Crowds fell off a cliff around that time because of the changes to the format and I know IL was dead against the top 8s structure.

The constant changing of the rules does nothing to keep fans engaged. The regular season games become more and more worthless the more sides can qualify for the playoffs and the easier it is to finish lower down the table and win the big prize.

We need to stick to a system (top 5 from 12 for me) for several seasons rather tham changing every 2 or 3 years when the tv deal changes.

Agree, when they moved to "super 8's" it was a disaster. I remember trying to have a discussion with Gary Hetherington (he was the proposer of that system) at an academy game at Orrell. Ian Lenagan was totally against it.
I asked him how clubs were meant to sell season tickets when for a third of the season they wouldn't know who or when they were laying. How could fans book holidays when they could miss two or even three games?
Needless to say he wouldn't or couldn't answer my questions!!!!!

I think it was 2015 when they brought that system in, which is when the attendances started to drop, coincidence? I don't think so.

We left Central Park because the then board of directors under the Chairmanship of Jack Robinson sold the ground to Tesco which was a bad mistake, especially when it turned out that 79% of our own "loyal" shareholders then sold out to Whelan for a personal profit instead of supporting the board in finding a new staduium of its own which the majority of supporters wanted. But thanks to Wigan Council supporting Whelan it never happen and we ended uo playing in a poor design of a Football Stadium with a capacity too large for both clubs hence the name of Whelans Folly! The Council did not make the same mistake with the building of the Stadium for Leigh Centuriuns.

Happy now?

Now, can you and your cronies now explain why the attendances as shown by myself and Rogues Gallery which show that between between 2015 and 2019 have gone on more or less a downward path with no indication of any substancial incease in the future.

Perhaps the reason the club has gone on a rebranding exercise?

Time that some on here took off the cherry and white (or should I say black) tinted glasses and faced reality of what has happened since 1996 -1999 to the games most well known Rugby League Club.

Why did they not drop at other clubs in the same way?

I've just explained in my previous the reason for the declining attendances from 2015. The super 8's was the major factor and it wasn't just at Wigan, it was throughout Rugby League.
Fans didn't want to buy season tickets when they didn't know who, where or when their team would be playing for a big part of the season (7 games)

They did, certainly at Wigan and Saints.

Still not admitting it was the “Fabulous Four’s” financial irresponsibility that led us to that huh?

And your version isn’t true is it? Fact is DW offered to invest in CP if we let Latics rent from us. We refused. DW then went and built JJB and we were up the proverbial without a paddle, facing moving to BOLTON to play. That is until the new board came in and actually worked with DW and convinced him to let us in. CP was sold as we had to, not because we wanted to. Why did we have to?

The Fab 4.



I don’t know the answer to that, hence why I’ve never offered one. However the harsh truth you keep ignoring attendances at DW are higher than that of CP, including between the years you’ve mentioned. So equally, can you answer why that is?



Partially. More to do with the fact we need to be brought into the 21st century, modernise and not be stuck in the past. Ironically when they first released the badge and the new branding I was against it however having actually thought about it and the reasoning behind it I’m fully behind it.

We had a decline during those years, a decline that lasted until 2008 I’d say. It happens to clubs, Liverpool, Man Utd, Everton, Saints, Leeds. All had a decline of sorts. What matters is how we responded to it. And the success we’ve had and enjoyed since then is remarkable. We’re never going to win the CC 8 times on the bounce again. We’re never going to dominate English/World RL as we once did but you can bet your bottom dollar generally we’ll be fighting for (and winning) trophies come seasons end consistently. That’s a successful period. This time done financially responsibly with an eye on the future both money wise and playing staff wise.

But yeah, the Fab 4 and all that.

But why did the board sell to Tesco? Could it have been because the gang of four that you praise so much had continued to operate under Maurice's business plan of "spend what you want and win at Wembley"? I've mentioned it before, but on the Up n Under documentary he is told we don't have a pot to urinate in and then signs Offiah for 400k.

The reality of what happened between those seasons is that we lost to Salford, didn't win the league and the house of cards that the gang of four had built on pillars of sand crumbled instantly.

Crowds have dropped from 2015 because, as me and Rogues have already said, the structure of the game has killed the importance of games and fans no longer wish to buy a ST and miss half the season.

Central Park was great but if we stayed there how much would it have cost to renevate it, or would it now look like Wheldon Rd or Belle Vue? Imagine if DW had bought it, Latics made the PL and we were kicked out of CP!!!! IMAGINE IF THAT HAPPENED!!!

Also imagine if we had lost one of those touch and go cup games such as Saints in 94 or Hull away? The 95 season you talk about (which had smaller crowds than our worst season since 1981) would never have happened.

You got any figures? I think they drifted a bit at most clubs but Wigan's plummeted.

Had our average crowds increased year on year with increased success to 16,17,18k+ you could fully understand ML and Co. investing in new world class players like Offiah. The problem was he didn't put an extra 1000 bums on seats (which would probably have covered his transfer fee plus wages) throughout his time with us. It was never going to be sustainable and ultimately all came crashing down where we nearly ending up us being classed as Horwich RLFC.

And I say this as someone who enjoyed every moment from 1982 to 1995, what a ride we had.

Double post.

And after yet more banging on about how it's not as good as it was back in the day, I still don't have a time machine for you. I don't know what you're looking for. Do you want the forum just to be a load of people reacting to every development with "it's not as good as in the 80s"? Do you want us to all club together to buy the club and build a smaller more crumbly stadium?

No one is saying that rugby in the 80s wasn't brilliant, but we can't go back there, so why let it spoil enjoyment of the game today? If you joined us in the present for 5 minutes, then you might realise we have a pretty good team that is well run and playing in a very good stadium (by RL standards).

Last post by grimmy probably sums up last four pages , we can't do anything about the past so let's remember the good bits and concentrate on the here and now

Agreed. That's what DVD's and YouTube are for.