2024 attendance thread

[Andy JG]

To put some context on the Leigh attendance figures, these are probably the best average attendances in my lifetime (i'm 57)..

As a point of reference the 81-82 season when Leigh won the Championship average crowds at Hilton Park were 6,361.

Highest league crowd was 9,701 for the visit of Wigan, whilst 9,550 saw the pivotal game against Hull KR.

The lowest crowd was only 2,592 for a top of the table clash in December 1981 v Widnes....however this was played in a blizzard with heavy snow covering the pitch and terraces.

The highest crowds at Hilton Park that season were both for Challenge Cup games, highlighting that to many fans it was the premier competition.... 10,366 for a 1st Round game v Warrington, and 11,791 for the qf v Castleford.

The club deserve a great deal of credit for the work done in getting more people in.     

 

 

 

[LeytherRob]

1 hour ago, Andy JG said:

To put some context on the Leigh attendance figures, these are probably the best average attendances in my lifetime (i'm 57)..

As a point of reference the 81-82 season when Leigh won the Championship average crowds at Hilton Park were 6,361.

Highest league crowd was 9,701 for the visit of Wigan, whilst 9,550 saw the pivotal game against Hull KR.

The lowest crowd was only 2,592 for a top of the table clash in December 1981 v Widnes....however this was played in a blizzard with heavy snow covering the pitch and terraces.

The highest crowds at Hilton Park that season were both for Challenge Cup games, highlighting that to many fans it was the premier competition.... 10,366 for a 1st Round game v Warrington, and 11,791 for the qf v Castleford.

The club deserve a great deal of credit for the work done in getting more people in.     

 

 

 

I think it was a very brave move last season from Leigh to open up the East stand to season ticket sales in 2023, basically committing to opening that stand for every game rather than just using it as overflow for the odd game as previously(other than during covid for social distancing you could probably count the number of games on one hand). There were only around 50 ST sales for that stand last year based on what was unavailable whenever tickets went on sale but fans have started building habits for that area of the ground which is starting to really pay dividends.

One thing i've noticed the past few home games is there is a lot more noise coming from the east stand than even last year and the atmosphere has become a lot less dependent on the North stand carrying things.

 

I'd also say that the monthly membership scheme that replaced the standard 'pay up front' season ticket is one of the most genius strokes of marketing the club has ever produced. We've gone from hundreds of comments every year critiquing every price point and complaining about costs to people queuing well over an hour to collect what is by far Leigh's most expensive season ticket and probably the most expensive tickets in UK RL on average. No one even mentions the cost anymore, if anything people are clamoring for the more expensive options as evidenced by the Platinum tickets(£500p/a) selling out. 

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

2 hours ago, Andy JG said:

To put some context on the Leigh attendance figures, these are probably the best average attendances in my lifetime (i'm 57)..

As a point of reference the 81-82 season when Leigh won the Championship average crowds at Hilton Park were 6,361.

Highest league crowd was 9,701 for the visit of Wigan, whilst 9,550 saw the pivotal game against Hull KR.

The lowest crowd was only 2,592 for a top of the table clash in December 1981 v Widnes....however this was played in a blizzard with heavy snow covering the pitch and terraces.

The highest crowds at Hilton Park that season were both for Challenge Cup games, highlighting that to many fans it was the premier competition.... 10,366 for a 1st Round game v Warrington, and 11,791 for the qf v Castleford.

The club deserve a great deal of credit for the work done in getting more people in.     

 

 

 

Decided to give the game against Widnes a miss when I saw the forecast.  We had about twelve inches of snow that afternoon.  Anyone travelling from Widnes would have struggled to get home, roads were shut all over the show.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On 08/05/2024 at 22:32, N2022 said:

OK, Wakey is a city in Yorkshire where league is the most obvious spectator sport, but choosing that to prove that the bigger urban areas are all about league is a bit selective too.

The biggest centres of population are Leeds and then probably Sheffield and neither of those is exclusively league, far from it by the time you've factored in football drawing about 40,000 home fans, there being suburban swathes with more union clubs than league, and many schools not running teams in league. Bradford, Huddersfield football probably bigger than RL. York, i suspect more union played than league, though Knights may rival football on crowds. Doncaster? Barnsley and Rotherham really not league towns.

So, essentially it's Wakey, Hull, Cas, probably Halifax that are the most obvious examples of league towns, and in other bigger towns there's some league in with the football and union mix you'd get in the South or Midlands.

Mate I never suggested Wakey or any other town was a 'league' town 

I would be very confident that by every metric football is the biggest sport in every town and city in the UK....including rugby hotbeds like Wakey or Bath 

The discussion was about 'presence'...and realistically think we were talking 'significant presence' rather than the odd amateur team

[dboy]

10 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Mate I never suggested Wakey or any other town was a 'league' town 

I would be very confident that by every metric football is the biggest sport in every town and city in the UK....including rugby hotbeds like Wakey or Bath 

The discussion was about 'presence'...and realistically think we were talking 'significant presence' rather than the odd amateur team

No.

If the metric is "what is the City's best supported top-tiered sports team?", then Wakefield is a rugby city.

If the metric is "which of the City's top-tiered sports clubs competes at the higher level"; the same.

Soccer is massive of course (watching Match of the Day does not make you a soccer fan), but I'd suggest only a southerner would not understand the concept of a "rugby town".

More people in Hull attend RL games than attend soccer. Ditto Wakefield, Fev, Cas, Leigh....

Edited May 16, 2024 by dboy

[Barley Mow]

9 minutes ago, dboy said:

No.

If the metric is "what is the City's best supported top-tiered sports team?", then Wakefield is a rugby city.

If the metric is "which of the City's top-tiered sports clubs competes at the higher level"; the same.

Soccer is massive of course (watching Match of the Day does not make you a soccer fan), but I'd suggest only a southerner would not understand the concept of a "rugby town".

More people in Hull attend RL games than attend soccer. Ditto Wakefield, Fev, Cas, Leigh....

Is it "more people in Hull attend RL games than attend soccer. Ditto Wakefield, Fev, Cas, Leigh...."

or

"more people attend RL games than attend soccer in Hull. Ditto Wakefield, Fev, Cas, Leigh...."

I imagine there are many thousands of people in Wakefield, Cas, Fev, Leigh, etc who travel to Leeds, Manchester, etc to watch soccer. Which is part of the point @Bedfordshire Bronco was making.

I agree with you that there are metrics that will put RL on top in those places though.

Edited May 16, 2024 by Barley Mow

[dboy]

7 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

Is it "more people in Hull attend RL games than attend soccer. Ditto Wakefield, Fev, Cas, Leigh...."

or

"more people attend RL games in Hull than attend soccer. Ditto Wakefield, Fev, Cas, Leigh...."

I imagine there are many thousands of people in Wakefield, Cas, Fev, Leigh, etc who travel to Leeds, Manchester, etc to watch soccer.

Do you think over 6k people travel out of Wakey each weekend to attend a soccer game??

Really? Actually attend games?

I think you are mistaking people who identify as ManU/Leeds fans (they are the obvs ones), as "supporters".

The number of actual SUPPORTERS of soccer clubs is incomparable to the number SUPPORTING pro-RL in Wakefield.

Let me put it into context for you - you are suggesting that the equivalent of 122 coaches leave Wakefield each week with people going to support a soccer club somewhere!

Edited May 16, 2024 by dboy

[dboy]

Or another way to think of it - the City's population 110k...with Trinity's 6k fans and the, let's say 6001 soccer fans in the City...you're saying over 10% of the population actively support a professional sports team!

 

[Barley Mow]

13 minutes ago, dboy said:

Do you think over 6k people travel out of Wakey each weekend to attend a soccer game??

Really? Actually attend games?

I think you are mistaking people who identify as ManU/Leeds fans (they are the obvs ones), as "supporters".

The number of actual SUPPORTERS of soccer clubs is incomparable to the number SUPPORTING pro-RL in Wakefield.

Let me put it into context for you - you are suggesting that the equivalent of 122 coaches leave Wakefield each week with people going to support a soccer club somewhere!

 

3 minutes ago, dboy said:

Or another way to think of it - the City's population 110k...with Trinity's 6k fans and the, let's say 6001 soccer fans in the City...you're saying over 10% of the population actively support a professional sports team!

 

I'm unsure why active supporters (or the definition of supporter) is relevant.

We were talking about the numbers of people who attend those two sports from these places. That could be weekly attendance or very occasional.

We obviously don't have the figures to prove it one way or the other, but I think if you added up everyone from eg Wakefield who attends soccer in some form, then there are likely to be more of them than attend RL. Of course there is also likely to be a significant cross over between the two groups.

As I say though, I agree with you that there are certain metrics that will put RL on top in those places though and RL is certainly very culturally important there.

[dboy]

Because Bedfordshire B, said BY EVERY METRIC...

I've demonstrated a variety of metrics which disprove his assertion that "football" is always bigger, and that there isn't such a thing as a "rugby town".

More people attend top tier RL in Cas (for example), than attend top-tier (pro), soccer.

To say "I would be very confident that by every metric football is the biggest sport in every town and city in the UK....including rugby hotbeds like Wakey or Bath", is demonstrably wrong. 

Unless you count everyone who hears the soccer scores on Saturday tea-time, as a soccer "fan".

 

Edited May 16, 2024 by dboy

[Tommygilf]

10 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

 

I'm unsure why active supporters (or the definition of supporter) is relevant.

We were talking about the numbers of people who attend those two sports from these places. That could be weekly attendance or very occasional.

We obviously don't have the figures to prove it one way or the other, but I think if you added up everyone from eg Wakefield who attends soccer in some form, then there are likely to be more of them than attend RL. Of course there is also likely to be a significant cross over between the two groups.

As I say though, I agree with you that there are certain metrics that will put RL on top in those places though and RL is certainly very culturally important there.

Without doubt the biggest sports club in Wakefield is Leeds United. 

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, dboy said:

Because Bedfordshire B, said BY EVERY METRIC...

I've demonstrated a variety of metrics which disprove his assertion that "football" is always bigger, and that there isn't such a thing as a "rugby town".

More people attend top tier RL in Cas (for example), than attend top-tier (pro), soccer.

To say "I would be very confident that by every metric football is the biggest sport in every town and city in the UK....including rugby hotbeds like Wakey or Bath", is demonstrably wrong. 

 

That because those people in Cas attend it elsewhere? 

How small do you make it?

[dboy]

2 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

That because those people in Cas attend it elsewhere? 

How small do you make it?

So with Cas having around 7k fans, you think there are more than 7k supporting soccer from Cas? 

The obvs destination would be Leeds Utd - you reckon, let's say 5k, go to LUFC from Cas??

Cas is a rugby town.

Equally, Bradford is a soccer town, for example.

Unfortunately, what this reflects is that, yes, RL is a niche, minor, community based sport and soccer is indeed the global, powerhouse game.

 

 

 

[dboy]

Change the metric to "how many kids play sport xyz" and Wakefield is a soccer city.

I reckon Thornes Juniors have more kids playing soccer for them, than all the amateur RL clubs in the city put together.

[bobbruce]

47 minutes ago, dboy said:

Do you think over 6k people travel out of Wakey each weekend to attend a soccer game??

Really? Actually attend games?

I think you are mistaking people who identify as ManU/Leeds fans (they are the obvs ones), as "supporters".

The number of actual SUPPORTERS of soccer clubs is incomparable to the number SUPPORTING pro-RL in Wakefield.

Let me put it into context for you - you are suggesting that the equivalent of 122 coaches leave Wakefield each week with people going to support a soccer club somewhere!

No idea about Wakefield you have better knowledge of that than me but in the case of St Helens. Who will probably average 12/13k fans this year 100% more people will travel outside the town to watch pro football. 

[dboy]

6 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

No idea about Wakefield you have better knowledge of that than me but in the case of St Helens. Who will probably average 12/13k fans this year 100% more people will travel outside the town to watch pro football. 

10k Sts fans + 20,000 people who travel out of St H, to watch pro soccer? 30k active soccer & RL attendees?

Population 180,000 = almost 20% of the population!

Extrapolate this nationally (55m), you're saying over 10 million people attend pro RL and pro soccer each week.

Liverpool's population is 500k - if 20% of those attended pro soccer, Liverpool and Everton's attendance would be 100k without away fans. Where will they put the fans from St Helen's!?

That's before you extend the principle to Chester, Chorley, Morecambe, Southport, anywhere, everywhere...

Of course these are hack figures, but they demonstrate completely the flaw of the principle you are suggesting.

I'd suggest that just about all the 500k people in Liverpool would describe themselves as a soccer fan too.

[Sports Prophet]

12 hours ago, Farmduck said:

First game of 2024 Womens SOO got 25,492 at Suncorp in Brisbane.

That is a fantastic crowd for women’s RL.

[Snowys Backside]

8 hours ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

Decided to give the game against Widnes a miss when I saw the forecast.  We had about twelve inches of snow that afternoon.  Anyone travelling from Widnes would have struggled to get home, roads were shut all over the show.

Widnes had plenty of Chemicals to de ice the snow, surely ? 

[Snowys Backside]

10 hours ago, Andy JG said:

To put some context on the Leigh attendance figures, these are probably the best average attendances in my lifetime (i'm 57)..

As a point of reference the 81-82 season when Leigh won the Championship average crowds at Hilton Park were 6,361.

Highest league crowd was 9,701 for the visit of Wigan, whilst 9,550 saw the pivotal game against Hull KR.

The lowest crowd was only 2,592 for a top of the table clash in December 1981 v Widnes....however this was played in a blizzard with heavy snow covering the pitch and terraces.

The highest crowds at Hilton Park that season were both for Challenge Cup games, highlighting that to many fans it was the premier competition.... 10,366 for a 1st Round game v Warrington, and 11,791 for the qf v Castleford.

The club deserve a great deal of credit for the work done in getting more people in.     

 

 

 

 

I don't think anyone could envisage Leigh averaging over 7000 hardcore fans. As you state, its a remarkable achievement and we still have Hull KR who will outnumber us, Saint and Warrington to come.

As for that Widnes game ?  Happy Xmas.  I just about thawed out by 1982 !!

 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

9 hours ago, dboy said:

No.

If the metric is "what is the City's best supported top-tiered sports team?", then Wakefield is a rugby city.

If the metric is "which of the City's top-tiered sports clubs competes at the higher level"; the same.

Soccer is massive of course (watching Match of the Day does not ma

9 hours ago, dboy said:

Because Bedfordshire B, said BY EVERY METRIC...

I've demonstrated a variety of metrics which disprove his assertion that "football" is always bigger, and that there isn't such a thing as a "rugby town".

More people attend top tier RL in Cas (for example), than attend top-tier (pro), soccer.

To say "I would be very confident that by every metric football is the biggest sport in every town and city in the UK....including rugby hotbeds like Wakey or Bath", is demonstrably wrong. 

Unless you count everyone who hears the soccer scores on Saturday tea-time, as a soccer "fan".

 

By 'every metric' I meant every holistic measurement of what sport is bigger

Football is the biggest sport even in our hotbeds ....it doesn't mean RL isn't popular there too

Nice bit of patronising with the southerner comment by the way ...for the record I have been to games in virtually all the pro RL clubs up north over the last 30 years and depending on your age i may have been to more RL matches up north than you have and know/spoken with hundreds of northern RL fans whilst there ....I also lived up north for 4 years at uni. ....I am and hardly naive to northern towns 

Edited May 17, 2024 by Bedfordshire Bronco

[dboy]

3 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

By 'every metric' I meant every holistic measurement of what sport is bigger

Football is the biggest sport even in our hotbeds ....it doesn't mean RL isn't popular there too

Nice bit of patronising with the southerner comment by the way ...for the record I have been to games in virtually all the pro RL clubs up north over the last 30 years and depending on your age i may have been to more RL matches up north than you have and know/spoken with hundreds of northern RL fans whilst there ....I also lived up north for 4 years at uni. ....I am and hardly naive to northern towns 

Your first line is just just nonsense. What does that even mean??

I'm an expansionist and I'm delighted you are a fan of this great game.

RL is not something you "visit" - it's something you live and breath. It's "in the blood". It's given far more importance that it should, but it defines us, often more than it should also. 

That's why communities like Cas, East Hull (it certainly seems currently), Cas, Leigh can legitimately be described as "rugby league towns".

 

[dboy]

To focus the narrative...we may be arguing about how big, important, relevant, how "rugby-minded" our communities are, and we may disagree about how important it all is...

But IMG think it's very important; the sociology of the catchment points are directly related to this - how big is your catchment, because only a finite proportion of them can be attracted to your club.

 

 

[daz39]

On 15/05/2024 at 22:57, langpark said:

Great to see the increase!  I can't help but wonder what is going on at Warrington though.  A (13%) drop is a surprise given the season they are having.

To be fair, they saw them win the league in April last year so no need to glory hunt anymore

[EggFace]

So Soccer dwarfs both codes of Rugby.....nice one RFU

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

6 hours ago, dboy said:

 

RL is not something you "visit" - it's something you live and breath. It's "in the blood". It's given far more importance that it should, but it defines us, often more than it should also.

Hate to break it to you pal but there are plenty of people who go and watch games who don't feel your (and mine) passion for the game

Some people go out of habit 

Some people go because their partner, friend, parent or kid wants to 

Some people go because they enjoy watching a RL match but don't want to connect with it much in the media as it bores them

Some people like an 'event' 

Some people know they want to meet mates there and have a drink 

Some people just want to get out of the house!

Etc 

For all the above reasons people ARE "just visiting" RL..it isn't their all consuming passion.....and there a lot of those types of fans out there ...up niryj and down south 

Some of the reasons above are why I regularly watch live football despite not loving the game very much 

And thank the lord for these casual fans because if it relied on people as obsessed as us then RL truly would be dead ....there aren't enough of us

Edited May 17, 2024 by Bedfordshire Bronco