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Post by pjc on Jun 12, 2024 15:52:11 GMT
I’ve thought long and hard before putting this post on - most of the points have been addressed in previous posts. Might as well put my points across.
Bit of my background:
Brought up in Bolton (now live in Wigan) & attend the games with my Bolton mates who are Salford fans - 12/15 mile drive to each home game. I’ve recently been speaking to a number of my neighbours who are Wigan/Leigh fans - all of them say it’s a poor experience parking at our stadium, paying a tenner than waiting a good hour after the game before you leave! I’ve been to all my “local” clubs (watching Salford of course) - Wigan, Leigh, Wire, Saints - it’s so much easier to park (free) & get away at the end of the game. They should have made another access road to our stadium which doesn’t affect when people are walking away at the end - poor planning in my opinion.
The access to the stadium? - is that what is turning away the local fans? Salford’s population is around 250k way more than Leigh ( probably 3 times larger) - they are getting around 8k each home game ( also if you look at the prices of their season tickets - way more than ours) Are we a football town - Man U, Man C???
We can’t seem to attract any benefactor who is willing to invest (or give) to the club - is this because we can’t seem to attract any fans into the stadium - last 2 home crowds I thought were appalling - 4k Wigan, 2.8k London. Difficult to attract businesses to invest in us as they want to advertise to the crowds.
I thought the last few seasons the club has done really well, the team have competed and played some great rugby - disappointing that every season we seem to lose - the coach, star players & recently Mr Blease! How long can we keep on competing and balancing the books. I noticed that several people near us (West stand) didn’t renew their season tickets this year.
How long can we stay in Super League? Perhaps Mr Blease can see the writing on the wall, Stadium delay maybe the Council are not convinced on our viability?
Why do Sale Sharks get so many fans - not sure what their crowds are but they seem to be way above ours.
Sorry I don’t have any answers and I am sure the club have tried all means to reach out to the people of Salford. Do they not like RL? getting to the stadium an issue? cost (not convinced as I think we are relatively cheap)?
I’m not usually a pessimist, just struggling to see the light!
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Post by BIMBAM on Jun 12, 2024 16:40:02 GMT
I guess the real problem for any benefactor is that other than playing staff and non playing staff the club has no assets. The proposition doesn’t look that attractive to investors, so you are reliant on someone who effectively has money to burn.
I keep doing the euro millions every week in the hope of a big win, but even with a big money investment I doubt the crowds would ever return in large numbers.
So I guess is that nobody ever invests in a rugby club to get rich. It seems a financial one way street.
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Post by turkey on Jun 12, 2024 17:14:14 GMT
Perhaps Mr Blease can see the writing on the wall. Ian Blease was offered the chance to run the entire Leeds Rhinos organisation, no one is going to turn down that chance |
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Post by lhred on Jun 12, 2024 17:23:18 GMT
Ian blease is running the rugby side of Leeds rhinos not the whole organisation he answers to Gary hetherington!he has the same job he had at Salford!
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Post by JJR on Jun 12, 2024 17:45:18 GMT
A little bit bigger tho I think…Dire tor of Sports is a big job there
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Post by lhred on Jun 12, 2024 18:30:03 GMT
Yes it’s a bigger job cos it’s a bigger club but it’s not the entire organisation he still answers to hetherington he still is director of rugby which he was at Salford!
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Post by JJR on Jun 12, 2024 18:53:25 GMT
Whatever🤣…..…but probably not as big as the job when Koukash left when he ran the whole show for ages..the Club would have sunk without him at that time…and one of his masterstrokes..identifying Hastings and getting Marwan to fund him…his energy knowledge and enthusiasm will be missed
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Post by lhred on Jun 12, 2024 18:58:49 GMT
But marwan didn’t fund it and there is proof he didn’t fund it because it went against the club!I don’t know why I bite I really don’t it’s not worth it!
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Post by JJR on Jun 12, 2024 19:05:36 GMT
Of course I forgot…you’re the Fountain of knowledge, the Oracle…and Marwan never came and rescued the Club, a figment of my imagination
At least your totally loyal to your mates on the Board, commendable
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Post by lhred on Jun 12, 2024 19:55:22 GMT
Not the oracle but know the truth,the truth that marwan put everything against the club used the club as capital and left it with massive debts and no academy!I know because I have been shown things that show him not putting a penny in!believe what you want but I know what I believe and where is marwan now?oh he ended up bankrupt and having to sell all he owned!
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Post by idrewthehaggis on Jun 12, 2024 21:01:05 GMT
PJC good on you. You asked some questions.
Car parking- The price and conditions are set by the Stadium Management company. Whilst I do think it’s well run, safe and accessible, unlike most if not all the rest (think down a dark street in Leeds) I would agree the fee is excessive. Let’s hope a resolution can be part of the Stadium deal.
Leaving the ground- Had the developers built the road from the main car park onto the Western Gateway onto the Trafford Centre then most of the delays would have resolved. But with one road in and out, rightly those on foot take priority. To be fair, whilst an annoyance, are the delays any worse than say Huddersfield or Wigan apres match?
Public transport - Lets skip the never built but promised Metrolink. Ridiculously come match day the two bus services have distantly separate bus stops on the Gateway (100) and Liverpool Road (67) which is hugely unhelpful. There is a real need for a new joint stop near the pub to resolves. Thankfully the club puts on a bus to the Trafford Centre which is marvellous 🤩
For Mr Ian. I’d give him 18 months before he.is ‘re deployed’ elsewhere in the structure or has joins that other ‘Big Salford’ lad called Ian on garden leave admiring their severance deals. Like the horse trader, he’s gone. Move on. .
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Post by salfordsdevil on Jun 15, 2024 13:50:53 GMT
I’ve thought long and hard before putting this post on - most of the points have been addressed in previous posts. Might as well put my points across. Bit of my background: Brought up in Bolton (now live in Wigan) & attend the games with my Bolton mates who are Salford fans - 12/15 mile drive to each home game. I’ve recently been speaking to a number of my neighbours who are Wigan/Leigh fans - all of them say it’s a poor experience parking at our stadium, paying a tenner than waiting a good hour after the game before you leave! I’ve been to all my “local” clubs (watching Salford of course) - Wigan, Leigh, Wire, Saints - it’s so much easier to park (free) & get away at the end of the game. They should have made another access road to our stadium which doesn’t affect when people are walking away at the end - poor planning in my opinion. The access to the stadium? - is that what is turning away the local fans? Salford’s population is around 250k way more than Leigh ( probably 3 times larger) - they are getting around 8k each home game ( also if you look at the prices of their season tickets - way more than ours) Are we a football town - Man U, Man C??? We can’t seem to attract any benefactor who is willing to invest (or give) to the club - is this because we can’t seem to attract any fans into the stadium - last 2 home crowds I thought were appalling - 4k Wigan, 2.8k London. Difficult to attract businesses to invest in us as they want to advertise to the crowds. I thought the last few seasons the club has done really well, the team have competed and played some great rugby - disappointing that every season we seem to lose - the coach, star players & recently Mr Blease! How long can we keep on competing and balancing the books. I noticed that several people near us (West stand) didn’t renew their season tickets this year. How long can we stay in Super League? Perhaps Mr Blease can see the writing on the wall, Stadium delay maybe the Council are not convinced on our viability? Why do Sale Sharks get so many fans - not sure what their crowds are but they seem to be way above ours. Sorry I don’t have any answers and I am sure the club have tried all means to reach out to the people of Salford. Do they not like RL? getting to the stadium an issue? cost (not convinced as I think we are relatively cheap)? I’m not usually a pessimist, just struggling to see the light! One of the problems is they dont always reach out to people of Salford … look at today they was in Trafford centre doing spin the wheel and handing out gifts which is absolutely amazing but they never advertised it on any social media or anything to say they will be there and if I had known I would have gone before I set off to Blackpool |
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Post by ecclesred on Jun 26, 2024 17:16:59 GMT
Have they give up on the building the future initiatives?
We all know that attendances last year were inflated by free tickets however now that the east stand is open every game we need to fill it.
Get out to local community groups (all sports not just rugby league) and get as many families down to witness what goes on. But needs to be every game and consistently.
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Post by JJR on Jun 26, 2024 17:27:24 GMT
I keep asking and keep getting berated for it…but what’s the Marketing Plan…if I didn’t have a season ticket I wouldn’t have a Clue as to when we play etc
I never hear about the Club, except from fans
Over to you SS,LHRD
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Post by Carnster on Jun 26, 2024 18:16:49 GMT
I've come to the conclusion a long time ago that Salford RL club is probably close to peaking right now to its average crowds. There just isn't the interest from the residents of Salford on a large scale. We could have the best marketing in the business and could be slick with everything off the field, but I doubt it would add that many numbers to the gates. There just isn't the interest. I've said it quite a bit on other topics in the past with regards to the demographics of our fan base. While there's a majority of Salford born among us, for our small number of hardcore supporters there's a statistically large number of us that are from other areas. Just take a look on these forums, which are really only used by the very sickest type of hardcore Salford fan in quite small numbers. There's quite a few off the top of my head that are not native to Salford. Myself included.
The club is probably right to target outside of Salford for the future. Surrounding areas may bare some fruit in the future but building a fan base is a long term venture. Ultimately, the numbers will rise with success on the field. We need a CC win or a GF win to start the catalyst for getting this ball rolling.
I think it's healthy for us to ask these questions, as long as people remain civil (You know who you are...) but I think with the limited resources we have to spread so very thinly across the board, they're not doing a bad job as it stands. Of course they could be better. Always room for improvement. But I don't think we should be pointing fingers and putting the boot in just yet.
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