I think the board are doing the best they can within the climate the club finds itself. If there was an investor out there, they'd be there now.
The six year plan? The landscape may well be very different by then, there may not even be a deal with sky by that time. The financial loses by clubs in super league cannot be sustained forever, something has to give. The game is different now for a variety of reasons, from the issues surrounding head knocks, to the fact that interest in the game is dying off slowly partly due to changes in people's finances, and their interests away from the game, we all know there's more to do in the summer than the winter.
At the end of that plan it could well be a part time 'super league' and Widnes with a diehard fan base of 2,000 may needed as the likes of catalan and Huddersfield would find it more difficult to survive at the top table with sky money.
Remember framing the future ? We sold our ground and jumped through all the hoops and ended up playing at Wheldon Road,Belle Vue,Wilderspool,Odsal and the Willows when eventually in SL.As said what's the point of a six year plan when the same rules won't even apply.One of those SL grounds still stands the same today as well as Odsal.
I agree time does move on but Leigh went from attracting 2,500 in the championship to attracting 8,000 in the space of 5 years. A town smaller than Widnes.
People wish for someone like Beaumont. Those people have a short memory that a few years ago he pulled the plug cut everyone’s contracts up and took his ball inside because he didn’t get his way
so whilst it’s working now, that doesn’t mean it will last and that’s always a problem when you’ve got one person bankrolling your club.
Do I wish our board had more money? Yes
Do I wish we were more consistent in the top 4 as a club of our structure should be wanting as a minimum? Yes
but we are where we are in our current state and unless any of us win the lotto and are able to start spending on a non-existent dream then we have to just play at our level
The game will never be 'fair' so long as wealthy supporters stop covering their overspending.
Clubs get an allocation from the Sky deal and where they get to in the league is decided by how much their 'patron' is prepared to pay for his season ticket.
As long as that continues the game as a 'fair' contest is dead. Anyone who feels that their well-being hinges on being the supporter of a winning team needs to decide which club has the wealthiest donor and buy their ST!!
Lets be honest there are many sides out there who were 'greats' in past years when it was a locally based part time game. Big money killed that simply because, again, clubs like Saints, Wigan Leeds etc couldn't maintain their positions without overspending on player contracts. So Lindsay was authorised to do the deal with Sky!
Even then the plan was to jettison older clubs, hoping that the supporters would move to a remaining club! Widnes were certainly seen as a sacrificial club to boost Wire!!!
The latest re-organisation plans are being looked at because MacManus and co are not stupid and they can see the £1.5m handout rapidly growing!!!
Unless a massive resale takes place soon the game as it is atm will fail. The obvious possibility is that SL will leave the Championship clubs and run a fixed number SL, maybe with a Sky deal.
That is where the Oldham's etc want to be and they will need very wealthy sponsors, prepared to take a chance, over years, to get there.
I suspect that a number of our supporters are, like me, reaching an age where SL will be too late coming this time, if indeed it comes at all, but support for this team is in my blood, irrespective of what league or division!!!!
Castleford and Leigh are both smaller towns than Widnes but with more RL interest.We struggled to get 6500 in SL even with an away following but they can easily get that without.Cas struggling at the moment but they have had consistently good crowds in previous seasons.
Castleford and Leigh are both smaller towns than Widnes but with more RL interest.We struggled to get 6500 in SL even with an away following but they can easily get that without.Cas struggling at the moment but they have had consistently good crowds in previous seasons.
And therein lies the difference, both are backed by their local councils, whereas HBC don't give a 'flying fudge' about Widnes Vikings.
Paulie xx
I was around for both of our times in super league, personally I feel we just need to not look too far ahead as we need to build a competitive club firstly for the championship then hopefully build the momentum and the possibility of sponsors or investors will come along and inject the money required to take the step up to super league, atm we are nowhere near to that.
Nonsense.I must have missed the all seater modern stadium at Cas. Widnes would be playing on Dundalk Road pitches if it wasn't for Halton Council.And therein lies the difference, both are backed by their local councils, whereas HBC don't give a 'flying fudge' about Widnes Vikings
@sinbad that was 30 years ago. The council do very little to support the club and the hosting of fans on match days is shocking.
Nonsense.I must have missed the all seater modern stadium at Cas. Widnes would be playing on Dundalk Road pitches if it wasn't for Halton Council.And therein lies the difference, both are backed by their local councils, whereas HBC don't give a 'flying fudge' about Widnes Vikings
The all-seater modern stadium is 25+ years old, it's a completely different Council nowadays, to back in the late 90's. The Councils of Wigan & Wakefield back the sport. You only have to drive down into Leigh from the East Lancs and nearly every lamp is flying the Leopards flag. Wakefield Council help the 3 Rhubarb Triangle Clubs. There is absolutely nothing, either side of the Bridges, that show WVRLFC exist.
Paulie xx
@sinbad Disagree. Widnes getting 6k and Cas getting 7k even in their current situation is a false equivalence. Cas were a successful team from 2014 to 2018 in those 5/6 seasons, they was able to build up their fanbase. Widnes getting 6k while achieving little to nothing having largely been in the championship for years isn’t bad.
@mckviking I agree with this. The problem with Widnes as a town as a whole, it seems like its top end of SL or bust.
Widnes need to grow a fan base in the championship, improve fan experience, build a winning mentality and actually create a purpose. Something Widnes have lacked for 10 years now.
It really annoys me when you see so many people who you know of all ages wearing Wire and Saints shirts and going to the games. We need to get them to support their local team by some means.
Perhaps a discount on season tickets if they have a season ticket for one of these other teams after all money is money and it doesn’t look as if they will have much silver polish to sniff at Saint this season.
If only we had got Mr Koukash to back us all our troubles would have been over!The game will never be 'fair' so long as wealthy supporters stop covering their overspending.
Clubs get an allocation from the Sky deal and where they get to in the league is decided by how much their 'patron' is prepared to pay for his season ticket.
As long as that continues the game as a 'fair' contest is dead. Anyone who feels that their well-being hinges on being the supporter of a winning team needs to decide which club has the wealthiest donor and buy their ST!!
Lets be honest there are many sides out there who were 'greats' in past years when it was a locally based part time game. Big money killed that simply because, again, clubs like Saints, Wigan Leeds etc couldn't maintain their positions without overspending on player contracts. So Lindsay was authorised to do the deal with Sky!
Even then the plan was to jettison older clubs, hoping that the supporters would move to a remaining club! Widnes were certainly seen as a sacrificial club to boost Wire!!!
The latest re-organisation plans are being looked at because MacManus and co are not stupid and they can see the £1.5m handout rapidly growing!!!
Unless a massive resale takes place soon the game as it is atm will fail. The obvious possibility is that SL will leave the Championship clubs and run a fixed number SL, maybe with a Sky deal.
That is where the Oldham's etc want to be and they will need very wealthy sponsors, prepared to take a chance, over years, to get there.
I suspect that a number of our supporters are, like me, reaching an age where SL will be too late coming this time, if indeed it comes at all, but support for this team is in my blood, irrespective of what league or division!!!!