Whilst I don't necessarily agree with the sentiment, it's harder than simply saying "Leeds should get 20k+".

Populations in cities might be bigger, but they are far more transient that they are in the towns. You say that Leeds has a population of 800,000, but around 100,000 of those are student. That's a lot of people off the bat, probably from elsewhere in the UK (or the world) who are likely to have little or no affiliation with Leeds and who aren't actually in the city for large parts of the rugby season.

Leeds also has a lot of people migrating to it from other parts of the UK for work / education and the rest. Again, these are probably people with their own sporting affiliations and it's hard to break those down. Other clubs in the game, aside from Salford and London, don't have that problem. Nobody ups sticks and leaves their home to start a new career in Widnes or Castleford.

Then there is the problem that the leisure market in cities is far, far more competitive. There is a hell of a lot of stuff to spend your money on in Leeds on a Friday night.

Sure, there is stuff the club can do better, and it does a lot of things very well, but this idea that Leeds could get 25k+ every week doesn't take into account the fact that Leeds' market is very different from most of RL land.

Leeds core support started from a pretty low ebb in the summer era, probably around 9,000 based on the 1996 game against London.

It's now closer to 15,000 based on the 2015 fixture against Catalans Dragons. Only very briefly did it go above that, probably in the 2004-2005 period where the club finally broke its title hoodoo and attendances seemed to peak for the big games in particular.

Attendance is of course restricted by safety certificates for the various parts of the ground, and allowance has to be made for visiting fans. If Leeds were to be averaging around 20k then every game would probably have to be all-ticket, which in return would likely cut down numbers as it takes away the impulse attender.

In the best part of 40 years since I started going to Headingley, I'm struggling to think of a time when Leeds would have even come close to averaging 20k over the course of a season. There have been 20k plus attendances for the odd game - a Widnes cup replay in the mid 80s, a handful of games around the early/mid 2000s maybe, but nothing to suggest a 20k average attendance is feasible irrespective of the level of success the club enjoys.

I think once headingley is fully or partly upgraded and a capacity around or above 24k. Then a 20k average us achievable, but this would require north stand up to around 7k Seats and south stand back above 8k

Ps bought a season ticket for 2016 first time since 2005.
Not had one for a few years due to other commitments, but can go to every home game up to super 8's could be a lottery after that.

Where are the other 4k fans going to come from, out of interest? If they haven't been coming to games during the last decade, I'm not sure it's going to be that easy to convince them to come watch a team in transition.

I think it would be quite achievable with a big push on marketing.

And a hundred thousand students is an opportunity not a hindrance.

Just look round the city? would you guess there is a sports team that has just won a treble? and season tickets are available for 27 quid a month

With a footfall of what must run in the hundreds of thousands within the city centre and train station it's criminal there is not one billboard, poster not anything to let a person know there is an elite title winning Club 5 mins away from the city.

I agree that we need an upgrade, as HQ gets quite uncomfortable when it hits 20k

I think we are on the crest of a wave regarding potential support. A lot of people within the city have become proud of the club and really feel part of the success achieved by the team. Leeds has never really been a hotbed of sporting passion despite the success of both Leeds Utd and Leeds RL. This could be the period that it really changes, and I feel a real bond between the club and the people of our city at the moment. Add to that growing numbers of supporters from far and wide attaching themselves to the club and a good increase in numbers looks likely. Dwindling away followings will ultimately impact on attendances, but I think we can grow to an average of 16500-17000 next season.

Stick a roof on the west stand and you might get some more away supporters for a start. It's 2015 ffs!

Come back when you've paid off a mortgage and you aren't renting.

Can't do this - won't be able to launch bog brushes from the ginnel behind

It's old but at least it's ours.

Are Wiganers all sensitive to UV or something?

How many times last season did it chuck it down during games? Not that many, surely?

its summer rugby(that starts and finishes in winter) in england , take all roofs off

Did the roofs blow off all your stands at Wigan before the semi final against Huddersfield ? I was just wondering how you could only just muster 10,000 for your biggest game of the season. Or maybe you had all checked your barometers and seen there was a likelihood of getting wet on your way to the ground. Are you all made of paper over there in Wigan?

Not sure why people are dishing out stick for this comment it's perfectly legit. We claim this to be the best sport in the world yet the treble winners don't even have a roof on one of our stands, it is pretty poor.

Sure it's our roofless stand but most people dont know or care about that.