Ivarr the Boneless

Apologies about the typo. Actually Dulwich Hamlet don't do much real ale. Not much point trying to sell short life stuff at a ground that's not open that much. Wimbledon does actually have the potential to be a good fan experience. I agree there. But fundamentally disagree that there's no point talking to a club who have worked miracles over the same time Broncos devastated their fan base. But that should only be one strand and they should certainly talk to the likes of Leigh and Barrow. Many of the key lessons are transferable. BTW, the turnover at Hamlet is north of a million pounds p.a. And some of the teams they play, though not Hamlet, are professional.

Over the 20 years I was a season ticket holder a huge number of fans came and went. Some were obviously due to geographic moves across London by the club. However a large chunk seemed to be newbies who came once or twice and then vanished. The club did very little to welcome people who didn't understand the rules etc. The match day experience was usually mediocre. Sadly a minority of the fans didn't help, by patronising anyone they didn't view as a "true" RL fan. On occasions I heard people who stated they liked RU being abused. When running a failing club the hardest thing to do is to get someone through the door for the first time. I repeat if London sign the entire Aussie XIII 95%+ of London wouldn't know and 95%+ of those who did still wouldn't show up without hard work. You then need the right offering to get them back. Get them back often enough and they become fans. I felt Broncos were often better than credited for at the first part but but hopeless at the second bit. As for having nothing to learn from a club that has gone from 170 average to regular sell outs, words fail me. No-one is suggesting Broncos adopt the Hamlet play book full on. It would fail, which is exactly what the Hamlet people told Broncos. Different audiences, different starting points and Hamlet did it before social media really kicked off and any strategy now needs that woven into it. But there's plenty to learn from them, not least what they got wrong as frankly Broncos are running out of time and need to avoid as many pitfalls as possible. There's another non-league club currently doing amazing things crowd wise. They merged the Hamlet play book with a social media orientated play book at Walton & Horsham FC. Their methodology would be a brilliant staring point for the new iteration of Broncos. I have passed contacts on, it's up to the club now.

In London non-league football a few years ago Dulwich Hamlet saw a substantial average gate rise in a season they were relegated. This was on the back of a few years of rising gates too, so wasn't easy to achieve. It's possible to do it Hamlet focused on making it an enjoyable day out. The newcomers are now largely hardened into regulars. I firmly believe a challenger sport with no real tradition in SW London (I am aware of the old Streatham & Mitcham, that's too far back to be relevant) should offer a good day out, preferably with winning side. Unless you are lucky and people have a brilliant match first time out, statistically unlikely, it's the day out and value for money that gets them to return initially. Get them back often enough and that hardens in to support. The good news is the people who drove Hamlet are RL fans and, after years of offering, people associated with the club have been picking the brains of the key man still alive. It's also noticeable we haven't heard anything about fan retention strategies yet. Another thing Broncos have traditionally been hopeless at. There's time for them to firm that up though.

London have had teams worth watching featuring numerous internationals several times previously, and didn't once managed to hit a break even gate. If you put a winning RL team out in London and don't market it, 95%+ of the population won't know about it. And 95%+ of those who do know won't care. If the history of RL in London proves anything, it's that simply sticking a good team on the pitch won't lead to the rest taking care of itself. We are in the very early days and don't really know exactly what the owners plan. Hopefully what's announced this far is one strand of a bigger fan acquisition plan. If it isn't, I share LBIB's concerns.

Not sure that's an issue. If he does a good job the London role will probably be desirable in three years. If he doesn't, there may not be a club in three years.

TBF they also had a few models (and I mean a few) walking around Wembley with "Broncos are back' written on the back of their tee shirts. Marketing genius you have to admit ... After expanding so much brain power on that one, they basically took three months off with no marketing. The subsequent shambles was totally predictable.

Broncos have the perfect club to learn from in AFC Wimbledon too. Given they earn rent, it's in their interest to share ideas and help Broncos become viable. https://www.fairgameuk.org/fair-game-index-2025

Given most fans travelling away jump.in a car or on a train, possibly head to a pub near the ground and then enter the stadium, they barely interact with the town / city they visit. That sounds like a good excuse for fans not to go to me, and anyway is totally beyond the control of the club. To be blunt, one of the biggest failings of the club in the 20 years as a season ticket holder was it's inability to resonate with the ethnic minority population. I used to live in Tooting Bec (loved it BTW) within walking distance of the stadium. I was young and energetic then, I'd probably use the bus now. Frankly it would make more sense target the Tooting community, of all ethnic backgrounds, than to rely on Aussies. The community who can walk to your ground, jump on a bus or a short train ride are the ones you are most likely to convert into long term fans. Aussies are obviously very welcome, but with the work permit situation these days that's an increasingly transitory population. You will have to work to replace a fair chunk of them each year. Win the neighbours over and they talk to their friends about this good day out on the doorstep...

Just to say what's the problem with free tickets, if used in a controlled manner? The non league team I am involved with were averaging 170 fans a while back. 3000 plus sell outs are common now. Frankly the local community had given up on the club. Free tickets got them back through the door, they certainly weren't going to pay to come in. Hard work to put on an enjoyable cheap family day out and entertaining football saw many return. Crucially they then talked to their friends and work colleagues. Due to the ground often selling out, the freebies have long since gone away now. I remember an opposing official mocking a gate figure "you just let them all in for free." (Actually there were about 50 community freebies in a crowd of 2000 that day.) His rigid adherence on charging everyone has been rewarded by declining gates and the club seems to be in danger of their community checking out. As had happened at my club. The issue is when free tickets become the norm and continually end up in the same hands. You just devalue your product. All freebie offers should be targeted and reviewed for success / failure and not just blasted out randomly - as far too many teams do I believe Arsenal did do freebies back in the day, but not now. If RU are throwing out some freebies for the current World Cup, good on them. Filling stadiums ensures it looks good on TV and helps drive ticket sales for future matches. It's an investment. And just perhaps one of those watching for first time will emerge as the female Jonny Wilkinson. Heaven help womens RL if they are...

I'm involved in a non league.foitball side that has a Step Four women's team. Since coming on board they have made a substantial contribution to the club. Whilst there was some support base cross over, a large chunk of their fans - they have pulled 1k on occasions - are new to the club. Family units with daughters are very common. This opens up sponsorship opportunities. The current men's main sponsor is a firm who first became involved with the club via sponsoring the women. That's a substantial deal. Sone of those who arrived at the club via women's football now also watch the men. The women's XI also ensure the ground and club house are open, and earning, regularly on Sundays. If you view a women's set up solely as a cost, it's almost inevitable the end product will struggle. If you back them they may just bring something surprising to the party. Arsenal are currently reaping the rewards for taking women's football seriously, well before most other teams. Arsenal's women's team are now one of the best supported sports teams in London. There's a real chance their gates will overtake the mens RU teams this season. They've long since blown the RL sides out of the water.

Frankly they could play anyone and pretty much sell out Twickenham. It's a brilliantly marketed day out, which appeals to both the latent support who don't go week in, week out and those who just fancy a big day out watching top notch sport. I know people who probably couldn't name all the Premiership sides who go pretty much every year. It's a brilliantly conceived and executed event I wish League could deliver similar.

In non league football clubs who can't go up often apply for promotion. It doesn't cost much and in return they get a full assessment of where they fall short off the field. This allows them to plan remediation works and seriously go for promotion a little further down the line. I'd suggest Broncos are doing something similar/ showing willing. Given the Salford situation I doubt anyone at the club believes promotion is realistic until the financial position / funding model is much clearer.

I know someone who used to assist in the leaflet drops. I'm pretty sure I saw some of the flyers, but it was twenty odd years ago. I was also present for at least one away match he ran a bus to. I didn't travel on the bus or participate in the leaflet drops, I lived outside London (still do), but it's more what I witnessed than what I heard

If you don't count arranging travel to away games and independently helping to drive the increase in fan base at Brentford they are possibly correct. Otherwise, it's nonsense. For the record I don't think I've ever spoken to LBIB in person, but to say he did "sweet FA" is laughable nonsense. He got off his backside and tried to make a difference. He's also proven he can walk the walk when clubs were enlightened enough to work with him. But hey, Broncos knew best, apparently. We'll never know how it would have gone had Broncos brought LBIB inside the tent. Sadly we do know what they tried to do instead was a disaster.

TBH this part of the plan sounds more like fan retention than fan recruitment to me. Hopefully the fan recruitment section will follow.