120 replies to this topic

[Scubby]

A few thousand:) i only wish make that a few dozen.In my estimation the total number of french RL fans numbers around 12000 max which is pretty much what used to turn up for the lord derby cup finals day (This used to be the last match of the season) where they would also hold many of the junior finals so mums and dads came etc.I would estimate (Outside of the dragons) you are looking at.Limoux 800Lezignan 1000Carcassonne 1500Villneneurve 600Pia 300St Esteve 400Avignon 600Toulouse 800Lescure 500Thats 6500 + floaters and smaller clubsCM

6-7 Years ago around 1,000 people watched RL in Perpignan every week. Now the dragons get 8-9,000 locals watching. According to your logic, 8,000 of these are bogus RL fans. If Toulouse had a SL club in the top 4 they would be getting 6-8,000 every week. That would make 15k plus watching clubs in 2 towns alone.

No-one knows how many RL fans are in France because the structure isn't in place to get them down to watch. If France were in a w/c final played in Toulouse then you would be getting 35k plus in the main stadium. But, of course, half of these would have turned up by mistake.

Warrington are taking 25,000 to the GF today yet only 10,000 turn up at Warrington every week. Your logic for this is stupid. I was at a LD cup final a few years ago and there were around 4-5,000 fans in club colours cheering for Villeneurve - yet you say they have only got 1500 people in France who follow RL from that town.

Edited by Scubby, 06 October 2012 - 11:57 AM.

[CANETMAN]

6-7 Years ago around 1,000 people watched RL in Perpignan every week. Now the dragons get 8-9,000 locals watching. According to your logic, 8,000 of these are bogus RL fans. If Toulouse had a SL club in the top 4 they would be getting 6-8,000 every week. That would make 15k plus watching clubs in 2 towns alone.

No-one knows how many RL fans are in France because the structure isn't in place to get them down to watch. If France were in a w/c final played in Toulouse then you would be getting 35k plus in the main stadium. But, of course, half of these would have turned up by mistake.

Read my post its says quite clearly that i have NOT counted the dragons in these figures,and no-one would turn up by mistake if the french sniff a win they will turn up.CM

[Scubby]

Read my post its says quite clearly that i have NOT counted the dragons in these figures,and no-one would turn up by mistake if the french sniff a win they will turn up.CM

Yes but if you had applied this theory a few years ago when XIII Catalan were in Elite one you would have said only 1000 people in Perpignan followed RL. Your logic is flawed. So these people who would turn up to watch a France win aren't potential RL fans?

[CANETMAN]

Yes but if you had applied this theory a few years ago when XIII Catalan were in Elite one you would have said only 1000 people in Perpignan followed RL. Your logic is flawed. So these people who would turn up to watch a France win aren't potential RL fans?

OK lets start here as for only 1000 people in Perpignan following RL that is untrue,maybe only 1000 turned up however the city had a rich RL history many just could not be bothered as the standard in the championship was not very high along with the fact that USAP had become a very big rugby union club.In saying that though i remember crowds of 5000 + for local derbies between Pia and St Esteve/X111 Catalan back 2004/5.The difference is that those watching France in Avignon are NOT paying and if they were asked to pay even lets say Euros 10.00 i am certain that the crowd would be around 70% less.In Perpignan everyone has to pay and to be fair to the dragons they pay a realistic price for tickets which is more than one can say for many SL clubs back in good old blighty:(

Finally the 4500 that you claim followed the Leopards to the final (50% would have only gone to that one match all season) nowadays the core follows of RL there are around the figure i quoted they have lost the majority of local,s to Agen RU.

Edited by CANETMAN, 06 October 2012 - 12:17 PM.

[Scubby]

OK lets start here as for only 1000 people in Perpignan following RL that is untrue,maybe only 1000 turned up however the city had a rich RL history many just could not be bothered as the standard in the championship was not very high along with the fact that USAP had become a very big rugby union club.In saying that though i remember crowds of 5000 + for local derbies between Pia and St Esteve/X111 Catalan back 2004/5.The difference is that those watching France in Avignon are NOT paying and if they were asked to pay even lsts say Euros 10.00 i am certain that the crowd would be around 70% less.In Perpignan everyone has to pay and to be fair to the dragons they pay a realistic price for tickets which is more than one can say for many SL clubs back in good old blighty:(

You are just contradicting yourself. Because you mention that 1000s and 1000s of fans across France have been brought up with rich RL history. These are still RL fans FFS! The problem at the moment is that they are used to the national side being rubbish and being offered free tickets etc.

There is the potential for tens of thousands of fans to be paying to watch RL every week if it was developed. If Toulouse were a top half RL team they would be getting 6-8,000 'paying' fans every week. If France were regularly competing with Eng and NZ then you would have 10-15,000 'paying' fans for test matches.

Edited by Scubby, 06 October 2012 - 12:23 PM.

[CANETMAN]

You are just contradicting yourself. Because you mention that 1000s and 1000s of fans across France have been brought up with rich RL history. These are still RL fans FFS! The problem at the moment is that they are used to the national side being rubbish and being offered free tickets etc.

There is the potential for tens of thousands of fans to be paying to watch RL every week if it was developed. If Toulouse were a top half RL team they would be getting 6-8,000 'paying' fans every week. If France were regularly competing with Eng and NZ then you would have 10-15,000 'paying' fans for test matches.

I HAVE NEVER MENTIONED THE WORD POTENTIAL,i am certain that there is potential for thousands to follow RL in Norway the reality is the current HARD CORE french rugby league following (Outside of the dragons) is around 12000 maximum.As for Warrington Wolves taking 25000 to MU well done however the reality is (as in most sports) 50% of those fans are there for the crack on the day if they were 100% rugby league fans they would buy a season ticket and turn up at WW for every match.Get real:)CM

[oiseau]

6-7 Years ago around 1,000 people watched RL in Perpignan every week. Now the dragons get 8-9,000 locals watching. According to your logic, 8,000 of these are bogus RL fans. If Toulouse had a SL club in the top 4 they would be getting 6-8,000 every week. That would make 15k plus watching clubs in 2 towns alone.

No-one knows how many RL fans are in France because the structure isn't in place to get them down to watch. If France were in a w/c final played in Toulouse then you would be getting 35k plus in the main stadium. But, of course, half of these would have turned up by mistake.

Warrington are taking 25,000 to the GF today yet only 10,000 turn up at Warrington every week. Your logic for this is stupid. I was at a LD cup final a few years ago and there were around 4-5,000 fans in club colours cheering for Villeneurve - yet you say they have only got 1500 people in France who follow RL from that town.

the majority of the '8000' you quote aren't 'locals' they come far and wide to watch top RL, simple as that - I travel 6 hours to get to Perpignan for example

Toulouse boss Carlos reckons he will get between 6K - 10K at the start of SL in the Toulouse area with the fans coming from a big catchment area geographically just because they are RL ans wishing to see the best teams playing - a semi-successful side will maintain this level of support

[Scubby]

I HAVE NEVER MENTIONED THE WORD POTENTIAL,i am certain that there is potential for thousands to follow RL in Norway the reality is the current HARD CORE french rugby league following (Outside of the dragons) is around 12000 maximum.As for Warrington Wolves taking 25000 to MU well done however the reality is (as in most sports) 50% of those fans are there for the crack on the day if they were 100% rugby league fans they would buy a season ticket and turn up at WW for every match.Get real:)CM

"In my estimation the total number of french RL fans numbers around 12000 max"
HTH

There was some research done by a lower league football club a few years ago. They worked out that even though their average home attendance was 4,000 over 20 league games, up to 9,000 individual home fans had gone through the gates over the year. Some had gone for 1 game, some 4-5, some went to nearly every game but less than half had been to every game. Which fans are fans and which fans are not? Which fans are hard core and which fans are there for the crack? IMO RL fans are RL fans. I can only get to 2-3 games a year as I live out of the country - suppose I just go for the crack then?

Your logic of adding up attendances of local french clubs and saying that is how many RL fans there are in France is flawed.

[Scubby]

the majority of the '8000' you quote aren't 'locals' they come far and wide to watch top RL, simple as that - I travel 6 hours to get to Perpignan for example

Toulouse boss Carlos reckons he will get between 6K - 10K at the start of SL in the Toulouse area with the fans coming from a big catchment area geographically just because they are RU and wishing to see the best teams playing - a semi-successful side will maintain this level of support

Exactly what I am saying. If the FFR13 actually poured some money into the French national team and got a proper coach and structures in place then fans would come from all over to watch them - and pay! France actually has the chance to follow the RUnion model and make the national team the pinnacle of the sport in the country. Tens of thousands of sports fans would potentially go and watch their national or a SL side play and compete against the top clubs/countries without having an interest in the domestic game.

Edited by Scubby, 06 October 2012 - 01:05 PM.

[oiseau]

Exactly what I am saying. If the FFR13 actually poured some money into the French national team and got a proper coach and structures in place then fans would come from all over to watch them - and pay! France actually has the chance to follow the RUnion model and make the national team the pinnacle of the sport in the country. Tens of thousands of sports fans would potentially go and watch their national side play and compete against the top countries without having an interest in the domestic game.

agreed, the french will turn out but they don't expect to have to travel 10 hours in a car to watch their national team !

the FFR is in a transition period with a new president coming in soon - the FFR is a pretty innefectual body at best (and we criticise the RFL !) but the national coaching position has become a joke - taking nowt away from Cologni who is a 'proper coach'
by the way and a good appointment in my humble opinion tho' I would have someone like Jerôme Guisset or Steve Deakin as assistant with their direct contact with the Catalans.

but just having one home international per year is disgraceful !

we, the fans deserve better

[keighley]

France have two home games in the 2013 World Cup, one at Avignon and one at Perpignan. Do you think they will get good attendances for those games?. In the last WC in the Northern hemishphere, the French attendances were a rare bright spot.

[CANETMAN]

"In my estimation the total number of french RL fans numbers around 12000 max"
HTH

There was some research done by a lower league football club a few years ago. They worked out that even though their average home attendance was 4,000 over 20 league games, up to 9,000 individual home fans had gone through the gates over the year. Some had gone for 1 game, some 4-5, some went to nearly every game but less than half had been to every game. Which fans are fans and which fans are not? Which fans are hard core and which fans are there for the crack? IMO RL fans are RL fans. I can only get to 2-3 games a year as I live out of the country - suppose I just go for the crack then?

Not at all i have been to a few hundred FRL games in my life and i can say 99% its the same faces at every game:)Your logic of adding up attendances of local french clubs and saying that is how many RL fans there are in France is flawed.

[CANETMAN]

France have two home games in the 2013 World Cup, one at Avignon and one at Perpignan. Do you think they will get good attendances for those games?. In the last WC in the Northern hemishphere, the French attendances were a rare bright spot.

Depends on the price of the ticketsIn the 2000 WC (I went to every game in France) all the crowds quoted were genuine apart from Paris which was around 1800 (Tas just made the figure up and i was standing next to him when he did it:)))))CM

[oiseau]

France have two home games in the 2013 World Cup, one at Avignon and one at Perpignan. Do you think they will get good attendances for those games?. In the last WC in the Northern hemishphere, the French attendances were a rare bright spot.

yeah, Avignon & the GB are great venues for internationals - Stade Toulousain and Albi were also great stadia for past RL internationals - the Albert Domec at Carcassonne will be good when the ground redevelopments are completed but LENS ?

deary me........

[Scubby]

Depends on the price of the ticketsIn the 2000 WC (I went to every game in France) all the crowds quoted were genuine apart from Paris which was around 1800 (Tas just made the figure up and i was standing next to him when he did it:)))))CM

I was also at the game at Paris in 2000 (double-header) and there were around 3,500-4,000 there at least. Maybe not the 7k that was quoted but to say it was 1800 is not like you CM

[ParraEelsNRL]

What's with the trolls and all the doomsday merchants in this thread, for gods sake, wake up or watch another sport you idiots

If the game is played in France, the FFR13 can play it where they bloodywell like and if it's too far away from where a certain 2 here live, stiff shiit.

Edited by ParraEelsNRL, 07 October 2012 - 01:57 AM.

[oiseau]

What's with the trolls and all the doomsday merchants in this thread, for gods sake, wake up or watch another sport you idiots

If the game is played in France, the FFR13 can play it where they bloodywell like and if it's too far away from where a certain 2 here live, stiff shiit.

so you would be happy to travel to say, Darwin to watch Aus v NZ in the only RL international of the year to be played on Australian soil ?

[CANETMAN]

What's with the trolls and all the doomsday merchants in this thread, for gods sake, wake up or watch another sport you idiots

If the game is played in France, the FFR13 can play it where they bloodywell like and if it's too far away from where a certain 2 here live, stiff shiit.

Also in France using the car is very expensive i drove to Lezignan 2 weeks ago and the road tolls from Perpignan were around 17 euros (£ 15.00) return add on petrol at Euros 1.60 nearly now a litre (£ 1.40) it works out at over £ 2.00 a litre in real terms.If you are a french RL fan to drive from Perpignan to Toulouse return now costs around Euros 30.00 in road tolls alone forget speeding there are speed cameras everywhere gendamarie police standing at the tolls checking documents etc even sometimes they check your tickets and can work out if you have been speeding just by the time you entered the motorway.France is really expensive its not the France i knew 15 years ago when i moved there from the UK:(CM

[Jim from Oz]

Also in France using the car is very expensive i drove to Lezignan 2 weeks ago and the road tolls from Perpignan were around 17 euros (£ 15.00) return add on petrol at Euros 1.60 nearly now a litre (£ 1.40) it works out at over £ 2.00 a litre in real terms.If you are a french RL fan to drive from Perpignan to Toulouse return now costs around Euros 30.00 in road tolls alone forget speeding there are speed cameras everywhere gendamarie police standing at the tolls checking documents etc even sometimes they check your tickets and can work out if you have been speeding just by the time you entered the motorway.France is really expensive its not the France i knew 15 years ago when i moved there from the UK:(CM

why don't you take the train then?

[keighley]

Also in France using the car is very expensive i drove to Lezignan 2 weeks ago and the road tolls from Perpignan were around 17 euros (£ 15.00) return add on petrol at Euros 1.60 nearly now a litre (£ 1.40) it works out at over £ 2.00 a litre in real terms.If you are a french RL fan to drive from Perpignan to Toulouse return now costs around Euros 30.00 in road tolls alone forget speeding there are speed cameras everywhere gendamarie police standing at the tolls checking documents etc even sometimes they check your tickets and can work out if you have been speeding just by the time you entered the motorway.France is really expensive its not the France i knew 15 years ago when i moved there from the UK:(CM

Yes, it's going off topic a bit but every time I come to the UK, I hire a car and then those speed camera things drive me crazy. They are not law enforecment or road safety measures, they are revenue collectors for the Govt, nothing more.