Typical flatcapper, you low life non SL clubs have the possibility of 'getting promoted in a few years if the big boys like you' to play for. Just be glad of the few crumbs you get thrown and stop whinging, peasants.

hi new to the forum! Thought the crowd at Sheffield was good on sunday. I know they usually get around 800-900 so to get nearly 3000 was a great achievement for them.

Just wondering how many boxes they would tick in terms of a SL licence?
their stadium, location etc is good but im just wondering in terms of youth development etc? I think it would be good for SL, not now but perhaps in 4-5 years time when the eagles have had time to become more established.

And before anyone has a go for being biased towards Sheffield i'm from St Helens and a saint through and through just live in Sheff for uni.

I'm amazed no one has mentioned York?

York has a lovely old Church.

3000 crowds in the championship = at least 6000 in SL.

crowds of 3000 in the championship indicate a club which is good enough for SL

widnes clearly are that

potentially fax and leigh as well

the RFL would like to see as many clubs as possible ready to go into SL to put more pressure on SL sides.

next time maybe 2 sl clubs will go out, instead of one ive been assuming

York, Barrow, South Wales Gateshead and Sheffield. The teams with the Biggest potential outside SL.

So you also share the RFL's lack of imagination and positivity of our sport , the answer to improving SL is simple , improve what is below it , All of it , yes all those clubs have potential , as do Hunslet,Batley,Rochdale and Bramley , they all require finance , but more important than that is the will and foresight to make those clubs stronger , not having them being a money pit , but genuinely stronger financially , ' real ' earned income

I was not infering that Widnes fans would go and watch Wire what I meant was that the floating fans in and around the area would lean towards those two before Widnes. As for 8k well we can only wait and see! Good luck anyway hopefully not at our expense.

widnes in SL for 3 years 10,000.

easy as.

Get Leigh in SL!

Yep, Wrexham is probably a much more difficult journey than its distance suggests, not least with the farce that is Runcorn Bridge!

Widnes lose some local support to St Helens, however.

widnes average crowds in super league for their last 4 years

2002 - 6,510
2003 - 6,511
2004 - 6,153
2005 - 6,794

so potentially they would average that again but with the recent success of warrington and the possible re-emergence of wigan how many floating fans will be lost to widnes from the halton/runcorn area?
not forgetting that north wales was usually a stronghold for widnes too, if the crusaders take off how will that affect widnes' ambitions? they need ( and should) to get a license in the next round if we are brutally honest

1 Featherstone Rovers 1,752 =#0000FF(2009 - 1,809) -57
2 Leigh Centurions 2,113 =#0000FF(2009 - 1,984) +129
3 Halifax R.L.F.C. 2,364 =#0000FF(2009 - 2,325) +39
4 Barrow Raiders 1,859 =#0000FF(2009 - 2,280) -421
5 Widnes Vikings 3,072 =#0000FF(2009 - 3,80icon_cool.gif -736
6 Toulouse Olympique XIII 1,350 =#0000FF(2009 - 2,372) -1,022
7 Batley Bulldogs 1,661 =#0000FF(2009 - 895) +766
8 Whitehaven 1,284 =#0000FF(2009 - 1,670) -386
9 Sheffield Eagles 1,597 =#0000FF(2009 - 1,174) +423
10 Dewsbury Rams 1,172 =#0000FF(2009 - 1,265 in C1) -93
11 Keighley Cougars RLFC 1,126 =#0000FF(2009 - 933 in C1) +193

Shocked that Fevs crowds have slightly declined despite their start to the season. I suspect Leigh can get as high as 2750 average gate by the end of the season, with a good run in the cup and play-offs. In SL, I think we could get to 5,000 average relatively easily, based on local derbies at least. We would get 10k for Wigan for example, and Wire, Saints would bring a lot. The clear answer is to relegate Salford, Quins and Wakey and promote Leigh, Widnes and Halifax. More crowds and overall better stadiums...! But of course Leigh have to tick a box yet!

Well done Batley there crowds are excellent compared to last year. Shame to see widnes and barrow's fans on the decline but there still pretty healthy figures for the championship. Also nice to see Sheffield crowds are up quite alot

Widnes crowds will continue to drop as they have ticked a magic box and the chairman sees no point in over funding a dead horse that the championship becomes when you tick in year one

That is enough proof that Widnes should be in super league over Cas, Wakey, Salford, Quins and Crusaders for me.

Castleford have consistently managed higher crowds than Widnes though they're attendances this year aren't that impressive.

I don't think Leigh or Halifax could match Wakefield's crowds on a regular basis, to be honest.

Wakey having 1 season in 15 in SL would be nowhere near Leighs gates, same for Cas, Hudds, Salford.

Leigh/Widnes/Fax/Oldham have as much to offer as Cas/Wakey/Hudds/HKR, when you consider P&R its only really those clubs that would be affected

The relative recent success of those clubs could quite easilly help draw fans to Widnes , local rivalry can be very positive , if you look at the Quins situation , would they benifit from another london club in SL , as many people have suggested

Widnes would get great crowds in super league, they would be like another Hull KR!

I guess it will depend on how well we would do. We wouldn't be a very attractive proposition if we were getting battered by all of the other sides in the north west. If we can compete though and re-ignite the local rivalry then I'm sure the crowds will come back - we got 6,000 just a few years ago against Wigan in the Challenge Cup. Based on our previous stint in SL, we could probably rely on a minimum of 6,000 average in our 1st season and see how we do over that 1st year. A team's 1st year in SL is probably not only the hardest, but possibly the most important in attracting the crowds.

Quins are struggling badly to compete and draw support in SL so adding another club in the area would make it even less likely that either would succeed. Simply having a rival wouldn't instantly give you a sufficient number of local players (many northern players don't seem to want to relocate) to make two sides that would be better than 13th and 14th out of 14. A better option would be to drop Quins to the Championship and have a new rival club formed at that level then let the two of them develop (hopefully simultaneously) to a level where they could then gain entry to SL for reasons other than geography. If there was an approach from an investor looking to create a SL club (and only interested if starting at SL level) in the London area then it would be better to get said backer to invest in Quins (who need a new majority shareholder) even if it meant relocating them to his preferred location. Until the sport has strong enough roots in the south east to support two clubs at SL level (it presently struggles to maintain one) then we cannot entertain the idea of having two in SL.

BALLACKS and you know it



Sheff's figures are distorted due to the new game at the lane & Barrow have only had a few homes games and not vs anyone who brings a fair few besides 30/40 if that.

try basing figures after half the season not the opening few games etc.