Huddersfield Examiner! this is what we have to put up with in the North? "WHEN you think of 1970 in sporting terms great memories come flooding back. From a personal point of view it would have to be being allowed to stay up late at nine years of age to watch the World Cup coverage from Mexico on one of those newfangled colour television things. But what is not memorable is when 1970 is the size of the crowd for a Super League fixture. However, on Sunday a meagre one thousand, nine hundred and seventy souls were registered as having watched London Broncos taking on Huddersfield Giants at The Stoop – and I am told with good authority that half that crowd had travelled from West Yorkshire. Read More www.examiner.co.uk/news/examiner ... z1nr0PMrs4

Huddersfield Examiner! this is what we have to put up with in the North? "WHEN you think of 1970 in sporting terms great memories come flooding back. From a personal point of view it would have to be being allowed to stay up late at nine years of age to watch the World Cup coverage from Mexico on one of those newfangled colour television things. But what is not memorable is when 1970 is the size of the crowd for a Super League fixture. However, on Sunday a meagre one thousand, nine hundred and seventy souls were registered as having watched London Broncos taking on Huddersfield Giants at The Stoop – and I am told with good authority that half that crowd had travelled from West Yorkshire. Read More www.examiner.co.uk/news/examiner ... z1nr0PMrs4

Huddersfield are in no position to criticise other clubs, given their past

I would be prepared to accept this if rugby league had no presence in London beyond a propped-up professional top flight club. But with all the amateur clubs springing up, and more schools than ever taking it up (even my old school in Streatham, which only ever had football and cricket when I were a lad, is now taking it up via a partnership with Brixton Bulls) there is a genuine demand for the game from kids. The issue for me isn't that people down here aren't that bothered, it's more that London Broncos / Quins / whoever hasn't been able to attract or retain that interest.

There's enough people who know about and / or play the game in the south-east that we could get average attendances of at least 5,000+. So why aren't we?

Get Saatchi & Saatchi, Max Clifford, Jordan, OK Magazine and Mary Queen of Shops on the payroll.

All recent within past decade at most, and last 5 years in main, great progress for sure, but not an ingrained part of the psyche. Where they can these players may wish to stay associated with a premier club, but in the main they are either playing cos they have to, or, its just another sport on the curriculum, what they do not have unlike say in Wigan or Hull is a defined age group path that will take more than 1% of this uptake from schools playing to possible home town club stardom. The more am and lower tier clubs springing up into their local communities will no doubt grow the sport because they are grounded and part of the town.

Broncos does not fit that bill, and most kids would never aspire to play for a club with no soul and roots for them.

Sorry....did I need to ask permission?



Facts are easily manipulated to become stats that back an argument......the average attendances I posted in the other thread point to performance on the park as well as community engagement being important to building a fan base......and in this case the fact will be the 3,124 average from 2011 versus the 3,918 average we had at GP in 2005.
2004, we finished at the @rse end of the table and still attracted 3,500 average.........but the community knew we were there and they came to games......I am not advocating a move back to GP by the way, just a bit of the diect marketing and door dropping that went on in Brentford.

We should have all realised that a thread with attendances in it was going to be "stolen" by GF. There are 2 certainties in life ;
Poor crowds at the Broncos
Post a bad crowd GF presenting more stats than Clarkey on BnA

PS- GF why dont you develop an attendance meter.....

Are we convinced that under previous regimes, our attendances were the correct figures? I'm not so sure.

What I am sure is that since we've been at The Stoop, if you swapped our team for say Leeds or St Helens, we would be pulling in at least 5000 people regularly now (probably more).

Unfortunately, we have had a mediocre team that has not been worth marketing and barely been featured on Sky (good job too).

Im in agreement with you DSWG. people are not going to flock to see a team which is not performing well season after season with no hope of ever being competitive because we havn't got the funds to bring in the quality players to make us competitive. Yes, the youngsters are coming through but this is a slow process and is more something which will affect the future not something which will transform the team on any given season. If this is truly TGG the fans are there - they just need the quality of product to attract them which hasnt happened yet.

Right, which is what I wrote a couple of evenings ago, and I think that the only way to achieve that is to take off the shackles of low investment, salary cap, import restrictions. [size=150=#BF0000If[/size you can do all of that, then you'll have a product that's worth marketing.

But of course Homer may be right, there's no guarantee that even that would succeed in London. What is for sure is that 30 years of second-ratedness has got us nowhere. DH knows that of course which is why he's trying to buy his way out of it, but he's denied the resources needed.

As someone who watches about 5 or 6 games a season at the stoop i'd say it's the soulless nature of the ground that is the only problem for me, when i compare it to a derby match up north the difference is immense. There's not one game in the London calendar in which you think, i can't wait for that game it will be electric.

London's problem i think after seeing all the countless theories is its isolation, if Skolars improved both on the field and financially and a team from Hertfordshire or Kent where also in the mix THEN i think Bronco's fan base would increase even though there would be more competition for attracting RL fans.

I think someone will pull me up on the isolation bit by using Catalan as an example so i'll just say their isolation is different and is actually a uniting factor, France v England, the only French team in the league helps them attract beyond the city walls for those who love both RL and SL.

So apart from the top 4/5 teams over any given decade, the rest might as well pack it in?

You cannot guarantee a winning team, you can to a degree guarantee an attractive team, especially at home, that should be the remit for the coach, play open attacking RL, then market it for all you are worth

because those clubs were a part and parcel of the communities they played in?

You can market pigs ears till doomsday, but if your not selling in a pigs ears market, you are as they say, stuffed, even if you can prove they will turn into silk purses.

Homer I won't bother about the "pigs ears" comment/quote, even I would have took a load of stick talking about pigs ears! LOL

But lets look at the facts, Widnes were relegated from Super League in the 2005 Season, so compare the average home attendances that last season and then 2011 their last season in The Championship.

2005 average attendance 6,794

2011 average attendance: 3,744

A loss of 3,500 supporters on average, in any research figures produced it would be really tough to "spin" such a drop as staying mainly loyal! okay still I accept good figures for the championship.

It will be interesting to see the attendance tonight here at Salford, it's still early, but they need 8,000 it is reported just to break even on the rent and costs. Lets just Hope we can get a win!

What did you expect in a thread about attendances????? A recipe for cupcakes?

3 posts is hardly theft BTW.....

And I have had an attendance meter since 2002!

So what are advocating? A relegation would do you good?

As has been pointed out, Widnes's attendances did drop, but you are right they retained a decent core support despite not really performing that well in the Championship

And yes you dont have a historical community link to call upon, and you probably never will, so the option is what? , sit around and moan about it? , thats what us flat cap wearing northerners are constantly accused of isn't it?

Other options have already been proposed on this thread, none of which was "sitting around and moaning". So, if you're interested, read them and comment on them instead of making up your own non-options.

Once again Garry Schofield is taking his attack on us in his weekly boring column in "League Express" asking what London brings to Super League, he loves to remind readers that back in 2007 he wrote a similar article in Rugby League World the monthly magazine (I cancelled my order then & only started again this year) and nothing has happened since, he also glorifies with how predicted that The Crusaders would never work! and how people laughed at him.

Schofield even has the audacity to suggest that young players may be coming through the system in London now, but if London go then they can still play for The London Skolars and then join a Northern club? he is a total Luddite.

Garry claims over 400 he knows travelled from Huddersfield, just like The Huddersfield Examiner claimed that half of the crowd was from Huddersfield, both seem more like the size of the fish story!

The crowd figure this Saturday will be intersting.

You Think



3,590 is the average attendance for Castleford in London....top end 8,067 in 2000 with the free coaches laid on by Jungle.com and a lowest crowd of just 2,112 in 2008.
2011, which I beieve is the marker by which attendances in 2012 are being measured.....4,128 thanks to thousands of freebies in the London Evening Standard!

1.6 K for me 2 poor sides playing on a overcast Sat in March www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2635308 6 nations games on the box

1.6 K for me 2 poor sides playing on a overcast Sat in March www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2635308 6 nations games on the box

That'll drive a few people out then.

An excuse to drive people in from up north then!

You expecting to bring many?