"Goodbye to All That"

[moorside roughyed]

36 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Of course, the RFL will rightly go where the money and potential is greatest. Otherwise the sport will continue to die as a regional sport. I'm not sure why attendances of Oldham are anything to do with the RFL though - that's the club responsibility and the declining attendances of some of these clubs makes it all the more imperative to find fresh and more progressive clubs/support 

Its not just Oldham mate,the attendances at most championship and league 1 make for grim reading. There is probably a large contingent of glory supporters who back whoever is doing well instead of their hometown club.That I find rather shallow.They have the same problem in football, more united and city fans in Oldham than Oldham athletic ones.Glory supporting is the easy option. But thats just my take.

[DoubleD]

7 minutes ago, moorside roughyed said:

Its not just Oldham mate,the attendances at most championship and league 1 make for grim reading. There is probably a large contingent of glory supporters who back whoever is doing well instead of their hometown club.That I find rather shallow.They have the same problem in football, more united and city fans in Oldham than Oldham athletic ones.Glory supporting is the easy option. But thats just my take.

I'm not disagreeing with you on that, but that's hardly the RFLs fault. They've even put in place a system where clubs can rise through the leagues. It's upto clubs themselves to engage with local communities, market and generate their own support, that's not upto the RFL. 

Sadly for Oldham, not having your own stadium or a place in your own town has been detrimental, so you also have the council to blame 

[Oxford]

5 hours ago, moorside roughyed said:

The game is dying in these so called hot bed areas.People are losing interest in the game.There is history and heritage at stake as well.It just seems that the RFL are more interested in foreign clubs with a few quid to spare instead of their traditional clubs.I really do worry for the sport long term ie-10,20,30 years.I'm 41 and it doesn't seem to be the same as it was say 20 years ago.

1"The game is dying in these so called hot bed areas.People are losing interest in the game" I think there is clear evidence for this.

2"There is history and heritage at stake as well." Always is but people don't seem interested in the loss of their past!

3"It just seems that the RFL are more interested in foreign clubs with a few quid to spare instead of their traditional clubs." I don't think that's necessarily fair though I do understand why you feel this way, but it is something that the RFL needs to addressed and to be pushed into addressing.

4"I'm 41 and it doesn't seem to be the same as it was say 20 years ago." Obviously I have no idea what might make you feel this way. I know that I don't enjoy the line siege as much because it seems inevitable now that a score will happen or a penalty and then a score. Now I don't know if that's right just the way I feel about it but the game has other facets that are much better than those in my memory bank.

On the other hand I don't know what Tony Smith meant entirely but I did agree about selling the game and engaging peoples' interest.

[Bob8]

On 17/9/2017 at 10:09 AM, moorside roughyed said:

Good points,however in lower league games(I'm an Oldham fan) the attendances are truly dire with most clubs lucky to see 1000 through the gates.Just look at the players that have come from oldham-Sinfield,Scunthorpe, Eastmond etc.The game is dying in these so called hot bed areas.People are losing interest in the game.There is history and heritage at stake as well.It just seems that the RFL are more interested in foreign clubs with a few quid to spare instead of their traditional clubs.I really do worry for the sport long term ie-10,20,30 years.I'm 41 and it doesn't seem to be the same as it was say 20 years ago.

I am the same age as you.  I think we have to accept that much of what we feel is age related.

How could the club engage people in Oldham again?  What is it that gets people excited?

[Bob8]

22 hours ago, moorside roughyed said:

Its not just Oldham mate,the attendances at most championship and league 1 make for grim reading. There is probably a large contingent of glory supporters who back whoever is doing well instead of their hometown club.That I find rather shallow.They have the same problem in football, more united and city fans in Oldham than Oldham athletic ones.Glory supporting is the easy option. But thats just my take.

This is a big issue. 

I think many clubs expect many local people to just turn up.  But, there is very little reason for them to do so.  It is actually a big challenge to make the game an event that people do not want to miss out on and there is no point in trying to persuade them it is the pinnacle of sport.