My own "soccer" club (Peterborough United) under the 3 and a bit years of new ownership has had two promotions (including 1 season in The Championship) one relegation (back to league 1/Division 3 in old money) and is in to the "owner" for around £8 million, which is considerablely less than that "loaned" by Lennagen (£2m +) and Hughes (£4.5m) and continues to banked rolled by the new owner.

And that is with a record sponsorship deal outside of the premier league and no effective salary cap although one wonders if it really does work in Rugby League at any level, but that's another debate.

Yes it's not heathy to be reliant on a benefactor but in todays professional sports I'm afraid that's what happens.

Don't know if it's been mentioned before, but the club has apparently removed the discount on merchandise to season ticket holders because it can no longer afford the discount. At the last home game against Saints I used mine to buy some stuff for my brother and got discount, but yesterday when I tried to use it against the new 30 year shirt (excellent shirt btw), I was told it's not being honoured anymore. I wasn't the only one who had the same experience.

Now initially I was told they weren't doing discount this season (as did the man in front) and we both pointed out that we'd already used it this season, to which the cashier claimed that was a mistake. But when I spoke to a friend who'd bought his shirt earlier he told me that cashier had told him and others about the recent withdrawal of the discount on cost grounds.

Now I'm not fussed about losing the discount, £3.50 is neither here nor there, and the new shirt is well worth £35, but it does bring home the way the club is being forced to shave costs.

At least it shows someone somewheres thinking about the club as a business for once.

I was also one who went into the shop to get the discount yesterday but it was pointed out that the season ticket discount expired on the 2nd May!! So not just been withdrawn but time expired...Serves me right for not looking at the small print and waiting too long to get a new shirt !!!

All I want is for the club totry something different...they have stumbled along (in the time I have follwed the team) with average gates that are not enough to cover the electric bill and yet they seem bereft of ideas or even the desire to do something about it. I know people have said that we are OK for another licence next time, but it was a major concern to the RFL last time and they felt the need to repeat their fears earlier this year/late last year......

.....4,000 and change for a double header with 6+ months in the planning goes to show how inept the marketing team at Quins are. I am not saying I could do any better....I am not saying anyone could do any better, what I am saying is something has to be done.
2 double headers...........and an average of 2,900 after 9 games....730 down on last year.....let's just hope that builders don't start turning up for work at Salford, Castleford or Wakefield.......


I KNOW THAT DAVID HUGHES BANKROLLS THE CLUB......BUT THE RFL DIDN'T EXPRESS CONCERN ABOUT OUR FINANCES...THEY EXPRESSED CONCERN REGARDING OUR ATTENDANCES....

Exactly. As far as I can see the only boxes we tick at the moment are ground standards and developement - personally I don't think our franchise renewal is as locked in as some people think.

What about 20 miles from other clubs!!!! I think we qualify for that 2 points!

We are certain of another 3 years

I would love to be optimistic, but with gates on the slide and no new money coming in it just takes a change of circumstance for David Hughes and we are stuffed. Thank god he is into oil. If we lose the likes of LMS and replace him with the likes of Williamson the downward spiral will continue. It is only the non-activity re stadiums at Cas and Wakey that make me more confident of a new license. We do need a makeover though to catch the imagination of the London public. How, where and what has always been the question for the last 30 years.

Who?

Its not a great excuse but we've had a lot of smaller clubs at home for the first half of the season, and there seems to have been less of their fans than usual. We still have Wigan, Wire, Hull and Bradford at home and 3 out of 4 of them will bring between 500-1000 guaranteed. So theres a real chance we can push our average up to the 4k mark with a decent run of form and a vague effort at a marketing push. Where would Salford, Wakey, Cas, Crusaders average be if they werent within 20-30 miles of many other SL clubs? Probably very similar to ours, Ive never seen Saints bring the amount of fans to London that they take to Salford and Cas must get 2-3k from both Hull sides and Leeds.

Anyway its not an excuse as Les Cats get 7-8k every home game.

See.....this is the problem I face when dealing with people like you. You have a go and do so by either pointing out spelling mistakes, maths errors or just inane name calling. One poster in your "god will he ever shut up" group even went as far as to incorrectly question where and how I made my money....something that I will never forget or forgive.....I don't make personal attacks on individuals, unless I can back them up with facts, but it would seem that all you and your buddies have is personal insults.
"The Poop" that you mention is how I make my living...so there must be some truth in the expression, where there's muck, there's brass
If it's poop....and I don't say it isn't, then what have the paid members of staff at the club, people with degrees and experience, done?

I care about the issue.....because regardless of hom many LMS's we produce, without 1 man, there would be no club and that is not healthy (let's hope he stays healthy)...and I will contine to post on the subject. I leave the match reports to thiose who were there and the ref baiting to those who want to do that, but attendances are directly linked to all aspects of the club...without income, less money gets spent on development, less on promotion, less on players...less on pretty much everything.
BACK On thread topic..........
I repeat...spending 70k a week to lose 30k is not a good business model!