Is the spirity of "The North", actually NH RL's biggest asset, if not at least it's most underutilised asset?

[Sports Prophet]

Karl Kirkpatrick has written a lovely thought provoking piece. I think there is a hell of alot of truth in there. It feeds into what I have long said are some very valuable brands and stories behind them, even below SL level.

https://media.licdn.com/dms/document/media/v2/D4E1FAQE_FzHd0hZuTA/feedshare-document-sanitized-pdf/B4EZ3JlecnKwA8-/0/1777203538709?e=1778824800&v=beta&t=tJ29TM0go9HnBBLhvLfRICwuvouTqzU_6eiLNncaZcY

[Archie Gordon]

AI, surely.

Either way, this is garbage.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I didn't even bother finishing reading that. Masses of words thrown onto a piece of paper that have absolutely no substance or meaning to them. I read the first 3 pages and not one single point was actually put across, it was just like reading some motivational leaflet that some hippie organisation had written and handed out in the street.

[dufftown1]

51 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

Karl Kirkpatrick has written a lovely thought provoking piece. I think there is a hell of alot of truth in there. It feeds into what I have long said are some very valuable brands and stories behind them, even below SL level.

https://media.licdn.com/dms/document/media/v2/D4E1FAQE_FzHd0hZuTA/feedshare-document-sanitized-pdf/B4EZ3JlecnKwA8-/0/1777203538709?e=1778824800&v=beta&t=tJ29TM0go9HnBBLhvLfRICwuvouTqzU_6eiLNncaZcY

Exactly what i have been saying. We have hidden away from our unique identities and in a homogenised but fractured world people are crying out for unique identities.

[Tommygilf]

Anything "Northern" in the UK has to overcome a lot of hurdles to be accepted, even in the North.

[Damien]

I tried but as others have said I quickly gave up. What a load of guff.

It feels like its been heavily AI assisted and over engineered. Its just using a lot of buzzwords and marketing language to try and sound clever and profound but it doesn't really say anything meaningful or of substance.

I can see why Warrington fans are critical of Fitzpatrick.

Edited May 8 by Damien

[hunsletgreenandgold]

I think extracts of it would form a good monologue, as someone walks through a moody Salford back street and then contrasts with the Skyscrapers of Manchester - for a season launch maybe. Beyond that...yeah not really sure what this is trying to achieve - is this on a slide deck for the team going out to Brisbane in a few weeks 

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

I tried but as others have said I quickly gave up. What a load of guff.

It feels like its been heavily AI assisted and over engineered. Its just using a lot of buzzwords and marketing language to try and sound clever and profound but it doesn't really say anything meaningful or of substance.

I can see why Warrington fans are critical of Kirkpatrick.

I somewhat agree, certainly there is an AI filter on it, maybe I'm becoming prone to it, but I do think it is an interesting enough piece.

Im not sure id hang off The North too much, at least not as a headline, but I quite like leaning into us being inclusive, independent, rebellious and a force for good. I worry we have become rather bland on these points though.

[dufftown1]

7 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I somewhat agree, certainly there is an AI filter on it, maybe I'm becoming prone to it, but I do think it is an interesting enough piece.

Im not sure id hang off The North too much, at least not as a headline, but I quite like leaning into us being inclusive, independent, rebellious and a force for good. I worry we have become rather bland on these points though.

The areas we have seen quite substantial growth, probably leigh, toronto and HKR have all approached it in a unique way.

Its not perfect and Leigh's approach is a bit naff/novelty in my opinion but the Beer Garden/community aspect HKR and Toronto have tried has been a roaring success. 

We did it at the beggining of SL a lot but havent pushed on in doing these unique things

[Archie Gordon]

I mean, it's just gobbledegook from start to finish.

But it's revealing too. It is no wonder that women's RL is an absolute afterthought in this country. Reading this, you would have to wonder if the North (or RL) contains any women at all. 

[Hanover XIII]

Agree with most of the above. I appreciate some of the sentiment, but too much sounds like the kind of regurgitated place-making copy that would accompany a new urban `quarter' when developers are trying to sell something. 

[Dave T]

I do think it should be taken in the spirit of what it is. It's a Sports and Brand thought piece - of course it is going to be a bit pompous and w*nky. 

But I do think there are some interesting points in there. And despite being a Wire fan, I am not particularly fond of KF. I do however like it when we see our leaders actually thinking about the wider positioning of the sport, whether we agree or disagree, rather than just looking tactically and thinking we can grow by hiring a band at half time.

[Just Browny]

To be fair to former Warrington-based ref Karl Kirkpatrick, this piece was written by current Warrington CEO Karl Fitzpatrick.

I haven't heard of Kirkpatrick for 20+ years.

[Damien]

21 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I do think it should be taken in the spirit of what it is. It's a Sports and Brand thought piece - of course it is going to be a bit pompous and w*nky. 

But I do think there are some interesting points in there. And despite being a Wire fan, I am not particularly fond of KF. I do however like it when we see our leaders actually thinking about the wider positioning of the sport, whether we agree or disagree, rather than just looking tactically and thinking we can grow by hiring a band at half time.

AI has certainly led to an exponential increase in pompous and w*nky!

[gingerjon]

27 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I do think it should be taken in the spirit of what it is. It's a Sports and Brand thought piece - of course it is going to be a bit pompous and w*nky. 

It's not necessarily the pompous and w*nky bit that's the problem. It's the fact that it's wrong.

I think the spirit of Anthony H Wilson is going to be annoyed that things that he put a lot of hard work into creating, branding and managing, were apparently all just organic expressions of some vague northern atmosphere.

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

It's not necessarily the pompous and w*nky bit that's the problem. It's the fact that it's wrong.

I think the spirit of Anthony H Wilson is going to be annoyed that things that he put a lot of hard work into creating, branding and managing, were apparently all just organic expressions of some vague northern atmosphere.

Im not sure its is wrong as such, in the sense that these are opinion piece.

I didnt read it as it all just being organic, as a sport we would need to translate what Northern means in our context, but the likes of Wilson didnt just start with a blank canvas, things come off history and evolve and some things work well.in certain environments.

The challenge I have with pieces like this, is its easy enough to write, but translating it into something meaningful is the hard part - i agree with your point about it being a vague 'vibe' which can be very different across the North. It also does run the risk of excluding non-Northerners, which he/his AI tool acknowledges.

As per my original post on this, I wouldn't play on the North point explicitly, but I do think the roots, the rebellion, the anti-establishment piece is interesting. That said, there is a real risk that this continues to feed into the attitude of Northerners telling it as it is, which helps lead to some of the events of the last few years, and a lack of unity.

[gingerjon]

Just now, Dave T said:

Im not sure its is wrong as such, in the sense that these are opinion piece.

I didnt read it as it all just being organic, as a sport we would need to translate what Northern means in our context, but the likes of Wilson didnt just start with a blank canvas, things come off history and evolve and some things work well.in certain environments.

The challenge I have with pieces like this, is its easy enough to write, but translating it into something meaningful is the hard part - i agree with your point about it being a vague 'vibe' which can be very different across the North. It also does run the risk of excluding non-Northerners, which he/his AI tool acknowledges.

As per my original post on this, I wouldn't play on the North point explicitly, but I do think the roots, the rebellion, the anti-establishment piece is interesting. That said, there is a real risk that this continues to feed into the attitude of Northerners telling it as it is, which helps lead to some of the events of the last few years, and a lack of unity.

Yes, ultimately I think it leads to a conclusion that is really quite weak. And it's that which makes me go back and pick holes. There's a lot of atmosphere but nothing, really, about what actually needs to change and be delivered.

[Dave T]

6 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Yes, ultimately I think it leads to a conclusion that is really quite weak. And it's that which makes me go back and pick holes. There's a lot of atmosphere but nothing, really, about what actually needs to change and be delivered.

I think as somebody who no longer lives in the North I still have a very real.affinity with it. I always say I am from the North of England rather than just England, its a small silly point, but I think there is a pride and vibe to the North.

However, it can also be bloody awful. I'll never recover from the cringe at the Olympic Stadium in the fanzone with Northern Oiks shouting to Keef Senior over the microphones.

[Damien]

33 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Im not sure its is wrong as such, in the sense that these are opinion piece.

I didnt read it as it all just being organic, as a sport we would need to translate what Northern means in our context, but the likes of Wilson didnt just start with a blank canvas, things come off history and evolve and some things work well.in certain environments.

The challenge I have with pieces like this, is its easy enough to write, but translating it into something meaningful is the hard part - i agree with your point about it being a vague 'vibe' which can be very different across the North. It also does run the risk of excluding non-Northerners, which he/his AI tool acknowledges.

As per my original post on this, I wouldn't play on the North point explicitly, but I do think the roots, the rebellion, the anti-establishment piece is interesting. That said, there is a real risk that this continues to feed into the attitude of Northerners telling it as it is, which helps lead to some of the events of the last few years, and a lack of unity.

The trouble with this it does feed into the narrative, that some anti RL people like to spout, that RL fans have a chip on their shoulder and that the lack of growth in the game being everyone else's fault. Of course it also feeds into the narrative that it is a northern game for northern people.

[Big Picture]

4 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Anything "Northern" in the UK has to overcome a lot of hurdles to be accepted, even in the North.

That being the case, London's "Not Just a Northern Thing" marketing might be a mistake.

[Coggo]

Tend to agree that RL doesn't make the most of its cultural capital.

I was in Hamburg at the weekend (a truly great city) and by some miracle managed to get hold of a ticket to an FC St Pauli game.

St Pauli have cracked what Karl Fitzpatrick is talking about - how to capitalise on its cool, inclusive, authentically anti-Establishment working-class roots. They have a very strong brand, games are sold out (in a 30K stadium), and they sell loads of merch at the airport.

 

Edited May 8 by Coggo

[Click]

49 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

That being the case, London's "Not Just a Northern Thing" marketing might be a mistake.

Why?

[Big Picture]

58 minutes ago, Click said:

Why?

If the London public resists or looks down on "anything 'Northern'" advertising the game's Northern roots could put them off it.

[Click]

38 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

If the London public resists or looks down on "anything 'Northern'" advertising the game's Northern roots could put them off it.

Hiding from them doesn't help either.

[Tommygilf]

2 hours ago, Big Picture said:

That being the case, London's "Not Just a Northern Thing" marketing might be a mistake.

It not impossible, and ironically, its probably an easier sell there than in many other places in the North.