Re: Rebrand to survive : Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:54 pm  

...and the RFL would have one less member

Re: Rebrand to survive : Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:58 pm  

DemonUK wrote:

...and the RFL would have one less member

And that would bother SDL clubs because???

And to WYSIWYG I am a Leigh supporter and have an interest in Swinton's results but that doesn't mean I would ever support a team called Manchester in ANY sport!

Re: Rebrand to survive : Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:06 pm  

It wouldn't bother them one bit. I almost think that the aim of the RFL is to rid themselves of as many clubs outside SL as they can.

Re: Rebrand to survive : Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:35 pm  

Does anyone actually think that people from Manchester will drive out, past Salford's new ground, down the Lancs turning left into Leigh and not right into Warrington? Of course not. While I think if you are going to do expansion it should be IN the big Northern cities like Manchester and Liverpool if definitely won’t work with another club with no connection either culturally or geographically just changing its name. What Leigh need to do is become a bigger part of the Leigh community not less. Once the money is sorted Leigh Centurions and a group of other local businesses, clubs and charities should all work together to have some sort of Leigh day and have the players there in the town centre with all different attractions doing some sort of rugby thing. We need to make is so when people say Leigh people think about the rugby team.

Re: Rebrand to survive : Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:58 pm  

Lowton_Sparrow wrote:

Does anyone actually think that people from Manchester will drive out, past Salford's new ground, down the Lancs turning left into Leigh and not right into Warrington? Of course not. While I think if you are going to do expansion it should be IN the big Northern cities like Manchester and Liverpool if definitely won’t work with another club with no connection either culturally or geographically just changing its name. What Leigh need to do is become a bigger part of the Leigh community not less. Once the money is sorted Leigh Centurions and a group of other local businesses, clubs and charities should all work together to have some sort of Leigh day and have the players there in the town centre with all different attractions doing some sort of rugby thing. We need to make is so when people say Leigh people think about the rugby team.

Agree 100 percent sparrow , a couple of simple questions

Who owns the LSV ?

Who was it built for ?

One simple answer

The people of Leigh

An open invite to the people of Leigh , come to and use YOUR stadium at least once per year , even if that involves letting them in for free ( if we can find a way to do it )

Re: Rebrand to survive : Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:22 pm  

Have to say that if the Leigh public and those within a 5 mile radious cannot be tempted then the future is a short one regardless of name or a merger !
Presuming the club gets out the mess (and I'm hoping the silence on what is going on is actually a positive) then it needs to appoint someone or a group of people with fresh ideas who has just one aim - to increase the Clubs profile in the town and surrounding areas and to drum up support on match day.

We need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and realise we are nowhere near a SL club as we get shocking gates.
Comparrisons with whichever Pet project RL club that is in vogue with Lewis and Wood whilst acurate is totally pointless ,yes its wrong whats happening in RL at the moment , yes its not what sport is about and yes the game is suffering - so lets prove these two individuals wrong, or do we roll over and let the decisions they make become easy ones ?

We should be averaging 4,000 fans in the town the size of Leigh - especially when you factor in just how many people live 15mins drive from the ground.

The ground, league we are in, quality of opposition, quality of league, lack of progression are all used as reasons we are underachieving off the field- all justified, and yet we could play Wigan in a Pre season friendly and get 5,000 Home fans in paying top whack for a totally meaningless fixture versus some youth players.

Lets stop the excuses, maybe ignore the bigger picture ,the politics and the injustices and concentrate on making Leigh the biggest & best club outside SL.
If we do that then we will be in control of our destiny - not some faceless consultant in a hidden room in Leeds somewhere on franchise day.

Re: Rebrand to survive : Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:26 pm  

Another spot on post , we control our destiny , not others

Re: Rebrand to survive : Tue Oct 11, 2011 9:31 pm  

It will be a cold day in hell before I'll support ANY club in ANY sport with Manchester in it's name!!!

Re: Rebrand to survive : Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:20 pm  

I am just playing Devil's Advocate and telling it as it is. The stark reality is that Leigh have no money and we will never be in SL. I would love nothing more than to see Leigh as the top team in Rugby League again but those days have sadly gone.

Choices are:

Pray for a white knight to bankroll us and take us to the promised land.
(highly unlikely but fingers crossed)

The supporters to keep up their commendable work in fundraising to put a competitive team out next season.[size=85][/size]
(definitely happening but we will only ever be in the Championship and what happens after 2015)

Merge and rebrand as a Manchester team
(will be welcomed by RFL and SL and will definitely attract investment, players
and a place in SL)


When I have been to Toulouse, I can see why they wanted them in SL, the home of Concorde, a large International Airport, a vibrant city. They want large cities and large town teams eventually and whoever survives below are just feeder teams. That is how it is going to be and unfortunately Leigh and the other heartland teams don't fit that mould. What happens after 2015 when we are turned down again?

I don't like it but that's how it is.

Re: Rebrand to survive : Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:39 pm  

Graham , we know how it is , but your suggestion just wouldn't work , Castleford are the model we have to look to , a town of similar size , but with a fan base 2-3 times what we can muster , they know their future relies upon the stadium they hope to own , unfortunatley that option has gone for us , so we just have to try even harder

The short term donation plea we are currently seeing is not and cannot be a long term solution either as some seem to think , the only answer is more numbers , that is the challenge