the man

Barrow Raiders Ladies v St Helens Ladies | Live Sports Stream by Barrow Raiders Barrow Raiders will be streaming our WSL fixture on Saturday Barrow Raiders v St.Helens RLFC 2pm Cost will be £5+VAT and booking fee

I believe Red Bull have been sponsors of Wigan for a number of years and I think are also involved with Warrington.

We are just finding our feet with the streaming and we have had some technical problems, sometimes not having commentary for example. You may have noticed sponsors before the game and during half time and these are paid sponsors bringing in a few thousand pounds in total, we are also now in a position to receive income from Youtube. Incidentally we have also monetised Facebook and have started to receive a monthly cheque for our content from them. We could choose to use a streaming platform and charge a fee but our current preference is to make the games available for free so that we try to build an audience. Being able to still watch your team when you are unable to attend keeps the fans engaged and more likely to turn up in person at the next game. If fans go a few weeks without seeing the team it is so easy to lose the habit of watching. If we chose a streaming platform then we are probably only attracting the hard core fans who would pay a fee and we want to get as many people interested as possible. When football started showing live games in abundance when Sky TV came along there were many saying that attendances would suffer when in reality the crowds grew massively. Would a sport like darts be as popular and fill venues without being on TV? We believe that exposing the new and existing fans to the product can create the sporting addiction we are after. Of course we might be wrong and we may review what we are doing and move to a paid subscription at a later date, we aren't that pig-headed that we won't be open to changing our mind. I spoke to the York chairman, who also stream for free, and they have done both (subscription and free with advertisers) and they received more income from putting it out for free. If more clubs went for the free option it would also give us a chance to stream the game to the marquee/big screen, like we did against Bradford, and that gives another income generation opportunity from the away games.

As far as we know we are still dual registered with Salford but the whole Salford situation has been cloak and dagger and we have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. Just checked our registered players and there are still a number of Salford players dual registered on the system. We are of the understanding that you can only dual with one team in the same division.

Draw will be Sunday 13th April , probably on a local Radio station of one of the semi-finalists

Why not treat your mother on Sunday for our latest pre-match VIP event celebrating our 150 years with stars from the past? https://www.tickettailor.com/events/barrowraiderstickets/1511183 For just £35 (£20 for season ticket holders and £5 children) you can treat your mother to lunch, a complementary bar with a large bottle of prosecco for every mother on your table, match entrance and a Q&A from our guest speakers. Event runs from 12.30pm until 2.30pm before the big game versus York Knights at 3pm.

Pre-season game today: Warrington Wolves 16 Barrow Raiders 26

Barrow Raiders are streaming live and free the game versus Hunslet on their YouTube channel. They just ask that you do them a favour and subscribe (for free) as if they hit 1000 subscribers they can start to monetise the streaming. Just working on getting a commentator but the pictures will be there as a minimum.

I think they decided not to play France in June, so there will be no international break, which will allow the later start.

As you suspected the original article was not fully factual. Challenge Cup Round 2 26th January League 1 and Championship enter League Round 1 is 2nd February for the Championship Challenge Cup Round 3 is 9th February with Super League clubs all seeded to be drawn away plus 4 other ties. Super 8s at the end of the season will be 4 games with 4 Championship teams playing 4 League One teams, 2 at home, 2 away and the top 2 automatically remain in the Championship and then 3rd plays at home to 4th to decide the last team in the Championship 2026

Winter training Venue, Head Coach, S&C Coach, Gym Equipment, Laundry, Physio team, Match Day GSO, Stewards and gate staff, Playing Kit for 2 teams, Training Wear for 2 teams, Buses for 2 teams (we run a reserve side), trophies, match officials for friendlies and reserves, RFL registration for reserves, after-match food, food and drinks for WSL team, medical supplies, Girls sessions for 48 weeks of the year, video of matches, % of time from the general manager and club secretary. For 2024 will we add mandatory doctors for WSL home games, overnight hotel stay in Cardiff for a Challenge Cup tie and travel expenses for the players.

Funding is an issue. Just done the IMG grading return with the finances for 2023 and Barrow Raiders invested over £60k in girls and women's rugby (not including the Foundation) and got a £5k return from the RFL. We have to find the other £55k to stay afloat with a lot of pressure coming from other areas of the club. We have now started paying travel expenses but we would love to make the next step to semi-professionalism, but the crowds and sponsorship levels now need to grow. Internationals is where the game will grow and we need to do the opposite of the men and have regular internationals and if necessary fill stadiums with free entry tickets. Full stadiums attract broadcasters who then attract sponsors. The legacy of the England Lionesses is that the WSL football is starting to attract crowds that Premier League men's teams would be delighted with. We have to focus on internationals and hopefully the club game will get the benefits. On the question of moving to 8 teams that has to be a good move. Barrow Raiders are starting to attract very talented u15 and u16s and a sprinkling of u19s from all over the county - this wouldn't have happened without a WSL presence. Parents doing 3-hour round trips to give their 15-year old daughters an opportunity.

Points aren't awarded on your 3 year average finishing position. Your 3-year average finishing position is worked out and then each club is put into a league table from which points are awarded.

The system is designed so that you know your own score when submitted. With one game to go, which will hardly make any difference, this is Barrow's, which won't be good enough for Super League (we don't meet the minimum facility standards anyway) but is a decent score as the financial distribution for the Championship and League One is going to be based on the grading score. Average Attendance over 1500 under 3000 1.5pts Social following over 50k under 100k 0.1pts Social Engagement over 5 million 0.8pts Website visits over 60k 0.5pts Viewership less than 150k 0.75pts Performance 22nd (can't change) 1.6pts Non-centralised turnover over 1.25m under 2.5m 1.5pts Non-centralised % over 70% 0.75pts Adjusted Profit over £1 0.5pts Owner Investment less than £100k 0pts Balance Sheet Strength over £100k 0.5pts Facilities - standards not met 0.5pts Utilisation (will change slightly) 0.43pts Primacy of tenure - Yes 0.25pts LED displays - No 0pts Big Screen - Yes 0.125pts Catchment over 130k under 260k 1pt Foundation turnover over £50k less than £250k 0.5pts Possible deducted points - None Talent and Performance Pathway - Yes, Furness Raiders U19, WSL Ladies team, Ladies P2P u15, u16 and u19 Community Game Development - Yes, foundation registered as a charity and RFL approved development plan in place including an Inclusion Action Plan Breach of operational rules - No Breach of HMRC, H&S or GDPR - No Insolvency event - No E,D&I action plan in place - Yes 3 anti-doping breaches in 12 months - No Environmental Sustainability action plan in place - Yes Total Points: 11.305

Our issue is that there are no community clubs running teams in the area so there are no community clubs to hurt, and we are literally going to have to start from scratch. If we get an U19s up and running then hopefully those players who don't make the WSL grade will get opportunities at open age with community teams if they are forward thinking enough to form women's teams. The area is waking up to women's rugby but we are some way behind. I think the touch teams that are being formed are a good introduction for players, just hope that a couple of clubs have enough numbers for a contact team in the not too distant future. It is 25 max for SL next year and 25 max for U19s. The U19s can play a few (4 i think) games for the the WSL team before they have to be formally transferred to the senior squad.

Super proud of our first season in the top flight. The victory over Huddersfield secured 5th place which is probably more than we hoped, with survival and something to build on being our initial goal. The Challenge Cup tie with Wigan, when we were denied victory with a try chalked off for a forward pass on the final play of the match, gave us confidence and there have been many highlights. We were drawing at half-time at Wigan in the opening league game, we beat York in the second half at home and Leeds Rhinos were pushed all the way at home. There were only two real blow-outs at Headingley and home to St.Helens but we learnt from those games and bounced back quickly. To win the mini-league with Huddersfield, Warrington and Featherstone was a great achievement given that those three clubs were a distance ahead of Barrow Raiders when the professional club got involved in 2021. The plan was always to get to Super League and grow women's rugby league in Cumbria and we were often in Tom Brindle's ear to make sure the pathways stayed open. We have no open-age community clubs in the area but things are starting to happen. Thanks to our Foundation there are now 5 touch rugby teams and some of these players have found their way into our reserve side. We are onboard with the u15 and u16 pathway to performance programme and the first of these session start this week after a successful trial in August. We have attracted girls from West Cumbria too so hopefully this is the start of a conveyor belt of new talent that can eventually add to the strength of the Barrow team and who knows, the England team. There are a couple of junior teams at Hindpool and Barrow Island that hopefully will also feed into the pathway. Our next step is to have a similar trial for u19s with a view to building up numbers and forming a WSL team. With no solid foundations it is important we don't throw the girls in too quickly to the u19 WSL and the RFL have recognised that we can join when we are ready. The club is 100% behind women's rugby and try to treat the ladies team equally with the men. As a club and a game we now have to try to increase crowds, increase our sponsorship portfolio and hopefully become attractive to a broadcaster. We need to use the England team more as this is the biggest failing in the men's game. If we can get the international game right then the knock on effect for the clubs could be huge.

We are asked before the fixtures are devised if there are any dates we want to avoid a home fixture and we always look at the BAFC fixture list, especially Good Friday. Clearly BAFC haven't done the same thing or the EFL don't give them the same flexibility. We tried to change to 6pm but Toulouse refused on the basis of their flight times so we just have to live with it. With some community clubs also playing on the Saturday it isn't great, but we are going to do our best to promote the fixture strongly.

The 48-0 result for forfeited only applies in the community game. I have checked the operational rules this morning and the RFL board are the ones to make the decision and it is up to them what decision they make. I guess if they don't fulfil their fixtures the 2 options are to remove all their results or give 48-0 or similar for their remaining games. Removing their results would be worse for Halifax who have beaten them and best for Swinton who have lost twice to them. Hopefully they can muster a side to see out the season but with the signing deadline passed they won't be able to do it without dispensation which may bring penalties even if they fulfil the fixtures. From a selfish point of view losing the home fixture in September will be bad for us financially.

They need to play 4 games. Douglas, Makin and Forber have qualified and we aim to get a couple more games into Ryan Brown in the next few weeks. Kavan Rothwell is out with a slight hamstring injury and he is also on loan for the whole season and could play as long as he isn't recalled.

That's not true about not being interested, we are looking into it but have been quoted £100/game to put it together which is obviously around £3k per year. We are currently trying to get a sponsor on board to cover most of the costs. Alternatively I can provide the full game to someone with the skillset to try to synch it with the Radio Cumbria commentary and if they would do it as a volunteer then great. Money is very tight and I can't justify £3k spending when there is so much to pay out. There was also talk of a TV deal with Premier Sports that would have featured every game and included highlights packages. Sadly the clubs were split on the merits of the deal and it fell through. Barrow were in favour.

** £5 entry ** Entry before Noon just £5 for all adults, all children free. Super Sunday 26th May Double Header Noon Barrow Raiders Ladies v Featherstone Rovers https://www.tickettailor.com/.../barrowraiderstic.../1254647# 3pm Barrow Raiders v Featherstone Rovers 6pm Super Sunday Entertainment from Leon Knight in the MKM Marquee Turnstile prices will rise to £20 adults, £15 over 65s shortly after the ladies kick off. Online prices for the men's game £16 adults, £13 over 65s, £10 17-24 year olds. All ex-Barrow players, coaches and directors free. https://www.tickettailor.com/.../barrowraiderstic.../1085406

Barrow charge £5 to watch the women's team when there is a double header and all spectators can stay to watch the men. We are trying to encourage the growth of the women's game and no doubt some fans who just want to watch the men come early, but then they are more likely to be spending in the bars. Prices rise to the men's prices after about 20 minutes of the women's game.

Barrow and District Raiders is the Barrow Raiders Reserves side rebranded. Both sides (WSL and B&D) are totally funded by Barrow Raiders but we felt the rebrand would encourage more novices to join and try to get the community clubs to start to feed in players. We are behind other areas in terms of having no open-age community clubs but following our foundation's successful touch rugby delivery last summer there are now 5 touch teams with some of the players from the touch teams having migrated to the Barrow and District side. The RFL have given us special dispensation to have 5 dual registered WSL players on the pitch playing for the B&D team in the absence of open-age community clubs. This is welcome as otherwise the WSL fringe players would be sat in the grandstand and those players are still in need of development.

Clubs get £15 per ticket sold through the club for the final. If Barrow ever get there you would assume we would take at least 5,000 given that Barrow AFC have taken around 10,000 for their two FA Trophy finals and Barrovians tend to support one off events. For the Wakefield fixture it is shared gate and you would hope that there would be around 5,000 there given Wakefield's strong season ticket sales. Financially it is possibly the best draw we could have had - even better than a home fixture. Hopefully our supporters travel in numbers and we will have a fair few players back so we are going to give it a go. We won't be resting players as we have a week off before the league campaign starts.

Barrow will be having a programme for all Championship and cup games, probably £2.