I think people are also missing the impact of the state of the countries economy. People have been laid off for the last few years means less disposable income for our fans and less income from corporates as well. It's not really that surprising clubs are struggling. Yesterday's announcement of the closing of comet and seven seas will no doubt impact some of the hull club's fans.

All clubs make losses at some point - even St Helens.

To be fair I think the "lesser" SL clubs and the Championship clubs face similar difficulties just on a different scale. Lack of money to promote and market the club/merchandise etc leads to fewer fans leads to no increase in money. The bigger SL clubs benefit from sponsorship, corporate hospitality and obviously attendances far in excess of the "lesser" SL clubs which enables them to continually market the club.
However, I do think many clubs at all levels in the sport are very poorly run and whilst the club would still face problems, I think many clubs can be much better and bigger than they currently are even without an influx of cash.

Without doubt, the 1 st allocation of money every year should be a marketing budget, prefferably put aside in a specific account to prevent it being used for general costs and paying another players wages

SL and Championship Clubs need to operate slightly differently, the Championships need more localised work aimed at building their fan bases, SL can and should be looking further afield and more focused on corporate than the lower tiers

This is why the Championship TV coverage is pointless to a degree, it shows the sport at that level in a bad light IMO

Spot on, the fantasy world that some exist in worries me.

ON FIELD SUCCESS DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY EQUATE TO FINANCIAL SECURITY!!!

Nope. What they need is new investment or a new owner. You know - like Bradford got.

The RFL didn't step in with 'cold hard cash' until [iafter[/i Bradford went into administration. At the moment efforts are quite rightly focused on stopping Salford folding in the first place.

Get shut of salford and bring in a team from norway














































































apparently 4 people watch the matches from there

Minor point, but the RFL loaned Bradford £750k the year before they went into admin, and added another £500k or so a few months before with the lease to odsal thrown in when they realised they weren't getting that initial £750k back.

Do Salford have a 100yr lease at a peppercorn rate they can sell the RFL?. I know salfords rent is only £1 a yr but there's a big service charge they pay on top of that and not sure what duration of lease is.

I agree with all the above especially the poorly run. What do we expect, these are tiny businesses even Leeds with very limited career management opportunities - why does anyone think they will be able to attract top notch talent? Look at Leeds - the biggest club in the league - where are the opportunities for mgmt progression? can't see Hetherington giving up his 150k a year anytime soon. On the PR Phil Daley has been at Leeds since he left education, he has no experience of anything else, no wonder the marketing is stale.

Theyve now told Leigh they cant fulfil their friendly with them too.

Situation worsens.

I hope Leigh can pick up a suitable opponent to replace Salford, or it might leave us with both cashflow and preperation issues.

Of course, when I look at the Salford situation things are worse on their side of the fence...

Castleford Tigers - we had planned a fans event for Boxing Day but had to cancel due to lack of interest. I know its short notice (5 days) but this would provide much needed revenue for both clubs.