Michael Carter said right at the beginning of his tenure that we'd get the club that the level of support dictates!

We simply do not have enough people in the City of Wakefield who are prepared to spend their money and take the time to watch Wakefield Trinity or any other professional sport for that matter!

No pro football not even decent semi pro and those we do have get 250 on a good day
Wakefield RU are history now because they got no support and Trinity will go the same way eventually.

It's an attitude problem. I know we haven't got the quality the top four have got but on paper we don't have a bad side. But because we've got a few injuries as soon as a game doesn't go our way their heads drop and they buy into the 'woe is me' attitude and clearly stop even attempting to tackle properly.

We are lacking organisation because Smith is getting very little from Miller.
This is causing Smith to take more on than he can handle and he doesn't have the variations to keep the opposition on their toes.
They can just sit back and wait for our set to fizzle out.
Been said a couple of times but for all the stick Sykes got, he knew his job and brought the best out of Smith.
Time for a change in the halves for definite, to add variety and take the pressure off Smith.

Millers biggest problem is he cant tackle! people just just run through him no matter the size...and the actual interplay with the halves last night wasnt that bad just we had nobody who ran with any purpose off them! Simon was the best runner and he went off injured...

Wakefied is dying city, rapidly becoming a minor suburb of Leeds.

You're right. The recession hit Wakefield hard, very hard. It's still nowhere near recovery and whatever people are told about its attractions is quite simply BS. The Hepworth has broken records for its visitor numbers so where is the money? That's right, it's free entry and the people who visit can't wait to leave the city fast enough after chucking a quid in the donation box. This line we keep getting fed about visitors spending money with local businesses elsewhere in the city is simply fantasy. Nobody sees any of it.

The nightlife is now suffering from a huge generation gap. As little as 15 years ago Westgate could be compared to any 'strip' in any of Europe's most popular party destinations. The whole city was alive by 7pm on any given Friday or Saturday evening. Bars and clubs were full to bursting. Look at it now, 7pm on a Saturday night and you'd think you'd just emerged from a nuclear holocaust. Most bars are to let and the whole city is dead until at least 11pm when you get a few apprehensive revelers who wished they were out somewhere else.

Wakefield has potentially some of the best real ale pubs in Yorkshire selling locally brewed ale. You can get a very decent pint for less than £3 but people are happy to pay £3 plus for a pint or bottle of generic fizzy urine.

All the once great shopping streets have been filled with the usual suspects when a city is on its ; second hand shops, bargain stores, capitalist cafes, Eastern European supermarkets and Iranian barbers. It wasn't that long ago that you could go into Wakefield and shop for some of the world's finest brands in the likes of Goldsmiths, Mountain High and Wishbone Ash. Apart from Trinity Walk, and a handful of shops elsewhere, the city is dying in terms of being a shopping destination.

The main thriving scenes are so underground (apparently) that the majority of Wakefield residents wouldn't know them if they were dragged around them by their hair. The Artwalk is a great night out, the regular craft and art fairs offer so many alternatives to the clone zone gift stores, and the live music scene offers some of the best value for money in the country never mind the North. It's just a shame nobody seems to get involved. A couple of years ago I paid £9 to go see 4 up-and-coming bands in the Orangery. There were 14 of us there! I felt angry, annoyed and embarrassed all at the same time. Would you carry on with a night like that when you get just over half a dozen turn up?

So many people are trying but they just don't get the support they deserve. People will happily spend £3.70 for a capitalist coffee in Costa but will turn their noses up at local people selling coffee for a couple of quid because apparently 'it doesn't taste the same'. They'll shuffle off like sheep into Nando's, McDonald's and Subway for a bread bun full of crap but will put their foot down at buying a freshly made sandwich in their locally run deli because it's too pricey even though it actually costs less.

So where does all that leave Wakefield Trinity? I would imagine we don't even exist in the eyes of many.

Surely this is all down to awareness? Say what you like about the poor lager and rubbish coffee, but people buy them because they know about them and perceive them to be good.

The problem with the Wildcats ( and I've deliberately used that name) is that there is limited awareness & we are not perceived to be good. If we had a consistent top four team, people would come and the attendance for Catalans would be £6k. Look at Cas (a town full of pound shops) - one successful season and the crowds come back.

There is also no promotion of the Wildcats. I started following the club because of the girls joining the Wildcat Dolls dance classes. Look at what we have now - a poor reflection of what the Dolls were! The club seems reluctant to promote itself and not even sure what it is called. I'm going to be controversial here, but forget Trinity and move with the future and use Wildcats as our name. Like it or not, this is what attracts the young un's and this is where the crowds will come from.

Is the lack of promotion because we have an accountant in charge who cannot see the value of marketing? To get people to buy your product, you need to make people of aware of your product. What do we do?

I realise that this will all come down to lack of cash and I appreciate the great job MC as done. I just wish we had a Dr K who can take us to the next level!

I agree that with success the crowds would come back.
The 'Dolls' were costing the club a lot of money weren't they?
As for the name, disagree completely. I would drop the stupid wildcats tag. Supporters follow success not a name but ironically the name Wakefield Trinity is known the world over but the Wakefield Wildcats - no!

If we're dropping names we drop the Wildcats.

After 16 years the average 'home' attendances still sit around the 3-4k mark. The club has not moved on and it could be argued are in a worse position on so this bull about kids been attracted by the name is just that, plainly they're not. Hull FC don't have a childish moniker yet they get 10k crowds despite being dire.

I do agree with the other elements of your post however.

Add to that the laughable bunch of clowns who run our so called local council, who have little interest in the City of Wakefield.

Why all the faux outrage regarding crowds, go back to the year we got to the challenge cup final and our crowds weren't much better back then. The people of Wakefield are fickle, whether it's the Rugby team or going to gigs etc, I've been to gigs at the Unity hall in the past and there's only been a couple of hundred people there.
A winning team might drag them out but to keep em coming? I wish I knew.

I can't agree with this

..IMO our home attendances are not "still" 3-4k. They have been much higher and have only fallen back to this level over the last couple of seasons.

Using Hull FC is very selective when rhinos, Warriors and in particular wolves have been very successful. Always impressed with the huge amount of young kids when you go to the HJ, and they are always kitted out in all the gear.
Even just around the corner in castleford, hardly a hugely successful team but the community buys into the club.

The point of this is that you have to promote whatever it is that you do. Currently we do absolutely nothing to attract new supporters off the field. Our visibility in the city and community is practically zero, no one buys the club merchandise because it is quite frankly crap! (First time in 20 yrs I did not buy a shirt this season) ,so as far as I can see dropping the name wildcats would make no difference at all.

Dropping the Wildcats moniker would be good for the club the wildcats add on is nothing but an embarrassment. A good product atracts fans, kids and sponsers not a cartoon cat. You mention warriors they dropped that badge years ago with the badge on their shirt the Wigan town badge. Hull saints HKR Wigan all have badges/names that represent something to young and old. We are the world famous Wakefield Trinity.

Tickets are too expensive to take a family of four with seated tickets for kids now £11 when at Huddersfield for a child under 12 they are £5. That's how you can get the youth more interested, either that or offer family tickets. It costs over £70 to take a family of four to see a match now, get it reduced to £50 and more families may go...they'd make the money up on the burgers, drinks, merchandise etc...

Hull FC is hardly a great example of a successful team. Let's look at the Rhinos and Warriors and see how they have done. There comes a time when you need to move on and that means we become Wakefield Wildcats so be it

I personally want a team that competes and at least have hope that we might have something to cheer. Whilst acknowledging the success with the Trinity name, the past is gone and we are now 50 years in the future. I'm sorry, but Trinity sounds dated and last century. If we have on the pitch success with the Wildcats name it also will become known across the world