Featherstone - Boom or Bust by the looks of it

[RigbyLuger]

They're constantly promoting this event with the son of a criminal, so must be hoping that brings in a few quid.

[The Phantom Horseman]

3 hours ago, Man of Kent said:

Shocked that a pit village near Pontefract has small crowds.

It's interesting that "The Daddy" has liked this post.

Over on the Toulouse form, a poster called "The Daddy" has started a thread entitled "Toulouse needs its own ground, Ernest Wallon is too big", presumably a response to what have been some fairly moderate attendances at their current home. What are the odds, eh?

http://www.rugbyforumxiii.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=74507&sid=e5759691c71b0211ee49e505357a9576

Equally, with London's crowds once again measured in hundreds rather than thousands 43 years after they made their entrance to pro RL, maybe we need to stop being so snide about "pit villages"?

[Daft old hooker]

3 hours ago, Just Browny said:

It sounds like Newcastle ruined the game then not the ref.

Surely it’s the role of the referee to police the play the ball not the players. He looked quite a young referee and hopefully he will learn from it.

[Tex Evans Thigh]

Mark is a passionate man and is sometimes prone to this kind of outburst. I wouldn't recommend it but he's every right to speak his mind if he thinks it might inspire more fans to turn out. He's done so much for the club he's entitled to get frustrated from time to time.

Fev's problem is not only that they are winning every game easily, it's that it's pretty much been like this for the past 3 seasons. There's a bit of feeling of 'can we just get to the play-offs' which is understandable, particularly when you throw in factors like 4 games at home in a row and how cold it is.

There was a good crowd v Fax, I expect there will be a good one v Bradford on Monday and there will be other good attendances for games like Toulouse and Widnes. Hopefully, this is the year Mark gets his reward for all the hard work and a modest attendance for a game against Newcastle in February will be a distant memory.

[Just Browny]

7 minutes ago, Daft old hooker said:

Surely it’s the role of the referee to police the play the ball not the players. He looked quite a young referee and hopefully he will learn from it.

It takes two evenly matched sides wanting to play the game properly to get a decent game. Either the ref lets a bit of messing about go, and it becomes a slow game, or he penalises Newcastle every tackle and Fev win 100-0. Either way the game is not ruined by the ref.

[Tre Cool]

I'm pretty sure winning games too easily doesn't harm attendances!  Smaller clubs coming does, people like a big game / big atmosphere.  He should be having a word with his marketing and game day team if attendances are poor.  Criticising or begging fans does absolutely no good whatsoever. It just makes you look like you don't know what you're doing and have no plan or vision. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

51 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

They wouldn't. If they tried to play rugby they would have got destroyed, the tactics they used seem pretty clear and a way to stop Fev getting on a roll.

I'd probably give Newcastle a bit of credit, they stood up quite well defensively.

It's interesting TBO that the ref was the same young fella who reffed your game against London last week and gave about 16 set restarts, he only gave 5 I think yesterday (5 to Fev, 2 to Newcastle) and I wonder if he got some sort of reaction last week, either from the Halifax and London coaches or his supervisors.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

52 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

I could be wrong its just that he used the words money/subsidise in the sort of context that it were he personally that was putting money in.

Yes, it's easy to see why anyone would think that to be the case and why taking FB (and other SM) posts at face value without adding context doesn't always paint an accurate picture

[Monkeymagic22]

To be honest a crowd of 2.5k with virtually zero away supporters seems reasonable to me and on par or above recent seasons.

[Fevrover]

1 hour ago, The Blues Ox said:

They wouldn't. If they tried to play rugby they would have got destroyed, the tactics they used seem pretty clear and a way to stop Fev getting on a roll.

It certainly worked but it would probably have  been 70 again ,don't know which would have been worse lol.

Edited February 27 by Fevrover

[David Shepherd]

1 hour ago, The Grinder said:

If it was just 50p difference then I think a lot more people would drink more at the club. Though drinking elsewhere because of the beer prices will reduce the clubs secondary income stream on match days, I very much doubt it it will affect the attendance figures since people can choose just not to drink at the club. And let's face it how many people are able to fit in those pubs 350 maybe 450 out of all the people going to the games?

Personally I think changing a 3pm fixture to a 4pm fixture to accommodate a football fixture on TV and having 4 home fixtures in a row because you swap fixtures with another club will have had a bigger determent to the attendances than the price of beer.

The bigger question is how we get more of the surrounding population to attend games. For example what advertising have the people of Ackworth, Fitzwilliam, Sharlston, Crofton, Pontefact, Knottingley, Hemsworth and further afield seen to tell them that there was a game on At Featherstone v Newcastle yesterday or that there is a game there against the previously all conquering Bradford Bulls? 

Fair points.

Re advertising. All I see is the board near Mcdonalds in Ponte.  It was still showing Whitehaven on Saturday afternoon, so that's not a great start.

The club are really good at socials, which is a far more effective way to reach people than roadside boards.  Maybe they need to allocate a budget and boost some of their posts. They're preaching to the converted doing non-paid posts that are mostly seen by people that already follow the page.

Re the beer, TBH I've no idea what the price differential is.  I usually nip in the Robin Hood in Ponte before getting a taxi.  Bit pricey in there, but I like an IPA - the poncier the better.  I'd drink more at the ground if they served something a bit more palatable than chemical cider or tasteless lager. That Ossett Brewery stuff they had in last year was good, but I've not seen it this season.

Your point about the fixture changes is a good one and is probably a fairly big factor. Then there's the weather, it was bitter yesterday.  Not really hanging around outside stuff.

Edited February 27 by David Shepherd

[Fevrover]

1 hour ago, RigbyLuger said:

They're constantly promoting this event with the son of a criminal, so must be hoping that brings in a few quid.

? Would you care to explain this statement please.

[Trojan]

To play the plum game of the round at 7-45 KO is hardly designed to maximise attendance.  If I attend a home game I have a 170 mile round trip.  And of course three home games on the trot doesn't help matters.  And the weather has hardly been accommodating.   It's been particularly cold.   

[Michael Bates]

4 minutes ago, Fevrover said:

? Would you care to explain this statement please.

[David Shepherd]

7 minutes ago, Fevrover said:

? Would you care to explain this statement please.

There's a talk / Q&A coming up with Pablo Escobar's son.

I reckon that'll be quite an interesting event.

[The Blues Ox]

35 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I'd probably give Newcastle a bit of credit, they stood up quite well defensively.

It's interesting TBO that the ref was the same young fella who reffed your game against London last week and gave about 16 set restarts, he only gave 5 I think yesterday (5 to Fev, 2 to Newcastle) and I wonder if he got some sort of reaction last week, either from the Halifax and London coaches or his supervisors.

Id imagine both coaches last week after watching the game back thought he was a bit over zealous and as is often the case it can go the other way quite a bit. 

[The Blues Ox]

2 minutes ago, Michael Bates said:

Bet thats pretty decent to be fair.

[phiggins]

42 minutes ago, Tre Cool said:

I'm pretty sure winning games too easily doesn't harm attendances!  Smaller clubs coming does, people like a big game / big atmosphere.  He should be having a word with his marketing and game day team if attendances are poor.  Criticising or begging fans does absolutely no good whatsoever. It just makes you look like you don't know what you're doing and have no plan or vision. 

Of course it will harm attendances. You wouldn't go to the races if there was only one horse competing. Couple that with the play off format rendering these games fairly meaningless, then a dip in attendances is understandable. If they got 2.5k in, that doesn't seem too bad, not sure what the Fev owner is hoping for?

[David Shepherd]

3 minutes ago, phiggins said:

Of course it will harm attendances. You wouldn't go to the races if there was only one horse competing. Couple that with the play off format rendering these games fairly meaningless, then a dip in attendances is understandable. If they got 2.5k in, that doesn't seem too bad, not sure what the Fev owner is hoping for?

I'd guess we're looking for 3k minimum before away fans.  That extra 500 really does make a difference both financially and in terms of atmosphere.

As others have said, it's probably the fairly late notice fixtures changes, 4 home games on the trot and the bitter cold that affected yesterday's gate. Along with the expected shellacking.

[David Shepherd]

6 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Bet thats pretty decent to be fair.

Must admit, I'm quite tempted to make one in.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

Probably worth pointing out that of the 3 corresponding home games only the Whitehaven game has attracted a lower attendance this season than last. Total attendance for the 3 games in 2022 was 8727 whereas this season has attracted 8531, a decrease of 196.

v 'fax +66, Whitehaven -324, Newcastle +62

 

[The Phantom Horseman]

3 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Probably worth pointing out that of the 3 corresponding home games only the Whitehaven game has attracted a lower attendance this season than last. Total attendance for the 3 games in 2022 was 8727 whereas this season has attracted 8531, a decrease of 196.

v 'fax +66, Whitehaven -324, Newcastle +62

 

Indeed, and we are now in a cost of living crisis with fuel bills etc that bear no resemblance to last year. I think MC is just frustrated about all the work he and Martin Vickers have put in not getting the crowds it probably deserves.

The problem is he's vented about it on a closed group that's designed for Fev fans, and it's now being dissected across forumland. He's had the odd moan in the past on that page, as have other chairmen on social media/forums, but this one seems to have taken off more than others.

[Tommygilf]

I agree with the reasons suggested for why some crowds haven't been stellar, particularly 4 games at home on the bounce.

I don't think anyone can complain about a few hundred fans choosing a broader range of drinks (at apparently cheaper prices) inside a pub over "not that" outside in mid February. Businesses should be supportive of eachother in that respect and Fev should be looking at getting some goodwill from the pubs in the town that benefit on matchdays and frankly its better for the town to be thriving rather than having everywhere else boarded up. The club should be at the heart of the town in that respect.

It doesn't look professional though does it, and doesn't help given some of MC's past actions...

[chromedome]

16 hours ago, meast said:

Abysmal basic English for an owner of a "professional" sports club.

Yeah that was what I thought too. Words repeated, lack of punctuation, very unprofessional.

[Tommygilf]

3 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Indeed, and we are now in a cost of living crisis with fuel bills etc that bear no resemblance to last year. I think MC is just frustrated about all the work he and Martin Vickers have put in not getting the crowds it probably deserves.

The problem is he's vented about it on a closed group that's designed for Fev fans, and it's now being dissected across forumland. He's had the odd moan in the past on that page, as have other chairmen on social media/forums, but this one seems to have taken off more than others.

I don't know if that is the forum to do that though. An article in League Express or a local paper maybe? A statement via the club's social accounts?

I always think as a chairman you need to maintain some distance from fans on social media, it almost always bite you on the backside. It's good in small doses I suppose and it will help to get a feeling for the current mood in the fanbase. But when you are posting messages/replies essentially blaming some fans you need to realise that is neither the best message nor the forum to use it in.