: Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:21 pm  

I didnt mind it. Went well with the chant that used to come from the Skircoat Stand when it was standing.

Got used to us not having a knickname now, the new design of the Halifax name will do for me.Nothing wrong with being known as "Fax".

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:22 pm  

Jonnie.. wrote:

if we had stuck with it people would have got used to it

i for one liked it

Tell me what the hell is our knickname now!

oh thats right we aint fooking got one! v clever marketing that, at least people had a debate about the blue sox!

traditionalist or not, no knickname is such a great step forward was'nt it!

Fax is our nickname not some dumb American idea that has no connection to the town and was not very easy to market at all. What the hell is a Blue Sox? Do Liverpool FC, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich etc have nicknames? No yet they are some of the biggest names in World Sport! Its not what Nickname you have thats important but how the club is seen. What is the point of having some stupid nickname if you are losing money and alienating your fans as what happened at Fax?

Blue Sox was a name forced on us by some people who had little idea and little connection with the fans. The Fans- the most important asset a club has- were treated badly by the people who gave us the Blue Sox. They alienated many Fans and Sponsors during this time. People in Calderdale as well as the surrounding are know who we are and Fax is commonly known to refer to the Rugby Club. If we are going to have a Nickname it needs to be one that either can be well marketed and still better a connection with the area. Personally I do not think we need a Nickname but just better promotion of what the club does like with the Schools work for example.

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:31 pm  

Der Kaiser 1 wrote:

Fax is our nickname not some dumb American idea that has no connection to the town and was not very easy to market at all. What the hell is a Blue Sox? Do Liverpool FC, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich etc have nicknames? No yet they are some of the biggest names in World Sport! Its not what Nickname you have thats important but how the club is seen. What is the point of having some stupid nickname if you are losing money and alienating your fans as what happened at Fax?

Blue Sox was a name forced on us by some people who had little idea and little connection with the fans. The Fans- the most important asset a club has- were treated badly by the people who gave us the Blue Sox. They alienated many Fans and Sponsors during this time. People in Calderdale as well as the surrounding are know who we are and Fax is commonly known to refer to the Rugby Club. If we are going to have a Nickname it needs to be one that either can be well marketed and still better a connection with the area. Personally I do not think we need a Nickname but just better promotion of what the club does like with the Schools work for example.

I take it you didnt like it.

I didnt like it at first, I thought it was the wrong choice, but given time it grew on me and it certainly got everyone talking about Halifax.

You say that we dont need a nickname, but you cant say it has done bad for the bulls and the rhino's etc, who build their whole merchandise on their nicknames.

I know Blusox has nothing to do with the town, but neither has the Redsox in the American baseball league, but they manage to market that okay.

I think Liverpool, Manchester, Barcelona etc dont need nicknames because of the product that they have and with the global interest in football there is no real reason for nicknames.

I think the nickname idea has gone from Halifax and we will live with Halifax RFLC, but with a little bit of nostalgia for Bluesox (it was part of our past)

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:00 pm  

Blue Sox was THE worst ever name in Pro Rugby League. How do you market something that nobody knows what it is? Bulls, Tigers, Rhinos are things you can market easily.

I do not think you need a nickname to market yourself or go about things that work in America or Australia. In the past we have seen crowds of over 20,000 at Thrum Hall for League games especially in the 50s. The game as a whole had bigger crowds in the past without the need to have silly Nicknames attatched to clubs. This was probably because clubs were big parts of the local community and obviously back then less things to do. But I still feel you do not need a Nickname to get crowds in. I feel you can promote the Club and Sport better. You can be honest with sponsors - which people have said has not been the case in the past with Fax and other sporting clubs. If a Club has a positive vibe, honesty and a local feel that goes a long way in people wanting to be associated with it. Obviously winning helps as well

However I feel the game and clubs can market themselves a lot better than what they do and also that they can do this without the silly Nicknames added at the end. Have a Mascot and some other things for the younger end. But to believe that a Nickname will make such a difference is wrong.

Rugby League is a great product but the game and clubs do not often do things properly to promote themselves in the right way. For instance-The Challenge Cup is struggling to remain special and so what do the RFL do to promote the next round? Hold the draw behind Closed Doors with no real promotion on National Media!
We have players who are dragging the game through the gutter. We have players like Pryce and Todd Carney who are in court AGAIN on assault charges yet the clubs still allow him to play despite their off field antics. Is that promoting a good message? Assault people and still play?

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:11 pm  

i love this debate it surfaces at least once a year!

its high horse times for those fans stuck in the past! Whilst i agree that Blue Sox was proably not the best nickname there has ever been, to say it was the worsed or to slag it off just shows narrow mindness instead of getting behind the club

i you really wnated u could just about find everything and anything wrong with owt u wanted

i refer to my erlier post

So our nick name now is .....................

Liverpool are the "reds" not far from blues is it just with a sox on the end!

and i am dam sure Barelona and Real Madrid have very strong nicknames

No, Dropping the Blue Sox nickname was a mistake because a minority of older standing supports got right on their soap boxes when the majority did,nt actualy mind it

(ducks for cover from the rants and tirads that will no doubt follow from the few! )

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:20 pm  

Its my opinion it was the worst as
A ) Its very hard to market a nickname when nobody has a clue what it is or means!
B ) It was forced on people rather than a name the fans went along with
C ) It was criticized by many in the game from Shaun Edwards down to fans

What nicknames were worse?
Broncos? Vikings? Giants? All had logos that were easy to market and promote The only name that was just as bad really marketing wise was Salford City Reds. And Salford still struggle to be known in their area despite having kept this name although having Man Utd next door is not easy.

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:11 pm  

As PJ is forever telling us we are " The Mighty Blue & Whites" which I like, although Mr Steve says we are "HAL EEE FAX".

I reckon we are probably just "Fax" really.

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:21 pm  

halifax bombers would be the coolest rl name in the world, just behind blue sox

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:42 pm  

No, no it wouldn't, it would remind me too much of Mr. Pringle

: Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:19 am  

Anyone notice on Friday night the Halifax cheerleaders have gone back to the days of Thrum Hall and are once again called the "Blue Belles"