To be fair the Council is putting the money in (£3.5 million) as did Wigan MBC for the LSV so they would expect to get a return on their money as its public money at the end of the day. Its unrealistic to expect them to hand the ground over to the sports clubs, much that we would all like them to.

The way the club will benefit with the new East Stand is in the Corporate side as there will be more scope to have a lot more Diners and Sponsors (it will be a lot easier to sell packages than the current set up, especially with that balcony feature) and make money from that plus the 10 boxes which they should get sponsorhsip from - all I believe to be sorted out with Calderdale MBC before next season yet.

Hopefully CMBC will not ask an unrealsitic rent from both Fax and Town, like it sounds Doncaster and Wigan Councils have done for Donny and Leigh RLFC.

If I had won the Euro lottery I would have bought the ground off the Council and set it up as a not for profit company to run its own affairs.

does the dvd of saturdays game have commentary? i let the castleford fans know our clubs selling it and someones askin if it does

No but you can hear the "FAX" fans cheering.

no dont think it does, daryl was not there, just steve doing the filming

Nothing from the sale of food? When did that change? When I worked for HTAFC, we had an agreement with the food vans which saw them pay an amount to the club depending on the crowd based.

No chance when the stadium is shared with FC Halifax Town.

Regarding the bars, it has always been the case with the Southdale Lounge that the club does not benefit directly from its takings. However, the income generated through this source has ensured both the sustainability of SST and that the rent both clubs paid was kept to a minimum. It will be a similar situation with the new East Stand with revenue generated through the bars going to the Council. This once again will ensure that the stadium remains sustainable whilst helping keep the future rental payments by FCHT and HRLFC as low possible.

There will undoubtedly be new ways for the two clubs to raise commercial income by using the much enhanced facilities that will be available. For example there will be:

- six executive boxes that the club will be able to use (and sell on a seasonal basis).
- much improved banqueting facilities for attracting more corporate partners, sponsors and diners on a matchday.
- much bigger retail space providing a more professional shop for selling club merchandise.

The clubs have a huge part to play and will have to work with the company appointed by the Council to develop and maximise usage of the facilities to ensure full benefit is taken of the new stand. By providing these new facilities, the clubs has a lot of hard work to ensure it takes full advantage of what will be available to them.

Hopefully everyone with an interest will be able to work together for the benefit of each other and the Council will remain realistic over its future rent charges.

Utopia Bubba. Since when has any of that happened in the past?

Great post though. You talk too much sense sometimes

It has, unfortunately just not enough.

'Fax keep growing stronger and stronger and there is a lot FC Halifax Town could learn from their neighbours from down the corridor at the Shay. I am just unsure whether there is a will for either club to work closer together and I think at times they see themselves as rivals in grabbing the attention of the small, local population...which 'Fax are winning by a mile. It still isnt a rugby town though

You've gone and spoilt it now

W1g4n council didn't actually contribute very much to the LSV , most came through grant funding and the sale of land owned by leigh harriers and leased by leigh east

They did however underight the thing as there was a shortfall

Possibly the biggest mistake our club will ever make is moving into it

You had no choice mate.
The trouble with Council run things is that they have to contribute to the central pot.
In other words a facility has to make money and that money does not go back into that facility but into the pot to keep Council Tax down and that makes it political sadly.
I still think facilities like The Shay and LSV should be run by a Stadium Company who work with the tenants to the benefit of all - not local politicians.

Halifax RLFC wrote: 2570 is the highest guess for the crowd!!!! will we ever get 3000 for a league game? cos if we dont sometime soon, Super League just wont happen!!!!!

As a Fan for many years i have been asking a few people who i know used to be regulars why they dont come anymore, especially now we have a good team and are watching a great brand of Rugby. The answer that i get mostly is " I have been to the games where its a Tenner but i aint paying £14".
We are trying to entice the old Fans back but remember we lost most of them in 2003ish so to come back now and have to pay £14 each dose seem a lot especially if you come as a couple and its £28 + burger + pint etc?
One idea i had was to set up a direct debit over 12 months for season ticket to spread the cost a little.
(eg . 20 Games at £14 = £280.00 Divided by 12 Months =£23.33 per month or £5.38 per week.
Not sure if its viable but just a thought ?

The Council have previously said that this is what they want long-term. They had to take the lease back so that they could get round the red tape of spending up to £5m on completing the development. If the lease was still held by a 3rd party they couldnt have done that.



Unsurprisingly I dont think I agree. As far as I know the Council subsidises the theatre and does not run it to make a profit.

Not even from the 'Hole In The Wall'?

I'd imagine for the club (or football club for that matter) to be able to run a can bar would need to obtain the relevent licence. so would probably prove a pain to set up.

Perhaps as a money spinner, The Supporters Trust could set up a sweet stall similar to the one at Cas using Plastic Takeaway Trays. and all at £1, I'd imagine there's a decent profit margin on them. Buying The sweets in the Big Jars at a Cash And Carry then decanting them into the trays. And its a "pocket money" price. easy to transport around as the trays stack up. and should have a pretty long shelf life so shouldnt go out of date.

Imagine how hyper the kids would get? It would be like 200 Ben Black's running around on the terraces. Will this marketing ploy provide a free dental plan?

Thats step 2, the following home game we get Denplan or someone similar to set up a stall, and charge them commission for each sign up they get

Sir Alan would hire you.

The Theatres are a different kettle of fish, Councillors have a very different attitude towarsd sport sadly.

As for the lease I am not convinced myself, I hope you are right but remember they will want a return on their money.

I think it has changed though even though there is a long way to go before we can boast a sport loving council. Who would have thought 5, 10 or 15 years ago they would have been putting £5m into the stadium? I suppose it has helped having someone pro-active like Stephen Baines as Council Leader.



Sadly you are probably right. Lets hope they dont expect a return on their cash too quickly

I used to work with him at Ben Shaws - he was far from pro-active


That said - he does make positive contributions down at the Town Hall.

I think its the CEO that made this happen myself.

They should not really expect their money back, do they expect to get it back when they build a new swimming pool?
no and rightly so.

My dream is that one day some good go ahead people will ask the Council to run the Shay as a Stadium Company on a long term lease, like how Elsie Whiteley Innovation Centre is run.

We can all dream ,it may happen one day, why would a Council want to run a sports stadium in the long term is my question?
They don't make the best use of NBLC from what I can see, so how they going to run the Shay???

Heard last night that the stand is runing behind schedule yet again.No surprise really not expected to now be finished Dec time, even though we had reasurance it would be finished sooner rather than later.
Not that it matters to us it should be ready for our preseason friendlies .

Thats construction for you.