London Broncos Moving Update

[Archie Gordon]

9 minutes ago, dealwithit said:

Well you can’t just replace someone if the role is redundant. 

True. But someone will have to do the things that Neil Reynolds did. 

[Archie Gordon]

3 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

Wasn't media management one of the big failings of the club, according to Broncos fans?

Media management was pretty good under Neil. Trouble is, he seemed to be a one-man band, also running matchday (very well) and the club's online output (much less well).

Engagement with fans - CRM, call it what you like - has been the Achilles heel. This probably also fell under Neil's remit but he has had almost no support it seems to me. For short periods, marketing/sales staff would appear but none have lasted very long. The back office has always been chronically underpowered which is not to say that the people working there have been poor.

[nadera78]

5 hours ago, Archie Gordon said:

Media management was pretty good under Neil. Trouble is, he seemed to be a one-man band, also running matchday (very well) and the club's online output (much less well).

Engagement with fans - CRM, call it what you like - has been the Achilles heel. This probably also fell under Neil's remit but he has had almost no support it seems to me. For short periods, marketing/sales staff would appear but none have lasted very long. The back office has always been chronically underpowered which is not to say that the people working there have been poor.

There's a distinction between media management, as in dealing with journalists, etc, and content creation. Only those working in the sport would be able to comment on that side of things, but the latter (including fan engagement) has been a big issue for the club since Chris Warren left about 15 years ago. If he's been made redundant then either there won't be anyone doing that job or the've come up with some other position, but from an employment law standpoint it would have to have a very different remit or they could be in trouble.

Either way, given his behaviour towards the fanbase so far, I hope the commercial manager isn't taking on the role.

[dealwithit]

Perhaps the ground share with Wimbledon will include sharing staff? 

Either that or the likelihood of a delayed start/no crowds means it’s hard to justify staff? 

[Archie Gordon]

3 hours ago, nadera78 said:

I hope the commercial manager isn't taking on the role.

I am also worried that this is the case ...

[ATLANTISMAN]

4 hours ago, Archie Gordon said:

I am also worried that this is the case ...

Why would you say that Archie?

Just asking 

[Archie Gordon]

6 hours ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Why would you say that Archie?

Just asking 

Amongst other things, I'm not a fan of him getting into arguments with fans on other message boards. Really unprofessional.

Also, it looks like we're back to the one-man band thing where one employee is expected to be master of media, comms, marketing and sales and, frankly, no-one has either that combined skill-set or the time to do it all justice.

[ATLANTISMAN]

15 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

Amongst other things, I'm not a fan of him getting into arguments with fans on other message boards. Really unprofessional.

Also, it looks like we're back to the one-man band thing where one employee is expected to be master of media, comms, marketing and sales and, frankly, no-one has either that combined skill-set or the time to do it all justice.

Never a good thing to do didn't know that.

[dead man inc]

1 hour ago, Archie Gordon said:

...Also, it looks like we're back to the one-man band thing where one employee is expected to be master of media, comms, marketing and sales and, frankly, no-one has either that combined skill-set or the time to do it all justice.

I think one of the real problems for a number of years now is that on the non playing staff side Broncos have had a very very small ‘band thing’ going on with nowhere near enough staff to actually grow their own presence, let alone raise the general awareness of RL in the capital.

[Hela Wigmen]

They’ve announced a move to Rosslyn Park, as their training base for the grand total of the next three years. 7.5 miles from Ealing and now South of the river, indicating that AFC Wimbledon is very likely to be their next car parking spot. 

[DI Keith Fowler]

6 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

They’ve announced a move to Rosslyn Park, as their training base for the grand total of the next three years. 7.5 miles from Ealing and now South of the river, indicating that AFC Wimbledon is very likely to be their next car parking spot. 

Looks nearer to Brentford's ground than the Wimbledon one, albeit you have to cross the river. 

[gingerjon]

9 minutes ago, DI Keith Fowler said:

Looks nearer to Brentford's ground than the Wimbledon one, albeit you have to cross the river. 

Rosslyn Park to Brentford is pretty straightforward. It's also pretty straightforward to Plough Lane.

Doesn't really say much - only that Ealing is definitely in the past tense.

[Toby Chopra]

So what happens to the stand at Trailfinders they built? The union side will never need it. Will it just sit there as a concrete and corrugated steel white elephant? Or will it get pulled down after just one year's use?  

[Hela Wigmen]

1 minute ago, Toby Chopra said:

So what happens to the stand at Trailfinders they built? The union side will never need it. Will it just sit there as a concrete and corrugated steel white elephant? Or will it get pulled down after just one year's use?  

Wasn’t there an office going in beneath it? 

[Magic XIII]

1 minute ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Wasn’t there an office going in beneath it? 

Never happened - only toilets.

[Toby Chopra]

2 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Wasn’t there an office going in beneath it? 

not sure, it was packed with beered up away fans on the matches I went to in 2019 so I scuttled past quick! 

[Archie Gordon]

"First team" training base. End of the whole club training in one place then. 

[gingerjon]

1 minute ago, Archie Gordon said:

"First team" training base. End of the whole club training in one place then. 

Don't worry there will be a hasty and definitely not back of fag packet response to that ... via another club in another sport's social media in a few weeks.

[marklaspalmas]

I've admired a lot of different things about a lot of the different incarnations of the Broncos.

It's sad to read this thread.

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Official Rossyn Park RFC announcement - 3 year deal

https://rosslynpark.co.uk/london-broncos-the-rock/

Unless this is Gratis, then the Club will be paying two landlords next year as opposed to one.

I would also expect Season tickets prices to rise at Wimbledon.

As is customary London Broncos tweet seems to follow publication on the Rosslyn park RUFC website....

[londonbronco]

Since the rebranding back to London Broncos for the 2012 season this will be the 4th 'home' change in nine years - The Stoop, The Hive, Trailfinders & now rumoured to be Plough Lane (although not confirmed by the club). As one the few hundred Broncos supporters left that had remained loyal to the club I'm unsure I want another groundshare move.  If true I hope it is a success otherwise it'll be a new ground in 3 years time.

[Stuff Smith]

3 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Don't worry there will be a hasty and definitely not back of fag packet response to that ... via another club in another sport's social media in a few weeks.

It's all too predictable, isn't it?

Anyone ever accused you of being an incurable optimist? Follow London Broncos for eighteen months and it's guaranteed never to happen again..

[Stuff Smith]

1 hour ago, londonbronco said:

... If true I hope it is a success otherwise it'll be a new ground in 3 years time.

Three years? There's that optimism again.

[nadera78]

I left the UK 15 months ago so, ultimately, moving to Wimbledon doesn't impact my attendance or not.

Chatting to my dad about the situation though, and I think this is it for him. Not interested in another move, with another set of promises, another assertion that "this is the one", and finally another disappointment. No doubt he'll keep an eye on the Broncos from afar, but he's seen this movie before. He knows how it ends. Truth is, we all do.

[Dr Tim Whatley]

13 hours ago, londonbronco said:

Since the rebranding back to London Broncos for the 2012 season this will be the 4th 'home' change in nine years - The Stoop, The Hive, Trailfinders & now rumoured to be Plough Lane (although not confirmed by the club). As one the few hundred Broncos supporters left that had remained loyal to the club I'm unsure I want another groundshare move.  If true I hope it is a success otherwise it'll be a new ground in 3 years time.

 

5 hours ago, nadera78 said:

I left the UK 15 months ago so, ultimately, moving to Wimbledon doesn't impact my attendance or not.

Chatting to my dad about the situation though, and I think this is it for him. Not interested in another move, with another set of promises, another assertion that "this is the one", and finally another disappointment. No doubt he'll keep an eye on the Broncos from afar, but he's seen this movie before. He knows how it ends. Truth is, we all do.

London Broncos aren't the best at many things, but when it comes to alienating existing supporters, they really are world beaters.