Name change?

[Lion heart 59]

its will be more than 100 supporters ,and the  ones that will be staying away are the ones's that buy season tickets , put their hands in their pocket ,pride builder ,lottery ,raffles and replica shirts , the heart beat of any club . yeaterday we had a big city team ( sheffield ) who's been to wembley ,played in super league and have their own ground in their own city ,and turn up with a taxi full of fans , so good luck with Manchester 

[coolie]

Reading down the post I looked for one name "spelly" 

No posts from him on the subject of the rebrand, that tells me he ain't happy with it. 

He's a well respected face around rugby league and I had the pleasure of him and his grandsons company years ago at headingley for a grand final.. Which funnily enough I spoke to Richard Agar who was at the game. 

Spelly knows Swinton like the back of his hand and I'm sure he must be disillusioned with what's going on at the club he loves, had a great season Swinton and going out on some kind of high. 

I hope the change sees Swinton become a force in the championship, and they grow from strength to strength in this rebrand. 

Good luck for the future

Coolie 

[Lion heart 59]

spelly was at the ground wearing a black tie , he has said he will give his self time ,before he decided if he will continue watching the lions ,he also recived a gift  for going  40 years without missing a swinton first team game home and away 

[coolie]

6 hours ago, Lion heart 59 said:

spelly was at the ground wearing a black tie , he has said he will give his self time ,before he decided if he will continue watching the lions ,he also recived a gift  for going  40 years without missing a swinton first team game home and away 

Well I hope he continues his support, I can understand how he feels its gotta be hard, your team is your team and long live the name Swinton. 

[Robthegasman]

Let me say this as a fan.

The Swinton Lions name is NOT disappearing like say Wimbledon FC did when they relocated to Milton Keynes to become MK Dons.

Swinton Lions RLC is STILL the official and legal name of the club and Limited Company.

The only thing that is changing is the brand name on the field of play.Nothing else and it is being done to hopefully attract a wider audience and to attract more sponsors with Hopefully big money deals.That is all that is for,nothing else.

And to give another example although this particular one is a car.

The Mustang which as we all know is made by Ford have for branding purposes have been rebadged and rebranded as the Mustang But it is still a Ford made car.

And it is exactly the same thing here.

It is still Swinton Lions Rugby League Club But the on field brand only is Manchester Lions.

Please See it as that fellow fans.Please continue to support them if only for the players who are a special bunch and they deserve all the support they can get.They have given their all for all of us and I feel it will be letting them down if people walk away now.They don’t deserve that.

[wayne_r]

I think every Swinton supporter understands the strategy of rebranding with the expected benefit of increased revenue and raised profile for the club. I also think the main reason for supporters (of an age to remember Station Road) are really unhappy is that the rebranding to Manchester Lions will ultimately mean that there will be no return to Swinton, even though Swinton is M27...……...

 

[M27TILLIDIE]

SWINTON lions fans are not happy about this name change, it just confirmed to me what I've known for the last 2 decades or so than swinton lions wouldn't be coming back to m27, I fear fans will stay away and broughton rangers tried this year's ago and it never works in the end.  Better in my opinion for fans to get together and start a Phoenix club in m27 and rise from the ashes as a club owner by the fans and for the fans.

[Lion heart 59]

19 hours ago, Robthegasman said:

Let me say this as a fan.

The Swinton Lions name is NOT disappearing like say Wimbledon FC did when they relocated to Milton Keynes to become MK Dons.

Swinton Lions RLC is STILL the official and legal name of the club and Limited Company.

The only thing that is changing is the brand name on the field of play.Nothing else and it is being done to hopefully attract a wider audience and to attract more sponsors with Hopefully big money deals.That is all that is for,nothing else.

And to give another example although this particular one is a car.

The Mustang which as we all know is made by Ford have for branding purposes have been rebadged and rebranded as the Mustang But it is still a Ford made car.

And it is exactly the same thing here.

It is still Swinton Lions Rugby League Club But the on field brand only is Manchester Lions.

Please See it as that fellow fans.Please continue to support them if only for the players who are a special bunch and they deserve all the support they can get.They have given their all for all of us and I feel it will be letting them down if people walk away now.They don’t deserve that.

the only reason swinton lions is the legal name is so they can stay in the championship ,and not start as a new club in league one ,wake up and smell the coffee ,your walking off the cliff with your eyes closed 

[M27TILLIDIE]

It's doomed to failure, I can understand why the board chose to go down the route they have but they will lose a lot of fans.  I fear the same fate awaits them as did broughton rangers year's ago when they tried something similar.  Better to start a Phoenix club in m27 owned by the fans and for the fans.

[Bulls2487]

20 minutes ago, M27TILLIDIE said:

It's doomed to failure, I can understand why the board chose to go down the route they have but they will lose a lot of fans.  I fear the same fate awaits them as did broughton rangers year's ago when they tried something similar.  Better to start a Phoenix club in m27 owned by the fans and for the fans.

Not happening now, all directors have resigned and are willing to hand club over to supporter's trust.

[Gerrumonside ref]

I wonder why the board never considered the compromise name of ‘Manchester Swinton Lions”.

That seemed to be the middle ground in all this.

If only the promised full consultation with the fans had taken place.

[M27TILLIDIE]

I think the board have realised they made a mistake try?ing to change the name of the club, mind you unless someone with money to spend comes in its the end of SWINTON lions as we know it.  

[Gerrumonside ref]

2 hours ago, M27TILLIDIE said:

I think the board have realised they made a mistake try?ing to change the name of the club, mind you unless someone with money to spend comes in its the end of SWINTON lions as we know it.  

I think the key mistake was promising a wide consultation exercise with the fans and then not holding it.

Looking at the Swinton Fans Facebook page back then there was a poll where over people said around 6 to 1 (around 120+ to 20+) that the compromise name “Manchester Swinton Lions” would be acceptable if there was a need for change.

I personally thought the Swinton Lions Supporters Trust wrote a very measured response to the board that seemed to offer a way forward.

I don’t really understand why this wasn’t acted upon straight away by the board as the premise of a bigger consultation.

 

[Larry Jones]

Really sad all this and takes me back to Malcolm White the David Cameron of Swinton.  I see both sides in the argument but I do feel Mazey is pretty good for a RL club frontman.  Look at Oldham and Hornets they are what shambles looks like.

[moorside roughyed]

6 hours ago, Larry Jones said:

Really sad all this and takes me back to Malcolm White the David Cameron of Swinton.  I see both sides in the argument but I do feel Mazey is pretty good for a RL club frontman.  Look at Oldham and Hornets they are what shambles looks like.

Seems to me that the only shambles on display here are the so called fans that issue threats to members of your boardroom. These have now resigned with immediate effect. Maybe you should look a little closer to home before coming out with statements like that. There are ways of voicing views but this isn't the way and has no place in our game. I hope something can be sorted at the club because the game can't afford to lose any club.

[Blind side johnny]

16 hours ago, M27TILLIDIE said:

I think the board have realised they made a mistake try?ing to change the name of the club, mind you unless someone with money to spend comes in its the end of SWINTON lions as we know it.  

Maybe their real mistake was in shovelling a load of their own money into a club and thinking that they would get thanks, and not abuse, for doing so. Let's hope that the club survives.

[Robthegasman]

4 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

Maybe their real mistake was in shovelling a load of their own money into a club and thinking that they would get thanks, and not abuse, for doing so. Let's hope that the club survives.

We will not survive.I think the club is sadly finished and the death will be slow and very painful.You simply cannot carry on sadly calling yourself Swinton(on the field) when you have been playing away from the town for 27 years wherever you can pitch up.I felt that an on field rebrand whilst yes risky was a chance of building something new,fresh which in time would have been successful in whatever capacity .That is now gone.And very soon so will the club.Very soon within what is now Greater Manchester there will only be 3 clubs namely Wigan,Leigh and Salford()As Swinton,Oldham And Rochdale will Sadly be history.

 

Oh and as a PS if Bradford aren’t playing in Bradford by 2021 they too will be gone.

[moorside roughyed]

6 hours ago, Robthegasman said:

We will not survive.I think the club is sadly finished and the death will be slow and very painful.You simply cannot carry on sadly calling yourself Swinton(on the field) when you have been playing away from the town for 27 years wherever you can pitch up.I felt that an on field rebrand whilst yes risky was a chance of building something new,fresh which in time would have been successful in whatever capacity .That is now gone.And very soon so will the club.Very soon within what is now Greater Manchester there will only be 3 clubs namely Wigan,Leigh and Salford()As Swinton,Oldham And Rochdale will Sadly be history.

 

Oh and as a PS if Bradford aren’t playing in Bradford by 2021 they too will be gone.

You're probably right mate, but I'm going to enjoy watching my team until the end(whenever that is). When the inevitable happens I'll support my amateur side. I'm going to enjoy it whilst we have it. Good luck Swinton. 

[The Lad]

I can understand why swinton fans are not happy 150+ years of history and all with the same name.

But you have to move with the times and if this can keep swinton alive then the name change is the best thing for the club. It's sad to see the whole board gone but Andy Mazey has over the last few weeks said things that are disrespectful to the fans and may have needed to go. But what has been said to the board (death threats) has no place in our sport and those fans need to take a look at themselves.

In all a said time for swinton both because of the boards decision to not let the fans know about the name change and because of the way the fans have reacted to the board.

[binosh]

Well now you’re hardcore of 50 fans can cling onto their season tickets & shirts safe in the knowledge they got their way.

Swinton had emerged from the shadows in the last 2 years to become a real exciting young team and and had tied down some excellent young talent on the park.

Next year I believed you would have kicked on and had a real exciting season For the first time not be considered relegation fodder. Things were looking good.

Well done.

[wayne_r]

I think its a terrible situation - no fan however unhappy should be sending threats of any nature - surely the threats can and should be investigated by the police.

What is obvious is the consultation wasn't wide enough and I guess as with all consultations they rarely change the outcome. Personally a half way house rebrand could have been tried - but as it is everyone loses out the board and the supporters, a sad day indeed.

[Rampant Lion 59]

6 hours ago, binosh said:

Well now you’re hardcore of 50 fans can cling onto their season tickets & shirts safe in the knowledge they got their way.

Swinton had emerged from the shadows in the last 2 years to become a real exciting young team and and had tied down some excellent young talent on the park.

Next year I believed you would have kicked on and had a real exciting season For the first time not be considered relegation fodder. Things were looking good.

Well done.

Feel embarrassed to be a Swinton supporter right now.

Everyone in the game can see the remarkable turnaround at Swinton since Andy picked us up off the floor two years ago.

He built something very special and brought together a board second to none we've had.

His respect and profile in the press and media along with his key relationships at the RFL brought respect back to Swinton.

From what im told and what I read his excellent relationships with player agents and obvious mutual trust and bond with our head coach produced some quite remarkable results which I'm not sure can be ever be replicated again if indeed we survive.

Sad sad times, hang your heads in shame those who didn't get behind these guys and take what was probably our last chance.

It feels great to still have the Swinton name doesn't it.....

[Rampant Lion 59]

3 hours ago, wayne_r said:

I think its a terrible situation - no fan however unhappy should be sending threats of any nature - surely the threats can and should be investigated by the police.

What is obvious is the consultation wasn't wide enough and I guess as with all consultations they rarely change the outcome. Personally a half way house rebrand could have been tried - but as it is everyone loses out the board and the supporters, a sad day indeed.

Why should they have even bothered consulting at all?

Its a LTD company which they as shareholders own and at the end of the day they had the right to take it in the direction they felt best.

They could have merged it or totally changed the name and relocated it but they actually tried to do the right thing and move it all forward respectfully and we would have still had all that went before intact and Swinton on the badge.

We have some stupid short sighted people who have sadly brought the club down. I'm disgusted and will walk away from this club now for good.

[wayne_r]

14 hours ago, Rampant Lion 59 said:

Why should they have even bothered consulting at all?

Its a LTD company which they as shareholders own and at the end of the day they had the right to take it in the direction they felt best.

They could have merged it or totally changed the name and relocated it but they actually tried to do the right thing and move it all forward respectfully and we would have still had all that went before intact and Swinton on the badge.

We have some stupid short sighted people who have sadly brought the club down. I'm disgusted and will walk away from this club now for good.

I agree it is a LTD company but you cannot compare a shop based business to a sports club where the allegiance of the fans is or should be an important factor in the success of the business.

I agree its shameful for supporters to be issuing threats and as I said the police should be investigating these threats and we do not know how many people have been issuing threats - they cannot possibly be all the supporters unhappy with the name change. In the past when supporters have been unhappy they have stayed away as a many did when Swinton sold Station Road - and I don't know how many returned to watching the club, if any.

So to me the sensible thing would have been to route out the people issuing threats and then continue the dialogue with the Trust and supporters to find a compromise.

So the board having put so much time effort and money into the club have walked away which doesn't make commercial sense ? If the business was seen as not viable then the board would have wound the business up before now rather than plan for success in the future.

As I said its a lose - lose scenario.

[Tim Streets tache]

On 15/09/2019 at 18:32, Rampant Lion 59 said:

Why should they have even bothered consulting at all?

Its a LTD company which they as shareholders own and at the end of the day they had the right to take it in the direction they felt best.

They could have merged it or totally changed the name and relocated it but they actually tried to do the right thing and move it all forward respectfully and we would have still had all that went before intact and Swinton on the badge.

We have some stupid short sighted people who have sadly brought the club down. I'm disgusted and will walk away from this club now for good.

Strange bloke