: Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:43 pm  

maurice wrote:

New grounds tend to increase gates by circa 30%+, we are in danger of reducing gates by 30%+.

call me stupid but i bet my mate we would average 3000 this year.

looks like i will lose that bet

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:56 pm  

It does feel very sterlie in the new ground. I think little touches like red stripes on the posts and some kind of Leigh Centurions or town coat of arms branding around the stadium would help to make it feel more "homely".

With the new regime of keeping fans penned into sections of the ground and with the men and women in orange jackets unable to use discretion or common sense it no longer feels like the social event a Leigh match used to be, where you could walk around the ground and talk to different groups of friends and acquaintences. The new place desparently needs some kind of fans bar area and not just the breeze block hole in the walls under the stands.

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:00 pm  

Will anybody listen? Will anybody do anything to change this as the fans want?
I hope that fans don't decide i don't like it and i aint going again.
The BiG White Elephant debate goes on!

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:24 pm  

Once the new place was nearing completion I could not wait to get out of HP and into the LSV

The potential it holds is enormous

But at this moment I detest the place , it is all I dislike about modern sport

It resembles a hospital or worse still a prison

The potential is there but it requires a will that seems lacking both at the club and with the management

Hopefully all will see sense and start to work together to make the place both welcoming and able to create atmosphere

If they dont then we really are in trouble

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:38 pm  

I reckon it will improve when you have a half decent away support, stobarts was crap last season apart from when you and salford played us

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:07 pm  

Maybe this thread is a start in improving things if the powers-that-be ever read this board.

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:15 pm  

rugbyballs wrote:

Maybe this thread is a start in improving things if the powers-that-be ever read this board.

Part of the problem is that there are two ' powers that be ' , both with different aims , until they either both have the same aims or there is only one ' power ' then things will only get worse

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:25 pm  

As my dear old Nan used to say........'there is a big difference between a house and a home'

Until it feels like home, it will be totally sterile and devoid of atmosphere.

It took Bolton Wanderers 10 years to wake up to the fact thet their fanbase were getting bored with the Reebok experience.

They opened up the conference centre room thingymybob and created a Fanzone for maybe 1000 people, serving up bottled ale and pies........they encouraged fans to bring in their flags and leave them hung up in the North Stand, and more importantly opened up a debate with them.

This costs nowt.

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:45 pm  

but do not bolton own the reebok? if so they dont have 'landlords' to go through first and we all know that the managenent of the lsv see things different than the payng public want.

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:52 pm  

The clubs hands are tied to an extent but the question is how much are they trying to address our concerns?

I feel the crowds are down because alot of people were perhaps expecting us to invest more in players and although we can see the club are heading in the right direction with the youth policy the casual fan can't see any names on the team sheet other than Stu Donlan.

Marketing around the town centre is also especially poor, our presence in the town centre on Saturday's before a home game is non existant. Unless your interested you wouldn't know we were playing. I realise there is a budget but what are we spending it on because I can't tell?

Finally our brand of rugby isn't appealing at the moment. If friends talk to people who've been to the game they're not going to be enthused to attend.