Back to the original thread:

Many of these developments are done as partnerships with other interested parties and I notice Gary's reply hints at retail space under the main stand. Leeds were involved with Carnegie who use part of the new stand at Headingly as classrooms.

The one thing that we must ensure above everything is that we have control of the ground entrance fee, corporate entertainment and bar takings - not some stadium management company.

Leigh, amongst others have found to their cost that loosing control of this revenue is a very, very bad mistake.

I've been looking at the catchment area for Keighley Cougars and its population. I guess this will be relevent in applying for funding for the new stadium.

If you take in the smaller surrounding towns that do not in anyway encroach on the legimate catchment area of any other RL club (Oakworth/Haworth/Oxenhope, Steeton/Skipton/Gargrave, Bingley/Ilkley, Addingham/Silsden, Cross Hills/Cowling and the East Lancashire towns of Barnoldswick/Earby/Colne ) the total population is a fraction under 200,000. The town of Keighley itself has a population twice that of Castleford, for example. So all this should be helpful.

Sorry, I'm going to have to pick you up on that. Although they are administered by a body which styles itself as 'Lancashire County Council', this council does not cover the actual county of Lancashire (it doesn't even include Blackburn and you can't get much more Lancashire than that!) and in fact Barnoldswick and Earby are equally as YORKSHIRE as Keighley is. Like Keighley, they lie in the West Riding. Always have and always will, regardless of what their local council likes to call itself.
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Addressing your post as a whole, yes our catchment area is very large and the potential is definitely there.

Remember the dizzy heights of Cougar Mania ....... the support is out there but unfortunately people like to follow winning teams. We lost a lot of fans to Northern and Halifax to a degree and we have to also consider apathy.

That is the one biggest obstacle that Keighley Cougars face.
Apathy in the town is strangling the club and its going to take something special to change that.

Didn't someone once say "Build it and they will come"?

Apathy seems to be an issue at our level of rugby and it will take more than just calling something "Cougar mania part 2" to cure it.

The club will need to engage with fans, community and above all schools to turn things around.

Oh, and having a winning team might help.

Anybody see what a completely soulless attempt at a new ground Salford have (on Sky tonight)? No wonder they can't get a crowd even though Salford is in Super League ... Main Stand far too far from the touchline, all stands / terracing far too shallow, corners not filled in, seats too small etc.

The "wall" at the south end of the Dortmund football stadium is more like it for any new Cougar stadium (even if only a say third of the height is needed for Keighley).

I've changed my mind - the stands/terracing in any new ground should start a maximum of three metres from the touchlines/dead ball line; 3 metres is sufficient for player safety.

Was at Salford for the U20s last night and I'd actually disagree , apart from the ridiculously out of proportion west stand iit is actually an ideal size for RL.

What however does make is soulless is the corporate greed and basic lack of respect for supporters that a stadium management company like that that run the new facility have.

Ridiculously high prices and poor quality food and drink,draconian ticketing policy's and stewarding that is based on the principal that all supporters are there to fight and cause trouble and therefore deserve to be treated worse than animals ....that is what makes a place soulless

god forbid we never go down that route...

Firstly we should recognise that nobody is going to come and put thousands into this club and if we get anywhere it will have to be by the efforts of US the fans. Secondly let nobody ever mention the 'S' word again (Superleague) because even if we did build a super-duper stadium in Keighley I doubt the 'powers that be' would ever let us in. In fact I think the next step is to reduce the number of clubs in Superleague and not expand it.
We can, however, get up there with the best in the land and I believe it should be with small steps. I think the recent magnificent effort by fans coming down to clear the pitch of snow for the Good Friday game shows that the good-will is there and you just have to harness it. It would also need support from the club as regards equipment, materials etc. Just look around Cougar Park and you can see a host of things such as a bit of painting or odd-jobs that need doing but there is nobody there to do them. Can we get a group of fans together and get around the ground and get the place going again? Small things can make big things happen.

I think you've hit the nail on the head Rach. A few sides have learned to their cost that a poor stadium management company can be a major thorn in the side, creating bad feeling with fans and loosing the club revenue from beer, food and corporate sales. Leigh have had issues so have Doncaster and I think the Halifax fans drink elsewhere too.

We went into the Leigh bar and there was us and one other couple in the whole place! The manager said he had to close because there were not enough customers - this was 10 minutes after the game! We found out why when we paid for the drinks . He did however, invite us upstairs to sit with the players and sponsors so it worked out OK for us.

I would prefer to own our own facilities (albeit less flash) and at least control our own destiny.

I agree 100% with you LL , this is what is needed and has been for quite A while ,
Surely a group of like minded souls cannot be that hard ti get together can it ?

The only thing that would have to happen though is 110% support from the board ,
That would have to be a must.

I'm up for it. Anyone else ?

Agreed.

If we forget about how the game of RL is organised for now, the way Keighley Cougars can make itself different AND successful is to mobilise an army of volunteers which could indeed lead to Cougars getting "up there with the best in the land".

There are many willing individuals but what is needed first is for the company currently with stewardship of the club (Gary Fawcett's) coming out and saying that it is willing and able to mobilise and give direction to such an army of volunteers. All the directors would need to do to get this going would be to release something to the Keighley News to this effect & get it on this & other websites (preferably the club's own new website) and include a short form where people could fill in their name and contact details, what their skills are and what hours per week they could volunteer. Then all these people and all the club's directors could meet to sort out who can do what and when.

But is the current company owning the Cougars the right one to facilitate this? (Maybe the Club'sVoice could answer?)

We are going to create a section on the website so people can keep track of the developments.

Just wondered if the club could give an update on the plans for stadium development? Can it be announced who is on the related steering committee that Gary Fawcett mentioned? This is starting to become pressing if promotion becomes a possibility when the league system is re-structured from 2015.

All Gary Fawcett has said is that a re-development of Cougar Park is by far the most likely option. I can see this, as Bradford Council has already helped the Cougars by taking on the lease from the Co-op and sub-letting back to Cougars. Bradford Council is key and I wonder if the Keighley MP Kris Hopkins will be brought onside to try to assist?

Bfd Council has helped so far but it could be argued they should put their commitment behind some infrastructure investment into Keighley by way of providing a better stadium. This would be on safety grounds as well as it being right to provide a facility for the people of Keighley in this way. Bradford Council condemned the old wooden stand, that is still in full use, back in 1985 after the Bfd City fire.

A re-developed Cougar Park should be provided to Keighley Cougars on lease but with the proviso that the Cougars have to make the stadium available for other uses if required such as other sports - Kabaddi for example (I know the Asian community has used Cougar Park in past for a Kabaddi league match), boxing etc plus concerts etc.

This is key. As I mentioned before, if a redeveloped Cougar Park is to be a possibiity, it has to incorporate the Cricket ground. The Cricket Club won't want to go - they paid £30,000 for the ground and like their set-up. It would be a shame to get into compulsory purchase orders etc and so the redevelopment plans have to include provision of a new ground for Keighley Cricket club - including a pavilion and bar that is at least as good as what they have now. I wonder if there is scope for this at Utley (St John's road/Keighley RUFC area) or, with National Trust blessing, as part of a merger with Airedale cricket club at the Riddlesden ground?

In my view a redeveloped Cougar Park needs the pitch turning through 90 degrees so that the present Eastern Terrace opposite the current main stand becomes an end terrace. Then a completely new main stand with 2,000 seats and all the required faciities is needed with the other three sides of the ground being steep terracing. This is essential so that the pitch has a full size playing area. (At present the pitch is ony 86 metres long with narrow in-goals and less than the safe 3 metres between the dead ball line and the start of the terracing). Half the new pitch would therefore be on what is now the cricket field.