Listy...I appreciate that this has really got to you...it did me as well when it was announced, but for different reasons. I sympathise with the Saints fans as well as those Quins fans who go to occoasional games and now have to fork out an extra £10...BUT.......naming names of staff who are in no way responsible for this decision is not on. Believe me, I have incurred the wrath of the club, the rfl and the mods on this board over the years, but naming names is a "no no", especially when it is an innocent that incurs your wrath.
The fact is that everything you take for granted on match day, the bars, the bands, the lunches in the jesters, the players being available to chat to...none of this would happen without the efforts of one person. This person works very hard to make things happen and in no way deserves to take flack for this. I have seen this person close to tears with the stress of getting things done. The Xmas event in 2008 was a fiasco, with the bars not cleaned, hundreds of empty kegs just left on the walkway in front of the East Stand and this person mustered troops and got things done.......and at the end of the day the look of stress but relief was quite disturbing. The support from the rest of the "club" was minimal in my opinion and may explain why this event didn't happen this year.
Paul Blanchard on the other hand is the General Manager of the club and it is him that should catch any flack if you feel strongly about this, but be warned, we exist only because of David Hughes, the RFL expansionist plans, possibly SKY TV and the patience of Harlequins Rugby Union.
I hope that you see sense and remove the name from this post..........they really doesn't deserve it.

See my PM for reasoning.

And I'm sorry but I'm not buying into that sob story. I am sure that as one of the more senior members of the club, she is very well paid, and the job title, like I said, comes with a certain level of accountability. If this is completely PB's doing and this is completley out of PW's hands, then fair shout, but the e-mail I recieved was pretty shoddy for a so called OM. I'm not going to share it, you'll have to take my word for it. But the phrase "cop out" springs to mind.

In fact, I see your point GF, but I'm just tee'd off with the reply I got. In fact, I am now pretty sure who is responsbile for this decision, but I didn't think PB would ever bother replying.

What am I even talking about? I bet even PB had no input into this "decision".

Last message. The day I edit out a club employee's name on the basis that their feelings are hurt is the day I stop posting on these forums.

I recall attending an Open Day at The Stoop in September 2005 and the West Stand wasn't quite complete, so presumably no union STs were sold for that stand that season. (The double header would have been Spring 2006 I think.) furthermore the union team were outisde the top division that season so presumably their crowds weren't quite at the same level as now.

I was under the impression the union team comes close to a sell out for most games so I would have thought it a tight squeeze to accommodate our crowd too (especially for a fixture with a larger than average travelling support) without selling some of the same seats separately for the two games.

As for the £25 ticket price for Saints fans including a game of no interest to them - as a matter of principle I think this is wrong. The closest equivalent I can think of would be if our game at Leeds was preceded by a Leeds Tykes match kicking off three and a half hours before our game, with a gap of almost two hours between matches, and we were charged an extra tenner on top of the regular price. It wouldn't stop me from attending if I was going to travel in the first place, but the union game would be of no interest to me whatsoever and I wouldn't be impressed. The earlier suggestion on this thread that different coloured "league only" tickets could have been sold to only admit the bearer after the union game is over sounds logical, but there could be a stewarding/safety issue in directing them to vacant seats as no one would know which union fans intended returning to watch the "free" second game, having paid their usual £25 for their own game.

Other than putting a spin on our average attendance for the purposes of our next licence application I'm beginning to think this whole double header has fewer plusses than minuses and that the union team should ahve arranged their match for the Friday evening or Sunday afternoon instead.

Now all it needs is a double-header programme at a double-header price, double-header car parking charges since the space will be occupied for longer....the list could be endless.

I know a few who wouldn't mind 2 pints for £5

The whole thing is another monumental own goal by the club as far as I'm concerned. For supporters of St. Helens, I have to say on your behalf I am outraged that you are being charged £10 more than every other visiting supporter this season. This season seems to be getting worse and worse on all fronts.

Plus if Saints fans travel by car there is no parking available to them at the Stoop or next door.
I sort of get the impression that the Quins don''t actually want Saints fans... they seem to be putting as many obstacles as they can in the way of watching a good RL match.

Unless I've mis-read it, all the above suggests that you have already received your tickets. My understanding when the double-header was announced was that Quins were going to contact season ticket holders. I've heard nothing as yet. Is this yet another occasion when I have to chase them?

This is the general feeling we are getting amongst some of our fans up here. We are wondering if Harlequins Union are making a statement of "we are in charge". The League fixture was a scheduled one where the Union I believe was a re-arranged one, so we would at least hope that the league fixture would be the first match, but no, the league match has been shoved back to the end of the day.
We were also concerned about the state of the pitch after the union game if the weather is bad with all the line outs, scrums, rucks and mauls.
Other comments was that they would have preferred playing Sunday rather than this invention of a double header. I hope the Union admin have taken on board most of the concerns and show some respect to another mans professional sport.

Quins can be blamed for a lot of things BUT in this case Sky are in the frame, they selected the game, time and day.

Good, I hope it is an absolute bog, ankle deep in mud, that will level things of a bit.

I was telling people before the Huddersfield games that the conditions would be a leveller, we seem to do OK when the weather is dire.

[size=200SIMPLE SOLUTION[/size

2011 SEASON
HARLEQUINS v St HELENS

Make that game £10 cheaper than whatever the 2011 normal ticket price is.

I like it!!

You know something? after reading this post,and those on V.T. i wouldnt blame David Hughes and Harlequins R.U. if they said sod it and closed us down. Ive never seen so much winging and whining over a few quid in my life. Just pathetic.
No wonder the rest of the sports world thinks British R.L. is a joke.

Whilst I agree with your sentiments regarding an extra £10 to watch your team (and another game if you want) I would also say that when it comes to patience, Harlequins Rugby Union and David Hughes are no match for the patience of the RFL when it comes to London RL. 15 Years of trying to make a viable business......crowds, corporate revenue, exposure and a place at the top table of London sport have all continued to be dreams. And, the patience of the RFL is nothing when compared to that of the fans who have stuck by the club through thick and thin...

I agree, to whinge about £10 is a bit much, but it could have been planned and handled better IMO.

Im in the same boat as you-heard nothing. They did say they would be contacting us.

Ive had a couple of e mails from the club explaining tickets could be obtained before the Salford or Hudds fixtures at the match day ticket office on giving up voucher 6 from my season ticket. Otherwise we were advised to ring the club or
send the voucher in with a covering letter by post to the club.

Can only assume that your e mail addresses have dropped off the system'

I travel to every game, home and away, over 6500 miles a year to see my team. Many teams selfishly host the fixture on a Friday night, charge nearly £20 for a crumbling terrace, offer no adequate facilities for a beer and nothing after the match. I would say that £25 for a seat to watch two top level Rugby games, a live band, a good seat and decent people is a fair deal. Personally speaking you go to London and you pay London prices. A lot of floating away supporters have turned their back to go to France whereby £10 will not even get you two beers. These same whingers will then slag Quins off for low crowds. It is five years since Sts took a big mob to our ground. I wouldn't like us to alienate either of the Hulls or Wigan as they bring 1000. But why should we let people pick and choose on a Rugby United day. Do these people write to Murrayfield asking for a special exemption? No, so pay up or stay in the Black Bull and enjoy the warm feeling of saving your tenner. Great supporters, only 5 times a year is it hard to get to the game and you don't bother. The ground will fill and better it be League than Union, but I don't care just don't hassle the club for your petty narrow minded selfish interests

None of that is relevant, the point is that this game specifically has been jacked up. If we charged £25 every week and attempted to justify it then that would be fair enough and a different story.

This Rugby United day is a load of rubbish, it was our match day, simple as that, the club are treating League supporters with contempt and it is unacceptable, nothing to do with "petty narrow minded selfish interets", a statement I find astounding and patronising. I suppose the announcements in the budget haven't bothered you either? Some people obviously have open wallets, "here, feel free to take my money, I don't care what it is for, I have no principles whatsoever"

Here here