Re: Love Rugby League Article : Fri Jan 28, 2022 12:26 pm  

Another article - https://thecritic.co.uk/southern-discomfort/

Another article - https://thecritic.co.uk/southern-discomfort/

Re: Love Rugby League Article : Fri Jan 28, 2022 12:52 pm  

Ornery Optimist wrote: Another article - https://thecritic.co.uk/southern-discomfort/ Decent article but I doubt we can get to 5,000 fans through being a community minded club alone. A competitive team will be required.

Ornery Optimist wrote: Another article - https://thecritic.co.uk/southern-discomfort/ Decent article but I doubt we can get to 5,000 fans through being a community minded club alone. A competitive team will be required.

Re: Love Rugby League Article : Fri Jan 28, 2022 1:19 pm  

Broncos wouldn't. What the community engagement offers is a way of building links with the local community. This builds interest in the club and some of those people will then try out a game. If they enjoy it, they tell others. It also builds a stronger tie to the club in not so good times. It's not a miracle cure.

Dulwich Hamlet don't sell out Saturday fixtures because they run social campaigns etc. They sell out because they get the offering right, for their market place, both on and off the field.

It was also a slow burn, taking over a decade from the start of the transformation. Do Broncos have the luxury of that sort of timescale?

Re: Love Rugby League Article : Fri Jan 28, 2022 1:45 pm  

Halfdan of t'wide embrace wrote:

Broncos wouldn't. What the community engagement offers is a way of building links with the local community. This builds interest in the club and some of those people will then try out a game. If they enjoy it, they tell others. It also builds a stronger tie to the club in not so good times. It's not a miracle cure.

Dulwich Hamlet don't sell out Saturday fixtures because they run social campaigns etc. They sell out because they get the offering right, for their market place, both on and off the field.

It was also a slow burn, taking over a decade from the start of the transformation. Do Broncos have the luxury of that sort of timescale?

Wherever Broncos have moved to they have been good at getting out to the schools and setting up RL training and teams, the problem is this has not really encouraged parents to bring the school children along to games.

Re: Love Rugby League Article : Fri Jan 28, 2022 1:47 pm  

wantawin wrote:

Wherever Broncos have moved to they have been good at getting out to the schools and setting up RL training and teams

Can this be done with a part time squad ?

Re: Love Rugby League Article : Fri Jan 28, 2022 2:02 pm  

wantawin wrote:

Wherever Broncos have moved to they have been good at getting out to the schools and setting up RL training and teams, the problem is this has not really encouraged parents to bring the school children along to games.

Not surprised. Most amateur / semi pro sports clubs with youth sections report it doesn't add many on the first team gate. I know a non league club - not Hamlet - that offer free admission to parents with kids registered to their juniors and the junior players, with the exception of organised days few turn up.

The reason it was a slow burn at Hamlet was initially the local community weren't interested. Hamlet had to grow interest. Gates then grew a bit but most didn't want to pay to watch "rubbish" football. A Pay what you want game, with profits to a local charity, attracted a lot. Many enjoyed it and told others.

Every time Broncos move they drop back to the starting point. Hamlet are widely held up as an exemplar at this and it took them over a decade to transform.

Re: Love Rugby League Article : Fri Jan 28, 2022 2:54 pm  

Halfdan of t'wide embrace wrote:

Broncos wouldn't. What the community engagement offers is a way of building links with the local community. This builds interest in the club and some of those people will then try out a game. If they enjoy it, they tell others. It also builds a stronger tie to the club in not so good times. It's not a miracle cure.

Dulwich Hamlet don't sell out Saturday fixtures because they run social campaigns etc. They sell out because they get the offering right, for their market place, both on and off the field.

It was also a slow burn, taking over a decade from the start of the transformation. Do Broncos have the luxury of that sort of timescale?

No, we don't.
Could have done this with any of our moves really couldn't we? We apparently even turned down help from one of the blokes behind the whole DHFC project a few years ago.

Re: Love Rugby League Article : Fri Jan 28, 2022 2:59 pm  

Halfdan of t'wide embrace wrote: Not surprised. Most amateur / semi pro sports clubs with youth sections report it doesn't add many on the first team gate. I know a non league club - not Hamlet - that offer free admission to parents with kids registered to their juniors and the junior players, with the exception of organised days few turn up. The reason it was a slow burn at Hamlet was initially the local community weren't interested. Hamlet had to grow interest. Gates then grew a bit but most didn't want to pay to watch "rubbish" football. A Pay what you want game, with profits to a local charity, attracted a lot. Many enjoyed it and told others. Every time Broncos move they drop back to the starting point. Hamlet are widely held up as an exemplar at this and it took them over a decade to transform. Not only that but they did it against the backdrop of losing and then fighting to get their ground back in 2018 https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... on-it-back

Halfdan of t'wide embrace wrote: Not surprised. Most amateur / semi pro sports clubs with youth sections report it doesn't add many on the first team gate. I know a non league club - not Hamlet - that offer free admission to parents with kids registered to their juniors and the junior players, with the exception of organised days few turn up. The reason it was a slow burn at Hamlet was initially the local community weren't interested. Hamlet had to grow interest. Gates then grew a bit but most didn't want to pay to watch "rubbish" football. A Pay what you want game, with profits to a local charity, attracted a lot. Many enjoyed it and told others. Every time Broncos move they drop back to the starting point. Hamlet are widely held up as an exemplar at this and it took them over a decade to transform. Not only that but they did it against the backdrop of losing and then fighting to get their ground back in 2018 https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... on-it-back

Re: Love Rugby League Article : Fri Jan 28, 2022 3:20 pm  

RfE wrote:

No, we don't.
Could have done this with any of our moves really couldn't we? We apparently even turned down help from one of the blokes behind the whole DHFC project a few years ago.

Sort of. Both men who drew up the Hamlet revitalisation strategy were Broncos fans, one a long standing season ticket holder and regular away fan for years, one a few times a season. They offered to meet the club and brief / advise them on what had / hadn't worked at Hamlet for free. No meeting ever occurred

They weren't directly offering to help as they were a bit busy at the Hamlet and, crucially, were South East Londoners so did not have the necessary community contacts around Ealing - as it was then. A thread on here suggested it may have fallen through as key people at the club may have thought they were after jobs, which was total rubbish if it is the reason.

Sadly one has since died. It's only fair to report I am aware of contact between the other one and Broncos recently. I don't know to what extent.

Re: Love Rugby League Article : Fri Jan 28, 2022 3:52 pm  

Halfdan of t'wide embrace wrote:

Sort of. Both men who drew up the Hamlet revitalisation strategy were Broncos fans, one a long standing season ticket holder and regular away fan for years, one a few times a season. They offered to meet the club and brief / advise them on what had / hadn't worked at Hamlet for free. No meeting ever occurred

They weren't directly offering to help as they were a bit busy at the Hamlet and, crucially, were South East Londoners so did not have the necessary community contacts around Ealing - as it was then. A thread on here suggested it may have fallen through as key people at the club may have thought they were after jobs, which was total rubbish if it is the reason.

Sadly one has since died. It's only fair to report I am aware of contact between the other one and Broncos recently. I don't know to what extent.

Maybe this time the club might actually take some advice from a bloke who knows how to build a club up? Maybe advice was the word I should have used rather than help in my original post.
While the DHFC guys might not have local contacts for Wimbledon ( or previously for Ealing) they'd surely have been able to show how they'd developed things in their area and how they went about things?
Safe to say that in the end a lot of what they did must have been successful in terms of building the supporter base. DHFC have crowds , as a 7th level football club, that we would now love to have.