Why are Salford’s attendances always so poor?

[LR23]

11 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

Perhaps they should do a few more when the visiting teams don't bring a lot of away support. 

I think that's the idea - they didn't do it last week as it was a Friday game, this week it's Leeds but next week is Wakefield on a Sunday so would be worth a go.

[unapologetic pedant]

On 20/02/2020 at 11:23, daz39 said:

A few reasons.

we lost a lot of HTFC fans due to a hate campaign led by their supporters association against Ken Davy, the ones who followed both were sucked in and found new found 'hate' for Ken and it's basically a massive rivalry in the town now - town fans are ingrained to hate Ken and the Giants.

We did cheap season tickets for a couple of years in the Nathan Brown years which along with on field success drew crowds up to 8-9,000 but most of them were lost when the club failed to win silverware, had a rubbish season the year after and ST prices went back to normal, any momentum we had then was all but gone, this along with the rise of the football club and their cheap tickets meant floaters in the town went to the football instead.

Then you have the situation where because crowds are down, income is too meaning players weren't replaced with equal or better quality and this led to the fall down the league which had a knock on effect as folk decided they weren't going to watch a losing team, which is a cycle which is still continuing with lots of 'fans' saying they aren't gonna buy a season ticket until we sign quality players etc without realising we need their money to do this!!.

There's also a perception that the management of the club don't care or are useless which get's fuelled on social media and people then take other's words for it and decide they won't go cos of certain people in charge.

The biggest one is probably the demograph of our fans and town though, throughout the 70's 80's and early 90's the club was poor, it nearly disappeard 3 times, crowds were down to below 500 at one point and there wasn't the continuation of support there eg grandads/dads/sons like there is at most clubs, our support is still mainly older people (50+) who go because the rugby is something they've always done, most of the kids growing up in Huddersfield during those 30 years were mainly unaware the club existed, we've literally had to build our fan base from nothing, to the comfortable clubs fans our crowds are poor but the flip side is we've gone from 500 to 8,000 and back down now to 5,500-6 on the back of nothing but failure really.

Also the town itself has changed, today Huddersfield is a student and commuter town with a moajority of it's inhabitants having very litle or zero affiliation with the town, the University is booming and attracts a lot of far east students who have probably never heard seen or have any interest in rugby league and the commuters who have moved here due to the closeness of the motorway network, again they have no afiliation to the town and if anything choose to go to the football as football is always going to be more popular.

There is no defining reason really though, people just don't care enough to come, even lost fans from the last 10 years don't wanna know anymore.

Our crowds aren't 'poor' they are huge compared to what they were, we endured times that 99% of RL fans will never see their team come close to and while 5,000 may seem 'poor' to most clubs fans just remember they haven't always been there like your clubs fans have.

We, and Salford to a point are judged not on numbers there but empty places within the stadium, as has been said our crowds are not much different to Cas, who are reknowned for a great atmosphere, put our numbers in Cas's ground and it will be no different.

The simple fact is we have a hardcore of 4,000 -5,000 home fans and 200-300 away fans who will turn up no matter what, the rest of the town simply have no interest !

 

Much of this applies to any area where the pro club allow things to slide for long enough. Up to the mid-nineties most RL clubs were owned by tin-pot local businessmen keener to spend money on Rugby Union players than invest in building a fanbase for the long-term at grass roots level. Combine this with TV coverage more likely to put people off than otherwise, and you wonder where would anyone acquire a positive awareness of RL from. In recent times the RFL should be commended for promoting women`s and girls` RL, physical disability RL, and wheelchair RL. These all widen the network of awareness, but Tag RL is where they continue to miss the boat, for there is where the really big numbers could be.

[Yakstorm]

4,757 for the match against Leeds.

Add in the 4,593 for Toronto and 3,350 for Huddersfield and the Reds have an average of 4,233 so far for 2020.

[Johnoco]

21 minutes ago, Yakstorm said:

4,757 for the match against Leeds.

Add in the 4,593 for Toronto and 3,350 for Huddersfield and the Reds have an average of 4,233 so far for 2020.

Incredible figures. 

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

On 21/02/2020 at 13:35, The Future is League said:

Perhaps they should do a few more when the visiting teams don't bring a lot of away support. 

Salford always have a stand closed, they could do it every week, or at least once every 3 or 4 home games along with a voucher to buy discounted tickets for the other home games, clubs need to get proactive.

[Poower Lad]

On 20/02/2020 at 10:01, JohnM said:

Being brought up in Swinton, from birth to leaving for Atherton via Cheethem Hill in the mid 60s, and not being anywhere fit enough or skilled enough or tough enough to play for Folly Lane Juniors, I played with Moorside Juniors for a while in the early 1960s. Trust me, the youth game was hardly vibrant even then. Despite the best efforts of the coach, we hardly ever put out a full team and on occasions we had to borrow from our opponents.

Then a mate asked me to play for Manchester YMCA on Princess Parkway. Although I only played a few games and although that was for the 3rd team, we always managed to put out a full side. 

League has always had a marginal hold on the sporting consciousness of the area. When motorways brought far off places such as Wigan, Warrington and Snellins within an hours reach, it became clear where newcomers to the game would focus. 

How many amature teams are there these days in Manchester/ Salford 

[DimmestStar]

Not enough people are willing to pay money to watch Salford. Huddersfield have the same problem.

[RayCee]

Nearly two decades ago I met an elderly gent who I found out was from Huddersfield. I asked if he followed the RL team and he said he had been a regular attender at games but when he emigrated to NZ he stopped following RL. 
I told him I got a UK RL mag (RL World I think) on special order and when I had finished reading it, he could have it. He said he had given up the game and didn’t want to know anything about it. I thought it rather odd to go from a regular at games to wanting nothing to do with it. I live in a town with no RL but am still keen. 

[Ant]

2 hours ago, DimmestStar said:

Not enough people are willing to pay money to watch Salford. Huddersfield have the same problem.

Applies to every club in the country

 

Most soccer clubs too

[HawkMan]

12 minutes ago, Ant said:

Applies to every club in the country

 

Most soccer clubs too

No not most soccer clubs, my brother is on a waiting list for season tickets at Chelsea,  most Premier league matches are chock full every match.  If you mean lower league levels,  then yes they are struggling to fill stadia.

Salford has the unenviable problem of having MASSIVE football clubs on their doorstep,  I think they do quite well attendance wise considering everything. Wigan's loss of fans is more of a worry,  they are still ahead of Wigan Athletic on attendances but only just.

[Ant]

Most soccer clubs run at a massive loss, the premier league isnt most clubs

[Teessidewire]

On 16/02/2020 at 19:10, Wigan Riversider said:

Sadly, I believe it's the latter.

We are a minority sport inspite of our love for our game.

Why do Warrington, Wigan, and Saints all get 5 figure crowds then? 

[DC77]

4 hours ago, HawkMan said:

No not most soccer clubs, my brother is on a waiting list for season tickets at Chelsea,  most Premier league matches are chock full every match.  If you mean lower league levels,  then yes they are struggling to fill stadia.

Salford has the unenviable problem of having MASSIVE football clubs on their doorstep,  I think they do quite well attendance wise considering everything. Wigan's loss of fans is more of a worry,  they are still ahead of Wigan Athletic on attendances but only just.

When I was at university in Liverpool I enquired about a season ticket for Anfield. Remember asking the girl behind the counter how long is the waiting list (even naively thinking about the possibility of getting one straight away), she nonchalantly said 12 years. To say I was gobsmacked was an understatement. The demand has only increased with the team doing a lot better since then. 

 

Lower league teams do very well turnover wise, the problem is overspending. There’s the carrot of the Premier League (even championship football) and incompetent owners spend more than they should. 

[DC77]

4 hours ago, Teessidewire said:

Why do Warrington, Wigan, and Saints all get 5 figure crowds then? 

Because they are rugby league towns? When I stayed in Manchester I saw next to no visible presence of rugby league. Is the sport prominent in Salford?

If it’s not prominently in the local culture, and given rugby league is not in mainstream nationwide culture (so not much ability to capture interest from joe public or casual fans from outside a RL area), it’s hard to attract bigger crowds. 

The cricket final last summer, how many watched that game who were bandwagon jumpers as they read about it in the papers, seen it on news stations, heard about it from people in work etc? I’d say plenty, many of whom have no real interest in cricket. But the status It had pushed up the viewership/demand for tickets.

[HawkMan]

What would happen if Manchester United bought out Salford RL club, changed the name to Manchester United RL and brought it into the United family for marketing and branding, would attendance figures alter radically?

Would Salford fans be comfortable with this?

[LR23]

10 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

What would happen if Manchester United bought out Salford RL club, changed the name to Manchester United RL and brought it into the United family for marketing and branding, would attendance figures alter radically?

Would Salford fans be comfortable with this?

A large chunk of the current core support wouldn't attend again. For the reasons set out in this thread simply renaming the club 'Manchester' isn't going to suddenly attract new fans from the area who don't care about rugby league. A big marketing budget would help but United are not going to buy us out.

[WSRD]

57 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

What would happen if Manchester United bought out Salford RL club, changed the name to Manchester United RL and brought it into the United family for marketing and branding, would attendance figures alter radically?

Would Salford fans be comfortable with this?

As it stands if that happened I would be changing the habit of a lifetime,75 years to be exact.

[Henson Park Old Firm]

How much about Salford sue Man U for using the word 'red devils' then settle out of court. And lease the name Red Devils to Man U for £3 Million each year. Everyone's a winner.

[burnleywelsh]

4 hours ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

How much about Salford sue Man U for using the word 'red devils' then settle out of court. And lease the name Red Devils to Man U for £3 Million each year. Everyone's a winner.

They could earn a fortune going after this lot

Rugby Union:

Montpellier -France – founded 1903

Hockey: 

Canterbury – New Zealand – 2005

MMA:

Red Devils Sport Club – Russia – founded 1997

Football:

Grazer AK – Austria – founded 1902

Club Toluca – Mexico – founded 1917

FC Kaiserslautern – Germany – founded 1900

Club Atletic Independiente – Argentina – 1904

Al-Ahly – Egypt – founded 1907

Crawley Town – England – founded 1896

Hapoel Tel Aviv – Israel – founded 1927

Nikana FC – Zambia – 1935

FC Rouen – France – 1899

Corporacion Deportiva America – Colombia – founded 1918

Bulancakspor – Turkey – founded 1926

CD Diablos Rojos – Peru – 1965

Belarus National Team

Belgian National Team

Congo National Team

South Korea National Team

 

[Mr Frisky]

8 hours ago, LR23 said:

A large chunk of the current core support wouldn't attend again. For the reasons set out in this thread simply renaming the club 'Manchester' isn't going to suddenly attract new fans from the area who don't care about rugby league. A big marketing budget would help but United are not going to buy us out.

So I take it that large core of support dont follow the 2 big Manchester clubs in football then? - or does the hatred of all things Manchester  only go one way?

Take it all Salford Red Devils RL fans who like Football only go to Salford Football games then.

[Yakstorm]

2 hours ago, Mr Frisky said:

So I take it that large core of support dont follow the 2 big Manchester clubs in football then? - or does the hatred of all things Manchester  only go one way?

Take it all Salford Red Devils RL fans who like Football only go to Salford Football games then.

Changing from Newton Heath to Manchester United or St Mark's to Manchester City didn't seem to hurt those club's ability to grow...

Honestly though, considering people's affiliation's to sporting teams aren't often for logical reasons, there would be a backlash (even if those same fans are happy to watch United or City) and it would most likely hurt the club's attendances for a few years... That said, they would possibly find a lot of those fans would eventually come back, especially if off the back of changing the name they were able to be successful.

The problem is, Salford doesn't have the money to take such a gamble, and as others have said, they wouldn't know how to capitalise on the new name either to try and attract new fans.... You could possibly argue that if they had the backing like a Manchester United, they possibly wouldn't need to change their name as they would suddenly be able to heavily promote their brand and grow audiences through increased awareness and success.

[LR23]

10 hours ago, Mr Frisky said:

So I take it that large core of support dont follow the 2 big Manchester clubs in football then? - or does the hatred of all things Manchester  only go one way?

Take it all Salford Red Devils RL fans who like Football only go to Salford Football games then.

There is no hatred of Manchester. It is about throwing away 100+ years of history to change the name to the city next door. Salford is a city in it's own right so it would be like Wakefield changing their name to Leeds - I'm sure that would go down well.