Seeing how Wakey seem to be getting more desperate by alluding to spending money on Belle Vue, it has got me thinking how similiar we were less than ten years ago. Whilst we were flirting with relegation and the financial reprecussions it entails, losing your SL licence is exactly the same.

I wonder where we would be now (if we still existed) if Tesco would have already had an outlet in the town.

A right pickle.

I would like to think that we still exist but Tesco combined with Mr Moran certainly saved the club as we knew/know it and we've never looked back

Every little helps

I am amazed how good the crowds are, most of our town doesn't give a toss about Rugby.

I know not of the finalised dealings of the whole Tesco/Stadium building, but should we give this crappy council of ours some credit? Guess they might have had a say in swaying the planning permission to agree to Tesco, IF stadium got go ahead/help?

Please somebody prove me wrong on this point, this is one of the last points I hold the council of high regard for!

You cannot discount the assistance of WBC, but, without Tesco's capital expenditure, who knows where we would be?

A state of the art training facility would look nice, is there a Morrisons in Warrington

You would be at the bottom of Super League but there would be little justification for getting rid of Warrington, despite the lack of youth production, the low crowds, the poor results and the lack of money.

It's amazing you ever got into Super League in the first place.

Warrington's transformation is perhaps the most glowing example of what can be achieved through franchising, or is it just an example of what can be achieved with the help of a wealthy benefactor?

The club does now have very good training facilities at Padgate and also at Birchwood.

well if you base your stupid thoughts on this your lot should get booted out in july..you never got decent crowds at your old dump unless leeds wire or wigan were the visitors..now your at widnes they are pathetic

The wealthy benefactor helped provide security, additional funds occasionally and other invaluable benefits. But it was the threat of not getting a SL licence that urged the club into action. Simon Moran was a director in the pre-HJ days but only became majority owner afterwards. I would agree we are a good example of the benefits of franchising.

Why don't you ask Jonny Vegas to sling your lot a few quid if you're short? He will require at least 4 seats for sole occupancy at your new place so that should set the tills rolling. Imagine such a high profile benefactor becoming the face of the future for Saints.

Well that was easy saddened!

I myself am realising what good work Warrington do in the community, folks like SEB and the scheme he/she (Sorry SEB, don't know you) is in is magnificent. They are almost using the clubs branding and draw to make a positive impact in the community. Wheher this is solely as a direct result of Mr Moran I do not know, but regardless, surely our model is the model that must be followed. You don't need mega funds to set up foundations, you need good people and passionate individuals.

shut up you fool.

You can't use Warrington as a good example of what can be achieved through franchising, Catalans and Hull KR are good examples of what can be achieved through franchising.

The story for us is partly the stadium and partly (the larger part) about the benefactor.

There's a difference between having a wealthy benefactor and a good benefactor. In lots of sports there are examples of guys with money who have taken a sports club backwards. Out of all the sports I follow, IMO Simon Moran is the best model of a sporting benefactor because

1 - he is low profile and keeps out of the limelight (ie he hasn't bought the sports club to boost his own image)
2 - by him buying a majority share the season after we moved into the new stadium he guaranteed that the stadium profits could go back into the club rather than in the pockets of Greenalls or another major shareholder, this made the revenue streams a lot better for us
3 - he had the resources and the willingness to invest, at the time when we had just moved into the new stadium to capture some excitement around the town with a big push, bringing on board international players to prove we were serious
4 - he didn't bail out after the first few seasons of underachievement
5 - he's a promoter, which means he's good at networking and bringing people on board, his networking ability is why we got Andrew Johns here and I'm sure its been why we've made several other major signings like Morley, Monaghan etc

Too many benefactors in sport are a negative influence and clubs just have to weigh up the positives of the cash they put in against the negatives of their meddling. For us Simon Moran has been a very positive influence even over and above the cash he has put in, so I would say yes he is an example of the impact a really good sporting benefactor can have on a club. In many decades to come when people are looking at the history of Warrington RL I have no doubt that Simon Moran will be remembered in the same terms as Brian Bevan for contribution to Warrington RLFC.

lets not forget Saddened that at the time we were building our new stadium that 3 of the past 5 Man of Steel awards had gone to Warrington youth products....so I don't think we would have been kicked out of SL on youth production grounds

good post..and I agree..Simon Moran is the archetypal sugar daddy...god bless him!

You are Simon Moran i claim my free season ticket



No but seriously a good post

Excellent that Sally. Just wish I'd done it.

Pre HJ days, Warrington was up the creek without a paddle. Decrepid ground, falling attendances, in debt etc, until Warrington borough council bought the ground.

Tescos had been trying to " get in" to Warrington for years, and every application was knocked back. 1 day, Tesco turned around and said to WBC," let us build a store on the old Tetley Walker site". WBC refused on hygiene grounds saying, " the land was too contaminated to build a food store." Sometime later Tesco came back and said, " Let us build that store and we will build you a new stadium". Suddenly the ground was not so contaminated.

It's very easy to feel sympathy for Wakefield, as we could very easily have been in that very same situation.

Yes i was there when we were in the doldrums... Not everyone is like you though gloryhunting when Saints were sweeping the board....

He also likes to actually watch the game rather than some management at clubs (RL, RU and Wendy) who simple spend all afternoon/night in the hospitality suites.

WBC was also very clever in that they drew up a completely watertight contract with Tescos, who have an excellent in house legal team which has on a number of occasions found loopholes allowing them to back out of similar projects once the store has been built.