I'd personally stop supporting them if they ever changed the name officially to Saints RL.

I would not go that far but I can understand where you are coming from.

Common sense translation - it's a bullsh[ii[/it marketing idea.

no offence to people who live in St Helens, but its not exactly a thriving and exciting commercial metropolis.

In a game of word association, the first association to the name "St Helens" to an outsider would be negative IMO. Whether you like it or not, the club has to bring in sponsors and fans from outside the town of St Helens, and by taking away the initial negative connotations of being associated with the town there is more chance of getting people interested initially.

Add into the fact that for 12 months the club will have nothing to do with the town of St Helens, then it makes sense to rebrand publicly as Saints RL.

I doubt most people outside of the north west of England actually know where St Helens is, other than if they are involved in the rugby league community.

The new badge and branding is nothing to do with dissociating the club from the town of St Helens.

It is a new badge which brings together varying elements of our branding, including the Saints nickname, the interlocked SH and the red V, into one symbol which the club can really push as its corporate image.

The club is St Helens RLFC and always will be St Helens RLFC, but also known as the Saints as we always have been.

Reading some of the hysteria on here anyone would think we'd been rebranded as the St Helens Seahawks or something.

Yes it is. The purpose of the rebrand is to attract people from outside the town to support the team. McManus himself has said that people outside of the town can relate to the name Saints but not to St Helens. Therefore, the rebrand is about disassociating the team from the town. It's a marketing gimmick that may or may not work. The club itself, however, is still St Helens RLFC. I very much doubt we will see much reference made to St Helens RLFC in future though as for a brand name to be effective it has to be seen everywhere and repeatedly reinforced.

I know what you're saying, and I'm pretty sure that was the thought process behind the rebranding.

But there's plenty of young lads from Wuhan considering themselves to be a Manchester Utd fan, and I'm sure there are young lads in Widnes considering themselves New York Yankees supporters.

I can't see that omitting the town name will have any impact whatsoever on attracting non-St Helens residents.

That said, I don't think it will impact negatively either, so I'm totally apathetic to the whole thing.

So why am I posting on the thread? No idea to be honest!

McManus talks out his backside on this one.

I am not from the town, but got introduced to Saints by a family friend who was, but now lives in Eccleston (Chorley).

Since, I have spread my wings as he stopped going due to ill health and met people from St Helens who are some of my closest friends. I identify with St Helens in a big way. Supporting Saints, and coming to St Helens, is a huge part of my identity and has shaped a lot of my personality.

Bring back the town crest!

We might have our differences in opinion Ski but you have my support on this one,bring back the town crest.

I find it most upsetting that the "St.Helens" seems to be being dropped. On the new stadium brochure that was handed out, I honestly don't recall seeing the word St.Helens on it. I also find it annoying that people [St.Helens public and fans]are making light of it.

And "saints35 bulls0" remarks earlier in the thread are quite offensive. I wonder how he/she became a fan of the club?