: Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:50 pm  

gutterfax wrote:

Let's get an average of 5,000 at every game and then re-open discussions about the lexus.
The club can't afford to
a/ p155 off sky and the bbc
b/ employ the stewards and staff to man the pumps

Yes, the east isn't ideal, but if everyone was lumped into the Lexus bar we'd all die of thirst.

But is there not a danger we are restricting growth by having so little choice of seating? Pushing people to the edges, sitting separately from family/mates? It doesnt seem right to me. We should have away fans behind the goal and home fans in the East.

: Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:58 pm  

Tre Cool wrote:

But is there not a danger we are restricting growth by having so little choice of seating? Pushing people to the edges, sitting separately from family/mates? It doesnt seem right to me. We should have away fans behind the goal and home fans in the East.

There is no chance of me bringing anybody new along this year because of this exact problem. There are no seats at all around my seat, even though i'm in the poverty area.

: Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:28 pm  

Dave Lister wrote:

:CLAP:

There is no chance of me bringing anybody new along this year because of this exact problem. There are no seats at all around my seat, even though i'm in the poverty area.

I understand the reason for the closure of the LV stand, and the costs that can be saved.

Personally I think that the away fans should be placed behind the sticks at one end. I've been to the Manly game and the Wigan game (missed the weekend due to other commitments). We were a walk up at the wigan game, quite early I must add, as there were four of us we could only get tickets two rows back. All three guests were first timers (one an AFL fan), and it didnt add to the experience at all. Poor view, the walkway in front of the field.

At the moment we are severly limiting our chances of bringing extra fans, and I can see the crowds sitting around the 3500 mark all season due to this.

Any thoughts? Perhaps putting away fans behind the sticks, and or having a cheap ticket days against clubs such as Cats or Crusaders for a fiver? Works well at FFC for the low drawing away teams to fill the neutral end.

: Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:35 pm  

hindyscrack wrote:

Any thoughts? Perhaps putting away fans behind the sticks, and or having a cheap ticket days against clubs such as Cats or Crusaders for a fiver? Works well at FFC for the low drawing away teams to fill the neutral end.

I thought the whole point of the arrangements this season was to just open up the minimum number of stands neccessary. However, the North Stand seems to be open just for a handful of folks so why not just plan to put all the away fans in there.

: Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:50 pm  

Wolves centre Matt King has asked for the following statement, written by him, to be released through Warringtonwolves.com, the official website of Warrington Wolves, it reads: "I've decided to write the following statement as an apology to the club and particularly the fans of Warrington Wolves. The decision to make this statement was made by me alone and I have not been asked by anyone connected with the club to come forward and make a statement. Saturday afternoon's defeat at Harlequins was a very disappointing and frustrating afternoon for the players, fans and officials of this club. I understand the fans that had made the trip at some expense must have been very disappointed and I can tell you the players were even more so. Defeats like what we saw on Saturday really do hurt us, as I understand they do the fans as well. During the second half I received a barrage of personal abuse directed at me from a section of our 'support'. The abuse culminated over a period of time before I reached my breaking point and I snapped. Being only human I retaliated verbally and with a hand gesture to the said 'supporters'. I would like to apologise for any offence caused to any supporters, especially families and young children that were sat in this area. As a professional rugby league player I understand I have an example to set and many young supporters see me as a role model. I take pride in how I handle myself and always try to set a good example for others to follow on and off the field. My reaction to the abuse was out of character for me, but as I said before, I had reached my breaking point. Once again can I reiterate my sincere apologies for any offence caused. This statement has been written with sincerity and I hope the good supporters of Warrington Wolves will accept it." Matt King http://www.warringtonwolves.org/news/Wolves38610.ink

Wolves centre Matt King has asked for the following statement, written by him, to be released through Warringtonwolves.com, the official website of Warrington Wolves, it reads: "I've decided to write the following statement as an apology to the club and particularly the fans of Warrington Wolves. The decision to make this statement was made by me alone and I have not been asked by anyone connected with the club to come forward and make a statement. Saturday afternoon's defeat at Harlequins was a very disappointing and frustrating afternoon for the players, fans and officials of this club. I understand the fans that had made the trip at some expense must have been very disappointed and I can tell you the players were even more so. Defeats like what we saw on Saturday really do hurt us, as I understand they do the fans as well. During the second half I received a barrage of personal abuse directed at me from a section of our 'support'. The abuse culminated over a period of time before I reached my breaking point and I snapped. Being only human I retaliated verbally and with a hand gesture to the said 'supporters'. I would like to apologise for any offence caused to any supporters, especially families and young children that were sat in this area. As a professional rugby league player I understand I have an example to set and many young supporters see me as a role model. I take pride in how I handle myself and always try to set a good example for others to follow on and off the field. My reaction to the abuse was out of character for me, but as I said before, I had reached my breaking point. Once again can I reiterate my sincere apologies for any offence caused. This statement has been written with sincerity and I hope the good supporters of Warrington Wolves will accept it." Matt King http://www.warringtonwolves.org/news/Wolves38610.ink

: Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:50 pm  

Dave Lister wrote:

:CLAP:

There is no chance of me bringing anybody new along this year because I HAVE NO FRIENDS.

EDITED

: Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:52 pm  

GF wrote

There is no chance of me bringing anybody new along this year because I never go

Edited

: Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:24 pm  

Tre Cool wrote:

But is there not a danger we are restricting growth by having so little choice of seating? Pushing people to the edges, sitting separately from family/mates? It doesnt seem right to me. We should have away fans behind the goal and home fans in the East.

Spot on.

I think if you turn up as a walk up, having been a previous ST holder (not me), and are told the only seats available are in the away end of the stand - how many more times are you going to come? This happened to a friend of mine on Saturday!

I originially came to watch Quins as I was missing live RL. I enjoyed the quins atmosphere and over the last three years have attended more home games than I've missed. Why did I like it? because I could turn up on the day and get decent seats with the people I wanted to sit with. My partner is now a quins fans and convert to RL.

Both home games they've had to have stewards for the South Stand. Why not make the north stand unreserved seating for away fans and then have the majority of the east stand for the home fans? You'd also get a bit more atmosphere too, as both sets of fans would be able to hear each others support. On Saturday, sat in AG I couldn't hear or see the wire fans.

: Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:45 pm  

Essex Rhino wrote:

Spot on.

I think if you turn up as a walk up, having been a previous ST holder (not me), and are told the only seats available are in the away end of the stand - how many more times are you going to come? This happened to a friend of mine on Saturday!

Absolutely. All respect to GF's growing insider insight, I'm afraid the "can't afford it" is just not a rational commercial argument, and needs to be seriously re-thought.

Even though the club's new customer aquisition budget is not as high as it'd like I'm sure, it is still very significant - especially when you factor in the community team investment (who's primary purpose, lest we forget, and I sometimes fear the club does, is to build audience and SELL TICKETS). New customers who are actually attracted to sample a game represent the tip of a very broad communications pyramid, and as such it is absolutely vital that they are given the best possible experience we have to offer, to maximise conversion rates to "repeat customer" and over time further to "supporter"... otherwise, we shouldn't bother investing in the promotional activity in the first place. Conversion from sample to repeat buy is probably THE most important success (and I mean financial) metric for the business.

For example, the idea that this club invests in a massive community programme, the end result of which is that the community sales are situated in an end block or even (as we witnessed on Saturday) in a mainly empty, souless temporary stand behind the sticks is a criminal waste of all the work that has gone into getting them there in the first place. We have the ability (capacity of better seats) to offer them a better experience, and should make sure we do so. The logic that we "cannot afford it" ultimately leads to the conclusion that we cannot afford our strategy to build audience.

When you look at it like that, you might prioritise the extra overhead of using high quality product in the Lexus/LV over another cost. Business is hardly ever about "can't afford", but nearly always instead "have decided something else is more important", and here the wrong choice has been made.

: Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:58 am  

Its amazing, I have been saying what has been posted in the last few posts over the past few months yet was lambasted for being negative and criticising the club. Finally people realise.