Are Swinton rebranding?

[welshmagpie]

I’m sure I saw something on Twitter/X suggesting this recently but am now starting to doubt myself!

Anybody able to confirm otherwise? 

[Robert the Builder]

1 minute ago, welshmagpie said:

I’m sure I saw something on Twitter/X suggesting this recently but am now starting to doubt myself!

Anybody able to confirm otherwise? 

Yes. Today they will be known forever as the Houdini Swinton Lions

[Sailaway]

There is a possibility of the Manchester rebrand coming round again. It is being handled more carefully by the current board than it was before. Time will tell what the outcome will be.

[Colin James]

The journalist who posted it has since deleted his comments. There was a survey of supporters covering all aspects of the club and branding was a small part of the survey. Somehow that morphed into a story that Swinton were definitely rebranding at the end of the season put out a few days before they played the team the journalist covers.

[DEANO]

Yeah think they’re gonna start playing players signed to the club along with Bradford 

[RigbyLuger]

19 minutes ago, Colin James said:

The journalist who posted it has since deleted his comments. There was a survey of supporters covering all aspects of the club and branding was a small part of the survey. Somehow that morphed into a story that Swinton were definitely rebranding at the end of the season put out a few days before they played the team the journalist covers.

Saying "journalist" is a slur on actual ones.

[Chris22]

The only recent reference I have seen to this is from Mick Gledhill, followed by a swift denial from the club.

[Mark R]

9 hours ago, DEANO said:

Yeah think they’re gonna start playing players signed to the club along with Bradford 

Haven't all clubs signed players on loan this year? Even the big boys 

[DI Keith Fowler]

9 hours ago, Chris22 said:

The only recent reference I have seen to this is from Mick Gledhill, followed by a swift denial from the club.

If Mick walked in p**s wet through and said it was raining I'd go and check. 

[Wellsy4HullFC]

I suppose a different question is should they rebrand? What's the future of Swinton? Especially as a nomadic club with no chance of a new stadium in their actual town. What sort of crowds are they getting? What's the age like?

[Harry Stottle]

On 24/09/2023 at 20:55, Sailaway said:

There is a possibility of the Manchester rebrand coming round again. It is being handled more carefully by the current board than it was before. Time will tell what the outcome will be.

Yep, there was some objectors that bit the hand that fed them ousting Andy Mazey and other board members, it would seem very churlish if they went for a name change now that didn't involve the name Swinton or contained Manchester.

[idrewthehaggis]

Looking in from outside, Swinton can seem a bit of a voodoo ghost club, alive but maybe without soul.

Well they aren't devoid of character and from what I gather from the handful of Lions I know, they are quite happy to plod on in the Championship, attracting on average a thousand punters at their old school ground in Sale.

I also sense they have a strategy to position themselves as the pro RL club for south Manchester. Fair Do's.

I suppose they are like Batley, Workington or even Newcastle. Too small for Super League, too big to be in the Conference.

Edited September 26 by idrewthehaggis

[Just Browny]

It's a funny predicament isn't it. We have Swinton playing in Sale and Sale playing in Salford. And Salford playing in a part of Salford that feels quite far from 'proper' Salford.

Potentially there's a decent audience in the area Swinton are playing in, but do any of the locals to Sale and Wythenshawe feel any attachment to the 'Swinton' name? I'm guessing very few. Meanwhile anyone opting for a 'Manchester moniker risks alienating the 1000 or so who head down to Sale every fortnight with no guarantee of replacing them with new fans. They were certainly a loud and proud bunch at the Shay on Sunday.

[OnStrike]

I'm obviously no marketing expert but to change your name from Swinton (an historic name within Rugby League) to Manchester, in the expectation that loads of people from Manchester will all of a sudden jump on board seems crazy. Swinton has a history and a legacy that can be built on with good ownership and hard work (which I assume is ongoing). Changing the name to Manchester is a gimmick and will alienate Swinton's existing fans. Stuff like this may work elsewhere (Easts to Sydney Roosters for example) but goes very much against the sporting culture in this country in my opinion

There's not a load of RL fans in Manchester who would love to go to games but won't because there is no team called Manchester.

Congratulations to Swinton on their survival in the Championship too. Great stuff, was pleased for them

 

Edited September 26 by OnStrike

[overtheborder]

25 minutes ago, OnStrike said:

I'm obviously no marketing expert but to change your name from Swinton (an historic name within Rugby League) to Manchester, in the expectation that loads of people from Manchester will all of a sudden jump on board seems crazy. Swinton has a history and a legacy that can be built on with good ownership and hard work (which I assume is ongoing). Changing the name to Manchester is a gimmick and will alienate Swinton's existing fans. Stuff like this may work elsewhere (Easts to Sydney Roosters for example) but goes very much against the sporting culture in this country in my opinion

There's not a load of RL fans in Manchester who would love to go to games but won't because there is no team called Manchester.

Congratulations to Swinton on their survival in the Championship too. Great stuff, was pleased for them

 

This - maybe the first steps would be to move back to Swinton, and try and make a bit of fanfare about it, and then go from there.

But absolutely agree about the Manchester name, I think they'd be shooting themselves in the foot, although I'm no marketer myself either!

[Simon Hall]

43 minutes ago, OnStrike said:

 but goes very much against the sporting culture in this country in my opinion

 

 

Which attracts about 400 people to home games.

[Eddie]

21 minutes ago, overtheborder said:

This - maybe the first steps would be to move back to Swinton, and try and make a bit of fanfare about it, and then go from there.

But absolutely agree about the Manchester name, I think they'd be shooting themselves in the foot, although I'm no marketer myself either!

To be fair I think they’ve been trying to move back to Swinton ever since they left. 

[DI Keith Fowler]

43 minutes ago, OnStrike said:

I'm obviously no marketing expert but to change your name from Swinton (an historic name within Rugby League) to Manchester, in the expectation that loads of people from Manchester will all of a sudden jump on board seems crazy.

Hypothetically as part of a wider long term strategy there might be something in it. If Swinton were suddenly flush with cash and decided to play out of say the Manchester Regional Arena, putting on a Toronto Wolfpack style beer festival type atmosphere in order to try and attract young professionals in the city for something to do on a Friday/Saturday evening, changing to Manchester would be very advisable.

If they're just carrying on doing what they're doing but rebranding as Manchester, yes that will make absolutely no difference to anything except alienate their existing fans. 

[JM2010]

19 minutes ago, DI Keith Fowler said:

Hypothetically as part of a wider long term strategy there might be something in it. If Swinton were suddenly flush with cash and decided to play out of say the Manchester Regional Arena, putting on a Toronto Wolfpack style beer festival type atmosphere in order to try and attract young professionals in the city for something to do on a Friday/Saturday evening, changing to Manchester would be very advisable.

If they're just carrying on doing what they're doing but rebranding as Manchester, yes that will make absolutely no difference to anything except alienate their existing fans. 

Completely agree. A name change would only work if the club created a bit of a fanfare about it and cast their net into Manchester to attract fans.

As you say, it would need some investment for that to work 

[idrewthehaggis]

Nah plenty of clubs move from their base and retain their name. Partick Thistle and Millwall come to mind.

Adding Manchester makes sense, but practically as noted it would be counter productive..Better to uptick the "Lions" tag. 

As for that Etihad athletic ground.It is exactly that, good for running, barren for RL. What happened to that centre of excellence off Grey Mare Lane?

[OnStrike]

50 minutes ago, Simon Hall said:

Which attracts about 400 people to home games.

How many more would the Manchester Lions attract?

Swinton have probably not too far off 150 years of history and tradition and fans keeping the thing going. If and when the Manchester Lions came up against some of the problems Swinton have encountered, who would be bothered to save them or keep the club going?

[Tommygilf]

Whilst I'd keep Swinton, I'd be selling and branding the clubs as "Manchester's Rugby League team". Even in football, Chelsea and West Ham have moved to incorporate "London" into their branding and marketing more in recent years. Similar also happens at Sale, who repeatedly brand themselves as the "Manchester" or "Northern" Rugby (Union) team, whilst maintaining the authenticity of the name Sale.

For Swinton the opportunity seems to be there, indeed needs to be there, for them to build on a historic name and tradition, which gives them authenticity, in a new reality. 

[Barley Mow]

24 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Whilst I'd keep Swinton, I'd be selling and branding the clubs as "Manchester's Rugby League team". Even in football, Chelsea and West Ham have moved to incorporate "London" into their branding and marketing more in recent years. Similar also happens at Sale, who repeatedly brand themselves as the "Manchester" or "Northern" Rugby (Union) team, whilst maintaining the authenticity of the name Sale.

For Swinton the opportunity seems to be there, indeed needs to be there, for them to build on a historic name and tradition, which gives them authenticity, in a new reality. 

This seems to be exactly what Swinton are trying to do. Their current badge has "Swinton Lions RFLC" over the top of the lion symbol and "Manchester" across the bottom. https://suprosport.com/collections/replica-shirts-1/products/2023-swinton-lions-replica-home-shirt-youth-adult

Edited September 26 by Barley Mow

[The Future is League]

On 25/09/2023 at 05:55, Sailaway said:

There is a possibility of the Manchester rebrand coming round again. It is being handled more carefully by the current board than it was before. Time will tell what the outcome will be.

I'm thinking Manchester Lions again.

It is my opinion that we need a team in the professional or semi professional ranks with Manchester in their name

[Tommygilf]

4 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

This seems to be exactly what Swinton are trying to do. Their current badge has "Swinton Lions RFLC" over the top of the lion symbol and "Manchester" across the bottom. https://suprosport.com/collections/replica-shirts-1/products/2023-swinton-lions-replica-home-shirt-youth-adult

Yeah I'd seen that, was it originally introduced a few years ago? Certainly think they will be pushing this further.

The major problems they have is that they don't have either the finances or the venue to do justice to the name properly.