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.

Iain, surely taking more from the existing fans can only work if you have the product to sell, this maybe why so many season ticket holders voted with there feet on Friday night?

The idea of a hardcore of 3000 was blown out of the water in 2003 and 2008 when we were struggling to get 1500 through the door.



Would disagree. Psychologically the cost of attending a Super League game for a season ticket holder must be close to zero, because you've already paid for it months previously and so don't associate the cost with the product as closely. When you have to pay out on the gate, there's a much clearer link between what you're paying for and what you're getting and so people think twice.

Struggling to see why the price rises for a cup game. Think the freebies need to be knocked on the head for any match you're asking season ticket holders to pay on the gate for also.

I think the club needs to look at its pricing policy to me it seems like we have signed a lot of good players on top wages. When you look at the team on paper its a very good team and this is why I believe gates have gone up. The off field problems create a lot of issues and the new coach coming in as a lit of work to do. As for free tickets it as gone petty I emailed club last month complaining of memberships to away fans for free tickets which as been planted. I also feel for club there seeing poor results on the field so it turns the new members who got a free ticket away as there ain't been much to talk about. So I feel club is saying to these fans don't stop coming keep watching so it gives free tickets and we need to offer tickets to attract new fans. I just feel its poorly managed. So in a way I see it from both sides of fence how else do you attract fans if not performing. You are moaning at free tickets what then would you do to make club attractive.

I'd agree there is an element of that to it. There is perhaps more going on sociologically regarding the contemporary view of cup competitions, particularly in the early rounds. This affect is noticeable in football too.



There's probably more to it than that.



It's a tough ask. However, devaluing stuff isn't the answer.

£20 entry plus £20 getting the train across, then another £20-40 for refreshments (and only warm cooking lager available inside the ground) only to end up ed off?

£20-40 on refreshments? Have you never thought of bringing a picnic with you and shelving the beer



On a serious note it makes it sound like you wouldn't bother to much if we were winning regularly?

What do you bring with you meat for a barbecue or do you eat a lot of burgers

I went, but I was touch and go whether to pay the 17.50 - 20 quid . after recent performances alot of the people ( ones I talk to & faces I recognise) were missing from the area of the shed I normally stand.
As I posted elsewhere when the tie was announced every other CC Fixture this round had deals & incentives , yet Salford offered no incentive to their existing members & Season Pass holders even with £17.50 it's £5.50 more than most members would've paid for a home SL game.
Our form this season has been erratic and some of our worst performances have been saved for the home fans.
Given that I enjoyed the game, HKR's defence was the key to their victory and Salford's lack of teamwork in defence & lapses in concentration has been ( one of ) the story of our season and one that most fans are now not prepared to risk £20 on.

Money usually dictates whether I can go or not. I do think it's a bit steep, although that is the norm for Super League teams these days. Throw in the price of a programme, drink, burger etc etc, then it does get pretty expensive, especially if you're bringing the kids. Understand why people might not bother.

Poor standard of rugby doesn't bother me, well, not to the point of putting me off attending a game. But I know it does put many people off. I always look forward to going to a Salford game, but clearly few others do. I think there's a general lazy attitude about the people of Salford, and the future of Salford RL lies outside the city boundaries I think (in terms of support).

The main reason does have to be the poor standard of rugby though. People want to see a winning team, and it doesn't exactly help with City/United on our doorstep.

Nobody seems to have mentioned it was a shared gate and I'd say regardless of the admission price in terms of how much they could have dropped it, the club would have never have got enough supporters in to recoup the difference.

As for missing fans well there were/are lots and lots, not just from this seasons average but on a whole over the course of the last 20 or so years. I'd say we've actually lost more supporters than actually turned up on Friday night.

The only recipe to bringing them back is success and I can't in my wildest dreams see that coming along anytime soon.

The mind boggles at how the club are going to magic all these new supporters up at Barton, I'll say it now - it simply won't happen whether we still remain in SL or not. I heard they were looking to average around 8k a game, don't make me laugh unless that IS of course they adopt the policy of make the 1500 regulars pay for their season tickets, charge the visiting supporters but most importantly give at least 5k away each week.

How many people live close to the Willows, i.e. walking distance? If it's quite a high proportion, I can't see them all coming to the new stadium, not on a week-to-week basis anyway.

Why not? I live in Winton...I drive, walk to the willows, because I want to see the game, many people come a lot further because they want to see the game... are you saying, that the walk up specs only go because of that ??

I don't just think its cost I feel Friday night games are part of the problem I work shifts Monday to Friday so can't get to every game plus away support is also not good for them who Finnish work then have to travel to away matches this I feel would improve if was moved to Sunday a lot of people say that who I stand near in ground. But when as club ever listened to us fans

Aye yeah, I get your point.

I was thinking though, if things do go a bit awry with the new stadium, then a few might jump ship maybe? After all the hype and expectation etc, and especially if they're not within walking distance of the new ground. Although I'm sure the stadium will be a success

just need to get sorted out behind the scenes.

Put it this way our fan base cant get any worse we've had long enough at the Willows now its time to move on, so what if a few of the local residents around weaste will not attend the games anymore.

all these missing fans will return and some new ones when we move to the new ground and string a few performances together mark my words

Well I honestly don't think the free tickets work that well. People turn up when they're there, but stay at home when they have to pay. Look at the 6,000+ attendance against Swinton the other year for a start...



We'll see.

but how many actually go, very few from the research done, most of Salfords support comes from further away than Weaste, again most people now see sport as something you do on an x-box or playstation.

You're right there. We have to start promoting ourselves more outside of Salford I think, we have a massive catchment area.

Everyone was affected, bad attendances at all games this weekend. They should include Challenge Cup games with your season ticket.

Sale Sharks must have a fantastic marketing team if they can get 7 or 8,000 in to Edgley Park to watch that garbage so our lot have got lots of work to do to get them in at Barton

Yeah, good point. I don't think it's an impossible task, but it is a tough one.

As for the crowd on Friday, although it was very poor, there were poor crowds across the board. And when there's 112-0 scorelines, there's something wrong with the Challenge Cup.