Having worked the last two weekends I was looking forward to tomorrow's game but will now be driving/supporting my eldest sons playing in Hull.
Frustratingly that's the two of us plus a number of his team mates missing tomorrow.

I know I'll get jumped all over for this but I don't really care.

Look at Leigh and what a difference some new directors have made. Twitter and Facebook teaming with updates all day every day. We have tony Abbott who has made millions in marketing. Yet still struggle for any kind of social media awareness except a IPhone app which to be fair is pretty poor.

We have to get " in your face " marketing done and I'm afraid it's simply not happening. Some new blood in directors with fresh ideas and the impetus to follow them through. Up until about a year ago is never heard of Andy mazey, now he is everywhere on my Facebook, Twitter etc. new ideas that are gathering pace., they seem to be going forwards quick, whilst all I seem to hear from us is " sound the retreat"

Just my opinion, I'm a 33 year old bloke and unless we embrace the technologies available we are screwed. Posters just won't do it nowadays.

There certainly seems to be a feel good factor around Leigh at the moment and they just need it to transfer in to bums(no disrespect intended) on seats. Our attempts at times could be considered shoddy and things like this have to be done well as the people running the club should know.

Its the little things done well that can make a big difference. Take for example the Your Club Needs You Videos, I think they are a very good idea but getting the running order of the questions wrong in what is a something like 3 minute video is poor at best and is both laughable and confusing for anyone other than Fax fans watching.

No I am with you all the way on this the App rarely gets updated these days. I also agree that you get jumped on for any criticism of the club they don't like it and have a siege mentality where nothing changes and we are all too negative and out to just have a go at them! Thing is you have to listen and sometimes you might not like what you hear but to close your eyes and ears and do nowt means you never improve and things stay the same.
I think the club are too reliant on the fans we have and take us for granted.
Cue a response putting me in my place but the club please note - you need to improve and target NEW fans otherwise our support will continue to drop and not increase, stop blaming us and get out and target new fans!
I have to add I am a HUGE fan of the club and do what I can to help where I can like getting 2 more down tomorrow who don't come all the time.

Everything seems to have gone pretty quiet since Tony Abbott made his bid to buy the ground, to be fair that created a lot of press, but what next?

The Club has to connect more to the local community. The club doesnt have a great reputation sadly and the handling of the rent and Shay for me could and should have been done better. The Board have done a very good job over the years and should be applauded for taking the club away from the dark days of 5 or 6 years ago. Its a shame that the scumbags over on Shaymen.net feel the need to badmouth and create as much negative press as possible for the club. But the club also has much to blame for the way things are, regarding the reputation of the club and the way things are regarding crowds etc.

The club, much like the game, is at a crossroads as to where it goes from here. The club really needs to promote itself better. Its OK using Twitter and social media to tell us whats going on etc but in the main its preaching to the converted. The loss of the daily courier is a massive blow for Fax and Town and something both clubs have not really recovered from. Linda Kitson for one has said the club (Players, Mascot etc) really need to get out in to the town centres of Halifax, Elland, Sowerby Bridge etc and take the club to the people way more than it has done. I must agree with her. I know the club are not loaded but such things dont cost that much money. Its OK Frank Watene going into Schools, but thats not enough and he is employed by the Council not the club. I think the club and board need to learn from some mistakes made. Tony Abbott mouthing off hasnt helped him or Fax this past few months. The club needs to somehow sell itself to a new audience as well as connect with the ex fans if it hopes to survive for me. If it doesnt crowds will keep dropping and the club will slowly go backwards down to the levels of Dewsbury, Batley etc who struggle for 1000 crowds

I,m glad you brought that up.
How many rate payers in Calderdale actually know that a business man was prepared to buy a loss making weight on the council, guarantee reduced rents for both clubs with a secure future and to improve the ground.
If all the rate payers in Calderdale were asked to vote, would they stand against it.
Luddites rule o.k
Well done Town today, move up to 9th.

With respect you say that the club could have handled the rent issue better and then say Mr Abbott has been mouthing off.
I agree that the rent issue "would seem" to have been handled poorly (we don't know the ins and outs though) but I have never come across Mr Abbott "mouthing off"
The trouble is he can't win with some people, in tonight Courier there is an article about him talking to Calderdale business men. Result, Luddites attack his dress sense, bring up the rent issue etc.
Good luck to them.
But in my humble opinion our club owes him respect and our gratitude.

I think that Mr Abbott is a good man for the club and can and will do lots of networking for the club. I have never met him but I do think that both clubs would have prospered better / quicker had he taken over the shay. Now both clubs face the prospect of it falling into disrepair under a cash strapped council. As fans we can all do our bit, call into radio stations wishing the club well for the next game record something funny that will promote the club in a good light put it on YouTube. That kind of thing. I ram Halifax elf down anybody's throat who will listen and I'm in Canada.

I hope the Club do not look at any of these posts as negative because I think they are quite the reverse , things really need to happen as time moves on and I can see Fax geting left behind if we don`t get out and do something.
I noticed on the Leigh board their players have been in local supermarkets again giving out kids tickets and also out and about in the Town , it`s got to be done need to try differant stuff now . Will there be any fixture lists printed ,as we could get some volunteers to take them into the pubs, coffee /hairdressers shops ,clubs, hotels , tourist info ` centres ,schools ,just anywhere who will take them . No good just letting rugby supporters know we are here WE already know ,I was in Hebden Bridge last week and saw a piece of white A4 pinned up in a shop with a very crude looking ,plain fixture list of Town matches ,yes it looked a poor do but at least they are getting the message out.

At the last home game, one of the Halifax RLFC board of directors approached myself & asked me if i could give him the name & contact details of a local junior club which i duly did after speaking to the club myself first. The director & amateur club need not be named just in case it falls on it's booty but i think if the idea that the director in question suggested to me comes off, it's a definate "connecting with the local community/amateur club" situation. Unfortunately, it's no big deal, doesn't need to be splashed all over the club website, messageboards etc etc, it's simply a small step in the right direction of re-building bridges with a target audience and just one of those little things that goes on behind the scenes that we the supporter doesn't usually hear about.

I'm surprised that nobody on here has mentioned the recent Fev Rovers salary cap increase ( something like £400K limit ), as i understood the press release, it's a reward for their business strategies & improved financial turnover. This has to be the aim of every single club & sounds to me like very well deserved carrot & stick, they are putting themselves in a better position to compete at a higher level and securing their future. This is all relative to the topic BTW.

Part quote.
"I'm surprised that nobody on here has mentioned the recent Fev Rovers salary cap increase ( something like £400K limit ), as i understood the press release, it's a reward for their business strategies & improved financial turnover. This has to be the aim of every single club & sounds to me like very well deserved carrot & stick, they are putting themselves in a better position to compete at a higher level and securing their future. This is all relative to the topic BTW." End.

There was some coverage of this a couple of weeks back in one of the RL weeklies and it was as you have stated it and something to do with turnover.

One of the Fev lads breifly touched on it after it was said they would breach the cap this year and that's why they could spend more if they had it to spend.

Using that same logic Dr Kooocas$h would have Billy Slater, Sonny-Bill and Sam Bugess in his team.

Sort of defeats the concept of. "cap"

It was stated that the cap had different levels depending on how the club was being run finacially but it still had a ceiling and if you had hit and exceded the targets / criteria a club could spend more and still be conforming to the rules.

It is a different thing from the unbridled spending and Mr Kou, the DR will be dissapointed as this week the vote went against him according to Mr Rimmer on Boots.

Hold on minute, fax had a £400k cap when Calland was at the helm due to having over a million turnover, we were allowed to spend up to £400k.

If it's good for one team(us) then why not anyone else. Well done Fev I say for getting the criteria hit for this dispensation.