It must be very frustrating for our stalwards like Malcolm, Mike etc to see the response they are getting, not to mention our sponsors,yes it was cold, we've had much worse, yes it was Mothers day, but that hasn't stopped us in the past, so what's the answer. To be honest I think people have fallen out of love with Rugby League and I don't think it's the fault of the clubs. Take the letter to the RFL regarding dual registration, have they answered? have they suggested a meeting? Or have they merely disregarded it. It seems to a lot of people that they do not care about the Championship. Sky certainly don't, so what's the answer? Would promotion and relegation have increased the crowd? Is it because we thought Swinton would have been a walkover, or that they are not "glamorous" enough? Is it because of the lack of atmosphere low crowds give? I do know that our usual 10 a few years ago is down to usually just four of us and on Sunday just two of us. I thought it was a good game, For me Saturday and Sunday will ALWAYS be Rugby League day, so as I say, how do we convince the others.
"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."― Albert Einstein "Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense." ― Gertrude Stein "Don't believe everything you read on the internet" ― Abraham Lincoln
Lots of people who I have known go to games for over 20 or 30 years moaning about how dire the rugby is and even more so after Sunday.
Its hard to encourage people to go when you cant even motivate yourself. I mean apart from the games against about 3 other teams its really hard to get excited about watching games that deep down you know we should win 99/100. The last few seasons every game you knew would be tough and you had the potential to lose but this season with the RFL extending the league its just not the case and despite us under peforming in my eyes we have won all are games bar one relatively easier than the score line suggests and even the one we drew we should have won at a canter.
Agree I was really dissapointed on Sunday to see so few there. Using that one game as a benchmark it looks like we are down to a core of 1400 to 1500 home supporters. Thing is if we stop going it only contributes to our own downfall but times are hard. Lets hope Sunday see's some improvement.
:MOTOR: It must be very frustrating for our stalwards like Malcolm, Mike etc to see the response they are getting, not to mention our sponsors,yes it was cold, we've had much worse, yes it was Mothers day, but that hasn't stopped us in the past, so what's the answer. To be honest I think people have fallen out of love with Rugby League and I don't think it's the fault of the clubs. Take the letter to the RFL regarding dual registration, have they answered? have they suggested a meeting? Or have they merely disregarded it. It seems to a lot of people that they do not care about the Championship. Sky certainly don't, so what's the answer? Would promotion and relegation have increased the crowd? Is it because we thought Swinton would have been a walkover, or that they are not "glamorous" enough? Is it because of the lack of atmosphere low crowds give? I do know that our usual 10 a few years ago is down to usually just four of us and on Sunday just two of us. I thought it was a good game, For me Saturday and Sunday will ALWAYS be Rugby League day, so as I say, how do we convince the others.
The crowd was lower than I expected even allowing for it being freezing cold, Mothers day, two home games in a week and Swinton brought about 20 fans. But I think the game at our level is bearing some of the brunt of fans frustration and lack of having any meaning to games with no P&R. What scares me is how few fans we see from other clubs now like on Sunday, Swinton used to bring about 40 or 50 fans with some familiar faces but they weren't there on Sunday, Keighley brought hardly anybody when they came and Sheffield brought less this year than ever before (about 15) yet they have a good team and are Champions! (even allowing for it being on Thursday and on TV they have brought a few more before on the same night and on TV) I am not blaming others for our poor crowd just making a statement. If a club like us and Leigh can only get around 1500 then the game is broken, apathy has set in and is it any wonder? Clubs like Swinton have lost their soul, playing at Leigh and having about a third of their team being Warrington players. Away games now like at Batley and York the crowds are less than 1000 yet we take a few hundred and are one of the 'better' games for the floating fans, its scary.
The crowd was lower than I expected even allowing for it being freezing cold, Mothers day, two home games in a week and Swinton brought about 20 fans. But I think the game at our level is bearing some of the brunt of fans frustration and lack of having any meaning to games with no P&R. What scares me is how few fans we see from other clubs now like on Sunday, Swinton used to bring about 40 or 50 fans with some familiar faces but they weren't there on Sunday, Keighley brought hardly anybody when they came and Sheffield brought less this year than ever before (about 15) yet they have a good team and are Champions! (even allowing for it being on Thursday and on TV they have brought a few more before on the same night and on TV) I am not blaming others for our poor crowd just making a statement. If a club like us and Leigh can only get around 1500 then the game is broken, apathy has set in and is it any wonder? Clubs like Swinton have lost their soul, playing at Leigh and having about a third of their team being Warrington players. Away games now like at Batley and York the crowds are less than 1000 yet we take a few hundred and are one of the 'better' games for the floating fans, its scary.
You may be right. But, Fev have increased there crowds in the past few years. There seems to be a "buzz" about there club. What have they done that Fax hasn't?
The game is on it's booty generally. I'm disappointed to see such low crowds, various things are causing this reaction from paying spectators at the gate & as I've stated on here this season & actually discussed it with a couple of our b.o.d's, i nowadays choose to follow other interests away from supporting the Halifax RLFC matches. I've just attended one of the best weekend's of my life watching my favourite rock band play 3 blinding gigs in a foreign country with great mates, far too much beer & far too expensive and i wouldn't have swapped that for a Halifax v Swinton league fixture, it's not my fault they clashed on the same weekend but that's how life goes. The trip took 2 years in the planning/organising and sacrificing things to be able to afford it. The top & bottom of the matter is I'll hopefully never lose my love of Halifax RLFC and i am so proud that my son is currently on the books as a player, am ever so grateful of his sponsor, Pete McNamara, the kit staff, the directors for having the foresight to go with a reserves & refusing to be part of the dual-reg charade, I really admire & agree with their stance,and also, the coaching staff Gonzo in particular for sticking with my lad after he was dumped at 16 years old by a SL club and encouraging him to keep going at his dream & convincing him to return to Halifax, to Greeny who is his college tutor & coach there, he selected him for his open-age debut in the national conference at just 16 years old. People like those are what the game is all about, giving the town's youth a great opportunity but the game & it's governing body are letting all of those mentioned above down, BADLY. My old man is still involved with the match commissioning side of things working with the match officials regularly at games & son No.1 still loving his time playing for my old amateur club Greetland All-Rounders which also makes me very proud, so rugby league is still a massive part of my life but i feel it won't be forever if the clowns keep destroying it.