I was chatting to a number of fans today who were furious with the club and the free tickets debacle. People had either not been notified, been notified on thursday or worse still notified on friday. They were saying that it was far to short notice to bring people along as friends and families have a life and most aren't free at a drop of the hat on a saturday afternoon. What was more disturbing than this was when some of them tried to go in via the link it wasn't working and therefore could not get tickets. Some had gone further and used all the phone numbers at their disposal and still no answser to the calls. One enterprising lady got so fed up with RL ineptitude and so used the RU site only to be told 'Oh they are all away on an away day but I can take your name and put the tickets on the gate' that's right you guessed it the tickets weren't there. Now which bright spark decided to send out mails to some fans and not others, decided to run a promotion with a couple of days notice and then take the whole team away from the office for an away day the day before a match. We don't need rocket scientists in the office but maybe someone with a bit of savvy might be a good idea or at least someone who understands RL.

However maybe they realised what a shambolic event today was going to be and to cut and run, I don't think even freebies would have been impressed with it.

could it be that our marketing "mistress" is more interested in getting her mug in RLW with some popstar and a third rate quiz master than doing her job properly????????

[url=http://www.league.quins.co.uk/news/12070.phpExperienced your first visit to Quins today?[/url Competition for RL "Virgins" to be entered into a draw for a free season ticket next season.

Appears to have been a "season ticket" holders only gig..............

We truly are the Man City of the RL word............................

I agree with the sentiments of your post but I wish it was true, the Citeh fans are amongst the happiest in football at the moment, having unlimited cash, the best players arriving daily, and great exposure in the press. I wish............................ they are heavily in debt however!!!!!!

Sorry Panther meant the good old days When [i"It's a far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Isn't it? Mmmmm. Marvellous."[/i And Franny Lee was once quoted "If there was a Cup for cock ups ,City would win it every year". Or words to that effect.

I used to go to Maine Road in the 1970s: Bell, Summerbee, Lee, Young what an attack. Though I am not mad enough to be a City supporter. I am even madder: Salford City FC, Up the Ammies!

perish the thought......I mean, she is a professional after all

Well at least ST holders haven't/didn't (well to the best of my knowledge) get an email on the sunday after the game saying they could have brought 2 mates along gratis on saturday.

I suppose getting the email Thursday or Friday was better than the sunday.................

Something is better than nothing. It wasn't perfect but I wouldn't describe it as an own goal. Two of my mates came along and had a brilliant time. Honestly...

Seems to me someone realised they'd done bugger all to earn their weekly corn so randomly fired off some emails towards the end of the week.

Isn't it this lack of "vision" that has got Quins RL in the current on & off the field predicment we currently find ourselves in????

I got the e-mail on Tuesday.

Me too. Obviously the likes of myself and jbuzza are on the "priority fan" mailing list

Is the honestly bit referring to them enjoying it, or you having two mates

After being advised by PP and trying (in vain) to get a copy of RLW (my mastercard isn't good enough for them apparently) I can still only guess at the content of the DPS with the marketing lady from Quins.
What I will say is this. The Massive Campaign from 2010 has been nothing other than a failure. Even is we beat last years average, this will be down to a snide 5,200 reported for the St Helens game and the 30th anniversary double header crowd.
Regardless of what I think of the various parts of the massive campaign, I believe that the major fault that runs through 2010 on the business/marketing front is planning. At no stage since the initial Oyster/viral efforts does there seem to be any form of plan. No 2 events since seem to have been planned.......again, the club has slipped into reactive marketing, not proactive. This, coupled with ramshackle communications to varying lists, late communications, moved games etc points to somebody being well out of their depth. I understand that the lady involved has worked with PB in the past (his words, not mine) and if I am totally honest, if the club had a spine, both would go NOW!
I don't care if this opinion doesn't sit nicely with the majority on here.......simply look at the facts as they are. We are at the foot of the table, but apparently near to financial oblivion. We have an average of 3,394 fans.....down on last year when we had no marketing department, we had to wait for replica jerseys to be available, we have had games moved, had double headers forced upon us, have IMO, wasted money on stupid gimmicky attempts at marketing, turned fans away from the club with the sometimes "aloof" way in which questions are answered......in short, I believe that the club as it stands today is in worse shape than it was in 2005.
Back then we had nearly 4,000 average, only 2 games with sub 3k gates, we ran 1 major marketing campaign at got 6,500 fans to a game, we were losing the same amount of money, but (from what I am told) we have no atmosphere at games whan compared to Griffin Park. Not knocking the stoop, but you need 7k minimum IMO to get any atmosphere going. Yes, we were moved from pillar to post at GP with the re-seeding of the pitch, but look at this years fixture list......1 home game from the end of July to seasons end


If next year is to be a watershed in the history of london pro RL, then something drastic has to change. On the playing front, if we are in the re-building process, then fine, keep blooding youngsters, but get a couple of decent names in to back them up. On the business front, get next years shirt designed NOW and in the shop by December 1st. Get a marketing agency involved in place of the marketing department. Pay them the salary as a retainer and get malcolm to do all thwe facebooky stuff........why pay between 30 and 50k to someone who has failed miserably? On this point, allocate a finite amount for marketing NOW.......and get planning NOW......

With regard to PB.......what is it he has done since he joined the club? Shirt sponsors? OK......well done, thanks a lot and goodbye. Get a Rugby Bod in.........Gio seems to be doing OK at Storm and if you cut him, he bleeds RL. PB is a journeyman.....google his CV.......longevity isn't his thing when it comes to jobs. He is presiding over a business losing 30k a week.......and he hasn't stemmed the flow.

On the Business side of things, the club has again distanced itself from its fans. Whilst those who point out that we are only fans are correct when they say there isn't a lot we can do, the club need to get the community feel back.

Latstly, David Hughes. If he is to scale back his investment, then so be it. I would gamble with a 5 quid ticket nest year. All 5 pound ticket purchasers would need to be registered with the club and canvassed for their thoughts on the match day experience. If we finish 2011 with a 3,500 average and DH walks...we wont see out the next 3 years even if we do get a licence. It is time to take a risk......everything at the club seems too comfortable for my liking......someone needs to shake the tree and get rid of the rotten fruit..
Somehow, I suspect that none of this will happen and we will continue to stumble along the path to oblivion........and I have to say it will be a very sad day whn it does happen, because the opportunity the club got in 2005/06 has been wasted.

"I was chatting to a number of fans today who were furious with the club and the free tickets debacle. People had either not been notified, been notified on thursday or worse still notified on friday. They were saying that it was far to short notice to bring people along as friends and families have a life and most aren't free at a drop of the hat on a saturday afternoon.=#FF0000:2w7vqw77 =#BFFF00What was more disturbing than this was when some of them tried to go in via the link it wasn't working and therefore could not get tickets. Some had gone further and used all the phone numbers at their disposal and still no answser to the calls. One enterprising lady got so fed up with RL ineptitude and so used the RU site only to be told 'Oh they are all away on an away day but I can take your name and put the tickets on the gate' that's right you guessed it the tickets weren't there.Now which bright spark decided to send out mails to some fans and not others, decided to run a promotion with a couple of days notice and then take the whole team away from the office for an away day the day before a match. We don't need rocket scientists in the office but maybe someone with a bit of savvy might be a good idea or at least someone who understands RL.

However maybe they realised what a shambolic event today was going to be and to cut and run, I don't think even freebies would have been impressed with it."

I got the email early last week amd put it on here and then it was on the club web site.It didn't say phone the club or any "link" but turn up on the day and exchanged the voucher fpr tickets - so that complaint is a complete and utter red herring.

Yes you could say that putting the offer out could have been earlier but at the end of the day I bought an extra 9 people who all enjoyed the experience.

The club is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't

Not at all.
What is happening at the club is not planned marketing, but knee-jerk last minute offers and the comms is terrible. That said, I knew that people could roll up on the day and get free tickets at the ticket office......I read it either here or on the club site, so I agree with the red herring post....but why didn't the club just announce it in the programme of the previous home game? I'll tell you why, because they are inept.
FFS.......I know people get on my back, they say I only have a go because I didn't get a job at the club and accuse me of being bitter, but I can honestly say that if I had been there and precided over the fiasco that is this season, I would have resigned in shame by now.

Everything has the look and feel of a headless chicken.......it's nothing short of a fiasco.

PP you get a little too defensive when anyone says anything against the club. We are not all as tolerant as you and when you see something isn't working then the club should be made aware and we all know they look on here. Don't say phone the club because most of the time no-one answers the phone. Constructive critisism won't do them any harm. They handled the situation badly and should be made aware that a number of fans were complaining. Myself I couldn't care less, at this moment in time I have no interest in the club because of how badly everything is handled. Last minute promos which don't reach everyone. Last minute game changes when you have booked time from work to go and got your train tickets. Last minute changes when you are on holiday and planned to be back for the game then miss it because it is Friday, especially the last game of the season. The list is endless, like a number of fans we will wait and see how things move during the off season before renewing season tickets. After a decdade and a half of watching the game the last two seasons have killed the enthusiasm.

The bigger own goal is arguably any attempt to attract newcomers to experience Quins RL as it is at the moment.

Would that read more accurately?

Whinge whinge. I read the website or email news letter, brought 2 mates, went to the ticket office, got 2 free tickets, sneaked them into the good block. No problem, no complaints.....apart from the bl**dy team who showed the 2 newbies how to lose the first half 30-0! Now thats something to moan about!!

Aye that's pretty much how it ran for me. You didn't need to go to the ticket office btw, you could walk through turnstile 11. Obviously the club didn't put this in size 24 font for you and you missed it, and it cost you an extra 30 seconds or so, so they should be lambasted.

That is the major irony, Quins attempt to improve their gates has actually had the opposite affect.
You couldn't make it up.

maybe someone could buy the people in charge a present at Christmas


I think in the closed season there should be a serious meeting of heads and a strict business strategy drawn up. It's actually embarrassing and i feel for the Quins fans having people who are seemingly so blatantly inept running and marketing the club.
Instead of buying another 2nd row in the closed season maybe pay for a real good marketing expert.

Really? that's disgusting. I cant believe I wasnt met by a personal marketing volunteer at the station who could have talked me through the most efficient way to get my free ticket while I strolled to the ground.

Anybody who could successfully market the dross and overall "matchday experience" we endured on Saturday would cost more than 100 second rowers.

Im really not moaning but does anyone else feel we could maybe target the actual match a bit in the build up? Sort of building peoples excitement about the thing they pay to watch? It seems sometimes that theres lots of fairly poor but well intentioned street dancing, some music, the cheerleaders and next thing you know its kick off time? And while Im not moaning can that MC eejit that replaced Warren please disappear before next year?

QuoteMyself I couldn't care less, at this moment in time I have no interest in the club because of how little interest they have in my volunteers raffles.

Would that read more accurately?

Absolutley not - I resigned 2 seasons ago due to serious ill health issues. But just to remind you when I was doing things for the club the operative word was volunteer. I have no axe to grind with anyone. Unlike you I am not trying to hit below the belt with personal snide remarks, I just want to get the message across that the club really need to read what some fans think, agreed not all of them think the same way, but if it is only a minority at the moment the message still needs to be addressed. Maybe you should pass things on to the chairman when you speak to him. Will you once again have another personal verbal go at me under your other forum name like you did last time when I didn't agree with you. This is a forum, we are all allowed an opinion and we don't all have to be of the same opinion. My thoughts are the club is at a standstill, I can't see it moving forward and sadly I can't see next year being any different. Your views may well be the complete opposite of mine and I respect that, I don't have a problem with your views you are perfectly entitled to them.