Totally agree! The problem is that many clubs, including SL, cannot survive on their incoming 'gates' and have to borrow soccer grounds. Soccer presumably pays better and therefore calls the shots.
I do know that when the Huddersfield ground was built the grass chosen was of a particularly deep rooted variety to avoid the need to re-turf and be able to withstand a full year's play, whatever the code.
I can't imagine marketing makes much difference. Everyone who is remotely interested knows there is a game of a weekend. Perhaps the club have tried additional marketing and seen no return on investment. I'd guess it's simply not worth it.
The biggest factor is that we play 2nd division rugby and it's miles away in quality from SL and miles away from the national conscience in terms of profile. Also, I'd say the demographic of the town has changed a lot in the past 20 or 30 years. You speak to a lot of people who know nothing about RL; they're not fans waiting to be found, they're just not interested.
Even if we were in SL, I'd hazard a guess we'd have a hardcore of 4000 instead of the current 2000. It is what it is.
You do know we borrow a ground.Totally agree! The problem is that many clubs, including SL, cannot survive on their incoming 'gates' and have to borrow soccer grounds. Soccer presumably pays better and therefore calls the shots.
I do know that when the Huddersfield ground was built the grass chosen was of a particularly deep rooted variety to avoid the need to re-turf and be able to withstand a full year's play, whatever the code.
I am reliably informed that the number of clubs using soccer grounds causes problems tying in with their pitch maintenance, re-seeding etc.
Not sure how many teams in the championship play on wendyball grounds
I think, but stand corrected if proved wrong
fax - share but with town, but shudder bought the ground ( before fixture list mind)
Toulouse - no
bradfraud - no
sheff- yes but it plastic pitch
donny - yes
london - yes but mixed pitch
vikings - no
hunslet - no
barrow - no
oldham - yes
fev- no
batley - no, but have Wendy on it
york - yes but mixed pitch ?
so not sure how that affects the fixtures that badly as our pitch is not affected but we play loads away in a row ?
the problem is without regular fixtures people get out of the habit of attending and find other things to do and it’s very hard to get them to return
@gpo1971 Saying people are just not interested, that's the clubs job to get them to attend and game. Look how many people now watch the Premier League, at a lot of clubs you just cant get a ticket, Darts packed out in large arena's and even to an extent Womens Football. Attendance levels have all increased.
The 2 recent examples in RL i would give are Warrington and Leigh. Warrington in the mid- 90's got less fans than us. Leigh have gone from under 3k fans to 8-9k. 2 things we don't have is SL rugby and a rich owner. Look at the Warrington cup game, would a new fan come back after sampling that atmosphere, probably yes. Would a new fan pay £24 to come back for a 2k attendance against the likes of Barrow or Doncaster in a half open stadium with no away fans and a flat atmosphere. Honest answer most likely no.
If you have the product the fans will come. The Championship is a great league for the hardcore RL fan but no good for attracting the floating fans who want a good afternoons entertainment. Also they dream of SL is gone, that must affect attendance in the Championship 100%. Without hope and a dream it takes away something.
Not sure how many teams in the championship play on wendyball grounds
I think, but stand corrected if proved wrong
fax - share but with town, but shudder bought the ground ( before fixture list mind)
Toulouse - no
bradfraud - no
sheff- yes but it plastic pitch
donny - yes
london - yes but mixed pitch
vikings - no
hunslet - no
barrow - no
oldham - yes
fev- no
batley - no, but have Wendy on it
york - yes but mixed pitch ?
so not sure how that affects the fixtures that badly as our pitch is not affected but we play loads away in a row ?
the problem is without regular fixtures people get out of the habit of attending and find other things to do and it’s very hard to get them to return
We do have a Football Club who play at the DCBL/Naughton Park
WV have only had 1 out of 5 cup ties at home, this season, and had a bye weekend. Of our 7 league rds we have been away at Toulouse, Batley, Doncaster, and at home to Sheffield, Barrow & Oldham (and the bye). We can't dictate the venues of cup ties, as it's the luck of the draw. But it's a myth about the league games being lop sided. The most it usually is, is 2 home or away games on the run (which happens in the next fortnight).
Paulie xx
We actually have 3 at home on the run in June, Halifax 15th York 22nd and Toulouse 28th. Then 2 on the run in July, meaning we will play 5/6 games on the run at home in 2 months.
Im sure with computers the RL can get a more even sequence of home and away games. They always seemed to do it years ago, before they used computers, when it would have been a lot harder.