Didn't someone once say "Build it and they will come"?



Apathy seems to be an issue at our level of rugby and it will take more than just calling something "Cougar mania part 2" to cure it.

The club will need to engage with fans, community and above all schools to turn things around.

Oh, and having a winning team might help.

Agree totally. Throw in with that a popular and well known figurehead to drive the idea. Cougarmania started with the signing of Joe Grima. It made people look and take notice. I'm sorry, but at the moment and no disrespect, we have nobody who mades me excited when they talk about the future, i.e the Super League dream (pipe dream possibly). Gary does his best but he's not a motivational speaker and character.

I think we started on the right track with JD and then the signings of Korky, Semi and Obst. It made people look and talk about us. We just never built on that and have in my opinion have gone back 2 years.

Anybody see what a completely soulless attempt at a new ground Salford have (on Sky tonight)? No wonder they can't get a crowd even though Salford is in Super League ... Main Stand far too far from the touchline, all stands / terracing far too shallow, corners not filled in, seats too small etc.

The "wall" at the south end of the Dortmund football stadium is more like it for any new Cougar stadium (even if only a say third of the height is needed for Keighley).

I've changed my mind - the stands/terracing in any new ground should start a maximum of three metres from the touchlines/dead ball line; 3 metres is sufficient for player safety.

Was at Salford for the U20s last night and I'd actually disagree , apart from the ridiculously out of proportion west stand iit is actually an ideal size for RL.

What however does make is soulless is the corporate greed and basic lack of respect for supporters that a stadium management company like that that run the new facility have.

Ridiculously high prices and poor quality food and drink,draconian ticketing policy's and stewarding that is based on the principal that all supporters are there to fight and cause trouble and therefore deserve to be treated worse than animals ....that is what makes a place soulless

god forbid we never go down that route...

Firstly we should recognise that nobody is going to come and put thousands into this club and if we get anywhere it will have to be by the efforts of US the fans. Secondly let nobody ever mention the 'S' word again (Superleague) because even if we did build a super-duper stadium in Keighley I doubt the 'powers that be' would ever let us in. In fact I think the next step is to reduce the number of clubs in Superleague and not expand it.
We can, however, get up there with the best in the land and I believe it should be with small steps. I think the recent magnificent effort by fans coming down to clear the pitch of snow for the Good Friday game shows that the good-will is there and you just have to harness it. It would also need support from the club as regards equipment, materials etc. Just look around Cougar Park and you can see a host of things such as a bit of painting or odd-jobs that need doing but there is nobody there to do them. Can we get a group of fans together and get around the ground and get the place going again? Small things can make big things happen.

I think you've hit the nail on the head Rach. A few sides have learned to their cost that a poor stadium management company can be a major thorn in the side, creating bad feeling with fans and loosing the club revenue from beer, food and corporate sales. Leigh have had issues so have Doncaster and I think the Halifax fans drink elsewhere too.

We went into the Leigh bar and there was us and one other couple in the whole place! The manager said he had to close because there were not enough customers - this was 10 minutes after the game! We found out why when we paid for the drinks

. He did however, invite us upstairs to sit with the players and sponsors so it worked out OK for us.

I would prefer to own our own facilities (albeit less flash) and at least control our own destiny.

I agree 100% with you LL , this is what is needed and has been for quite A while ,
Surely a group of like minded souls cannot be that hard ti get together can it ?

The only thing that would have to happen though is 110% support from the board ,
That would have to be a must.

I'm up for it. Anyone else ?

Agreed.

If we forget about how the game of RL is organised for now, the way Keighley Cougars can make itself different AND successful is to mobilise an army of volunteers which could indeed lead to Cougars getting "up there with the best in the land".

There are many willing individuals but what is needed first is for the company currently with stewardship of the club (Gary Fawcett's) coming out and saying that it is willing and able to mobilise and give direction to such an army of volunteers. All the directors would need to do to get this going would be to release something to the Keighley News to this effect & get it on this & other websites (preferably the club's own new website) and include a short form where people could fill in their name and contact details, what their skills are and what hours per week they could volunteer. Then all these people and all the club's directors could meet to sort out who can do what and when.

But is the current company owning the Cougars the right one to facilitate this? (Maybe the Club'sVoice could answer?)

We are going to create a section on the website so people can keep track of the developments.

Just wondered if the club could give an update on the plans for stadium development? Can it be announced who is on the related steering committee that Gary Fawcett mentioned? This is starting to become pressing if promotion becomes a possibility when the league system is re-structured from 2015.

All Gary Fawcett has said is that a re-development of Cougar Park is by far the most likely option. I can see this, as Bradford Council has already helped the Cougars by taking on the lease from the Co-op and sub-letting back to Cougars. Bradford Council is key and I wonder if the Keighley MP Kris Hopkins will be brought onside to try to assist?

Bfd Council has helped so far but it could be argued they should put their commitment behind some infrastructure investment into Keighley by way of providing a better stadium. This would be on safety grounds as well as it being right to provide a facility for the people of Keighley in this way. Bradford Council condemned the old wooden stand, that is still in full use, back in 1985 after the Bfd City fire.

A re-developed Cougar Park should be provided to Keighley Cougars on lease but with the proviso that the Cougars have to make the stadium available for other uses if required such as other sports - Kabaddi for example (I know the Asian community has used Cougar Park in past for a Kabaddi league match), boxing etc plus concerts etc.

This is key. As I mentioned before, if a redeveloped Cougar Park is to be a possibiity, it has to incorporate the Cricket ground. The Cricket Club won't want to go - they paid £30,000 for the ground and like their set-up. It would be a shame to get into compulsory purchase orders etc and so the redevelopment plans have to include provision of a new ground for Keighley Cricket club - including a pavilion and bar that is at least as good as what they have now. I wonder if there is scope for this at Utley (St John's road/Keighley RUFC area) or, with National Trust blessing, as part of a merger with Airedale cricket club at the Riddlesden ground?

In my view a redeveloped Cougar Park needs the pitch turning through 90 degrees so that the present Eastern Terrace opposite the current main stand becomes an end terrace. Then a completely new main stand with 2,000 seats and all the required faciities is needed with the other three sides of the ground being steep terracing. This is essential so that the pitch has a full size playing area. (At present the pitch is ony 86 metres long with narrow in-goals and less than the safe 3 metres between the dead ball line and the start of the terracing). Half the new pitch would therefore be on what is now the cricket field.

I thought it was the RFL not Bradford Council that took on the lease and sub let to us.

Apologies. I think you might be right-I was probably thinking about what Bfd Council has done for Bfd Bulls!

For the stadium development we are building a page on the website to keep people updated so it should be available next week.

@ theclubsvoice

Who Will be on the 'steering Commitee ' ? And if appropriate would the club permit
a supporter on said Commitee ?

Gary has added an agenda item for the next Steering Committee to discuss inclusion into the Steering Committee of an RL Forum representative? Also, we're working on the website page which will show who's on the Steering Committee.

Good work indeed , I think it would be good to have a Cougars forum representative on the Steering Committee
if appropriate , would be a good stepping stone to post info from meetings etc ,

I do not know what criteria etc would be required for said person or what process if any would need to be gone through
but I am available , if needed , to attend steering committee meetings etc on behalf of the Cougars forum.

To be honest, I'm not sure about this.

Firstly I'm not sure how many Keighley fans use this forum so we don't know how representative of fans view's this is. However judging by the "viewed" column next to posts on the home page it's a couple of hundred. Since I don't know how this number is generated I don't know for sure - perhaps Guess Who could tell us.

Secondly, committees can be complex animals and just picking someone who's prepared to volunteer isn't always the best course of action (no disrespect intended).

Having the "right" fan on the committee is a good idea and in my eyes would have to be someone who can embrace change and compromise, but who is firm enough to stand up for the wellbeing of the fans. The last thing that's needed is a "patsy" from the Directors.

You are correct , I am merely offering now should no one else step forward and as I said in an
earlier post , if appropriate.
It would be no problem should someo.e else step forward , Just offering my services as
I have a lot of time on my hands.

won't need that capacity where we are going put some money into burgess field, buy a few deck chairs

Not really sure how knowing how many people view the site would help. A lot of the visits are not from Keighley fans.

Yes, I realise that.

This site, like most free sites will sell space to advertisers and will need some form of evidence of number of "hits" and possibly some demographic info. What I'm not sure of is if this info breaks the hits down into town or area.

Or is it just that we have the same 20 fans using the site on a frequent basis.

Probably the latter

The cleared site off East Parade Coney Lane is now plenty big enough for a new town centre community stadium - main stand with all the facilities & other 3 sides just basic terracing for Keighley Cougars and other one off entertainment/sporting events Tesco, co-op etc could have a convenience size store on the same site.. Current Cougar Park would then just need the old stand demolishing and replaced with basic modern changing rooms, gym and it could be the Lawkholme training centre for Cougars training base and under 20s and Keighley ARLFC 1st team matches.

Never going to happen.
A consortium has been buying buildings on that site for years. They already have planning permission for 22 retail outlets and a 13 screen cinema.

NICE...




(YOU DON'T WANT TOO MANY ROWS OF SEATS OR YOUR GROUND WILL FEEL LIKE A MAUSOLEUM - LIKE THE SHAY FOR HALIFAX V FEATHERSTONE YESTERDAY)...