Sawyer hails record attendance

[Tom Coates]

Dewsbury Rams chairman Mark Sawyer has expressed his delight after the club yesterday smashed its own stadium attendance record.

Read the full story: http://www.dewsburyrams.co.uk/article/42620/sawyer-hails-record-attendance

 

[jc1965]

Cracking day, Cracking atmosphere played in the spirit it should have been and to say both teams had played friday night then full credit for the show both teams put on.

[Monkbar]

There will have been a fair few not attending due to the clashes with the round ball sport too.

[Blind side johnny]

Cricket season started has it?

 

(Don't forget the Tour de Yorkshire clashes with the Leigh game.  )

[RogerT]

Why should that affect your attendance that day, it isn't even a sport just a blinking nuisance.

 

Well done on your crowd attendance highest in the championship even higher than Leigh. 

[Lupset Ram]

Well said Roger. I couldn't give a bloody toss about a bike race that happens on the same day.

A true fan of our game is not going to be distracted by this. Come on BSJ. Get a grip.

[andyram]

Was great seeing the ground looking so full on Sunday,what is our official ground capacity? Still seemed to be room for a few more in the corner of the new terracing,I'm hoping Bradford stays in the championship,Leigh gets promoted to Super League and Wakefield gets relegated,more derbies,bigger crowds.

[Crown Flatter]

The whole experience was great; wonderful weather, exciting game and it felt good to be amongst a big crowd at home (even if the greater number was Bradford supporters).

Well done to everyone concerned, it was a brilliant show and a great atmosphere with a new ground record to boot.

[Blind side johnny]

Well said Roger. I couldn't give a bloody toss about a bike race that happens on the same day.

A true fan of our game is not going to be distracted by this. Come on BSJ. Get a grip.

 

 

Oh dear, a sense of humour is no longer welcomed on this forum it would seem. You're not a Batley fan in disguise are you LR?

[grumpyoldram]

Oh dear, a sense of humour is no longer welcomed on this forum it would seem. You're not a Batley fan in disguise are you LR?

Seems like you might have got a bite BSJ - even piggy would be proud.  He's right mind you.

[RogerT]

Sorry if its not to your liking BSJ I just can't stand cycling and it wouldn't certainly entice me into watching it and yes there is a sense of humour on this forum that's why we are here and not that other fans forum.

 

It really is brilliant seeing the grounds so much fuller I'm sure you could have squeezed an extra thousand in there, we could have got two thousand extra in.

 

Good luck on Sunday.

[coolie]

So by now everybody has patted themselves on the back countless times for getting 4000 in the ground on a beautiful bank holiday Monday against a team 10 miles away who has the biggest away support in the league

Where we stand in the southstand we must have been out numbered 10-1

It does surprised me how easy swallow spin and our next home game vs leigh should be a good crowd after that..but then what

Will look forward to 2000 at home vs London bronco's and 2200 vs Hunslet to see how much crowds are improving

Perspective has to be taken in

In achievements

[Blind side johnny]

So by now everybody has patted themselves on the back countless times for getting 4000 in the ground on a beautiful bank holiday Monday against a team 10 miles away who has the biggest away support in the league

Where we stand in the southstand we must have been out numbered 10-1

It does surprised me how easy swallow spin and our next home game vs leigh should be a good crowd after that..but then what

Will look forward to 2000 at home vs London bronco's and 2200 vs Hunslet to see how much crowds are improving

Perspective has to be taken in

In achievements

 

 

Well just consider Coolie how much better the day was because of the new scoreboard (paid for by a sponsor who didn't just walk up, knock on the door and ask), the new terrace (partly paid for by the contributions from many people, gathered in by the hard work of individuals behind the scenes), the refurbished South Stand bar (thanks to Amber Ribbon and many volunteers) and the PA guys. A lot of people are putting a great deal of effort into making the club as a whole as successful as possible.

 

Generating an increase in crowds is something that MS talked about at length at the Squadbuilder meeting last year and discussed the pros and cons of various initiatives that are being considered, have been tried etc. At best generating such extra support is a slow burn but, rest assured, many people are still working hard to make progress.

[coolie]

I'm not knocking the great strides that been done off the field which are fantasic

Is it really nesserary to have the spin male genitals with it..

If your gonna take credit for the major strides you've also to embrace the fails

Turnstiles not open

No decent signage for bottle bars

Not enough bottle bars

And the ultimate sin

Running out of beer

Every minor detail on match days has to be covered,checked then double checked

It's ok everything looking professional,then letting down all the hard work not getting the little things right

When people come through them turnstiles their visit has to be A1 enjoyable from start to finish

That when their walking out them gates at the end of the game they feel apart of that afternoons events and want to come back

Weather it's toilet paper in the bogs,to helpful faces directing them to everything they need on their visit

It's the little touches that leave a lasting impression and 1 little thing wrong can overshadow a great day out...we're in the entertainment business and have to attract the paying public.

Little story recently went for a look around sc.unthope..bit of a dump,closed shops,full of cash converters,charity shops and phone shops...and you know what the most talked about moment of the trip was something that not many would notice,on the way into Primark the security guard greeted you "with morning sir,enjoy your visit" and on the way out was "thank you enjoy your day"

Little things make the biggest impact sometimes

[Wilsden Ram]

Simple Solution Coolie - you bring your expertise into the Team of Volunteers who

give their time and effort to trying to move the club forward.

 

It only takes up some of your spare time and I believe you have plenty of that.

 

Don't think anyone has patted themselves on the back about the record crowd -

just expressed their pleasure at seeing the ground full.  The shortfalls have been

noted and proposals put in place for 2 permanent bottle bars - the foundations and

services for one on the South Stand side of the ground are already in hand.  I suppose

you wouldn't like to make a donation (money or time) towards the cost?

 

Otherwise it will be just have to be the usual 'hangers-on' and 'back-patters' (as you describe them)

who will have to pay for them.

[graham fisher]

Simple Solution Coolie - you bring your expertise into the Team of Volunteers who

give their time and effort to trying to move the club forward.

 

It only takes up some of your spare time and I believe you have plenty of that.

 

Don't think anyone has patted themselves on the back about the record crowd -

just expressed their pleasure at seeing the ground full.  The shortfalls have been

noted and proposals put in place for 2 permanent bottle bars - the foundations and

services for one on the South Stand side of the ground are already in hand.  I suppose

you wouldn't like to make a donation (money or time) towards the cost?

 

Otherwise it will be just have to be the usual 'hangers-on' and 'back-patters' (as you describe them)

who will have to pay for them.

I for one can't praise the staff enough for Monday whether you were volunteers or paid employees,I think we coped pretty well,yes their May have been one or two little problems but nothing we can't put right,it would be nice to see a permanent standing bar near to the new terracing selling bottles,alcohol & pop,but I know that won't come cheap & there's other projects that need doing first. It was good to see the royal suite packed after the game as well & to hear all the nice comments from bulls fans & a few neutrals about how the ground is looking & the hospitality they received,once again thanks & well done to all concerned!!

[Sir Jekyll Stocking]

Was great seeing the ground looking so full on Sunday,what is our official ground capacity? Still seemed to be room for a few more in the corner of the new terracing,I'm hoping Bradford stays in the championship,Leigh gets promoted to Super League and Wakefield gets relegated,more derbies,bigger crowds.

 

I thought the official (licenced?) capacity at Dewsbury was a little under 4000. When the new terracing was opened it was stated on here that it wouldn't increase the official capacity of the ground because it isn't covered - when it rains, fans will try to cuddle up to Coolie and his mates in the South Stand.

The ground capacity may have been reassessed in the meantime, though.

[Tom Coates]

It isn't about patting ourselves on the back. It's about projecting positivity and getting local people and businesses to take notice of how far we've come and what we are achieving.

 

The Press and The Reporter both ran the record attendance story - or an excerpt from it - which puts the club in the shop window.

 

People and businesses want to be associated with success. They want to buy a product or experience that is already popular. It'd be a huge missed opportunity if we didn't tell anybody about our record attendance and packed stadium.

 

The press release was my idea, not the club's. It was written by and distributed by me after being signed off by the club.

 

It isn't 'spin' - it's a positive narrative. I'll never apologise for pushing positive stories about the club into the local media. Although I'm a mile behind Roger Ram in that respect. Roger is the ultimate positive PR machine!

 

A 10 to 1 ratio translates roughly as 3,700 to 370, which I think you know is a massive exaggeration.

 

Most sensible estimates would put the away support as somewhere around 2,500. There was an excellent turn-out from Rams supporters, and plenty there who I haven't seen in years.

 

In other words, a lot of lapsed supporters came to see us on Easter Monday because it was a big game - and hopefully they'll be back!

 

It was a huge crowd and of course there were teething problems, but credit where it is due - before this season there wasn't a bottle bar, before this season there wasn't a concession area to the right of the south stand, before last season there wasn't a terrace to accommodate more fans, before last week there wasn't a carpet or nice furniture in the south stand bar.

 

Yes the club still has areas where it can improve, but it's a shame that you seem to focus entirely on negativity.

 

What do you mean by 'turnstiles not open'? My mum and dad (volunteers) got there at 1.00pm to open early, the rest were open before 1.30pm. If the bar was open before then it's obviously because they wanted to be ready for supporters as they come through the turnstiles.

 

I'm sure you'd have complained if the turnstiles had opened before the bar, because obviously that way we'd "be losing vital income by not having bars open for spectators".

 

Certain senior members of the club staff were mucking in behind the bottle bar before kick-off. I'm sure the club would welcome more helpers for the Leigh game.

 

I asked Mark whether or not we'd run out of beer, and his response was that we wouldn't because we had gallons and gallons in storage. When did it run out? Did it run out of everything?

 

Mark is a businessman who has worked hard, along with everyone else at the club, to create extra income streams for the club - car boot sale, function rooms, bar sales, the new five-a-side complex - and I'm sure he'd be keen to know if there were any issues.

 

I mean this genuinely, Neil (and anyone else): you should grab Mark for a chat in the Royal Suite after a home game to let him know about any issues you might have.

 

I don't think we're going to get 2,000+ for the matches against Hunslet and London, but I think we can be ambitious and perhaps hope to build on Easter Monday's interest in the weeks and months ahead.

 

In 2013, the attendance for our match against Hunslet was 743. Our initial aim has to be to surpass the figure - and if there's a decent away support then we should crack 1,000. That'd be a great measure of our progress in the last two years.

 

Finally, on your Primark example - do you think it'd be financially worthwhile the club employing a 'greeter' inside the ground? Could we get someone to volunteer and perform the role? I'd do it, but I'm already extremely busy pre-match, as is Oliver, as is James, as is Tony, as is Angie, as is Elsie, as is my dad, as is......

[Lupset Ram]

When the PA announcer came on to give the attendance on monday, you could feel something special was about to be said.

You could feel the excitement in his voice, and I certainly picked up on his pride on being the one to announce it to the crowd.

During the game, the Bradford fan's were singing, ' what's it like to see a crowd'. Well, my answer to that is this - it was absolutely fantastic to see our ground looking so full of supporters of the greatest game of all, creating an atmosphere that we don't see too often.

Thanks to all the Bulls fans for making this happen.

[RogerT]

I agree wholeheartedly that the steady progress being made by both Dewsbury and Batley upon the stadia and match day experience is commendable not like the boom and bust merchants, so if we both drop back to the thousand mark after the big game matches then we have done very well and just shows what the prospect of promotion and relegation brings to our competition, satisfaction.

 

Cheers Roger, from over the valley.

[graham fisher]

Well said Tom I think the majority of supporters will agree wholeheartedly to what you've wrote,every home game this season I've noticed some more work been done around the stadium!!!

[Ramite]

I thought the official (licenced?) capacity at Dewsbury was a little under 4000. When the new terracing was opened it was stated on here that it wouldn't increase the official capacity of the ground because it isn't covered - when it rains, fans will try to cuddle up to Coolie and his mates in the South Stand.

The ground capacity may have been reassessed in the meantime, though.

I think it is about 5000 now.

[Ramite]

Well said Tom I think the majority of supporters will agree wholeheartedly to what you've wrote,every home game this season I've noticed some more work been done around the stadium!!!

Agreed Graham , Tom and rest of the helpers who we probably don't see, like those who clean the terracing after a game do a great job. Things could be a lot worse look at york . That said if anyone had a problem or could see something that could be better I'm sure the club would look at it if they were told about it.

[grumpyoldram]

When the PA announcer came on to give the attendance on monday, you could feel something special was about to be said.

You could feel the excitement in his voice, and I certainly picked up on his pride on being the one to announce it to the crowd.

During the game, the Bradford fan's were singing, ' what's it like to see a crowd'. Well, my answer to that is this - it was absolutely fantastic to see our ground looking so full of supporters of the greatest game of all, creating an atmosphere that we don't see too often.

Thanks to all the Bulls fans for making this happen.

 

Hope we're not going to have too many of these big crowds - I couldn't sit in my usual seat and had to wait two or three minutes for my half time pint

Fantastic atmosphere on sunday and well done to all concerned for the match day experience.

[jc1965]

I TELL YOU WHAT GUYS WITHOUT THE VOLUNTEERS AND THE AMBER RIBBON COOLIO WOULD REALLY HAVE SOMETHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT.