions by peolple who need to be moved on and bring in people with new ideas, new energy, new dynamism. It is run by those who try the same old things then blame the fans for not getting behind the club.

That is a view that is then echoed on here by Jools, Giant Scorpio and Ivor.

If i managed as badly at work as those do at the Giants i would be unemployed. When things go wrong at work i look at myself and think what do I have to do to make it better.

I dont just allocate cases to staff ( who are completely overwrked already i sit them down explain why they are best for the case.

I enthuse and encourage and motivate them.

I never blame the staff. I accept responsibility for my management.

All we get on here is it is the fans fault , it is the people of Huddersfields fault, it is SKys fault.

WTF are the club doing.

Doing exactly the same thing and blaming the fans.

RTEad the posts on here from other Giants fans not the loyal jools, Meast, Ivor and GiantS.

But other fans who have been around year.

It does not matter how fooking loyal you lot are, when the others have gone and the demorlaisation sets in you wont build it back up.

It is you loyal uncritical ones who do the disservice to the club and will hasten it's demise to Championship 2. I have no doubt you will still be happy standing on te stands and talking about how great you are.

You will be able to tell your grandchildren about how you were the 300 in 2020.

The 300 is nothing to celebrate it is a sad example of the clubs previous decline.

Something which is starting again IMHO

I agree on some of your points DG, i myself have offered ideas and indeed my time when i was unemployed, to help out and i know of others who did too, i know it isn't the fans place to do it but i'm not the type of fan who just sits and wait for the next match to come around so i can hopefully watch the team win, i wanted to help out and hopefully bring others in.

I do agree to a point about bringing some new faces in, maybe someone new at the top can bring in and implement their own, new ideas - a fresh start !, we replace coaches and players when we think they have done all they can but :



How do we who have no access to what goes on in those offices/boardroom know it is appalling management and they are doing badly ? this is also part of the problem, for all we know they might be hitting satisfactory targets they have been set...the job that has been done so far could be viewed by the top people as a very good one hence why certain people have stayed in the same job for a long time ?

We fans have our own ideas of what is good and bad and we decide if XX if doing a good or bad job based on our own expectations and thoughts.

I'm not defending anyone with those words, as i said i do think a change is needed, but we have no idea what is seen as good or bad by the club, we do know what the fans think but we don't run the club !.

for teams like saints, wigan, leeds, Salford, hull fc etc who regularly play Friday night footy the sky deal isn't that bad, but for teams like us, wakey cas who like to play sunday afternoon its bad news in regards to season tickets, but the club also needs the sky money, so we have to dance to the pipers tune,
I used to love sunday games as I was home on a weekend but as I worked away quite a lot thurs/fri games were hard/not a chance for me, the fixtues carnt please everybody and that's life, if we averaged 12.000 every week the fans could make a bigger complaint about ko times, but we don't get that big a crowd so I have to agree with jools and say that is one of the reasons we didn't get the rooters game

spot on is that and very well put.
i think the problem is that, as we have seen on this thread and on other threads, that not everyone is a "supporter", some are "fans" who just want to be entertained and have no particular feeling for the club, it's just another form of entertainment for them rather than something you give your heart to.

DG, i do agree with a lot of points you have made too,

maybe back then the club thought we would be fine as we were still getting pretty decent crowds, the marketing budget would have been higher than it is now, and therefore the staffing levels too, maybe the club didn't think it needed to do those things are they presumed things were moving in the right direction?

maybe try again? maybe get the HGSA on board and try these things out now with the club?