Yes it is , and I have argued long and hard that the RFL should help clubs , but as you suggest , they are clueless

However it is still no excuse , this is where my ' run it as a business ' comes from , treat it like a brand new business , just having a good team on the pitch will never bring in the funds required to break even

The RFL should have central fund and standardised adverts to help push the RL brand. In my opinion just 1% of the tv contract reinvested in marketing would have brought a significant ROI over the last 16 years

I heard a certain crane firms former owner mentioned at work on friday........ plenty money if true.

Slightly o/t, but a lot is said about gate receipt money.
Do people honestly believe if the entrance fee was dropped slightly more people would come?

Could a bonus scheme be offered on a trial basis, where as for every ticket purchased there is a slight discount on one for the next home Match, as a loyalty thing.

Would this entice stay aways?

Also when the club give out family tickets etc its only those who normally attend but get in for free anyhow, wouldn't it be great If the regular 'loyal' supporter then made a small donation to LISA?

Did they not post profits in past fee years?

Arthur Thomas was certainly a great man for Leigh but clearly wasn't using the club to anywhere near it's business potential. What was that sponsor thing last season? 1k a ticket into a draw, 18 or so parties went for it? That's nowhere near enough! Even if it was 10k a ticket still low covering all your sponsors.

As we found when bloody Vaughan was at Widnes some owners are just happy to sign the cheques to cover any costs but when that day comes where they either don't want to or in this case can't keep shelling out their own money they haven't left a lot behind.

Steve pondering your question it would depend on how much was won but say it was a couple of million pounds I too would open a bank account and the club could have the interest. I would also look at getting an advertising firm on board to look at how the club could engage with the people of Leigh, get the club's name out there and look towards how a new breed of fan could be enticed down. I don't think that the lapsed fan would return on a regular basis.

Hearing Gary Eccleston speak about other development work is quite exciting and as you know I've always been a big supporter of the academies and reserves. If this is producing players of first team standard on a regular basis then ultimately you do end up saving money. I believe that there are good people in a number of positions at the club and I suppose the idea would be to introduce other revenue streams then it would become totally dependant on my contribution. If it ever got to that stage we would be unlike any other club in rugby league.

I have to admit I do quite like the idea of membership schemes similar to the one Widnes announced.

I would suggest the price to get in next season will be rising , not reducing , and who exactly are these ' stay aways ' ? , they are the people in the pub who wouldn't come if it was a quid to get in , because they already have a dozen other reasons not to , forget them they are gone , we don't want them back

You suggest the free tickets are used by people who already come , why is that , how do we give out these tickets ?

It isn't hard to come up with ideas to stop this , but have the club put the effort into making sure that the people who get these tickets are from the 70 odd thousand people who have never ever been into the LSV or have ever watched a Leigh RL team

That is the point of giving out free tickets , make sure they end up in the correct hands , because they are your target future fans , but if you don't , just because it requires a bit of thought , then you don't benefit from them

I was referring to a euro type win Dave

Yes you are completely correct about the ' lapsed ' fan , waste of time and money , they either come or they don't , we have around a thousand potential new fans born in the borough every year , so that is the target , not in the year they are born , but in the year they reach a certain age , I'd consider giving a free full family ticket to every 9 year old in every school in Leigh

The Widnes scheme is a great one , it guarantees you regular income throughout the year , which removes the early season complacency ( when you get all your ST and merchandise sales ) and the mid season crisis when nobody is buying tickets , it also gives you a better idea of your merchandise requirements therefore not leaving as much unsold stock on the shelf

Although the issue of merchandise is one that needs a different approach at our level

How does it save money Dave ?

Who's responsibility is it to have the Tickets printed for each game (not the free ones steve but tickets in general). whats the cost incurred in having these printed every home game. There is also an element of high wastage which results in throwing money away. You would have to ask the question. What value is added by producing match day tickets???

The LSV issue tickets to the LSV , not the club

well maybe the LSV need to start reducing the running costs so that they can offer the Customer a far more reasonable rate.

That should save us a tenner a week then , look , the turnstiles are designed for an all ticket stadium , that's the way it is , in monetary terms it is minuscule , the tickets will cost 10 p each , it really isn't going to make any difference , what would make a difference would be for the LSV to look at what their administration wage bill is , as that runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds , so saving a few quid on printing tickets

The eventual aim would be to have the conveyor belt of talent producing players so the club doesn't have to spend as much money recruiting, or that's how i'd look at it. Initial outlay is more, or we could just wait until the SL clubs in our area shed players at 21 like confetti.

If any free tickets go out it should be to the schools as they used to and get 1000 screaming kids in, they are the future.And create a childrens end or enclosure We could always get spoosors for freebies fo the kids