20 replies to this topic

[Lobbygobbler]

Noting that France drew a great crowd in a new area yesterday against Wales yesterday, why dont England take games to new places all over England? England crowds are notoriously bad in the heartlands - we would have only got 7k against Wales.

I would take games to the following:

-Cornwall and Devon
-Bristol
-Portsmouth/Soton
-Kent
-Norwich/Ipswich
-Coventry
-Birmingham
-Nottingham
-Newcastle/Sunderland

[oiseau]

what, you mean give the tickets away just like at Lens ?

or are you expecting non RL folk to actually pay to watch such a game ?

[Lobbygobbler]

what, you mean give the tickets away just like at Lens ?

or are you expecting non RL folk to actually pay to watch such a game ?

I think we could give free tickets for kids and a percentage of people, say an early bird freebie.

By the way, I do think watching England in non RL places is much more interesting - a sort of on-tour or Wembley day out.

I was turned off the choice of locations for the England games because they are in the heartlands. If it was somewhere new then it would have made for a nice day out

[oiseau]

I think we could give free tickets for kids and a percentage of people, say an early bird freebie.

By the way, I do think watching England in non RL places is much more interesting - a sort of on-tour or Wembley day out.

I was turned off the choice of locations for the England games because they are in the heartlands. If it was somewhere new then it would have made for a nice day out

'a nice day out' ?

jeez ! do you realize the french heartlands are at least a 10 hour drive (more like 12-14 hours for most) which means two overnight stays plus travelling costs at the end of october in Lens ? - people don't have the money or the inclination to undergo that kind of 'nice day out' !!!

any fool (Larrat or Dayan for example) can give tickets away and 'rentacrowd' for the occasion but with the match being shown only by Bein Sports in France (as I understand it) all the real bread & butter RL fans were robbed of chance to see their team

as a PR stunt it has been a farce !

[audois]

what, you mean give the tickets away just like at Lens ?

or are you expecting non RL folk to actually pay to watch such a game ?

French have always given tickets away freely. Remember years, years back crowd reported as - 6,089 paying 3,007.

[ArmchairRhino]

Should be played around the country but that doesn't always have to mean new places. Nothing wrong with Leigh and Doncaster as long as it's not always Leigh and Doncaster.

[oiseau]

French have always given tickets away freely. Remember years, years back crowd reported as - 6,089 paying 3,007.

yeah, Albi for last game v Wales - they were giving away vouchers at the entrance

at least the crowd were predominantly RL fans

[Just Browny]

Are you honestly still going on about it? You're quickly becoming the most tedious poster on here, you're even surpassing Canetman.

The 'real' French fans have had the Catalans all summer, have now got the LER and, come next Autumn, will have World Cup rugby in Avignon and Perpignan. One game 'on the road' (which was still in France FFS) has not killed anyone.

[thirteenthman]

yeah, Albi for last game v Wales - they were giving away vouchers at the entrance

at least the crowd were predominantly RL fans

And what if some of the crowd yesterday were suitably impressed by the sport and decide to become RL fans? Doesn't that make it a worthwhile exercise? How on earth is French RL ever going to grow if it keeps on selling itself to the same, small group of fans?

[oiseau]

And what if some of the crowd yesterday were suitably impressed by the sport and decide to become RL fans? Doesn't that make it a worthwhile exercise? How on earth is French RL ever going to grow if it keeps on selling itself to the same, small group of fans?

Are you honestly still going on about it? You're quickly becoming the most tedious poster on here, you're even surpassing Canetman.

The 'real' French fans have had the Catalans all summer, have now got the LER and, come next Autumn, will have World Cup rugby in Avignon and Perpignan. One game 'on the road' (which was still in France FFS) has not killed anyone.

sorry for becoming 'tedious'

i'll carry on being tedious, if it's ok with you of course sir ?

as for being the new CM ? I am deeply honoured, many thanks JB

[keighley]

Noting that France drew a great crowd in a new area yesterday against Wales yesterday, why dont England take games to new places all over England? England crowds are notoriously bad in the heartlands - we would have only got 7k against Wales.

I would take games to the following:

-Cornwall and Devon
-Bristol
-Portsmouth/Soton
-Kent
-Norwich/Ipswich
-Coventry
-Birmingham
-Nottingham
-Newcastle/Sunderland

Games at Gloucester, Gateshead, Oxford and Coventry or somewhere near Hemel could be good promotional excercises for the new clubs and the Thunder and north east revival movement. A game in Cumbria is not a bad idea either. The game up there deserves to be showcased to the Cumbrian fan base. I am sure there would be some hometown heros somewhere in the England team.

[jackknife]

By one get one half price would do nicely n would tempt me to take the Mrs how has no interest at all in RL she would simply be going for the 'nice day out' n we'd be able to spend some of that 'quality time' that she keeps banging on about.

[oiseau]

And what if some of the crowd yesterday were suitably impressed by the sport and decide to become RL fans? Doesn't that make it a worthwhile exercise? How on earth is French RL ever going to grow if it keeps on selling itself to the same, small group of fans?

yeah of course, i'm sure many were impressed with the game simply because it IS a great game so how about holding next seasons LER Magic Weekend somewhere 'up north' in better weather in september and give the punters a free feast of RL ?

or maybe a couple of freebie high profile LER games say, FCL v ASC followed by UTC v TO13 in Lille or wherever as part of the LER season - my problem is with the national team playing their only home international at a venue so far away from the RL fans

a bit like having Wigan v Saints in a one-off at Watford or wherever as part of the SL regular season to spread the RL gospel further south

[jackknife]

Isnt the nrl playing a game in China or somewhere like that next year? Or have I dreamt that

[oiseau]

Isnt the nrl playing a game in China or somewhere like that next year? Or have I dreamt that

for the next five years apparently

[thirteenthman]

yeah of course, i'm sure many were impressed with the game simply because it IS a great game so how about holding next seasons LER Magic Weekend somewhere 'up north' in better weather in september and give the punters a free feast of RL ?

or maybe a couple of freebie high profile LER games say, FCL v ASC followed by UTC v TO13 in Lille or wherever as part of the LER season - my problem is with the national team playing their only home international at a venue so far away from the RL fans

a bit like having Wigan v Saints in a one-off at Watford or wherever as part of the SL regular season to spread the RL gospel further south

I take your point about the only international being played 'up north' as it were, but that's one of the problems with the sport not playing many international matches. As for playing regular season games there, I doubt it would have the same impact. Even people who had never seen the sport before yesterday could at least get behind France, and best of all they won. The problem with playing league games between clubs representing towns with no connection to the one you're in is it has less appeal to the novice. It's one of the reasons I've never been in favour of the SL Magic Weekend as it is. All you end up with is a weekend away for the fans of the clubs. Fine if that's all it's for, but if you want to expand and attract new fans give them something they can easily buy in to - the national team.

[oiseau]

I take your point about the only international being played 'up north' as it were, but that's one of the problems with the sport not playing many international matches. As for playing regular season games there, I doubt it would have the same impact. Even people who had never seen the sport before yesterday could at least get behind France, and best of all they won. The problem with playing league games between clubs representing towns with no connection to the one you're in is it has less appeal to the novice. It's one of the reasons I've never been in favour of the SL Magic Weekend as it is. All you end up with is a weekend away for the fans of the clubs. Fine if that's all it's for, but if you want to expand and attract new fans give them something they can easily buy in to - the national team.

agree with a lot of that - interestingly enough in my area RL is taboo as RU rules ok and a few years ago a couple of teams came to Limoges to play an exhibition American Football game and the game caught on and now Limoges has a thriving US Footie team, not particularly successful but the sport has caught the imagination and attracts some fans as well as loads of kids wanting to play

I don't think the national team needs to turn out to attract punters just a couple of decent teams with good marketing from the FFR13

[Futtocks]

They were obviously determined to play this match at Lens, but future internationals in France could still be taken 'on the road' to areas bordering RL heartlands. The established fans would have a shorter journey, while still exposing the game to new territories.

It just doesn't have to be as far away as Lens each time.

[dhw]

And what if some of the crowd yesterday were suitably impressed by the sport and decide to become RL fans? Doesn't that make it a worthwhile exercise? How on earth is French RL ever going to grow if it keeps on selling itself to the same, small group of fans?

History says they most likely would not be interested. A better decision would have been to have the game played in Marseille/Toulouse/Nice or even Bordeaux a game way up there will in all liklihood have less impact than those cities mentioned.

[audois]

The reason why the Federation took the game to Lens was partly to test the water for this proposed Super XIII venture being touted by Larrat & the RC Lens President Dayan. The latter is trying to get up to five soccer clubs, several from the north, involved for a projected start in 2014.