| FORUMS > Blackpool > How Can Blackpool improve the Fanbase? |
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2015 - major missed opportunity, 2016 - stronger teams = harder task (no problem there then), 2017 - OMG What now!!!:953.jpg |
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| Quote: cavedrone "Oops note quite up to date obviously. Mr Hobson could be in deep do by the looks of it.
Two out of three ain't bad, reading those it looks like there is no charge for the alledged head butt 
Could be out for a few games
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| Quote: kevbanham "current location at Fylde rugby club is the problem - area is populated by older people and is mainly a rugby union area. So not the best start to begin with. Other problem is local press - Panthers dont get much press coverage and if they do is very poor indeed. We have a good squad this season and the away game at the super league champions Leeds rhinos proved we can get fans as 150 made the trip. Where are these people every week? Move to blackpool and we would get better crowds and im sure would get holidaymakers coming along to catch a game. Club should av kicked on from the leeds game. I am now getting involved with the blackpool rugby league supporters club. Anyone want anymore info just give me a shout'"
Don't want to disagree with you kev but I'm going to have to. Location is not the problem. We play at a rugby ground for a start which is better than playing on a football pitch which isn't big enough. Fylde ground is close to blackpool south train line and bus routes covering Preston to cleveleys so people can get there if they want to / knew when games were on or how much entry was. If they were publicised better people who wanted to go can easily, just like everyone who gets to bloomfield road from lytham/kirkham/poulton wherever for football. If the club had an option of having their own place where they could generate income from non-rugby events then moving would be good,otherwise I don't see a better option and club should do more with what is there. There is nothing tangible to say crowds will increase if we move. The same actual problems which are the things discussed above will still exist. |
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I agree that the same underlying problems will still exist within the club untill someone does something about it to try and increase the fan base,i just meant with blackpool been a more populated area maybe be easier to attract more fans and more lets say normal rugby people than the old rich people that reside in lytham that are more union orientated. Panthers will never get their own ground so its either woodlands or bloomfield road. That in itself isnt good as you dont like you say have a permanant home so harder to attract fans then keep them. Went to oldham yesterday and id say they were 25 panthers fans. These are hardcore supporters but they are begining to become disallusioned with the club due to all the rumours and lack of information. Think the club needs to sort this out then liase with the supporters. Where we play wont matter if we dont have a team to support anyway !!!
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| Sadly it looks like a case of "same old story", grand plans but a lack of good communication with the supporters will no doubt result in the same outcome.
Moving to Blackpool would make little difference unless communication and promotion of the club increased dramatically.
We've been saying it for weeks but no-one seemed to listen. People have offered to help, many good ideas have been put forward but little has been acted upon and few if any lessons learnt.
They then wonder why people get disillusioned  |
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Hello,
From reading the RL press and also these forums, it seems there is a great deal of concern amongst the supporters about the future sustainability of the club in its current guise. Whilst you seemingly have a very good side on the field, there does not appear to be a great source of revenue to back this up and I wondered if any of you have considered the idea of a supporters trust?
My name is Laura Harrison and I am the Rugby League Development Officer for Supporters Direct, the umbrella organisation for supporters trusts in the UK. Our aim is to see clubs returned to their community under sustainable models of ownership to hopefully put an end to the boom and bust model which is prevalent in most sports nowadays.
There are a number of ways a trust could work but all of them centre around the supporters gaining influence within the ranks of their professional clubs. After all, you pay money every year supporting your club but if the club is being badly run (which a number are) then that money is not being used in the best possible way to develop the club for the future.
Whilst the main bulk of our work centres around football, I hve been working for the past 13 months to develop supporters trusts within rugby league and I am now working to develop a partnership approach between clubs and their supporters rather than the more 'hostile' relationship that exists in football. Trusts can work with their club to develop crowds, local playing talent, community activities, playing facilities etc but need to ensure they receive something in return. Ideally we would like to see trusts holding shares in their clubs or having a director on the board but this return could also come in other forms.
Whilst I appreciate that it is difficult for clubs to compete when they don't have the 'sugar daddy' investment, it is also vital to remember that most of the clubs that take this route, would not survive if the sugar daddy decided to walk away and there is no reason cooperatively run clubs cannot be successful - Bramley Buffaloes are currently one of the most successful amateur clubs in the country whilst Hornets RL are currently enjoying an excellent season in only their second year as a trust owned club. Perhaps the most successful cooperatively run club of them all is Barcelona FC - a great example of what can be achieved.
If a trust sounds like something that may be of interest to you, please feel free to contact me on 07985 628215 or alternatively via email on Laura.Harrison@supporters-direct.org or you can visit our website at www.supporters-direct.org
Thanks, Laura |
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Hello,
From reading the RL press and also these forums, it seems there is a great deal of concern amongst the supporters about the future sustainability of the club in its current guise. Whilst you seemingly have a very good side on the field, there does not appear to be a great source of revenue to back this up and I wondered if any of you have considered the idea of a supporters trust?
My name is Laura Harrison and I am the Rugby League Development Officer for Supporters Direct, the umbrella organisation for supporters trusts in the UK. Our aim is to see clubs returned to their community under sustainable models of ownership to hopefully put an end to the boom and bust model which is prevalent in most sports nowadays.
There are a number of ways a trust could work but all of them centre around the supporters gaining influence within the ranks of their professional clubs. After all, you pay money every year supporting your club but if the club is being badly run (which a number are) then that money is not being used in the best possible way to develop the club for the future.
Whilst the main bulk of our work centres around football, I hve been working for the past 13 months to develop supporters trusts within rugby league and I am now working to develop a partnership approach between clubs and their supporters rather than the more 'hostile' relationship that exists in football. Trusts can work with their club to develop crowds, local playing talent, community activities, playing facilities etc but need to ensure they receive something in return. Ideally we would like to see trusts holding shares in their clubs or having a director on the board but this return could also come in other forms.
Whilst I appreciate that it is difficult for clubs to compete when they don't have the 'sugar daddy' investment, it is also vital to remember that most of the clubs that take this route, would not survive if the sugar daddy decided to walk away and there is no reason cooperatively run clubs cannot be successful - Bramley Buffaloes are currently one of the most successful amateur clubs in the country whilst Hornets RL are currently enjoying an excellent season in only their second year as a trust owned club. Perhaps the most successful cooperatively run club of them all is Barcelona FC - a great example of what can be achieved.
If a trust sounds like something that may be of interest to you, please feel free to contact me on 07985 628215 or alternatively via email on Laura.Harrison@supporters-direct.org or you can visit our website at www.supporters-direct.org
Thanks, Laura | |
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Sounds lovely Laura, and thanks fir taking the time to post this, but I guess you haven't realised we don't have a lot of supporters to start a trust that could sustain even an amateur club and those we do have have very diverse opinions on what is the best way forward for the club.
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Let's go back to Chorley...ha.
I think it's a little too early to write off a supporters trust, but it would be difficult to support the club on a gate of 300. Out of interest Laura, how many people approx. are currently members of the Rochdale Supporters trust?
The problem with the club is that we don't have a fanbase built up over decades like the traditional clubs- the club has existed less than 10 years in it's current form & location (i.e. Fylde/Blackpool). We have no assets in the form of a ground/ club house to borrow against either. Realistically, I think we would need a backer to put forward a significant donation for 3 years just to fund the cashflow to allow the club to try to develop a bigger fan base to then fund the club independently after this period.
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Supporters trust may be an option but id question the following :
1. Dont have as such an existing known fan base? where do fans live/come from?
2. No existing ground
3. Players wages? what are current players on? what and where do we attract players from? current team are all out of town and not locally based
4. How much will it cost to sustain the club for the season?
5. where do we base the club? Chorley? Blackpool? Lytham?
6. Its noted we only get 300 supporters but over half of them are usually away fans
Thats just a few things that have come to mind on early consideration. Is it viable? whats other peoples thoughts?
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We have a hardcore fanbase of about 250 supporters (based on the gates v Doncaster on the Friday, with next to no visiting support and the Gateshead game).
The harsh reality is that this alone is nowhere near enough to fund any sort of viable or competitive side in this division. Without sponsors/backers the team would be down amongst the dead men, inevitably leading to even less support.
If we had our own ground with our own bar/food outlets/advertising rights etc, this would bring in a lot more on a match day, but the likelihood of this happening on the Fylde in the forseeable future is slim.
There are solutions, but the current level of funding on the field is simply unsustainable over any length of time without equal investment off it, as in an area like this without the same tradition as many traditional RL towns, it is much, much harder to get people through the gates.
Without long term investment towards this, simply putting all the money into the team now is obviously not the (longer term) solution. Quickly bought success has no longevity.
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Barring the brand new trusts who are obviously in the process of building membership, most of the rugby league trusts have around 200-250 members, including Rochdale.
Whilst I'm not suggesting you would immediately look at taking over the club completely, it does appear there are a number of you who are worried about the future of the club and ho the current level of spending on players wages, with little investment in marketing etc is going to be sustained. I always encourage trusts wherever possible to act as 'guardians' of the club - to make sure spending is within sensible limits, and to make sure the club is in as healthy a position as possible to try and move away from the boom and bust model.
Whilst I obviously don't know this for certain, it would seem a logical step that at some point both the Championship and Championship One will become licensed, thus forcing the club to start looking at their off field activities. These are key areas where supporters and the club can work together to try and build a strong club capable of bringing in decent revenue to justify a bigger wage bill.
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As an away fan from Keighley I have to say that apart from when you were at Chorley your current ground is a good place to visit and also a few of us are staying over for the nines competition.
Regarding getting more folk supporting you I reckon if not already done target the union fans there not just to get them to see they watch crap union but to expand their horizons.
As an example the last time I was there there had been some union games on and quite a few in bar yet when league game was near starting most left, more effort should be made to keep folk in ground that are already there whether this be by a special deal like loyalty card for buy 4 drinks get one free after league game that in theory keeps folk in bar that may have otherwise gone or similar thing with burgers etc.
If considered by club then put the offer for set times say between say 5pm and 7pm.
Hope this helps and good luck for rest of season.
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| Quote: girl power "As an away fan from Keighley I have to say that apart from when you were at Chorley your current ground is a good place to visit and also a few of us are staying over for the nines competition.
Regarding getting more folk supporting you I reckon if not already done target the union fans there not just to get them to see they watch crap union but to expand their horizons.
As an example the last time I was there there had been some union games on and quite a few in bar yet when league game was near starting most left, more effort should be made to keep folk in ground that are already there whether this be by a special deal like loyalty card for buy 4 drinks get one free after league game that in theory keeps folk in bar that may have otherwise gone or similar thing with burgers etc.
If considered by club then put the offer for set times say between say 5pm and 7pm.
Hope this helps and good luck for rest of season.'"
The club doesnt do anything to promote the club or attract fans, thats what us fans are saying. Fair enough the chairman has brought in better players and used his own money but the club as a whole is not been marketed. We have the development officers who work with the kids but thats all and the odd radio advert and news paper advert. |
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| Quote: SD1 "Barring the brand new trusts who are obviously in the process of building membership, most of the rugby league trusts have around 200-250 members, including Rochdale.
Whilst I'm not suggesting you would immediately look at taking over the club completely, it does appear there are a number of you who are worried about the future of the club and ho the current level of spending on players wages, with little investment in marketing etc is going to be sustained. I always encourage trusts wherever possible to act as 'guardians' of the club - to make sure spending is within sensible limits, and to make sure the club is in as healthy a position as possible to try and move away from the boom and bust model.
Whilst I obviously don't know this for certain, it would seem a logical step that at some point both the Championship and Championship One will become licensed, thus forcing the club to start looking at their off field activities. These are key areas where supporters and the club can work together to try and build a strong club capable of bringing in decent revenue to justify a bigger wage bill.'"
Thats the key - Supporters and club working together. Only problem is club dont want to communicate with fans and let us know whats going on. Have to have our manager come out and say things are going onbeyond his control and he isnt happy about it. |
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It doesn't bode well, it has to be said, when MC is the only one seemingly prepared to comment about what may or may not be going on gehind the scenes - think it's time Mr Hope cleared the air before it's too late.
We've all seen these scenarios before; it's only 5 metaphorical minutes since the Dave Rowlands era/fiasco (another one with big ideas who wouldn't listen to common sense and experience), and boy how this is starting to show very similar signs of the same errors being repeated once again.
If investors aren't prepared for the long haul, to invest in the infrastructure off the field and genuine promotion of the club in the town and district, frankly I wish they wouldn't bother, it almost always ends in tears, and it's blindingly bloody obvious that this is heading the same way and those of us left will somehow be expected to pick up the pieces once again and clean up the mess.
There is no quick fix route to financial success in the Rugby League, even more so outside the SL; the sooner dreamers with a few quid get that into their heads the better.
Either show us a plan of action with the backing to take the club into the Championship and make it viable, or walk away now before any further damage is done.
The one thing the club cannot afford to do is to lose Martin Crompton.
Clear the air QUICKLY and sort it out.
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| Quote: Seagull "It doesn't bode well, it has to be said, when MC is the only one seemingly prepared to comment about what may or may not be going on gehind the scenes - think it's time Mr Hope cleared the air before it's too late.
We've all seen these scenarios before; it's only 5 metaphorical minutes since the Dave Rowlands era/fiasco (another one with big ideas who wouldn't listen to common sense and experience), and boy how this is starting to show very similar signs of the same errors being repeated once again.
If investors aren't prepared for the long haul, to invest in the infrastructure off the field and genuine promotion of the club in the town and district, frankly I wish they wouldn't bother, it almost always ends in tears, and it's blindingly bloody obvious that this is heading the same way and those of us left will somehow be expected to pick up the pieces once again and clean up the mess.
There is no quick fix route to financial success in the Rugby League, even more so outside the SL; the sooner dreamers with a few quid get that into their heads the better.
Either show us a plan of action with the backing to take the club into the Championship and make it viable, or walk away now before any further damage is done.
The one thing the club cannot afford to do is to lose Martin Crompton.
Clear the air QUICKLY and sort it out.'"
Totally agree with every thing you said !!!! |
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