No , generally Saturday afternoon was ' rugby ' day , being either union internationals ( RL as well when we had a touring team ) or the RL cup matches , I remember well playing footy on Saturday mornings then spending Saturday afternoons watching rugby of one type or another on my grandparents ' new ' colour Telly

Oh yes league games were regular Grandstand fare and guess which team were on the most?








































Leeds

Simply because they had undersoil heating and no matter what they could always get a game on.

RL was a big "draw" then simply because you had either Grandstand or World of "Sport"

Too many clubs were "scared" of the telly and it showed, and to a point still does.

They had the most powerful media on the planet at their fingertips and blew it big time, but then that's how RL has always been in this country.

There were more cup competitions then - Lancashire & Yorkshire Cups, mid-season John Player Trophy, Challenge Cup, and for a while the BBC3 Floodlit Trophy. There was greater tv exposure, but the game itself was of a much lower standard than it is today (semi pro players, winter conditions, far less understanding of S&C coaching, far less structured and tactical analysis). That said, it was still comparably better and more demanding than other sports. There was little or no revenue from tv, except in the associated (cigarettes and alcohol) sponsorship.

The game now is far bigger financially. In common with other sports, its revenues are raised through selling of tv rights and major sponsorship (through the governing body and its associated companies), with income through the turnstyles a proportionally smaller percentage of the turnover of the clubs.

The game has also expanded nationally. The Student game is national and competitive (four of its 'Super 8' elite league teams are from non-traditional areas, London, Gloucester, Loughborough and Northumbria). The summer RL Conference pyramid has teams in Nottingham, St Albans, Coventry, Hemel Hempstead in its National division, and regional divisions across the whole of Great Britain. There are RL staff in every part of the British Isles now, plus regular home-nations plus France international competitions and bi-annual 'Four Nations' events in Europe (alternately staged down under).

As well as the home nations, there are (amateur) domestic leagues in several European and Mediterranean/Arabic nations, and (tiered) international competitions including countries like Germany, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Norway, Lebanon, Italy and others.

Yes we know Joe , but the O/ P was referring to the semi pro / pro game specifically , so how does it survive ?

And if people were in any doubt that this wasn't Barry MacKenzie, they are not now.

Speaking for my club, our crowds are bigger now than when we where the best club in the world back in the early 80's. Bigger crowds, more regular TV viewers and more money in the game. More kids playing the game and generally a much more cohesive and better run RFL. I'm not sure why you think its worse or are you really just trolling?

The one area we have gone backwards is in the International games profile.

In regards to income, if clubs can draw 8,000 avg crowd then in theory they should be able to have an income in access of 3million pound. That should be enough for the salary cap and running costs per year.

there were more cup competitions as a poster has said, to keep a cashflow going and this helped a lot of smaller clubs if they drew a big side at home for instance, i can remember a lot of teams praying for a home draw with hull in the early 80s and i'm sure it was similar for wigan in the early 90s. the downside was more games packed into the season, i can remember regular wednesday night games at hull. also touring sides played lots of games against the clubs as well as the test matches.

also i think the 7000 average before superleague started is a bit high, thought it would have crept lower then this in the late 80s / early 90s

....you feel the need to differentiate now then do you




The game would go back to being a part time sport, with a few clubs folding immediately and others going close. But at least the RFL would get their wish of fewer Australians playing in SL



As for the 70's and attendances....what was the difference between the price of a pint and a ticket to watch say Widnes v Wigan? I reckon it was a lot cheaper to get into the game back then.....there was less to do (TV's weren't found in every room in the house and there were 3 channels with one of them only switching on in the evening) and soccer was an excuse for fans to settle scores...either on the terraces or nearby and either with other fans or with the old bill, so it wasn't as "appealing" as it is now.

Crowds are way higher than they were in the late 70s-mid 80s. The first year I watched Leeds (81-82) the average was something like 5.5k, and it had been around that mark for some time. Leeds were by no means the worst supported club either - Hull were about the only club pulling 'big' crowds (>10k).

and, iirc, over 14,000 for a second division game against hunslet circa 1979

The crowds were more evened out , your leigh's,Fax's,FevsWidnes,Keighleys were all getting much more then , more in some instances than current SL clubs

Overall it was probably similar

add professional cricket to the list - it would have died years ago - as it is,it's hanging on.....