That is the one biggest obstacle that Keighley Cougars face. Apathy in the town is strangling the club and its going to take something special to change that.
I have only been wrong once and thats because I thought I was wrong but I was wrong I was right!
Petty authoritarians aren’t man enough to challenge the actions of a person face to face; instead they incite a forum of rumour, innuendo and half truths, and impose rude sanctions to discourage those who dare question fairness.
That is the one biggest obstacle that Keighley Cougars face. Apathy in the town is strangling the club and its going to take something special to change that.
Didn't someone once say "Build it and they will come"?
Apathy seems to be an issue at our level of rugby and it will take more than just calling something "Cougar mania part 2" to cure it.
The club will need to engage with fans, community and above all schools to turn things around.
Didn't someone once say "Build it and they will come"?
Apathy seems to be an issue at our level of rugby and it will take more than just calling something "Cougar mania part 2" to cure it.
The club will need to engage with fans, community and above all schools to turn things around.
Oh, and having a winning team might help.
Agree totally. Throw in with that a popular and well known figurehead to drive the idea. Cougarmania started with the signing of Joe Grima. It made people look and take notice. I'm sorry, but at the moment and no disrespect, we have nobody who mades me excited when they talk about the future, i.e the Super League dream (pipe dream possibly). Gary does his best but he's not a motivational speaker and character.
I think we started on the right track with JD and then the signings of Korky, Semi and Obst. It made people look and talk about us. We just never built on that and have in my opinion have gone back 2 years.
A few thoughts before the initial plans are drawn up.
1. I'd like to see a full size pitch 100 metres long plus the two in-goals 10 metres wide, pitch width the max 68 metres and with 5 metres between the touch/deadball lines and perimeter of the stands/terracing. So the perimeter needs to be 130 metres long and 78 metres wide.
2. The stand and terracing to rise at as steep a rake as possible from the perimeter. Not sure what the maximum legal steepness is but i'd like to see 45 degrees.
3. Make sure the seats are wider than average and with more legroom than average. Quality will be more important than quantity for this stadium so people can sit in comfort for concerts etc as well as matches & encourage people to get in early for pre-match entertainment.
4. Given required dimensions, the cricket field would need to be moved as far out to the Royd Way western boundary as possible - so the rugby part of the stadium could pinch a slice of the current cricket field.
5. Need to get the bowling club brought within the scheme. Hopefully the Co-op could be persuaded to relocate its vehicle repair unit so the bowling club could be moved across there so the rugby field could be maximum length, taking over the current bowling club.
6. With a main stand and three sides of terracing, i'd like the corners to be infilled with terracing as well so there is a bowl effect. In fact Aire Valley Cougarbowl (the AVC) has a nice ring to it.
Anybody see what a completely soulless attempt at a new ground Salford have (on Sky tonight)? No wonder they can't get a crowd even though Salford is in Super League ... Main Stand far too far from the touchline, all stands / terracing far too shallow, corners not filled in, seats too small etc.
The "wall" at the south end of the Dortmund football stadium is more like it for any new Cougar stadium (even if only a say third of the height is needed for Keighley).
I've changed my mind - the stands/terracing in any new ground should start a maximum of three metres from the touchlines/dead ball line; 3 metres is sufficient for player safety.
Was at Salford for the U20s last night and I'd actually disagree , apart from the ridiculously out of proportion west stand iit is actually an ideal size for RL.
What however does make is soulless is the corporate greed and basic lack of respect for supporters that a stadium management company like that that run the new facility have.
Ridiculously high prices and poor quality food and drink,draconian ticketing policy's and stewarding that is based on the principal that all supporters are there to fight and cause trouble and therefore deserve to be treated worse than animals ....that is what makes a place soulless
Firstly we should recognise that nobody is going to come and put thousands into this club and if we get anywhere it will have to be by the efforts of US the fans. Secondly let nobody ever mention the 'S' word again (Superleague) because even if we did build a super-duper stadium in Keighley I doubt the 'powers that be' would ever let us in. In fact I think the next step is to reduce the number of clubs in Superleague and not expand it. We can, however, get up there with the best in the land and I believe it should be with small steps. I think the recent magnificent effort by fans coming down to clear the pitch of snow for the Good Friday game shows that the good-will is there and you just have to harness it. It would also need support from the club as regards equipment, materials etc. Just look around Cougar Park and you can see a host of things such as a bit of painting or odd-jobs that need doing but there is nobody there to do them. Can we get a group of fans together and get around the ground and get the place going again? Small things can make big things happen.
I have only been wrong once and thats because I thought I was wrong but I was wrong I was right!
Petty authoritarians aren’t man enough to challenge the actions of a person face to face; instead they incite a forum of rumour, innuendo and half truths, and impose rude sanctions to discourage those who dare question fairness.
Was at Salford for the U20s last night and I'd actually disagree , apart from the ridiculously out of proportion west stand iit is actually an ideal size for RL.
What however does make is soulless is the corporate greed and basic lack of respect for supporters that a stadium management company like that that run the new facility have.
Ridiculously high prices and poor quality food and drink,draconian ticketing policy's and stewarding that is based on the principal that all supporters are there to fight and cause trouble and therefore deserve to be treated worse than animals ....that is what makes a place soulless
god forbid we never go down that route...
I think you've hit the nail on the head Rach. A few sides have learned to their cost that a poor stadium management company can be a major thorn in the side, creating bad feeling with fans and loosing the club revenue from beer, food and corporate sales. Leigh have had issues so have Doncaster and I think the Halifax fans drink elsewhere too.
We went into the Leigh bar and there was us and one other couple in the whole place! The manager said he had to close because there were not enough customers - this was 10 minutes after the game! We found out why when we paid for the drinks . He did however, invite us upstairs to sit with the players and sponsors so it worked out OK for us.
I would prefer to own our own facilities (albeit less flash) and at least control our own destiny.
Firstly we should recognise that nobody is going to come and put thousands into this club and if we get anywhere it will have to be by the efforts of US the fans. Secondly let nobody ever mention the 'S' word again (Superleague) because even if we did build a super-duper stadium in Keighley I doubt the 'powers that be' would ever let us in. In fact I think the next step is to reduce the number of clubs in Superleague and not expand it. We can, however, get up there with the best in the land and I believe it should be with small steps. I think the recent magnificent effort by fans coming down to clear the pitch of snow for the Good Friday game shows that the good-will is there and you just have to harness it. It would also need support from the club as regards equipment, materials etc. Just look around Cougar Park and you can see a host of things such as a bit of painting or odd-jobs that need doing but there is nob ody there to do them. Can we get a group of fans together and get around the ground and get the place going again? Small things can make big things happen.
I agree 100% with you LL , this is what is needed and has been for quite A while , Surely a group of like minded souls cannot be that hard ti get together can it ?
The only thing that would have to happen though is 110% support from the board , That would have to be a must.
We can, however, get up there with the best in the land and I believe it should be with small steps. I think the recent magnificent effort by fans coming down to clear the pitch of snow for the Good Friday game shows that the good-will is there and you just have to harness it. It would also need support from the club as regards equipment, materials etc. Just look around Cougar Park and you can see a host of things such as a bit of painting or odd-jobs that need doing but there is nobody there to do them. Can we get a group of fans together and get around the ground and get the place going again? Small things can make big things happen.
Agreed.
If we forget about how the game of RL is organised for now, the way Keighley Cougars can make itself different AND successful is to mobilise an army of volunteers which could indeed lead to Cougars getting "up there with the best in the land".
There are many willing individuals but what is needed first is for the company currently with stewardship of the club (Gary Fawcett's) coming out and saying that it is willing and able to mobilise and give direction to such an army of volunteers. All the directors would need to do to get this going would be to release something to the Keighley News to this effect & get it on this & other websites (preferably the club's own new website) and include a short form where people could fill in their name and contact details, what their skills are and what hours per week they could volunteer. Then all these people and all the club's directors could meet to sort out who can do what and when.
But is the current company owning the Cougars the right one to facilitate this? (Maybe the Club'sVoice could answer?)
. He did however, invite us upstairs to sit with the players and sponsors so it worked out OK for us.
