I have heard murmurings that the SL funding could have been from Middle Eastern sources. If this is the case we need to keep banging that drum, if SL is going to 16 teams next time round it's an open door for us and London. 

Posted by: @widiot

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I have heard murmurings that the SL funding could have been from Middle Eastern sources. If this is the case we need to keep banging that drum, if SL is going to 16 teams next time round it's an open door for us and London. 

Yeah mentioned Middle East and Australia and if had 700k we would be in Super League now. Positive all round and hopefully more season tickets sold and WVIPs members join to help.

It was quite a well attended affair. Tim Holmes introduced the meeting and welcomed the winning girls and wheelchair captain who brought the trophies to display to all. Then Stuart took us through the SL bid indicating that we had three backers, two for at least two years and one for three years, one was mentioned from the middle East and an other from Australia. Our bid was described as excellent and we were in the three that the last one was chosen from with the statement that all peoples involved in our bid were running them selves daft trying to get our bid to such a high standard, deserving our thanks. 

He then went on to the IMG score which was greatly improved and we became the forth highest mover up the league. The screen and LED ad boards are a no go as the cost would be in the range of £200,000 and not worth the points gained. Attendance have improved from last year, averaging two years ago 1,844,1,990 last year and 2,161 this season. They had sponsors for four games where a thousand kids tickets were offered to schools etc and the biggest take up for any game was 156, says a lot!!!! fandom section scored 2.95/5.00

The rest of his talk was very informative but really went over peoples head, especially the size of the points given for various section although we did score highly in the Stadium section. He finished by saying we are ahead of our six year plan BUT when I asked how we would make up the 4.6 points necessary to enter SL through the IMG ratings he said "simply, we cant" which i think left a few of us deflated. There are things we can do but some of the cost outweighs the points so therefore not viable, £6,000 to televise five games but you get no points as its not screened to a larger audience as the championship is not on TV although small percent is given for us televising it!!!!

VIP's spoke and have £29,000 in the bank for the club and asked people if they are not in to join for as little as a fiver a month, more if you wish and a quiz night at the Village in Nov. Requests also asked for fund raising ideas and pass on to the club with someone mentioning Go-Fund me for example. Andy says he will be back on the business club trek as soon as he has time as he neglected his business. 

All in all a good evening, well presented by the club and shows they have a desire to be back in the big time but WILL need and take time. 

Bibby signed for next year and contracts waiting to come back from four others and a squad of twenty six

Rumours of a return to promotion and relegation according to Matt Shaw.

https://www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk/news/promotion-relegation-return-cards-amid-1456912

Thanks Martin. A disappointing, but not unexpected feedback on our bid for SL. Close, but not close enough.

Totally agree that it is pointless spending money on screens and LED advertising boards etc that we don't need and can't afford, just to earn a few points. Maybe our sponsors in waiting could come up with the cash to waste on these requirements for a successful bid?

Disappointing at the apparent admission that we simply cannot make up the IMG points to get into SL with the present structure. Presume we are waiting for SL to increase to 16 or 18 teams, or a return to promotion and relegation based on performance on the pitch. May be waiting a while then!

So it looks like Championship games for the foreseeable future then. If so, the Club need to ensure that we have a squad capable of consistently competing for a top spot throughout the season.

Winning games is what will attract and retain the fans over the season, but maybe we can spend a few bob on a pyrotechnic display at the first home game, to show what we could have won!!!!

Sounds more positive than many feared but some progress at least.

If we can manage to get a bigger squad, bigger pack and keep them fit things could change for the better.

Consistency is hard at any level and often depends on luck but a good fitness preparation is all a part of that and we might, at last, have a big boot on our side!!! 

I think a big issue we will continue to have in the champ is the £24 admission fee for adults.

Appreciate the openness of these events and love hearing TH passion for the club.

Thanks Martin.

The Bibby signing is encouraging. I thought he was one of our better props last season.

Sounds like a mix of positive and negative points. I don't think 19th overall is a positive position though. The only reason we moved up this year is because we made a mess of last years IMG. If you compare our indicative grading in 2023 we have dropped 3 places from 16th to 19th so for me the positive spin is slightly miss placed.

We are trying but we need investment to progress thats pretty clear.