Not really considering all the boxes will already have been ticked and that's why we'll be in Super league! What would be left to tick? 10k crowds & average 8th place in 3 years? Hmmm... I think that will be based on the playing squad in Super League anyway!



Add an extra 3k fans at least... buying shirts and season tickets, programmes (will be back IMO), other merchandise, cup tickets i'd say looking at at least another 750,000 in the pot and add the extra SKY money also.

With a positive attitude like this we can't go wrong. You could say whats the point of anything. Isn't this what Leigh have been doing for years, going out in early play-off rounds? The likes of Wakey, Cas etc. getting in the play-offs is a big thing. We'll have a stronger club because of it.

And yes, SOC has put his money where his mouth is but you've wrote that like he has to find £1.8M of his own money when we go up!.........I don't think so!

The RFL will "let in" who they want... End of... The last round of criteria/license apps proved that..

We'll tick 1 box that you never will - location. We will also tick the 'financially sound' box as well. Widnes may struggle to do that given your recent points deduction and massive loss last year.

I agree you are ahead of the pack at present, but your Chairman's comments are disrespectful and highly presumptuous.

I know for a fact that your forum would be red-hot had our Chairman made the same remarks.

I also know that the comments will be like a red rag to a bull for the Barrow BOD.

As last season showed, anything is possible.

Is right nes.

I still don't trust these suits. They're trying to run a sport like a business. Well it isn't, entirely. If it were, fans of losing teams would simply leave them in droves at the drop of a hat. We put faith in these teams, we get fans going to watch clubs on the bring of extinction getting beat 50-0 every week. Why? If this is a business they are following why wouldn't they simply go to a bigger rival? Because rugby league clubs are far more than businesses.

If Cadburies started putting out horrible chocolate and were dying, you wouldn't buy their chocolate out of loyalty and pride. You'd move on to something else.

There is a lot of loyalty and pride to be traded off in this town. It is a real hotbed of league. But we've not been treated well over the years by one person or the other. We are still the best supported team in the second tier, still a strong club. The RFL will one day gamble too far on the fortunes of Widnes, Fax, and the likes. Take out the bottom cards in a house of cards and what happens?

Stop trying to kid yourself. Barrow will not get a licence for 2012.

It is possible that we won't either, but I'd love to see what the RFL could possibly come up with to deny us.

Certain clubs seem to be putting all their eggs in the performance basket, by filling their clubs with experienced old codgers, in a vain attempt at making up the shortfall within the rest of their bids. This is an act of desperation and will be seen for what it is. It doesn’t actually fulfill the requirements of the 10 point criteria.

It will be either Toulouse or Widnes that gain a licence for 2012, or maybe both.

1 box, I'll give you that. We've got the stadium (rented or not from the council, the council have a vested interest in pro RL in the town and the stadium was built for the rugby team), we've got the community links and we've got the youth structure already turning out first team regulars.

.

There really is no point in trying to once again explain the reason why we posted such losses as it's been explained to you by many people.

We'll just wait to see what this years accounts say shall we? I'm sure they'll paint a far different and more stable picture given that we won't have had to invest another one million to bring the stadium and the infrastructure up to scratch.



Disrespectful to you? A rival fan like you who is always critical of our club? The man speaks with honesty and conviction having heard him say this myself. Maybe you're just a bit too sensitive?



With all due respect your chairman isn't running an operation as slick as Steve O'Connor's. He's every right to be confident. Dishy Des still has a long way to go.



Good for your board, we want competitiveness this coming season is looking set to be better than last year's already. I hope both Barrow and Widnes coming out with all guns blazing when we clash. I really do look forward us crossing swords next year.

Obsessed, you posted this on numerous boards.

He's right though, we can do nothing more than were currently doing and are the best candidates to go up.

Bless him

Why has he not posted on his own teams board?Well maybe no fans, just give freebies and use the location factor.

Hang on a minute, I'm on your side when it comes down to the licensing; I hope you get what you deserve and make a success of things. I just know what the current attitudes of Super League fans are to top eight play-offs, a third of home games having no away fans etc etc, and things aren't looking great.

We may as well all pack up then yer in.

Quote: Soldierboy "Why has he not posted on his own teams board?Well maybe no fans, just give freebies and use the location factor. The Barrow forum is here ...... www.totalrl.com/index.php?showforum=4 , where you will find the article posted. Not sure what the comment about freebies is, but if you are referring to free tickets, our club gives away very few - if any. The vast, vast majority pay to get in for every game, unlike many clubs who offer 'free matches' or 'bring a mate for free'. Neither do we pretty much give away our season tickets. People will pay for a quality product - as last year proved for us. Hence our good expected turnover and profit for 2009.

Quote: Soldierboy "Why has he not posted on his own teams board?Well maybe no fans, just give freebies and use the location factor. The Barrow forum is here ...... www.totalrl.com/index.php?showforum=4 , where you will find the article posted. Not sure what the comment about freebies is, but if you are referring to free tickets, our club gives away very few - if any. The vast, vast majority pay to get in for every game, unlike many clubs who offer 'free matches' or 'bring a mate for free'. Neither do we pretty much give away our season tickets. People will pay for a quality product - as last year proved for us. Hence our good expected turnover and profit for 2009.

Expect more of this as the sordid licence affair gathers pace boys..

You can count yourselves lucky that you weren't involved the last time out and indications are that this time around things could get just as nasty with four or five SL clubs clinging desperately to their licence spot.
The one thing that distinguished SOC last time out was his refusal to get dragged into the mud slinging and petty point scoring employed by some of his counterparts. Instead his focus was completely on our bid.
Make no mistake the guy is an asset to our club and is greatly liked by the RL community.

With regards to this article I don't see anything controversial... just a club chairman tub-thumping his team's chances.
He is simply saying what is currently being said by certain sections of the RL community. With Celtic lurching from issue to issue it has been widely been touted that we are the team best suited to take their place and SOC was responding directly to a question about this. His answer being that we will not be going anywhere just yet but we are clear favourites for a spot in 2012. It's a mark of the man that he did not take the opportunity to gloat about the situation in South Wales but instead offer sympathy.

Why is he so confident of a licence next time around??
Looking at our own bid... last time around (although it was all a bit of fun) Sky gave us a Grade B rating for a licence and we feel that we have improved since then. The RFL earmarked the 'administration' as being the factor for our refusal. That is not something that can be used this time around and so we are very confident.
The RFL have looked fairly foolish in their choice of Celtic over Widnes with some ugly questions being asked in the media and I think the RFL will look to appoint us next time around.