Just saw what you were on about on the official site at the bottom of the write up on the gateshead game. What a joke. I don't really see why they've done that, maybe they should've put the try scorers down correctly before they issue threats to the fans!

Here is something I want to see - individual advertising on the remaining home games:
Oldham and hunslet to be marketed as widely as possible promotion deciders
Skolars to be cut price tickets otherwise people will do other things as fans don't enjoy walkovers all the time.
Maybe quid a kid or something for south wales, or play on the 'scorpions' name by offering special deals through blackpool scorpions.

I also think the supporters club need to be more visible. I go to most home games, try and keep up on things through the internet etc. but I wouldn't know who to contact about away trips really, or any other supporters club stuff. Stronger supporter relationships would be a good thing.

A ticket outlet in blackpool, even if its on the reception of bobby's hotels so no extra costs. Flyers in whatever the sports fan pubs are in blackpool, st annes and lytham and also in blossoms and fairhaven which are near woodlands. Both things I want to see. The odd radio spot, more coverage in the gazette and express etc. should be possible. I've heard all the old "they aren't interested in us" stuff, but make them interested! Hand the stories to them! There are small things that could be done to raise the profile, which would increase fan base through time and persistence.

Some of my ideas there - and if some of them already exist I apologise but the club haven't made me aware.

I think the potential move to Blackpool is seen as a saving grace by the powers that be at the club, but it is used as an excuse for the low attendances. The club would have to find somewhere very cheap to rent to make any increase in attendances make extra profits and not just be wasted on the extra cost of playing actually in Blackpool- it would seem that the deal at Fylde results in little rental cost but then the club loses out in any food/beer revenues. Did the club not already try playing in Blackpool and was forced to move to Fylde as the attendances did not cover the cost of Bloomfield Road? If Blackpool FC go up, then the club has no chance of renting there for a season.

The issue the club should be looking at is how to increase the fan base. The work in schools done by Nick will help to improve awareness of the sport and may get a few kids along with their Dad's in tow. However, this is a long term strategy and not a quick fix that the club needs. How about targeting local (all the fylde coast) businesses and trying to flog them tickets in bulk and cheap- this could be sub-let to a telesales centre to do the ringing around, and give them a cut of the sales revenue.

Communication from the club is the main problem- we hear very little, and I have to go hunting to find stuff out- albeit the website has improved of late but still gets key things like the fixtures wrong! How about the club writing the game reviews/ articles themselves and then passing them on to the Gazette/ Lancashire Evening Post/ LSA Express- if they don't print them, so be it, but if they are short of material, I think they will.

Promotion will bring about an increase in attendances as club's like Leigh & Widnes will bring a number of away fans- I can imagine 1k wouldn't be ridiculous. Can you imagine how outnumbered we would be though!

Considering Bobby Hope seems to support the team, I am surprised he doesn't try to sell his hotel rooms at discount rates to visiting fans and try to push the weekend break angle- "Call xxxxxxxxxxxx and quote Blackpool Panthers and get a room the night before the game for £40 (or whatever)- subject to availability" This way he would be getting revenue on both counts- in his hotel and on the turnstile. Why doesn't he ask his hotel sales staff to send emails to clubs asking them to advertise hotel deals on their respective websites and also post on the various fans forums.

Everything that has been discussed so far has been mentioned before, but has still not been taken up by the club. Simply threatening the fans who already attend will not boost numbers, it will just hack people off. If the club cannot attract fans now as we have a successful team, high media coverage with the Gateshead scoreline and the Leeds game, and a good coach, then I fear that the club will never develop it's fan base.

Glad it's not just me then - stop putting these stuopid comments on the base of match reports, it obviously is getting people's backs up!

be positive in everything you put out as a media communication, anything negative will get seized upon.

Look at the RFL website and read some of the press releases from other clubs and you'll get the idea.

I know we've had a few good news stories on there, but as much as the publicity regarding our community work is great, it's not getting extra people through the turnstiles. BANG THE DRUM ABOUT HOW GOOD THE TEAM IS, that will have more chance of putting bums on seats.

And for goodness sakes start getting some news out there - news on the team, injuries, latest on the Wigan tie up etc. As has been said elsewhere, if the hardcore fans have to trawl to find news, the new fan isn't going to know where to look.

Make more use of the Gazette, the LSA Express and for goodness sakes get more positive on field related stuff on the website.

The fixture list is inaccurate and the download too, the former doesn't even load properly on some browsers, how on earth do you expect people to come when it's not clear when the games are due to take place.

Much of this is in their own hands - stop threatening those that do turn up and start using the tools available to spread the word. We certainly are, my mates are sick of hearing about us!!

Would be good if we could get some response to our suggestions/criticisms from someone inside the club. And maybe some sort of information on what is being done! Would love a weekly update on the website on injuries - could be combined with announcement on squad for the next games, which are known because they have to give 19 man squad to rfl I thought

Was looking for a match report/ match views on the Oldham forums on total rl website and came across this thread...

rlhttp://www.totalrl.com/index.php?showtopic

No idea if there is any truth in it as I can imagine that both teams on Sun are hoping our promotion push comes off the tracks and it may just be hearsay.

However, I can also see it being plausible after the recent comments made at the bottom of the recent match reports!

Does any one know anything to support this rumour/ dismiss it?

I suspect it's nothing more than rumour mongering - putting two and two together and getting five.

Panthers win lots of games, have good players in squad, must be on big money, but gates are poor, benefactor gets disheartened therefore pulls plug.

It's happened that many times before in RL that it's inevitable that someone is going to reach that conclusion.

Equally though, you have to assume now that any chance of playing at Bloomfield Road next season is a non starter, so where do we go if Fylde isn't the answer?

(the first one that says Chorley will be sent to the funny farm )

The BFC situation plus the lack of support does raise some questions though, some clarification of our position and aims for the future from the board would be welcome.

Meaning to post about this for a week (tried once but phone messed up!) Got to reading bobby hope's letter from the gateshead game. Few interesting points:

"as you are aware I personally provided Martin with the funds to assemble the team, but we do need help in many other areas" followed at the end by "i have done my best and now ask all our supporters to help your club to bring in the extra income to further the success of the blackpool panthers" - not too positive a message from the chairman, suggests what is feared thar he is getting frustrated and bored of the project. And also, that all he considered was the playing side of things. I'm sure this isn't the case, but I revisit the what did we need more - halliwell or marketing argument?

"the new panthers fundraising shop situated at 76 waterloo road (next to betfred) is in need of donations" - I hadn't heard of it. Anyone been? Does it just sell second hand stuff or does it sell merchandise and tickets etc.?

Also, wonder if we will be having fans meeting like last year. That'd be good.

It is a second hand shop but also devotes one window to club merch, I popped in and bought a Panthers t-shirt a couple of weeks back. Chap in there said that trade hasn't been too bad. Re. Hobson/disciplinary actions you can read any cases referred to the RFL at the following link www.therfl.co.uk/about/disciplinary.php You will see that this is up to date and there is no mention of any Panthers players since Leather a couple of months back. I found this as a few weeks back someone supposedly "in the know" told my mate that a number of our players has been cited. Load of rubbish it turned out to be.

It is a second hand shop but also devotes one window to club merch, I popped in and bought a Panthers t-shirt a couple of weeks back. Chap in there said that trade hasn't been too bad. Re. Hobson/disciplinary actions you can read any cases referred to the RFL at the following link www.therfl.co.uk/about/disciplinary.php You will see that this is up to date and there is no mention of any Panthers players since Leather a couple of months back. I found this as a few weeks back someone supposedly "in the know" told my mate that a number of our players has been cited. Load of rubbish it turned out to be.

Oops note quite up to date obviously. Mr Hobson could be in deep do by the looks of it. www.therfl.co.uk/about/disciplinary.php

Oops note quite up to date obviously. Mr Hobson could be in deep do by the looks of it. www.therfl.co.uk/about/disciplinary.php

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.

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 !!!

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

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

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