fearnowt

I'm only correct if Warrington is in Wales so no need to apologise. Your original post is closer to the truth, I just stumbled across the squad in the link (which mistakenly shows several players to be Welsh) and thought it would be amusing to reply with it. Sorry if I mislead you. Whitehaven were very solid in defence, Chronicler of Chiswick has summed up the game pretty well and Haven were worthy winners.

All but seven if you believe this http://www.itsrugby.co.uk/team-squad-northwalescrusaders.html Edit: actually make that eight, just noticed the "scotsman" in the squad.

Understand what your saying, and just looking at the table you make a fair point. However, if this game was 75 minutes long instead of 80, we would have beaten Keighley and Skolars, . Joking aside, we have been far more competitive this year than we have been for perhaps three or four years. A win by just one point yesterday would have put us in sixth place, which also shows just how open league one is this year.

Thanks for the idea!

They will be "logo'd" up with the club badge.

Thanks for posting this. We always look forward to our visits to Butts Park, it's becoming a favourite to look for when the fixtures are released. We're only too familiar with having to move out half way through the season, hopefully it doesn't happen too often for you as it can be quite unsettling. Looks a nice setup at Broadstreet, another new ground to add to the list. I think all clubs like ourselves should aspire to owning a facility like that.

We do play in the North West Men's League, at least our A team does, which is mainly made up of local Welsh players. (I believe the North West Counties league folded in the 2014/15 season, please correct me if I'm wrong). We also have two wheelchair teams as well as junior teams, and our under 13s are proving to be particularly successful. https://northwalescrusaders.com/match-report/report-woolston-rovers-u13s-14-54-north-wales-crusaders-u13s/ We have had the lowest central funding of any club in League 1 for the last three years, due to the actions of our previous CEO, who ran up huge debts, including a loan from the RFL which the club has been held accountable for. This should now be just about behind us and we can concentrate on reviving the club, which was attracting four figure crowds just six years ago. The players who train in Widnes are incredibly loyal, some of them have been with us since the start, despite two pay cuts. They love the club and are very proud to be bringing the sport they love to a new area, and inspiring the local players who hope to take their place one day. This club desperately needs a home of it's own if it is to thrive in the future, no doubt about that, but for now we have to make do with what we have got. And by the way, the ground is IN Wrexham, just 10 minutes walk from the town centre. You are entitled to your opinion of course, but I clicked on this thread to read about London Skolars recent good form, not to have my club, country and countless dedicated volunteers and players insulted.

That's a shame, the trip to Butts Park is one of our favourite away days, will miss going to the real ale pub across the car park,. Never mind, a new ground to add to the list. Looks a good setup at Broadstreet, I'd love to see us build something like that one day.

Just home from work, great result for us today. Next up for us, Skolars away in two weeks. What a game that's going to be!

Further to my post above where I mentioned a supporters trust meeting before the Whitehaven game, this has now been confirmed. The supporters trust will be hosting a meeting to update members/fans on our progress, especially since the AGM, and to give supporters an opportunity to suggest any ideas that we might take forward. It will be held at St Peters Hall on Smithfield Road, which is about 5 mins walk from Queensway Stadium. If you are parking in the stadium car park, Smithfield Road is just off the roundabout heading towards the town centre. The hall is on the right walking up the hill from the stadium. We have the hall from 12:30 with the meeting starting at 13:00. Any supporters interested in attending are welcome to join us.

To be fair, there were a couple of Wrexham fans at the West Wales game despite Wrexham playing at home. I spoke to another Wrexham fan on the way home who goes to Cru games, he'd been to the Racecourse but he knew our result. I supported them for 43 years until I completely lost interest seven years ago. There's good and bad there just like everywhere else and while I don't have any affiliation to them anymore, I don't have any ill will towards them.

I think you've hit the nail firmly on the head there.

I've been keeping a record of the attendances since the move to Queensway, the figures may not be completely accurate as one or two others are doing the same and have very slight variations in their figures. The average for 2017 was 348. In 2018 it was 376 (but take away the Bradford game and it drops to 334). So far this year it is 342. It could be argued that the attendances have held steady since the move as there was a very sharp decline between 2013 and 2016, when we saw an alarming drop of around 60%. We're limited with what we can achieve at Queensway, but I can see no reason why we should not be getting average crowds above 400, if we get up to 500 we'll be doing really well. The thing is an increase of just 30 would probably cover the rent for the stadium, we would need an increase of 300 to achieve the same at the Racecourse. I think the club has been into the schools and it did seem to go down well, but we have to remember that the club is run entirely by unpaid volunteers with day jobs. We now have a permanent presence in the town centre with the club shop in the Ty Pawb market, but again this is run by volunteers on their days off work, plus one or two who have retired. We have a supporters trust, and we are starting to get more proactive. We are paying for one of our stewards to train as a ground safety officer, we are replacing the disposable plastic containers at the bar with recyclable ones on a deposit and return system. We are also looking at improving the merchandise on offer such as hats, pin badges, etc. We are looking at arranging a supporters trust meeting to update members/fans on our progress on the day of our next home game against Whitehaven, to be held at a venue close to the stadium. Watch out for an announcement in the next couple of weeks.

It's surprising how many people think we folded when we left the Racecourse, including some of those fans we have lost. We were in a right mess three years ago and would have folded if we hadn't moved to Queensway. It's hard to be competitive on reduced crowds and reduced central funding but we have managed to survive by living within our means. The club is much healthier now and maybe we can start to pick up again, but it's going to be hard work. Hopefully we can revive, but it won't be easy in a football town where 99% of the population don't know we exist.

Has to be the so called "promotion" run by the club when we played Gateshead Thunder at home in 2012. At the time Thunder were on a losing run of something like 60 games, and there was an offer for the game for the hospitality boxes where you would get your money back if we lost! Totally disrespectful to Thunder and very embarrassing for us Crusaders fans. Thankfully the CEO who came up with the idea has long gone. Back then of course we were averaging crowds just below 1,000 while Thunder were lucky to get 200 at their games, how times change. Also have to mention Wales 2013 World Cup campaign, what a disappointment that was.