I had a posted on here make an accusation that was removed....that person still posts here and I've no animosity towards them, but they stepped over a line.

quotePity help any new fan to rugby league visiting our forum, perhaps RL Fans should put up a warning!'"

The issue isn't the 15 disaffected fans to the every positive fan - to borrow the figures cited above. It's the thousands who are now lost to the club, not engaging in any way.

Disaffected people who engage can be won back. It's almost impossible to win back those who cease to engage. The only realistic way is if a personal contact drags them back.

Again, there's lots of fan engagement studies to back this up. It's really not rocket science.

Sadly for Broncos it seems it is.

Meanwhile over at Ealing........

They have just opened a new state of the art Sports Centre, which the owner described as costing "pocket money" and set up a new womens union team.
The owner has also said that promotion to the Prem (which is odds on despite their defeat yesterday) will result in them making the ground Premiership standard through refurbishment.

Considering we are miles from SL, the refurb will be done long before we are in a position to need it. Also makes me wonder if there owner could not have been talked into investing into the Broncos. I thought the potential.would be right up his street tbh.

Now the following is supposition on my part, but my take on the relationships we have forged with our landlords all come across like an episode of "married at first sight" (I've never seen it, so this is a double supposition)
We agree to wed whomever is chosen
Make a real effort to get along
at the first sign of trouble, we get humpy
any early fondness dissipates rapidly
we start looking for a new partner
we sign up for series 2
We agree to wed whomever is chosen
.......
.........
..........

I was against the name change back to the Broncos, as it was a lame excuse for falling fan numbers. Fan numbers fell because Hughes appointed Gus and Powell to jobs they couldn't do
I was against the move to Barnet, but because Hughes had already spat his dummy and told quins we were off, we had little choice, It seems weird that more isn't made of the 100k bribe paid to barnet to take us
I freely admit to being 100% against the move to Trailfinders, but as things evolved and we became a championship side, the move started to make sense. I was stunned that the stand got built, but t showed there was potential for more development f it were needed.....
we accidently got to SL again and even then, we didn't fill trailfinders, but for some unfathomable reason, we were already looking for a new home....If the RFL had demanded we move, I'd cite the hole that is belle view and RFL mandates....

I am 100% sure that Plough Lane will fail! Things posted on-line are always there and like the 2013 RLWC crowd predictions, I can get things wrong, but no matter what the obstacles at Ealing, Hughes and his senior managers should have thrashed out a better long term arrangement.....but there's a huge clue in Hughes recent statement as to what went wrong......



Trailfinders are a gnats hair from top tier......but hughes intentionally makes a snide comment. I am cut from the same narcissistic cloth as Hughes and that is assuredly a snide comment directed at Trailfinders......and once again, we move becuase our owner fails to try and make the marriage work.

As i say. Supposition, but im not often wrong about the broncos

From the club email:

Memberships
Membership sales are going well and we are pleased with the level of support shown since the options went on sale. We have had some questions that we are happy to clarify below.

'The age of 16 for Youth prices is too low and we feel this is unfair on young people that stay on in further education or are on apprenticeships with low income'.
We took this feedback on board and we are pleased to clarify that Junior Tickets and Passes are now covering ages 12 to 18 years. We have also extended the Concession bracket to include those who are currently in receipt of Unemployment benefit.

x

I’m also hearing that Wimbledon will soon be announcing ‘decent’ incentives, ie discounts, on Broncos memberships for their fans.

Credit to the club for recognising their error in youth ticket pricing and extending concessions to the unemployed.

Yes indeed but for clarification purposes, they should know that Unemployment Benefit hasn't existed for many years. No doubt they mean Universal Credit & Job Seekers Allowance. Then they should also include those in receipt of Employment & Support Allowance, Carer's Allowance & those that are still on Incapacity Benefit of which there are still some.

So we will offer discounted memberships to fans who've never seen a game of RL.
We gave deals to the fans of Charlton, Brentford, quins,Barnet and Ealing.....of the 250 who rocked up last season, maybe 1 was as a result of the previous 25 years of offers to our landlords...
....einsteins definition of insanity is the marketing mantra of this club

It is to be hoped this is part of a broader fan attraction strategy, and that a fan retention strategy is being launched. The presence of a Community Stand suggests the first part at least is true.

I fear that side may prove harder than some expect. I can name a relatively big name football team that built a small stand and aimed to use it for free ticket initiatives with community groups. It's usually empty, they have found it hard to give away tickets. This is down to a combination of disinterest locally in their offering (their support has melted away in a manner reminiscent of Broncos) and child protection laws. Schools have proved a particularly tough nut to crack as teachers don't want to work weekends acting as responsible adults. However: I can also name a football side that had two schools and two hundred people present last weekend. The big difference is their local community are engaged, they sell out most weeks and the offer of free tickets is viewed as a welcome opportunity.

Giving away free tickets in a meaningful manner which will drive supporter base growth is often tougher than people expect in my experience.

Edited in case the club read this. I know a third club who do free tickets for schools days. Their route is not to arrange formal school groups but to work with the school to publicise that family groups can attend game X free if they can prove one of the children attends school Y. It works quite well, they have recently started so not possible to comment on long term success yet. Worth considering if you hit a reluctance from schools to engage and arrange formal groups

Especially not after they've already worked anything up to a 60-65 hour week teaching kids, marking work, lesson planning, doing after school clubs, dealing with fractious parents who 'know their rights', doing pointless meetings with management etc...........

...but the holidays they get

And do not forget. teachers will not be around for six weeks in the summer , due to their holidays

Neither will (some) of the kids!
And remember we're going to be on the road for 5 consecutive games ( i think) when the Dons season finishes but before the schools break up!

That's OK, we can't play home games then.

I'm well aware. My mum was a teacher and worked well over the hours you cite most weeks - she was senior management as well. My comment was a factual statement and in no way a criticism of the teachers concerned. I wouldn't work at weekends for free so I don't expect them to.

It's just flagging a factor lots of clubs fail to take into account, they assume free tickets to schools will be snapped up as everyone wants to watch their club as much as they do. Back in the real world ...

Re the six week point, the same protection laws apply to youth clubs etc. My personal experience is the take up from them is usually a bit better than from schools but again a fair chunk will say no.