Re: Halifax Town : Mon May 22, 2017 7:23 am  

the fax in asia wrote:

6000+ casuals turned up some may have been genuine conference football followers, but most would be locals, how does either team harness those guys into coming regular, imagine what a 5000+ fan base would do for either team

The million dollar question and one which there is probably no answer.

Next season FCHT will no doubt be back down to a similar average crowd (1,800) to this season even though the club has been quick to launch season tickets following last Saturday's victory to try benefit from the euphoria.

Without wanting to cause an argument, I think we have seen a shift between the two clubs with the town more 'up for it' for the big football games than the rugby. I have always admired the Fax community programme and how they engage with the local community though I am not sure how active it is at the moment. Whereas FCHT have started to get there act together both in the community and commercially.

A problem Fax have had to contend with is the clowns at Red Hall who have taken the game backwards over the last few seasons, if not longer. The game has lost a bit of its prestige with the forced growth continuing to stutter. I used to watch every live game on Sky at one point but I cant remember the last game I watched. If you lose the hunger for the game, you lose the hunger for attending a live game.

And again, without wanting to open old wounds, I dont think the club has acted professionally on occasions in the past with the Tony Abbott attempted purchase of the stadium an embarrassing saga. This did not put the club in a positive light and whilst some supporters only care about what happens on the field, many others were extremely disappointed with the whole issue.

When you have a small and loyal fanbase, you need to be squeaky clean to a large extent, something which neither club can say they have been over the last 20 years. It is surprising how much of a difference it can make to the 'floating' supporters.

Re: Halifax Town : Mon May 22, 2017 8:15 am  

We will see the attendances when we are playing Warrington and widnes in the middle 8s Bubba

Re: Halifax Town : Mon May 22, 2017 9:56 am  

FC Town should be riding on the crest of success over the past two seasons, although may well be back to crowds of 2000 next season (how many of them will be the mindless scroates that have given the Shaymen a bad rep?) We know people will travel to watch a winning team, and unfortunate the catchment area Halifax are in gives lots of options for easy travel, that also applies to the Rugby team, plus almost 20 quid a game entrance fee, people like Bentleyman are a rare creatures and should be applauded for their commitment.
’Fax were better at community programmes, cannot comment on how much they are doing now though, not even giving ‘free entrance’ for accompanied school age fans, surely charging adult ½ price would swell the coffers and the atmosphere , although season ticket holders may object as they have paid more per game, can’t win with that one.
Again seemingly correct about Red Hall, it is about time the whole of Rugby League railed against the ‘board’ and each club had a fair shout, but would S/L teams vote for that, I doubt it, they will want to look after their own, and the gap is getting wider to compete .
As for the T A saga, being 6000 miles away I can only read what has been published, although it did seem a sorry mess.

Both teams could do with a sugar daddy/mommy to inject a few million, hopefully have a business brain too to help the boards of both clubs who seemingly to do a good with what they have, there will always be detractors and moaners and 'ner do wells' to sour the cream.

All in Bubba without being sarcastic, I would like to say one of your better posts.

Re: Halifax Town : Mon May 22, 2017 11:45 am  

hooligan27 wrote:

We will see the attendances when we are playing Warrington and widnes in the middle 8s Bubba

I really hope you do, but you are relying on the away support. Recent games have shown that the crowds dont come for the big games in RL, either to support Fax or the opposition. When Fax played Bradford in the Challenge Cup a few years ago, there was just over 5,000 there. When Town played Bradford City in the 1st round of the FA Cup a couple or so years ago it was just short of a sell out.

Out of interest what level of crowd would you expect against Warrington and Widnes?

FC Town should be riding on the crest of success over the past two seasons, although may well be back to crowds of 2000 next season (how many of them will be the mindless scroates that have given the Shaymen a bad rep?) We know people will travel to watch a winning team, and unfortunate the catchment area Halifax are in gives lots of options for easy travel, that also applies to the Rugby team, plus almost 20 quid a game entrance fee, people like Bentleyman are a rare creatures and should be applauded for their commitment.
’Fax were better at community programmes, cannot comment on how much they are doing now though, not even giving ‘free entrance’ for accompanied school age fans, surely charging adult ½ price would swell the coffers and the atmosphere , although season ticket holders may object as they have paid more per game, can’t win with that one.
Again seemingly correct about Red Hall, it is about time the whole of Rugby League railed against the ‘board’ and each club had a fair shout, but would S/L teams vote for that, I doubt it, they will want to look after their own, and the gap is getting wider to compete .
As for the T A saga, being 6000 miles away I can only read what has been published, although it did seem a sorry mess.

Both teams could do with a sugar daddy/mommy to inject a few million, hopefully have a business brain too to help the boards of both clubs who seemingly to do a good with what they have, there will always be detractors and moaners and 'ner do wells' to sour the cream.

All in Bubba without being sarcastic, I would like to say one of your better posts.

To some extent I agree, FCHT should be riding on the crest of a wave. Though as many on here like to proclaim, they have been playing in a 'pub league'. You would hope for an increase on this seasons average especially given the bigger teams in the division which will bring larger away support. Though obviously there is an increase in matchday admission which will have a bearing.

Something which seems amiss in RL is the lack of any supporter representation organisation like the Football Supporters Federation. There is of course Supporters Direct but this focuses on ownership issues rather than how the game is actually run. There is no concentrated or focused lobbying organisation which represents the supporters as a collective. The supporters dont have anyone representing their views when Red Hall come up with the latest ridiculous idea.

I do wish both clubs could find a way of working together closer on some sort of community scheme. OK, there is possibly a degree of paranoia with each club worrying about the other one gaining more 'new' supporters. But I think a positive combined message from both clubs could make a great difference.

Finally, I disagree about a sugar daddy. OK, for some short term success it could potentially be enjoyable though not guaranteed. However, what both clubs need is to be self sufficient without the need for someone pumping false money into the club. And the vicious circle brings it back around to what happens on the pitch is ultimately what brings money into the clubs.

Re: Halifax Town : Mon May 22, 2017 11:57 am  

hooligan27 wrote:

We will see the attendances when we are playing Warrington and widnes in the middle 8s Bubba

Wont be more than 2k Widnes possibly 3k Wire if they turn up with 1200 plus.....

Re: Halifax Town : Wed May 24, 2017 12:55 am  

Bubba, Sugar daddy maybe wrong term, should probably read Long term investor with a genuine love of the game and the sporting teams of Halifax in particular.
Personally I would like to see both teams playing under the universal name of Halifax, supporting each other and put aside all the petty squabbling that has gone on previously, driving both games forward.(a pipe dream I know).

Re: Halifax Town : Wed May 24, 2017 8:51 am  

I would say that Football will be a bigger draw than Rugby League in most towns / cities where both are played at the levels being talked about and there are very likely more sleeping soccer supporters in Halifax than sleeping rugby supporters.

Re: Halifax Town : Wed May 24, 2017 10:33 am  

faxcar I am not sure that is the case, sleeping supporters are at best fickle, case in point, FC HX Town 10,000 to Wembley. 6000 to the Shay this May, 'Fax have not had much to shout about in the last 30 years, a couple of Northern Rail Finals and a Championship that did not get them the recognition they deserved, so who knows how many sleeping fans there are out there?
We might attract some non committed Giants and Dulls with their records so far this year, if we were pulling up trees and storming the League.
My humble opinion, until Red Hall sort out marketing the game and a proper promotion /relegation system,[ if you win the league you should go up, then let play offs promote the winners of that (a la football style), likewise if you finish bottom 2 of the pile you go down] although this has been debated on here previously, Red Hall don't read or react to forum debates and the clubs in S/L would not vote for it.
Rugby League is generally going nowhere, so until sometime in the future if things change, it may never be called upon to be proved, unfortunately.

Re: Halifax Town : Wed May 24, 2017 10:53 am  

the fax in asia wrote:

'Fax have not had much to shout about in the last 30 years, a couple of Northern Rail Finals and a Championship that did not get them the recognition they deserved, so who knows how many sleeping fans there are out there?

You have had what you can class as biggish games in RL. As I pointed our previously, there was the Challenge Cup game against Bradford which should have whet the appetite of anyone in Halifax with an interest in RL. There was a play off semi-final match at home a few years ago on a Thursday night where, from memory, there was less than 2,000.

I agree with your long-term investor though it does depending on the terms of their investment. Will they want it back one day? If they leave, can the club survive with the sudden loss of the investment. Thats why I would much prefer the owner of FCHT to invest in the infrastructure, which brings longer-term stability rather than just an on-field investment, in players, etc.

What would be great for both clubs would be that if someone invested in a joint training facility for the two clubs and this asset was somehow protected to ensure no individual could profit from it in the future.

Re: Halifax Town : Wed May 24, 2017 11:47 am  

Bubba, Faxcar, thank you for debating this issue, imo that is what this forum has been missing.
If only more people would join in without thinking they might be castigated for their opinion.