I personally would prefer Newmarket, but if we get a new stadium then who am I to bleat. I just think that we have about 2000 to 2500 Wakefield fans who attend home games, this season we have won 16 games and played a great style of Rugby and still the Wakefield public cant be bothered to attend. The fact that BV is a dump may have something to do with it, but is it putting off say 1500 `fans` from attending, I think not. Agbrigg is a hole and that may prevent some home fans from attending, nobody likes to leave their cars in Agbrigg. There a very very few fans in Agbrigg, the local population has no interest in the club or RL so we do not get the benefit of walk ups. The biggest problem is that its a pain for away fans, a stadium next to the M62 would have been ideal and you could see the attendances increasing as a result. I do not believe in the term stay away fans that I often hear quoted, they do not exist. Apparently these supposed stay away fans were just waiting for a winning team and then they would come flooding back, they didn`t in 1979 / 80 they didn`t in the Topliss coaching era, they didn`t when Andy Kelly took us into the SL and that season we won most of our games. They haven`t this season which has been fantastic. They are a myth. What there is in Wakefield is a large number of people who will come if its free or ridiculously cheap, the Golver era went down this route and in reality about 1000 + people got in for free, as soon as this was stopped they didn`t attend. We need to somehow find new fans who are going to pay fair market value, I think that the new stadium, where ever it is, needs to have serious corporate facilities as it seems to me that the Benidorm flats are always full and the spend per head in their is massive compared to the fan in the stand or on the terraces.
I personally would prefer Newmarket, but if we get a new stadium then who am I to bleat. I just think that we have about 2000 to 2500 Wakefield fans who attend home games, this season we have won 16 games and played a great style of Rugby and still the Wakefield public cant be bothered to attend. The fact that BV is a dump may have something to do with it, but is it putting off say 1500 `fans` from attending, I think not. Agbrigg is a hole and that may prevent some home fans from attending, nobody likes to leave their cars in Agbrigg. There a very very few fans in Agbrigg, the local population has no interest in the club or RL so we do not get the benefit of walk ups. The biggest problem is that its a pain for away fans, a stadium next to the M62 would have been ideal and you could see the attendances increasing as a result. I do not believe in the term stay away fans that I often hear quoted, they do not exist. Apparently these supposed stay away fans were just waiting for a winning team and then they would come flooding back, they didn`t in 1979 / 80 they didn`t in the Topliss coaching era, they didn`t when Andy Kelly took us into the SL and that season we won most of our games. They haven`t this season which has been fantastic. They are a myth. What there is in Wakefield is a large number of people who will come if its free or ridiculously cheap, the Golver era went down this route and in reality about 1000 + people got in for free, as soon as this was stopped they didn`t attend. We need to somehow find new fans who are going to pay fair market value, I think that the new stadium, where ever it is, needs to have serious corporate facilities as it seems to me that the Benidorm flats are always full and the spend per head in their is massive compared to the fan in the stand or on the terraces.
I'd say we have about 4000 4500 hardcore support base at the moment. Up the Trin
Most of the above is just an opinion and speculation, one thing for sure he's got the 2000, to 2500 home fans wrong, more like a guaranteed 4000 even on a bad day.
I'd say that's an overly pessimistic assessment; there is no doubt in my mind that a redeveloped stadium, with proper facilities that mean taking kids is easier, will attract more people in and of itself. Add to that some serious marketing and promotion by the club, and I can see no reason we can't add to our attendance quite significantly - especially if the next couple of seasons are as entertaining and successful as this one.
I'd sooner take my kid to a ground like Leigh or Salford than Belle Vue in it's current state. He comes to some games with me, but it's far from ideal for a young kid, with poor views of the game from pretty much everywhere!
A redeveloped Belle Vue will allow me to make the game more of a family occasion, where my partner will come along too. I don't really care where it is, hopefully the club (and council to a lesser extent) will be able to market a new ground much better than the current one for both corporate and for spectators