Jump to content

Whitehaven in financial trouble

langpark
 Share

Recommended Posts


  • Replies 324
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Wakefield Ram
Wakefield Ram

I've just had an idea. Maybe the RFL could deem the Recreation Ground an iconic RL venue, buy it at an exorbitant price, pay to maintain it for years and then sell it back to Whitehaven's new owners w

Damien
Damien

A couple of things stick in my mind that about Carter. I was told that on more than one occasion Wigan turned up for academy games and he was out and about doing odd jobs, one time he was out painting

Neutralfan7
Neutralfan7

This post has turned into a he said/she said thread.  Regardless who everyone thinks is at fault, no one knows the true facts let alone fans from other clubs who have opinions they think are fact

gingerjon

gingerjon

Posted
Posted

Does anyone know what a break-even crowd would be for Whitehaven?

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

sentoffagain2

sentoffagain2

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Eddie said:

I just went on Haven’s website to see if I could buy a jersey to help out, rather than giving cash, and this is their club shop. https://www.whitehavenrlstore.co.uk

So basically nothing for sale other than season tickets, a generic rugby ball and tickets to a Halloween party. 

  If you have no money and are a poor credit risk how can you buy stuff to sell?.

OriginalMrC

OriginalMrC

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

Does anyone know what a break-even crowd would be for Whitehaven?

I don't really think it makes a difference. They could have crowds of 100k and they'd still overspend. 

For some clubs getting the begging bowl out is now a funding stream. 

  • Like 1
The Blues Ox

The Blues Ox

Posted
Posted
30 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

Someone said it on a podcast this week, what's the plan after this is done?

You would imagine it would be release players or sign them to lesser contracts or bring in players who are either amateur or on very small contracts.

Haven won't be the only ones struggling, look at Fev and Fax this season. 

dkw

dkw

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

You would imagine it would be release players or sign them to lesser contracts or bring in players who are either amateur or on very small contracts.

 

Except they haven't done that the last 2 years after being in a very similar position, they just accepting the reality of their situation. 

JonM

JonM

Posted
Posted

My (possibly not entirely accurate) impression based on social media postings in recent years is that they have had a lot of infighting among the board in the near past and the current board and new CEO have inherited a bit of a mess. Also the directors are mostly ordinary fans who have stepped up to keep the club going, retired Sellafield engineers and such, not wealthy people and not people with necessarily much experience running any kind of business. The sums involved are tiny - they need £14K to cover the rest of the season I believe.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 2
Eddie

Eddie

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, sentoffagain2 said:

  If you have no money and are a poor credit risk how can you buy stuff to sell?.

We‘re talking about a second tier semi-professional rugby league club here, if they can’t afford to sell merch the game is in a worse state than I thought it was.  

  • Like 1
Eddie

Eddie

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, MattSantos said:

It's pathetic. Manage your club / business properly!

You could say that about many many sports clubs tbf, in fact many would fail without people pumping cash in. 

  • Like 1
JonM

JonM

Posted
Posted

There were plenty of people wearing replica jerseys the other week - they'll be available online from APX who make them, and presumably Haven themselves just sold them at the ground.

gingerjon

gingerjon

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, Eddie said:

We‘re talking about a second tier semi-professional rugby league club here, if they can’t afford to sell merch the game is in a worse state than I thought it was.  

They're in a existence-threatening hole because they have no way of raising £34k.

This was picked up in the IMG rankings which placed them 32/35 clubs.

Which does, whether you agree with IMG or not, show the stresses a Grade C set-up will face when competing at a level higher than that.

  • Like 1

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

OriginalMrC

OriginalMrC

Posted
Posted
27 minutes ago, Eddie said:

We‘re talking about a second tier semi-professional rugby league club here, if they can’t afford to sell merch the game is in a worse state than I thought it was.  

To be fair clubs in league 1 make little to no money from merch so if you are struggling financially then you wouldn't invest in merch where the margins are so small.

  • Like 1
Derwent

Derwent

Posted
Posted (edited)

Les Messenger, their only active board member currently, explains the situation here and is very honest about the mess they are in and why (video is 25 mins long but is quite illuminating about running a club at that level if you have the time). 

 

Edited by Derwent
  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1

I’m not prejudiced, I hate everybody equally

Eddie

Eddie

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, OriginalMrC said:

To be fair clubs in league 1 make little to no money from merch so if you are struggling financially then you wouldn't invest in merch where the margins are so small.

Unless you think you’ll sell it and make a profit. Whitehaven have plenty of fans, even though their gates are currently down. 

Griff

Griff

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Whitehaven have plenty of fans.....

Do they ?  Enough to support the club financially ?   Or enough to browse their social media and say "ahhh - Haven lost again."

"We'll sell you a seat .... but you'll only need the edge of it!"

RSN

RSN

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, dkw said:

Except they haven't done that the last 2 years after being in a very similar position, they just accepting the reality of their situation. 

I was shocked at the quality of the players they brought in over the off season despite not being able to pay players at times last season. 

A few other clubs have decided to help them but based on crowd numbers they they've quite blatantly bought a team well outside their means.

If they had purchased a team within their means they probably would be in a similar league position as Dewsbury. Dewsbury are pretty much guaranteed to go down but at least the people running their club haven't sacrificed the viability of the club to try stay in the championship.

  • Like 6

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.