The Full 80 on SMTM TV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bObXfot759I is debating IMG. Around 25 minutes in Mick, The Gamecaller, Gledhill comes out with something like, "Not every club is blessed with a David Hughes like Broncos." Bongser has lit the orange touch paper and will now retreat 10 paces (or rather 12 miles to The Egerton Arms in Salford for a Christmas piddle-up with the divers RL allegiances of that railway station pub)!

The Full 80 on SMTM TV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bObXfot759I is debating IMG. Around 25 minutes in Mick, The Gamecaller, Gledhill comes out with something like, "Not every club is blessed with a David Hughes like Broncos." Bongser has lit the orange touch paper and will now retreat 10 paces (or rather 12 miles to The Egerton Arms in Salford for a Christmas piddle-up with the divers RL allegiances of that railway station pub)!

The lazy stereotype tends to see DH as the 'saviour of RL in London'. In reality, he's put in money but not very effectively.

"Very"?
He's butchered the club to within an inch of oblivion.

True. I am mean look at the amount of regular posters that came on here 10, 15, 20 years ago and you have to ask the question why they do not anymore. Gus in my view was the beginning of the end.

Paddock Punter (Nigel), one of the most dedicated of London RL supporters, Gus rubbed him up the wrong way, and it ended up after PP being at every game since the Fulham days, stopped. And it was not only him, a whole load of harden supporters got very pi**ed off with how the existing supporter base were being communicated to, and treated.


I agree with Gutters, the 2006 and 2007 seasons were the best days in terms of trying to build something special. We had a really good team that could beat, and did beat everyone on their day. We had optimism that the bad days were behind us and the best days were ahead. Yes there were grumbles, but the results and the attendances at the Stoop spoke for themselves, I remember the last day of the 2006 season against Salford when we had a +5K crowd. The crowd atmosphere was amazing.

I went to Australia and came back to the UK during the 2011 season, I took my dad along to a home game, The Stoop was dead (Sub 2k crowd), the team was bottom of the SL, the guys that used to come to the games were not there as Gus was a Pen15. Everybody was just downbeat, resigned, and the feeling with the Broncos fanbase was toxic.

Back to topic, if IMG wants to grow the game here, then I would suggest that they grab a copy of the Pastel Revolution book which describes the story of how Broncos became Quins, and how Lenaghen and team wanted to build something special.

For IMG to do this it will take time, but more importantly words are cheap and regardless of how much money they have to pump in (it will be a lot), the money will be pi**ed down the toilet without the plan and how you are going to execute it.

Any thats my annual rant.

In contrast, Hughes has never wanted to (or never had the funds) to build something special. The squad he assembled last year, in a new stadium was woeful despite him targetting 5,000 fans

IMG see the potential of London but must also realise Hughes isn't part of any succesful outcome.

Despite my antipathy to all things H********s I did attend most home games that season, I remember us getting 8k against Saints first home game, the '12,000' against Huddersfield ( sorry , had to get that one in!) but did we really have over 5k against Salford for the last home game ?

Crowd for Salford was 3,053. Penultimate game was also at home v Wigan had 5,737.

Yep your right, I got confused. I just checked and they were back to back home games for the end of the season. It was 17 years ago, damn I am getting old.

A simple experiment is to take the crowds from 2002 up to 2007 and compare them to the crowds 2008-2014 under the sole ownership of Hughes. up to relegation
315,236 fans attended 81 home games over the first period (3,892), whilst 285,987 attended the latter 102 home games (2,801).
This is a 30% decrease in crowds and about £20,000 per game drop in ticketing income alone. Over 102 games, that's £2,000,000+ less income. I believe we took about £200,000 on the gate last year.....we were £80,000 per game during that first period.

Now let's list the excused trotted out by the club.

1. The tie in with Quins wasn't working!
Whilst we were welcomed as partners when we arrived, Evans leaving and Hughes generally gruff demeanour when doing "business' his way soured the relationship. Quins NEEDED us when we arrived, but we had a responsibility to make ourselves part of the club in general, but we made no effort at all and expected the hosts to put everything on a plate for us. I remember how hard Petra worked at that time to make it a success, but once Gus was appointed, that was it.

2. The Name was confusing. The infamous RL RL[/size.com. If ever there were proof needed of the insanity and ineptitude at the club in that period, this is it.
3. The Stoop was too expensive. I've seen the 2009-2012 accounts at the club and £225,000 was the average price we paid. WE decided to move our offices out because we didn't like the space we were given, saying it wasn't big enough? We already had a peppercorn staff at this stage, so space wasn't an issue and when I met with the RFL at the club, the meeting rooms and offices seemed perfectly adequate.
4. The fans don't get behind the club. This one grates me. I ran busses to Wales and Wakefield before I moved down here and filled them both. I did it through hard work and pestering folk. The club at the time had tried to put coaches on but gave up when nobody wanted to go........the difference was communication and a bit of effort. For Hughes to ask lapsed fans to return with no apology for his prior aloofness towards us points to his issue here. He really doesn't have a f&*(ing clue!

Excuses are easy. The problems happen when you run out of them and Hughes MacKay and now Loubser have now done this. They can't blame anyone but themselves for the carnage from 2012 onwards, not the slow decline before that period. Bad decisions, not listening to the RFL, ignoring fan feedback and bad judgement when recruiting have all led us to the point where avoiding relegation to the 3rd tier in 2022 is seen as a bright spot.

26 games until his 5k target has to be hit.......someone should remind him of the season average in 2006 (4,917)

Just thought my mind was playing tricks on me. 5k+ for Wigan , fair enough , the Where's Wally brigade always travel well, but Salford don't really compare in terms of away support, eh?

We might be better off being owned by Nerys Hughes. At least she is funny.

2,440 is the average attendance for Salford in SL from 1996-2014 and once again in 2019. Only Catalans travel in fewer numbers to the capital. Wigan, with 4,903 as an average over 23 visits are the biggest drawcard in the Capital, followed by Saints 4,473 and then Leeds 4,076 pointing to the reality that a great number of our attendances were boosted by ex-pat fans of these clubs who were based in the south because other than occasions where clubs sponsored coaches down (Wigan 2008 = 8,041) I never saw more than 4 supporters coaches in the capital, carrying maybe 300 away fans.....

I'd be surprised if we shifted more than 600 Season Tickets in 2019 and I'd be stunned if it were more than 100 memberships in 2023.