Someone wrote in another topic that one of the reasons for our poor performances was that players and supporters had not settled in the new stadium. It does not feel like home.

I agree with this. I go there and appreciate the magnificent facilities and the comformatable seat. I have a great view and the atmosphere is pleasant.

All this is great but I just don't feel at home. I miss Hilton Park! Does anyone else feel like this or is it just me?

I've only been too the ground twice due to work & I must admit I ain't impressed, ok there's been few away fans but the atmosphere is poor

it does lack atmosphere, but i like what has now become my regular spot.



for me, part of hilton park died when the paddock disappeared.


positives;

good view
dont get wet
dont have to climb over the wall to the by-pass
the new club shop


negatives;

getting off the car parks afterwards
food and drink prices

I hate it at present, its quite obvious the LSV co dont want people to enjoy the experience with the exception of corporate.
It needs to become a fun place to visit, that welcomes you as a paying guest and generates the comraderie that HP had.
Not having a bar to meet up in before and after is a mistake, ie not letting fans use it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Having unopened stands and little away fans will always look and feel poor but there is so much more that we can do to improve the experience for the average fan.
It has been shambolic to say the least and typical of WMBC imho

I feel exactly the same, I was actually looking forward to the new place, because I thought it would be something special, how wrong can you be. once on you are trapped really if you see an old friend in the west stand you cant stroll round for a chat anymore. you cant move from the north stand or from the west stand,its a very impersonal place, it holds no memories it has no atmosphere. I an already brassed off with the stewards who keep on shooting up the steps in the North stand just to move some poor kid who has inadvertantly stepped onto a step that has some yellow paint down the side of it. I wold have to have been on my death bed to miss a home match at Hilton Park not any more, there is a much better atmosphere away from home

As said several times open the East stand as a community/schools stand.

If there isn’t enough away fans to justify opening the South, then give them a fixed section South end of the West, this will hopefully mean we play the second half towards the North, hopefully we and them will create some atmosphere huddled together


[url=http://viewtopic.php?t=381248&highlight=We could still do our bit[/url

i think the problem is the atmosphere and the overall experience.
at HP you could create a decent atmosphere with 2000 spectators but these new grounds just dont feel the same.

i miss the comrardery of the mick martyn bar at half and full time.

we do however need to keep the faith, things would look different if we were top of the league and back to crowds of 2700 plus.
things can change quickly just like they did when millward first arrived.

just hope some money in the pot for new signings

New grounds tend to increase gates by circa 30%+, we are in danger of reducing gates by 30%+.

I was saying the same at the match.

Looking out from the north stand you see the south and east stands empty and it pretty much feels like you are stood in an empty stadium.

Our fans seem subdued at the moment as there is very little singing or little noise to encourage the lads.

Fact is we need bigger crowds

Yes this is a really peculiar aspect of the stadium. I know lifelong supporters who have not even been there yet!

call me stupid but i bet my mate we would average 3000 this year.

looks like i will lose that bet

It does feel very sterlie in the new ground. I think little touches like red stripes on the posts and some kind of Leigh Centurions or town coat of arms branding around the stadium would help to make it feel more "homely".

With the new regime of keeping fans penned into sections of the ground and with the men and women in orange jackets unable to use discretion or common sense it no longer feels like the social event a Leigh match used to be, where you could walk around the ground and talk to different groups of friends and acquaintences. The new place desparently needs some kind of fans bar area and not just the breeze block hole in the walls under the stands.

Will anybody listen? Will anybody do anything to change this as the fans want?
I hope that fans don't decide i don't like it and i aint going again.
The BiG White Elephant debate goes on!

Once the new place was nearing completion I could not wait to get out of HP and into the LSV

The potential it holds is enormous

But at this moment I detest the place , it is all I dislike about modern sport

It resembles a hospital or worse still a prison

The potential is there but it requires a will that seems lacking both at the club and with the management

Hopefully all will see sense and start to work together to make the place both welcoming and able to create atmosphere

If they dont then we really are in trouble

I reckon it will improve when you have a half decent away support, stobarts was crap last season apart from when you and salford played us

Maybe this thread is a start in improving things if the powers-that-be ever read this board.

Part of the problem is that there are two ' powers that be ' , both with different aims , until they either both have the same aims or there is only one ' power ' then things will only get worse

As my dear old Nan used to say........'there is a big difference between a house and a home'

Until it feels like home, it will be totally sterile and devoid of atmosphere.

It took Bolton Wanderers 10 years to wake up to the fact thet their fanbase were getting bored with the Reebok experience.

They opened up the conference centre room thingymybob and created a Fanzone for maybe 1000 people, serving up bottled ale and pies........they encouraged fans to bring in their flags and leave them hung up in the North Stand, and more importantly opened up a debate with them.

This costs nowt.

but do not bolton own the reebok? if so they dont have 'landlords' to go through first and we all know that the managenent of the lsv see things different than the payng public want.

The clubs hands are tied to an extent but the question is how much are they trying to address our concerns?

I feel the crowds are down because alot of people were perhaps expecting us to invest more in players and although we can see the club are heading in the right direction with the youth policy the casual fan can't see any names on the team sheet other than Stu Donlan.

Marketing around the town centre is also especially poor, our presence in the town centre on Saturday's before a home game is non existant. Unless your interested you wouldn't know we were playing. I realise there is a budget but what are we spending it on because I can't tell?

Finally our brand of rugby isn't appealing at the moment. If friends talk to people who've been to the game they're not going to be enthused to attend.

I think a lot of opinions about the stadium are justified. Crowds however, I think Im right in saying, are very similar to last season for NRC games and re league games we have only played one.I think it was higher than the same fixture at HP.

What we need to do is start playing entertaining RL now and stop telling folk its £16 quid for an adult when you can watch the game for £14.

I HATE IT.

Fair point.

We're pushing the fact that you can sit down but not stand up. I wouldn't wanna sit down anyway, I don't see the appeal unless you really need to.

The new ground isn't working out well at the moment from a fans view.We have to pay extra to get into Legends bar before the game & once the final whistle goes so do we. The cost per game is definitely stopping some people from attending games but who sets the entrance fee?
What would improve the match day experience ? More people in the ground certainly would, so how can we do that ? Reduce price or increase quality,I think we can easily do one of those.We could also allow more people in for nowt ie u16`s.We could give speccies noisy things like those clappy sticks,horns to blow or plastic rattles (the old football style) to create a bit of atmosphere.At Bolton I believe they have drummers to "drum"up a bit of atmosphere & give everyone a flag to have a bit of fun.It really is a pity we wont be having a big cup game there this season
,that usually brings the fans out in force. These ideas will not suit everyone but something must be done & quickly

They do Fred, but the landlord needs to wake up and wonder why he's not making as much money as he could.