I thought it was the SL teams that stopped the U 23's- U 20's to save themselves each £100 k. Thus putting the onus on "Twinned" clubs to pay for the privelege of keeping these players match fit?

The above may well be the case and a situation out of our control.

The Club have a hard year ahead and still need support.

This will split the fans.

Some will accept the change and continue to support although with reservation.

Some will find the pill too bitter to swallow and no longer continue to be supporters.

Lets face it Cougars RLFC is a business - you have to move with the times - the one sure thing is new customers will not be interested in a falling club. The fans that have gone regularly home and away will still go. To survive we have to see what our competitors are doing and be better than them. New customers, can Keighley provide these without being at the top of their game?

You are right the club is a business.

Now, if a business (a shop for example) that you were a regular customer of came to a business decision that directly affected the product you were paying for in a way that you considered wholly unethical and communicated it to you in a manner that was way below the standard of what you'd consider good customer service would you still spend money with that business?

That is in effect the real question here.

But they are trading within the standards of the profession and governing body so cant be unethical? If the product only appeals to a very limited audience and the business is suffering you have to appeal to a wider audience at the risk of losing your original customers.

I cant see the problem with duel-registering. Though think there needs to be a limit of 2 players from the parent club. Though I dont agree with the amount of Wire players Swinton were allowed to field last week.

Stealth,
Why is it so disgusting how the Club broke this story?

Do you think they should have told you before it was confirmed?

It went in the Towns paper and on Thursday it was tweeted, on youtube, on the Forums and the Cougarmania.

I posted it there myself.

I don't think the delivery was disgusting. Paul March explained how we had been left in this predicament and explained the terms of the partnership in a video. A bit better than in text in my opinion.

I don't don't think you would have liked the news if it had been delivered by Gary Fawcett to your house written across the belly of a lapdancer in cream.

If you think Gary or Paul are doing such a disgusting job then maybe you should go an offer some them the benefit of your knowledge face to face instead of being a keyboard warrior.

Yes some people will not accept change. A few may now accept change and stay away. I think it will be a few.

However staying in the Championship will ensure crowds come from Fax, Fev etc. IE hundereds larger. Also the new offer of season tickets may bring a few down.

You could even try watching it to see if you don't like it before slating off all involved before the first game.

Just because a business is acting in a manner that is considered within the standards of the profession does not mean that it isn't acting unethically. Sometimes, the system is unethical. Take the banking industry or estate agency for example.

Does the club really only appeal to a limited audience? Only 20 years ago there were 5 times the amount of fans coming though the turnstyles. Successive boards of directors have consistently failed to ask the question. Why? Most of those people are still around, why are they not coming? Has anyone bothered to ask or research why? Over the last 10 years the clubs marketing strategy has been terrible. It has constantly targeted only one section of society, young families. This is flawed on a lot of levels. After combat sports, Rugby League is one of the most violent sports there is, the product on the field is hardly conducive for bringing kids down to. Though if you are going to attract kids down you have to align it with a strategy that retains these kids when they become adolescent and have to pay more to get in otherwise it's virtually pointless. But nothing is being done, the whole strategy is flawed and one dimensional. The club seems to have no idea as how to communicate with fans. Here's a money saving idea, shut the clubs website down, it's hardly ever up to date, it is poorly laid out, difficult to navigate and shows the clubs image in a bad light. It is a complete waste of money. Even the clubs social media offerings are amateurish, it should be the most up to date platform the club has. With retweets and sharing club news can be spread quickly even more so than that old fashioned yet ever so effective word of mouth. The biggest news story of the week wasn't even mentioned until 2 days after the local weekly paper and then in a manner that assumed everyone knew. Then there's the customer service. We have kit launches so close to Christmas most have bought all their presents and even then, can you take one away there and then? The shop was a great idea, but folk who weren't regulars were asking me if it was a shop or an office? The game day experience is terrible, the staff that do work there work their backside's off but there isn't enough of them. Try getting a burger and a pint without missing 10 minutes of the second half so I don't bother and the money stays in my pocket. The stewards look like they've been taken off the doors of the 101 and are generally ill mannered and intimidating. Not exactly what you want if you're trying to attract families down.

Keighley RLFC is a business and if we are to survive we have to move with the times.
What we do need to do is get behind the Marchy and the club, we are grief strickon with injury at this present, i do know some of these players are going to be out for at least 6-8 weeks.
It's not ideal to be a feeder club but i do think we should look at the positives at present and any help with the squad can only be a good thing.
As you are all aware the majority of championship clubs are fighting to keep there heads above water and just being ignored by the RFL, what we can do is help our club and fill the terraces and pump some much needed cash back into the club and support our team.
If the we fail off the pitch then we won't have a club.
Lets all get behind the cougars today and hopefully see a much needed victory.

Firstly, I have written to the club and the RFL about this matter.

Secondly, I have seen the video with Paul March and I have no issue with him, in a results orientated job he obviously wants the best 17 players on the field possible and I respect that. My issue is with the board allowing us to become another team's feeder club and less importantly that such an important story was not broken directly through the club, but through the local paper.

Why do you feel the need to use personal insults such as "keyboard warrior" in order to construct your argument? All I am trying to do is put my point across in a constructive manner that I disagree with what is going on. Yes I'm a little angry about it but only because I care about the club and the game of Rugby League. Everyone on here is entitled to their opinion, whether you agree with it or not. The personal stuff is uncalled for and I know you're better than that.

The situation for me is simple. There are those who are totally against the link up and due to that will not be seen on the terraces this season. Others will accept it and hope that it works out. Why people feel the need to slate others for their views baffles me and shows us fans in a bad light. If people want to stay away that is their call and who am I to criticise that.

I hate when people use terms such as "true fans" and such like. It suggests inferiority and whether you have been a fans for 30+ years of 3 weeks does that matter?

Whatever your viewpoint move on.

Good post.

Stealth I agree with what you are saying regarding the lack of spirit shown by the club, the website and the atmosphere. Been there and tried to do something, went to over 50 businesses with hospitality folders and free tickets. The main pull, and you can see that with Bradford City, is a winning team. £14.00 to watch a losing team week in week out will not work.

Stealth,
May i ask what you be gaining if you wrote to the RFL? Do you think they will listen to you above the directors, Marchy etc. Nope I dont think so. You seem to think that if you boycott Keighley Cougars or any other Duel-Reg rugby grounds will make some difference, well it wont!!!
I agree with Goosey with business etc and also your last comment, £14.00 to watch a losing team week in and week out, I dont think I would attend either.

I've written to the RFL not in a way as to undermine the directors of the club, but to highlight my concerns about the feeder club system and how in my opinion it gives paired clubs an unfair advantage over those who choose to remain independent. Also to demonstrate that games in the championship are likely to be decided by the quality of players that parent club chooses to provide any given game week. Also in the hope that like minded fans across all clubs do similar and the RFL take these comments on board.

Just out of interest, does anybody know how badly the clubs league attendances dropped 3 seasons ago when we started on -9 and hardly won a game all season. Or perhaps more relevantly compare them to last season?