To say I was shocked at the turnout last night would have been an understatement! we could have no excuses, second round of the cup, at home no football being played so no excuse.
If there was 1200 Salford fans there last night that would have been tops, I have always said we had a very loyal hardcore of around 3000 by last night standard not any more.
I share a lot of fans frustrations at the type of rugby we have played & having watched Salford for many years I understand how frustrating it has become, less fans makes it harder to generate some form of atmosphere when so few turn up. I have always stood on the north side of the shed in the open area between the shed & the North stand, seeing loyal fans dwindling who have stood there for many years is now starting to worry me.

I think you missing fans need to get behind the club especially now, we keep talking about being nailed on for the latest round of franchise, do we really deserve to be considered when not even 1% of the Salford public bothers to turn up & watch our local club, this was the challenge cup for god sake, I cannot believe only 1200 Salford fans bothered to turn up. If the rugby football league had any doubt's about us being able to deliver fans before the decision of the franchise they have got to be reconsidering now.

Don't come on here when it is too late & blame every one else, our club needs us more than ever to turn up & support, I know it not pretty but we have a lot going for us, a new ground, a new coach, maybe new exciting times, please get behind the club & give it one last push before we regret the last season at the willows.

i know quite a few that are pi$$ed off with this try before you by scheme,another big tick in the club "joke" box this season !

As one of the missing fans, the reason why I did not attend, was because I was naffed of at having to pay £60 for 3 of us, when the club are letting previous S T holders in for free, I don't mind try before you buy to encourage new fans, but I know of a few people who have watched half a dozen games without paying a penny, and like I said had season tickets up till a couple of years ago.
The magic also went missing from the CC years ago...its not even played to the same set of rules!! how can one team be allowed to have half a dozen overseas player yet their opponants are allowed only one?
Super league is going the same way, whats the point in playing meaningless games half way through the season ? I go because I enjoy the game and have done since the mid seventies, but can understand why people drop off.
having said that...see you on the 3rd june as normal...

I suppose the club needs to try something to attract the casual supporter, they have not got it right, but it should not stop us supporting our team, maybe the club would be better off for the remainder of the season making it a straight forward £15 for home & away fans plus kids in for free, cannot do any harm but then I suppose we will get the season ticket holders saying why did I buy a season ticket! The club are in a no win situation.

Thanks Stu, I respect your decision & understand your points made.

When will you get it into your head Salford is not a rugby city and never will be.

Oh and have you thought that perhaps with the nature of the draw followed by having the game shortly after some may not be able to get time off work to attend?
I have to book all the games off as soon as the fixture list comes out. My off duty's are done months in advance. If I'm lucky I'll just happen to be off on the day of a cup game or friendly.
I'm sure there are countless others in the same boat as myself.

Plus don't also forget some people have been made redundant or are on reduced incomes at the moment. If you have 2 choices between feeding and ensuring your family have a home and going watching Salford. It's a no brainer!

Let's be honest, if this is enough to put someone off they weren't part of a "very loyal hardcore of around 3000" in the first place.

In my mind, once you take out those who can't make it (work, illness, etc) it's a pretty simple decision - you either want to go to the game, or you don't. There's no point in (or reason for) making excuses and/or trying to blame anyone.

Unfortunately there seem to be a lot at present who don't want to. That must raise questions at the club about why people don't want to go (especially as the quality of what is on the pitch is better than last year, it's our last season at The Willows and we have the free ticket initiative in place).

There are a million and one reason/excuses that people can use for poor attendance but none of them seem particularly valid on their own. Perhaps it's about the quality & value of the whole package/experience?

Perhaps the club should re evaluate if they really should have shouted from the roof tops that we were now virtually nailed on for a top 8 spot. I think this may have been one of the main catalysts for the attitude of the supporters this season.

I did not go because I work shifts so I can only attend when on early. Yes I know I get cheeses off sometimes but always go to games when I can. I would much prefer Sunday as I am off. Also Friday nights you get few fans travelling I would say Friday rugby was a disaster and can't understand why club sticks with it. As for. The tickets situation we have to get people in to keep franchise and this might be only way we attract fans because we going to attract supporters the way we are playing so I can understand it from a club point. I do think it could be managed better though.

I don't think it's that simple - finances play a part too. When cash is short, it's not just about whether you want to go, but also about whether you can justify the outlay.

I'd be interested to know how our typical home support breaks down between season ticket holders, members and match payers. You would think that most people who have enough of an interest to buy a season ticket would have an interest in going to a theoretically winnable home cup tie against Superleague opposition.

Iain I think the Majority of the missing crowd last night would probably not have seen last night as a theoretically winnable tie to be honest. I know based of current form I never expected anything other than a loss to be honest.

I understand there will always be reasons fans cannot go, some financial, some work commitments, some fed up, the list can goes on, there will always be reasons but over 50% of your hard core fan base don't turn up, seems to me we don't have a product good enough for people to want to Watch in Salford! maybe Salford Council & the chairman need to keep there money in there pocket, seems as though we are heading for one big white elephant jugging by comments made on different threads!

The point I am trying to make is only 1200ish Salford fans turned up to watch a premier challenge cup game winnable at home against a team we had already beat at the willows this season, it starting to feel like the Salford public don't want to buy into Salford & Mr Wilkinson & all the other contributors might as well put there money down the grid.

A decent percentage of our fans pay £12 per game via the membership scheme. Last night they were being asked to pay £20 (£17.50 in advance). If anyone thinks fans are going to pay upto £8 more for a cup game than a league game they are sadly deluded. Most clubs charge less for the cup yet bizarrely Salford charge more.

So by your theory two thirds of our hardcore were either Ill or at work



I think we all know there are many other reasons, the most prominent being Personal Finance, goings on at the club, Inconsistent form (to say the least) and throwing a score at a game we have absolutely no chance of winning the whole event if we were to draw a big club, 60-0 at home to Wire springs to mind, (there are less than a handful of clubs who can win it !)

Ow yeah and that Apathy word often used on here

O Salford are a massive club!

Sorry if my work commitments upset your stats for going to games but some of us have to work to be able to pay to go so don't judge loyal fans that can't afford to go every week. You come and start a pole which people are just not bothered to go but some of us work hard. Before criticizing people not turning up home many game have you turned up to. Why don't you go and follow swinton instead of pointing finger at fans that have to work or can't afford to go. If you ain't happy with fans comments on here go off in your little corner and a fit there. I work hard just so I can have the pleasure of watch the rugby what do you do if you cB get to every game obviously not much. Do not understand you having a go at people that are not in your privalige to go to every game for one reason or another

ok then if salford is and never will be a rugby league city than we might be better off chucking in the towel now!

I was going to type something similar but backtracked because, again, it's not that simple. Yes, members do pay £12 for league games, but they've paid £50 up front for that, so it's not actually £12 a game, it's pretty much £17 if they go to all league games (assuming a single person membership).

Either way - as a club, are we pricing people out (I'm not just talking about cup games)? I know that it will be said that our prices are on a par with other teams in the league, but we simply don't command the same attention in our local area as most of the other clubs do, therefore have a lower demand. Prices will surely increase at Barton, so we are going to have to attract a new, wealthier, support if prices are an issue at their current level?

Not disputing the point (because it's perfectly correct) but Cas/Wakey was £15 on the gate today so we can't even defend our prices by saying they're on par with others.

I think it is clear from the debate on here that we got prices badly wrong! in today's present economical uncertainties £20 (£17.50 bought prior to the game) was asking too much

I didn't go on Friday. The price was a factor, however if I'd thought for a moment that Salford were capable of producing a committed entertaining performance, I'd have quite happily gone along.

Result, a predictable 0-25 loss. Felt completely justified in staying away and now wondering where the motivation to attend the next game is going to come from. I can understand why we are waiting to appoint a new coach for next year, but the net result is that the remainder of this season just seems like a waste of time. Who in their right mind is going to fork out £20 per person to witness games with no meaning?

Barton is a chance for a new start, but believe me the Club will have to make a massive impression on the field in the first season to attract both old and new support. If this opportunity is missed, I fear we'll never recover.

£20 would be fair if you were watching a top 8 side. Unfortunately we are far from it. £20 is a lot to spend on what is basically a massive gamble with regards to Salford. You wont get great odds on us actually winning, and as it stands are paying the entrance fee to watch every score come from the opposition. To be fair, if we were sitting pretty at the top end of the table this thread would not exist so in effect, answers its own question.

I think Salford were right not to reduce the price. After all, the game was as important as a Super League fixture. That said, I think £20 is too high for any non-marquee rugby league match.

It'd be interesting to see what SL clubs' overheads are for staging a match and to what effect they have on the admission fee.

True, I know it was shown on another thread that we were the most expensive game of the weekend, but I'm looking wider than one round of the cup - more at prices in general. The question is, if we lower our prices, will we get enough extra fans in to cover the loss in revenue? Have the club decided that it's easier to get more money out of the existing fans than to get new ones in?

It seems like years of bad investments and no end product has finally caught up with the fans!! I can only go off what has happened during my time supporting the reds, but after the '97 season the club invested in new players. Only for half the team to get injured or just not put any effort in. The club invested heavily the following season and ended up signing another load of duds. At a time when Andy Gregory should have been managing his health issues rather than an SL side. Again we invested after the 2006 season, what happened? Half the team got injured again or couldn't be bothered, and we ended up relegated. We've always had decent players at the club, maybe not aa full squad, but enough to do better than way have been doing.

So, it's back to the case of, 'what is going wrong'? Years of good players coming in and playing considerably worse for us than they did for their previous teams. The only time this hasn't been the case was during Karl Harrison's and, initially, Andy Gregory's time. McRae has left the club in absolute disarray! No fans, no pride and too frequently no effort. How many times are we going to see the club give up half way through a season. It happened last year and it appears to be happening again. Although. I think it would be extremely unfair on any new coach to expect them to sort out this seasons mess. I think the best thing the club could do, is to ask Brian Noble if he wouldn't coming in and steadying the ship, too much?

People criticise Steve Simms, never met the guy and don't know what he's like as a person, but he should be building the foundations of the club. In a way, he should be the Alex Ferguson of Salford City Reds!! Making all the decisions, from who the head coach should be, signing the players wanted by the coach, ensuring the players are training properly and eating the right foods, all the way down to who the tea lady is. Can a more informed person tell me if he is doing any of this?

Harrison proved there can be life in the Salford City Reds, but McRae took it all away. I don't see anybody going out on the field to get beat week in week out, but there is certainly something wrong with the players mentally. We know they can play rugby, but they need to improve their efforts in intensity. We can't win all the time, what we the players need to do is play with a heck of a lot more urgency! This alone will ensure we win more games and entertain fans at the same time.

After two and a half seasons back in super league, we still haven't got our defence sorted. I like Wilky's idea of seeing the old girl out in style, but what the team needed was an quantum improvement in the defence department. Maybe, Wilky should be taking the blame this time. He should have told McRae under no uncertain terms, that his mission was to improve the defence. Having watched the recent ANZAC test, Australia were pretty poor going forward, but in defence they made every tackle count and scored several times of the mistakes caused by those big hits. I'm heading slightly towards the Peter Gentle issue.

Anyway, I've waffled on enough, but years off constant bad decisions are driving the fans away. I certainly believe the team, most weeks, is performing better this season, than it did under McRae (2 x SL seasons), John Harvey or Steve McCormack. It's just our previous legacy holding us back.