Re: Attendance 1017 : Sun Mar 16, 2014 10:10 am  

Starbug wrote:

But is there a scenario that will see London Bronco's able to play in the Championship?

We probably won't have much choice after this season. Championship or bust.

Re: Attendance 1017 : Sun Mar 16, 2014 11:26 am  

Depends if you're still prepared to sit there and take whatever the "Club" dishes out, or maybe try and make a difference - get involved in the SupporTers association - and perhaps we can get ourselves in a position to make some real choices.

Re: Attendance 1017 : Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:55 pm  

Wait until we play Cas a week Thursday!! 500 at most

Re: Attendance 1017 : Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:05 pm  

wire quin wrote:

Wait until we play Cas a week Thursday!! 500 at most

What's the lowest ever home crowd since 1980, including at Crystal Palace, Barnet, etc? Can anyone recall?

The reason I ask is that I can easily forsee a 500 or less gate soon. Given the additional TV money, growth of the game in London and the SE, positive TV coverage over the last 20 odd years the only conclusion one can draw if the club reverts to the sort of crowds it had in those shoe-string days is that it has been terribly mismanaged over a number of years.

Re: Attendance 1017 : Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:25 pm  

Dally wrote:

What's the lowest ever home crowd since 1980, including at Crystal Palace, Barnet, etc? Can anyone recall?

The reason I ask is that I can easily forsee a 500 or less gate soon. Given the additional TV money, growth of the game in London and the SE, positive TV coverage over the last 20 odd years the only conclusion one can draw if the club reverts to the sort of crowds it had in those shoe-string days is that it has been terribly mismanaged over a number of years.

I think it is 245 at Barnet Copthall vs Highfield in Feb '92. Even Gus will do well to be beat that.

Re: Attendance 1017 : Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:30 pm  

jbuzza wrote:

I think it is 245 at Barnet Copthall vs Highfield in Feb '92. Even Gus will do well to be beat that.

Was the "world's best rugby player" playing for us then?

I used to enjoy the atmosphere at Crystal Palace myself in Crusaders days. After the early days at Fulham it was the best for me - there was a real heart and soul.

Re: Attendance 1017 : Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:59 pm  

as long as the team keep losing attendances will fall. We have had dreadfull performances on the pitch these last two seasons but everyone thought 'next year we will bring in better players and we will get better.' With no relegation this can work with good carefull recruiting so supporters didn't despair at season end. This season however DH decided to get rid of the deadwood and start afresh which was fair enough. TR had we are told a good squad lined up for 2014 and then DH started to wobble and everything went on hold until he relented and decided to carry on. Result was all our targets had gone and we were left with Academy players and loans from other clubs academies which we have tried to build on with overeas signings dribbling in. The result has been we are nowhere near as strong as our opponents as the results have shown. In a season where we have a franchise we can get away with it but everyone knows the bottom two go down this season so there is no chance to repair the damage next year. The fans who normally would stick with the club are giving up hence the continuing decline. Unless the club can find some very good players very quickly we could see a record that will never be broken for SL attendance. maybe we should start calling it the 'Yorkshire Lancashire League' now?

Re: Attendance 1017 : Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:21 pm  

Dally wrote:

Was the "world's best rugby player" playing for us then?

I used to enjoy the atmosphere at Crystal Palace myself in Crusaders days. After the early days at Fulham it was the best for me - there was a real heart and soul.

I was quite friendly with the worlds greatest rugby player for a while when the Crusaders were at Barnet, he's a very nice bloke. I remember him getting a load of really personal abuse at one home game, and after 20 minutes or so he planted a free kick right in their midst, scattering them, as like many big mouths they were scared of the ball. 5 minutes later he did it again. Then they moved, but he found them. He must have put the ball into them a dozen times before they gave up and left. A bit of poetic justice I've only ever seen taking place once...

Re: Attendance 1017 : Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:31 pm  

nkpom wrote:

Depends if you're still prepared to sit there and take whatever the "Club" dishes out, or maybe try and make a difference - get involved in the SupporTers association - and perhaps we can get ourselves in a position to make some real choices.

.

I admire your resolve to try and do something to sort out the Broncos but how do you think you are going to get the supporters association in a position to make real choices when you have to raise at over £1 million a year just to keep the club going in super league (or maybe less in the championship). There is an old saying he who pays the piper calls the tune, the supporters association will not call the tune until they find somebody who has a lot of money he/she wants to invest in a club run by the supporters.
The past history of supporters associations/clubs do not have a good record just look at Halifax who tried to help us back in 2000/2001 as they wanted to give us their experience of taking over the running of their club but they failed, the same could be said for Bradford whose ex players were selling their grand final rings to help the club but the they have failed and have failed more times than the Broncos (3 if you count Bradford Northern).
The wrong decision was made last October if the club could not survive at the Stoop it should of gone under what is happening now is an embarrassment to the memory of the good years London Broncos had. The gates are getting smaller and smaller because of loosing by 30 to 40 points each game, the club has destroyed all of the development of young players which was in place and by getting rid of Phil Jones. The players we had last season and this can not see any future in the club because they know that their contracts will run out at the end of the season ( the reason I say this is that if the club does not survive their contracts become null and void).
The Hive may be a great facility but it is not growing the gate and the way things are going by June we will be lucky to have a crowd over 750.
I would like to know from all of you optimists who post on the forum after the embarrassment of yesterday how the Broncos will survive.

Re: Attendance 1017 : Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:55 pm  

The club have moved too many times in thirty years and I have seen nothing to suggest Barnet is anything more than a stop gap or a final resting place for the worn out Broncos.

Look at the deal surrounding the Broncos and Barnet, it's a deal designed to purely help Barnet, Broncos make nothing from the deal so how can they possibly run as a professional club?

Barnet's ground The Hive is essentially a done up training ground. Barnet moved to The Hive as a bit of a last resort after being shafted by their local council. Barnet's supporters trust want them to move back into the borough of Barnet but I'm not sure how feasible that is.