Has anyone had replies from the RFL, Sky or anyone else yet?

Have received a reply from The RFL....IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS WAS RECEIVED AND POSTED TO THE WEBSITE [url=http://www.league.quins.co.uk/news/9795.phpHERE[/url.

I have replied to the RFL that I am mailing every club, the RL press, Sky sports and a few others with the result of the poll on the VT in the hope that this never happens again.

Did that math on Wires support there last season. 2,000 fans, £250 each...£500k....I can just see Andy Gatcliffe taking that on the chin

Same as GF to which I have replied what a patheitc response for such a game.

At least the club have told us that they have raised concerns and are still working on it. Why they didn't say this at the outset and alleviate the (perhaps unjustified) perception that the club had left us out to dry is beyond me.

Because not a single one of them has a clue about PR.

If the club is paying anyone to deal with PR they should be sacked right now, they are not doing their job.

Think I will move to the same planet they live on - cloud cuckoo land, it seems a totally oblivious, happy place to be. I have been on an on about a statement being issued and then they come out with crass like 'we are sympathetic' 'we hope it doesn't stop your enjoyment' get real losing a vast amount of money stopped the enjoyment. Some people saved for weeks for this trip.

TOO LITTLE - TOO LATE - IT'S ALMOST A WEEK SINCE THE UPSET

We need to 'buttonhole' both the Chairman & the GM about this.

Think we do have a PR but he certainly needs to be more 'pro-active'. The least he should do is 'advise' his Chairman and GM that they have a problem
with Perpignan bound supporters.

However, should mention that my experience of dealing with 'internal' PR cum Press Officers - as a now retired partner in Corporate Communications firm - is that they are often 'clueless' about the need to be 'proactive' & sometimes even aggressive in advising internal management. Thus would feel that one really should not kick the young man to hard!!

Might add I've sent a follow up e-mail to the RFL asking he a reply to our e-mails if even only as a matter of politesse!!

Must take issue with 'Rooster, Roster' and all other's who have cited NRL games.

Please note the following:

1. The majority of fans are 'local' and it's not that difficult to get to games even on Friday and Monday night. So they do not 'howl' if dates/times are changed

2. Those that need to fly to 'away' games normally have at least two or three airlines to chose from and quite a number of flights to select.

No, am of the view that with Perpignan you have a special case as you are maily 'hog-tied' by the restrictifve 'polices' of =redRYAN AIR AND EASYJET Who might add are no longer 'cheap' to use.

Also Eurostar?TGV are also not that easy to 'rebook' because of the heavy local Holiday i.e. 'frog' traffic.

To be fair the longer terms loser's are going to be the Dragons, the local establishments in & around the town and the local Maries and regional authorities. Forecast there will be at least a 30/40 percentage drop in fan visits from next season.

=redEdit BG

To be fair, the club and the RFL have effectively no say on this matter - what Sky says, goes and if we don't like it we do without them and their money. The only people who can spike their guns over re-arranged fixtures are the police and local authorities.

Not the point. AND I AM GETTING TIRED OF THIS!
What is at stake here is the fact that in future, RL fans will be unable to book cheap trips due to this uncertainty....now that SKY have proved they can do it.

Catalan have NEVER had a home fixture moved.......Catalan have always played on their, their local police, their local council and the best day...Saturday.
I suspect, that SKY decided to move this because of logistics getting truck down there and the fact it was little old quins....
all i want is for the people I have contacted to shake SKY's cage and let them know that if they do it again to a Warrington or Leeds, they will not increase their popularity along the M62 corridor.

And that was your first mistake.

Here is the reply I got from the RFL - sod the supporters welcome to armchair viewers:

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the change of date of the Catalans Dragons versus Harlequins RL fixture.

We appreciate the disruption this may have caused you and would like to apologise.

All fixtures published by the RFL at the start of the season are subject to change and as host broadcaster Sky Sports has the right to choose any game to show live and at this time in the season must give clubs involved at least four weeks notice. In this case they gave both clubs involved six weeks notice.

In previous seasons Sky Sports has initially chosen 11 Friday games and

22 Saturday games, however this season they have chose the first 14 rounds at the start of the season. This is so that they can choose games which are more competitive and a spectacle for TV viewers.

Once again, apologies for any inconvenience this fixture change may have caused.

Kind regards

Craig Spence
RFL Communications Manager

Yeah, Sky should think about the fans who travell and don't watch the matches on Sky ... ah.

everyone got the same email.
I now hope, given the distribution list of my letter (see the VT) that we may get something slightly different......but I wouldn't hold your breath.

1- b*ll*x, they would never do this for wendyball.
2- better than the NRL? hardly setting your sights high.

Easy general

Only a few weeks to go until "NCP MAYHEM IV"......the return of the paddock puncher


Sky or no Sky....the tear up is still on

I reckon that possibly the most successful route you could take would be to try and get the Catalan club to veto changes to their home fixtures, based on police/French TV commitments. Not sure that they would. especially for our derby rivals, but they are probably the most effective source to tap into here.

The whole process wasn't designed to stop anything from changing.....just making sure that the other 12 UK based SL clubs were made aware of what SKY were up to......
Mr Levy was on the list (hope his English is better than my French) and he will be able to do the maths.....90% fans bu99ered, 2,000 wire fans last year become 200........= Mon Diou!!!!!(sic)

Seems I'm the only person not to receive a reply. I wrote to SKY Sports, Boots N All, RFL, Ady Spencer, Total Rugby and Paul Blanchard. Total Rugby replied imemdiately as they want to print my mail and Paul Blanchard responded. Others - well what a surprise - nothing.

Seems the club sanctioned the fixture so Craig Spencer said on the radio tonight

They said they didn't expect many to be travelling-cheers Quins

Is that Paul Branchard a scouser?

He was on the radio tonight talking sh*t about the away game.

what was said. I was watching Boots N All where we were completely ignored even though they had received a number of emails from fans

Don't know but Paul Blanchard maybe

. To be fair the club can do nothing apart from tell the RFL they didn't like it. However it was concerning that the RFL chap said that the club had raised concerns but then said there wouldn't be many traveling. I would be very disappointed if the club said that but maybe it is the RFL putting some spin on it.

Still a deafening silence from Sky - why don't they say why it can't be on the Saturday! Have they only got one set of cameras?

I watched the 6 o'clock and fell asleep it was that interesting.

I got the same 'standard letter' from Mr Spence. I've emailed him back with this (for all the good it will do

)

[iDear Craig

Thank you for your reply. I note that you have sent a similar response to other supporters who have complained and to the club in the form of an RFL statement.

Unfortunately these apologies are not enough to placate me or any other Quins RL supporters who are out of pocket because of the fixture switch. You have apologised for any 'inconvenience' caused but for the supporters that have wasted money on flights and accommodation this goes way beyond mere 'inconvenience'.

Sky's decision to switch a Catalans fixture in this way is unprecedented and I find it inconceivable that the sport's governing body, supposedly guardians of the game, can allow the broadcaster to act with impunity with regards to this fixture. Would you have meekly sat back and apologised for the inconvenience if a couple of thousand of Leeds or Wigan supporters had been mistreated in this way? I doubt it.

Rather than fine words about contractual arrangements and periods of notice I suggest that you and your partners at Sky TV, together with the management of Harlequins RL and Catalans, look at ways to compensate the fans that have lost out. At the very least you could arrange for free tickets and hospitality at the ground for those who do still manage to travel - I won't hold my breath waiting for an announcement on this though!

I fear that you and your partners have seriously underestimated the PR damage done to the RFL and to Quins RL, and as a consequence to our game here in London, by this debacle.


Yours sincerely ...[/i

I got the same 'standard letter' from Mr Spence. I've emailed him back with this (for all the good it will do

)

[iDear Craig

Thank you for your reply. I note that you have sent a similar response to other supporters who have complained and to the club in the form of an RFL statement.

Unfortunately these apologies are not enough to placate me or any other Quins RL supporters who are out of pocket because of the fixture switch. You have apologised for any 'inconvenience' caused but for the supporters that have wasted money on flights and accommodation this goes way beyond mere 'inconvenience'.

Sky's decision to switch a Catalans fixture in this way is unprecedented and I find it inconceivable that the sport's governing body, supposedly guardians of the game, can allow the broadcaster to act with impunity with regards to this fixture. Would you have meekly sat back and apologised for the inconvenience if a couple of thousand of Leeds or Wigan supporters had been mistreated in this way? I doubt it.

Rather than fine words about contractual arrangements and periods of notice I suggest that you and your partners at Sky TV, together with the management of Harlequins RL and Catalans, look at ways to compensate the fans that have lost out. At the very least you could arrange for free tickets and hospitality at the ground for those who do still manage to travel - I won't hold my breath waiting for an announcement on this though!

I fear that you and your partners have seriously underestimated the PR damage done to the RFL and to Quins RL, and as a consequence to our game here in London, by this debacle.


Yours sincerely ...[/i