Again you are missing the point, you ( Halifax RLFC ) are not competing against Leigh,Fev and Batley, your players and coach are , your club is competing against Bradford,Leeds and Huddersfield for the hearts and minds of the Calderdale public, that is your challenge, but ' Stealth ' marketing certainly wont hack it

Absolute rubbish mate.

Your back to the marketing again and as previously the hearts and minds of many potential fans in this area are on other more important matters nearer to home.

Of the clubs you have mentioned we are competing against in your view I want to laugh out loud.

If Leeds were never to play a game of rugby again there's no way their current supporters would choose Fax to follow in large numbers or if any.

Huddersfield have struggled for years to raise interest in the residents of Kirklees never mind Calderdale.

Many of those on the Bradford boarder who went from Fax to Bradford years ago have stopped going to games for a number of reasons like those mentioned, the others are Bradford or Fax through and through or nothing.

I could never support another Rugby League club if Fax folded, I might watch an odd game now and then but would be more likely to watch the local amateur teams.

Before Fax can even think of gaining any support from home territory or other clubs they have to have a winning team against their opponents in their league and that comes down to skill, blood and guts and a bit of luck on the field in plain view and even then there's nothing guaranteed.

Just as an after thought using your reasoning Paul Rowley will be saying to your team don't bother about winning at Halifax on Sunday because we are really competing against Wigan, Warrington, Widnes and Saints and we have really kicked their buts on marketing so the results don't matter.

I assume you are mid fifties in age faxcar, obviously as are all current Halifax fans, by your reckoning only by being the best club in the country can you entice any new fans

Sorry you are wrong about myself and all current Fax fans.

Age has nothing to do with it unless you want to discriminate.

I never mentioned or "reckoned" at being the best in the country.

Simply you need to have a winning or competitive side playing rugby that's good to watch against your current opposition to have the best chance of maintaining or increasing your support and making progress, that includes fan base and corporate base.

You can market all you like but without the above you will be severely hampered on two of the most important income streams.

I don't think marketing is the single most important factor.

If you look at Bradford as a model of progress from the rest of the pack on and off the field and back down again if I had to choose one thing at the root of the cause it would be miss management.

They failed to manage what they had across the board.

Same at all the other clubs who get into difficulties.

Same as the game as a whole for that matter from Red Hall down.

Probably the single most important factor is proper management.

If you don't agree fair enough, keep taking cheap shots but it only shows you have nothing constructive left to say.

To conclude.

My original posting was nothing to do with marketing or the business side of things.

I was simply saying in view of how much negative commentary had been said about one of our directors and main benefactors it would not be good for the club if we joined in and contributed to him walking away and it may be better to focus on what we know for a fact he has done rather than what we don't know about.

Just as a side note, sunday's tv game Hudds v Saints att was reported in the rugby papers yesterday as 5,500 ish. Two top drawer teams, yes, live on tv but with severe competition from other sporting events also on tv that day BUT tickets/marketing well in advance for a tenner !!!!
I haven't watched the game back on record yet to make my own judgement on the att given, but 5,500 ish...... that's not healthy.

So that would beg the question, does discounting ticket prices really work or would the crowd have been worse at full price?
Personally I think they've just lost money as the ones that wre going to go went and the floating supporters watched it on TV.

Last week when Huddersfield played Warrington, I read a conversation on my facebook wall! One of my friends (who is from Halifax) was saying what a good day he and some of my other friends had had in one of the boxes at the Hudds game. Someone else from Halifax then replied saying they were in the box next door and they had a good day. These are all people that used to watch Fax at one time. I'm not sure of the reasons or the solutions but it depresses the hell out of me!

They only had a good day 'cos giants lost!

I could never get enthused about watching anyone else. OK, I might have an afternoon out eating prawn sandwiches in a warm box but I would never pay good money to switch allegiances. I wouldn't class these as "fans", more spectators.

Same here. I will watch Halifax whatever level they play at be that SL or a similar level to Town. If Fax went out of business I would not be watching another team.

If and when we get into Super League and can compete against these sides we may be able to attract these fans, until then we will struggle to do so because as you say they have already chosen to watch the teams in the higher league.

Why did they choose to go and watch these teams in the first place?

Many reasons, some are.

Until this year the chance for Fax to make any progress out of the Championship didn't even exist.

The chance of going to Wembley was zero.

The chance of going to Old Trafford was zero.

They did not want to spend money watching a lower standard of play in a competition that lead nowhere so they went where the big games and the big crowds already were.

Ask them yourself, if they are prepared to "down grade" their afternoons game of rugby for what is on offer at the Shay or anywhere else.

Ask them if they would rather pay to watch Leeds or get in free at the Shay.

I know a few of the supporters (spectators) who watch these sides and they want to be associated with "winners" and the excitement and feel good factor that goes with it.

With their hard earned cash or even their bulging wallets they are paying for more than watching a game or a team, can't anyone see this, in there couple of hours away from the norm they want to be entertained at the highest level.

Even if we somehow get into SL to be able to compete against the likes of Leeds is in my opinion not realistic in the short term and would be an incredible achievement in the long term.

The best we can hope for and realistically budget for is to get into SL, initially hold our own, not get relegated and then to compete with the middle order clubs who are in there.

To get into SL we will have to first be better on the field than all our current rivals and the two teams that get relegated from SL this year.

The two teams that come down will have a significant financial advantage and if we finish third or below so will the two above us from our division.

It's all well and good saying market this or we need to do this or that but someone say how it can be done as things stand at the moment both in and away from the game.

To compare watching the one off game from the RLWC to the regular choice of watching either Fax or Leeds for anyone who is not a Fax supporter at this point in time or any time soon is clearly is a miss match in comparisons.

The RFL will not give the club access to the data from the World Cup.

Faxcar, it's the clubs job to promote and increase the business. Simple as that, example from me. I sent a message on Facebook about dining package formleigh on Sunday. No acknowledgment or response yet they can repost everyone else's comments. I sent a message on twitter as this seems to be where they are more familiar. I got followed but no reply or response regarding dining package. This was over weekend and yesterday. I don't have time to call during the day due to work commitments. So I'm excluded really even though I was trying to book for 4. Since then I've arranged other things and going out the night before with the same 3 people. Clubs loss but a prime example of going backwards. I sent a tweet to Leigh regarding something and had a response within 2 hours.

It's slightly different from winning fans from Leeds, Bradford ETC but absolutely right and if that is how Fax are operating then it's not good enough and will have more outgoing than incoming.

Are you seeing this Halifax RL.

Is there a valid reason why one of your long time supporters can't be provided with a simple service or is it you or the food that's really that bad?