Sincerely hope you are right. I had no issue with crusaders, in fact RL in Wales is something we have to pursue - its the way Crusaders were boosted from nothing to SL in 5 minutes by the RFL that was just so, so wrong. The financial assistance, unlimited illegal immigrant foreign stars etc were like watering an exotic plant that has no roots, while at the same time leaving all the other domestic plants dry...

Great post. I love it when other championship clubs have a go at our attendances. Makes you think, if ours is bad and its the best in the league then how bad is yours?
If we had been playing well and it wasn't on Sky then we would have hit the 3,000 mark just like we have been doing all season. Hopefully we will recieve a franchise which i strongly think we will. The stadiums there, the fan base is there to build on. Th youth setup is definately there, the under 18's going unbeaten for all 8 games and the 16s not far behind them. Thats against clubs like Hull KR, Salford, Harlequins, Leeds and Warrington aswell which was a major achievement for the club.

When we get bak to SL mark my words we will get aveage attendancs of at least 7,000 and it will only get stronger from then on.

Barrow won a comp in which it was known from the outset that there would be no promotion to SL.

If that incentive had have been there then the other clubs would likely have prioritised differently.

Featherstone, Halifax, Widnes or even 'relegated' Leigh might have got promotion by spending more on their squads than they did.

Quote ="Viking Vengeance"He didnt say that they folded. He said they failed. In South Wales, they FAILED. For what its worth, IMO, they will fail in N Wales too. The scorpions should be allowed to grow organically, rather than being thrown into the spotlight like Crusaders were. The Scorpions will be all the stronger for it, if they survive.'" They didnt fail, the old owner wanted to sell the club, the new buyer wanted to move the club to a new location which he had every right to do seen as he is the owner of the club. This below shows the hypocrisy of widnes fans. They dont want scorpions to be in SL because the club has only been in existence for six months. However they all had a massive paddy for a year when they didnt get into SL after only been in existence for a few months due to the previous club they supported FAILED [iWIDNES VIKINGS The stadium is an appropriate size and well appointed following significant investment in recent years. The club has been in the difficult position of seeking to take into account the club’s historical attendance and playing records but naturally distancing itself from the previous regime’s financial record. The current company has only been in existence for a few months following insolvency in October 2007. Early indications are that under new ownership the club has made very good progress so far and has attracted good sponsors and the support of the local authority. The club has maintained a reasonable playing infrastructure despite being in the National League but this would require further investment to ensure that they could be competitive in Super League particularly within Club Trained rules.[/i www.superleague.co.uk/page.php?id=375

Quote ="Viking Vengeance"He didnt say that they folded. He said they failed. In South Wales, they FAILED. For what its worth, IMO, they will fail in N Wales too. The scorpions should be allowed to grow organically, rather than being thrown into the spotlight like Crusaders were. The Scorpions will be all the stronger for it, if they survive.'" They didnt fail, the old owner wanted to sell the club, the new buyer wanted to move the club to a new location which he had every right to do seen as he is the owner of the club. This below shows the hypocrisy of widnes fans. They dont want scorpions to be in SL because the club has only been in existence for six months. However they all had a massive paddy for a year when they didnt get into SL after only been in existence for a few months due to the previous club they supported FAILED [iWIDNES VIKINGS The stadium is an appropriate size and well appointed following significant investment in recent years. The club has been in the difficult position of seeking to take into account the club’s historical attendance and playing records but naturally distancing itself from the previous regime’s financial record. The current company has only been in existence for a few months following insolvency in October 2007. Early indications are that under new ownership the club has made very good progress so far and has attracted good sponsors and the support of the local authority. The club has maintained a reasonable playing infrastructure despite being in the National League but this would require further investment to ensure that they could be competitive in Super League particularly within Club Trained rules.[/i www.superleague.co.uk/page.php?id=375

I don't know what's going on. Very poor. But what I do know is that there are two or three SL clubs who would have brought in even less through the gate than Widnes did last night.

So the current club in South Wales playing in C1 should be up to SL standard pretty quickly then, given that they're occupying that successful spot (location) that didn't fail?

Actually, my rubbish sarcasm aside, that would be a good thing - two Welsh clubs in SL. It would lay down a marker that RL means business in that country. I'm not sure it will happen in the short term though.

Attendances for cup rugby these days are down across the board. Compare what SL sides get for league games to their home challenge cup games, it's always seems to be a few thousand less (even more of a drop for TV games) and that same sort of ratio was reflected at Widnes last night. I can't understand it - I love cup rugby but it seems most other fans prefer the league games these days. Could be cost I guess, me, wife + lad was £30 last night. Money well spent for me, but I can well understand other fans having different priorities, espeically with it being on TV.

Anyway, if we get to Blackpool there will be four or five thousand Widnes fans and last nights attendence will probably be forgotten.

Yes the location is successful, the whole squad is locally produced players who are already being poached by SL clubs.

I agree two Welsh clubs would be great for RL in the country. I agree not in the short term also, ive never said Scorpions should go for 2012, on other threads people have unsuccessfully tried to ridicule a 2015 bid, when this is very achievable for the Scorpions. If SL was to have two French as well as Welsh clubs, rugby league would be able to have serious international competitions eg Six Nations. International rugby is where the big money is and the easiest way to grow the sport and get new people involved in it.

.................and i'd hazard a guess that it would unlock more BskyB money. It's a long road.

Who cares how many kids theyre producing? Nobody turned out to watch Crusaders in S Wales other than the away fans who made the trip down there. The media was pretty indifferent towards them and they couldnt find the commercial sponsorship and facilities they needed. Just a few of the many reason why, they FAILED in S Wales.

Widnes's money problems were started, in a large part, to a crooked chairman who as we understand it put us a million pounds in debt including illegally using the club to buy and trade 2million pounds worth of merchandise whilst avoiding applicable UK tax regulations. This was followed by an over-spend in an effort to achieve SL status by our previous owners. To compare the two clubs issues is, quite frankly, pathetic.

Lets just get it right , they haven produced anybody yet , what they have done is get existing RU players to play RL , VT rules dictate that only when you bring players through from age 8 can you claim them as your own , so a big well done to your local amatuer Union teams , not the Skorpions

Quote ="Viking Vengeance"Who cares how many kids theyre producing? Nobody turned out to watch Crusaders in S Wales other than the away fans who made the trip down there. The media was pretty indifferent towards them and they couldnt find the commercial sponsorship and facilities they needed. Just a few of the many reason why, they FAILED in S Wales. '" Who cares how many players theyre producing yeeaahh great come back. Attendances wasnt great but it didnt help they were getting stuffed every week. And they compare reasonably well with these. www.slstats.org/t14/Leigh+Centur ... mmary.html And to those who are claiming it will fail in north Wales www.slstats.org/t45/Crusaders+Ru ... mmary.html

Quote ="Viking Vengeance"Who cares how many kids theyre producing? Nobody turned out to watch Crusaders in S Wales other than the away fans who made the trip down there. The media was pretty indifferent towards them and they couldnt find the commercial sponsorship and facilities they needed. Just a few of the many reason why, they FAILED in S Wales. '" Who cares how many players theyre producing yeeaahh great come back. Attendances wasnt great but it didnt help they were getting stuffed every week. And they compare reasonably well with these. www.slstats.org/t14/Leigh+Centur ... mmary.html And to those who are claiming it will fail in north Wales www.slstats.org/t45/Crusaders+Ru ... mmary.html

Nice try but thats simply not true. There are loads of clubs and rugby league players throughout south Wales. They are not all simply union converts. Even with the ones that are union converts, so what? They are now successful rugby league players so whats your problem with that?

I dont make the rules , but that is how it is

Quote And to those who are claiming it will fail in north Wales www.slstats.org/t45/Crusaders+Ru ... mmary.html'" And tell us how many of the crowd against Leeds, Hull and Wigan were home supporters. Go on, tell us.... i cant wait.

Quote And to those who are claiming it will fail in north Wales www.slstats.org/t45/Crusaders+Ru ... mmary.html'" And tell us how many of the crowd against Leeds, Hull and Wigan were home supporters. Go on, tell us.... i cant wait.

Vast majority were home fans. Are you seriously suggesting leeds took 10000 away supporters???? About 1500 of that crowd were away fans.

Why are you bothering ?

FFS! What bloody planet are you on man?

making the championship final is important as to apply for SL a champ. club needs to make a final

Explain

FaxMachine knows that Crusaders are in Wales, not in West Yorkshire or south Lancashire. Therefore there are no rugby league fans in Wales. Therefore there are no Welsh fans attending Crusaders games. Therefore the crowd figures must be due to a) visiting fans, b) free tickets or c) lies. Simples.

Great attendance for their first home game, by the 3rd or 4th the crowd was down by 60%

Down 40% not 60% from the initial attendance and that is a pessimistic view. While not as high as the sell out for the first game, crowds of 6000 are still higher than last years and higher than current and other previous super league clubs

Utter nonsense

1, Yes they do & some, which is why I began to highlight your downword trends
2, No I have not, show me where.
3, Another LIE, Again show me where ?
4, Which is why other clubs fans are low, when they have been poor, crowds drop, which is again what im highlighting to you but you seem incapable of understanding the point, that if like EXAMPLE HERE clubs like Barrow, Or Say Oldham or WIDNES ....IF you suffered several seasons of utter crapola then WIDNES crowds would be LOW.....As this seasons figures show your (((several hundred down))) for the very same reasons, bad form, little to play for, fans on a downer, Why can you not see that.

You lot bang on that your better supported then the rest (and you currently are) but things change, compare apples to apples, not teams who are slowly rising from the abyss againt solid successful-ish clubs.

5, Another whopper from you , show me where i,ve stated this ?? thats right you can not and you have the brass neck to call me a duplicitous little liar



You lot appear paranoid about not getting into SL for 2012 are other clubs getting to you that much ?
Are you that scared clubs like Fev, Leigh, Barrow or Fax will get in ahead of you.

We smell your fear

See how desparate they are

they try to twist everything anyone says over and over again, when anyone pulls them on it, seige mentallity kicks in and they then abuse you, what nice guys



This thread being a good example of this