I’m not sure if many of you know but two weeks ago Widnes received the first draft (as did all clubs) of the IMG report regarding positioning within the new system. Included in that report is recommendations for upgrading with shortfalls highlighted. At the York game in the Longhouse bar I spoke to a Director and asked him how the club received this report and he said the club was quite pleased with it saying we have been “awarded” a good B with scope for improvement and because of this they have arranged a meeting with the IMG staff on Sept 1st to go through recommendations necessary to proceed and hopefully upgrade to a B1 place AND because of this upgrade “maybe” be eligible for a place in SL…….. I know, but if you look at the marking schemes you get points for electronic advertising, now look at Leeds's ground its surrounded by them, electronic scoreboards and big screen, look at Halifax on Sunday. Most of the recommendations relate to grounds and attendance, we do have large catchment areas in Merseyside and the council will benefit from the advertising among other things. Another area is attendance with over 3,000 being awarded a good mark and as we are just shortish this year, I would expect some decent offers next year for home games for the paying public. There will be another draft later this year based on this years positions etc ready for final positioning next year BUTTTTTT could we do it, could we fulfil the criteria as a B1 club and get back into SL. There will be another Monday meeting in the near future to update spectators.
Hopefully the team improves too and a dual agreement with Wigan to bring in some extra quality. Need players with ambition for Superleague too.
I think it would be great if we can gain a B1 license and be promoted back into super league
do I think they would want us over teams like London or Toulouse, no.
how likely is it that they will increase numbers from 12-14?
Can I ask who would pay for all this electronic gadgetry and big screen you speak about??
Can I ask who would pay for all this electronic gadgetry and big screen you speak about??
For things like that I would imagine the council as they own the ground and will reap any profit from them from the ads that are already around the ground, however if we want the points we have too. At Halifax on Sunday they have a new electronic scoreboard that was showing ads. It was small but would still gain a percentage that could put you ahead of the next team. It’s small percentages that added on will take you up the table👍👍
@martin I'm not being funny mate but the council won't even pay for weedkiller or street cleaners to clean up this shithole of a town..
But I see the advantages of what you are saying 👍
Follows much the same track as we did with Lewis when he was at the RFL. It's all about image on the TV screen etc. The 'it should all be about the team on the field' view just doesn't cut it these days- the game is a business that depends on TV!
That's all very positive but I can't see us being accepted back in SL without being higher in the league table in the coming seasons.
However, as long as we carry on working at it all and not just settle for where we are at then that's all we can hope for.
That's all very positive but I can't see us being accepted back in SL without being higher in the league table in the coming seasons.
However, as long as we carry on working at it all and not just settle for where we are at then that's all we can hope for.
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But that’s the beauty of the IMG plan, position only counts for a small percentage but if we have the rest of the criteria in place working with the council it balances it out. E.g Attendance, not many compare to ours AND it’s based upon next years positions. 👍
Martin to keep the attendances up we need more consistent wins and attractive rugby for people to watch. Only way to keep attendances above 3k. 🥖🥖
Can I ask who would pay for all this electronic gadgetry and big screen you speak about??
For things like that I would imagine the council as they own the ground and will reap any profit from them from the ads that are already around the ground, however if we want the points we have too. At Halifax on Sunday they have a new electronic scoreboard that was showing ads. It was small but would still gain a percentage that could put you ahead of the next team. It’s small percentages that added on will take you up the table👍👍
You do realise we have a digital scoreboard that can display adverts and video playback right? That at Halifax will not get them any additional points. IMG want full pitch perimeter LEDs.
yes I do. But as I stated in my original post Leeds have them all around now and it’s what IMG want and as I said the council could pay reap the benefits but we as a club get the points. And if our scoreboard can be used as a large screen that’s even more
The council won't be paying for anything, they haven't got the money. The club will need to find private investment.
Stop the world,I wanna get off.Electronic advertising and soreboards to get points.Not interested.Call me old fashioned but I prefer winning points on the pitch to gain promotion.Widnes can jump through the hoops all they like but we are never going to be admitted to SL.We don't fit the profile.There's one thing we can't change and that is location,surrounded by Wigan,Saints and Warrington.Put in as many scoreboards as you want.
@sinbad You may well be right, but if we are to show any aspirations whatsoever we have to play the game their way I'm afraid.
If you just want mid table happiness there are plenty of clubs to choose from, sadly.
When we sold out to Sky there was an opportunity to help smaller clubs at the expense of the favoured few, but they had their noses in the trough, and they are there still!
The rush of Degsy (Leigh) and Carter (Fev) to invest in the game has effectively subdivided the Championship for this season at any rate.
WE don't know yet how things will play out long term but I suspect that it will be a long time before there is enough cash to buy us all new kit! The aim might still be to ease out poorer clubs completely, which would be a pity, or even force a mass exodus to a new PT league with no adverts!!