We are arguably the most successful football club in Sheffield yet we still cannot get decent crowds on match days, The club is doing all it can to boost the profile of the game, as indeed are the supporters but to very little effect. Our average gates this season, discounting the Mount St. Mary game, is no higher, possibly even lower than last season. Even the non-Sheffield club that plays at DVS gets bigger crowds. What can we do because if this is how it is to be then forget Superleague.

Our average crowd is roughly half what it was 20 seasons ago when we were in Div 2.

Playing on Friday night obviously doesn't help. You immediately forfeit most of the away support on which we rely far too much. But 564 against Widnes was shocking. We got 1800+ for the league game in March.

well that was when Widnes still had a full(ish) squad of capable looking players - as opposed to the uninterested half cocked set up they finished the season with. Their fans expectations of a SL licence and optimism for the season would have been entirely different.

Then of course there's the "home team advantage" of what is declared as the 'shared' gate!

1. We shouldn't be relying on away supporters.

2. Looking at the crowd, I could only count 547, which means that there must have been 17 in the toilets or summat. To be fair, they did keep moving around.



3. If it was double 564, it's still cr@p.

There was only 564 there on Friday? Looked like more than that but obviously you had a better look than me.

If 564 was the attendance, why did we announce 1,029 or whatever it was..?

I didn't hear us announce an attendance but was surprised when I read the figure in the paper this morning. Definitely seemed to be more than that there.

On the RFL website it says just over 1,000, which based on other games this season sounds about right..

Well, whatever the attendance was, there were 20+ seats each.

I've said for a long time that this play-off format doesn't suit this division. Attendances are poor because the games are largely played midweek and at short notice, you can't sell the sponsorships if you don't know you're at home (or even if you'll be playing) and top six out of eleven is rewarding mediocrity. On top of that, your season can finish in mid August if you're the odd team out of the 11 (OK - that won't be a problem in future) or it can run till October.



If I recall correctly, the top six play-off was introduced to standardise the play-offs across the divisions. Ten minutes later, $uperleague have an eight team play-off. (It may be a bit more than ten minutes, but it doesn't seem like it.)

I'd have a two week play-off system ...

Week 1 1v4 2v3 Losers out

Week 2 Grand Final

If I had my way, whoever wins the league would be promoted.

Week 1: 5th vs 6th.
Week 2: 4th vs winner of week 1.
Week 3: 3rd vs winner of week 2.
Week 4 (final): 2nd vs winner of week 3.

Winner of the final goes up with whoever wins the league.

Bottom two of SL relegated.

Its the same in Super League, I went to Leeds Hull KR a couple of seasons ago and there was a crowd of 8,000 there, half what they would normally get

Licensing has increased the gap between NL and SL. the sooner the brass see that the better.

Does Sheffield deserve us? Yes!
The problem? Football!

In Ice-Hockey you win the league it is classed as the bigger achievement,Then they have the Play-offs as a seperate competition which is a good idea having the two seperate,Im on the theory that if you win the regular season that is a bigger achievement than just winning a lottery of a play-off series,The flaw as it stands is if you play well all season then get 3 or 4 major injuries in the play-offs and lose it's not really a reflection of whats happened during the season,Should be two seperate competitions (which technically it is) but nobody is remembering the league winners,Big trophy for the league winners and another smaller trophy for play-off winners,A team who finishes 6th could technically be champions and that is not right.I always remember the time we finished top and didnt go up

This club was a SL team and I see no reason why it can't be again..

Tim and the cub did great promoting the Widnes and Leigh games this season and yes there was a good away following but we got over 1,800 for both those matches and it's something ( I know it's easier said than done), that must be done at a lot more home games.

I was sat behind 3 lads at the Leigh game who live in Sheffield but have never been to watch the Eagles and watch SL on the TV now and again and have drove up to watch Castleford a few times. They thought the atmosphere, ground, entertainment etc was great but we got drubbed 44-8 or something so I doubt they'll be back.

It's about retaining the people we actually get through which does take time and money. As i've said before my 1st match was the 1st Bramall Lane game last year and brought 6 RL newbies with me.

I didn't get any contact after I bought my tickets and I've come back off my own back but obviously other people aren't as easily persuaded to follow the Eagles on a weekly basis...

www.thestar.co.uk/sport/rugby-le ... _1_3778447 at the bottom, confirmation I guess that the 'official' figure was 564...way more than that there, at least 900..

www.thestar.co.uk/sport/rugby-le ... _1_3778447 at the bottom, confirmation I guess that the 'official' figure was 564...way more than that there, at least 900..

I wouldn't fancy being second. Standing about waiting a month for a game ? Maybe more if there was a Wembley week in there - not to mention being the odd team out of 11.

The old five team playoff system was better.

Yes, I quite liked that. There was a good principle of one tream dropping out each week.

I still think the crowrds don't justify a long play-off seriers though.

What about the old four team system the Aussies used ?

Week One

1 v 2

3 v 4 (losers out)

Week Two

Loser 1/2 v Winner 3/4 (losers out)

Week Three

Winner 1/2 v Winner from week 2