At this morning’s meeting of the PSG, Trevor Barton was asked about the decision to play four home matches (York on 30/3; Featherstone on 22/6; Dewsbury on 13/7; and Halifax on 17/icon_cool.gif on Friday evenings. Here are the facts surrounding that decision, by the Club.

At the time of the Fans’ Forum, the statement about playing home fixtures on a Sunday, was made in good faith, based on the known circumstances, at that time. There was no intention of misleading supporters, let alone ‘lying’ to them, as has been suggested.

- As you know, we will be ground-sharing with Swinton Lions, next season.

- There is a six week ‘time window’ when the pitch is being re-laid, as part of a stadium contractual agreement and, it will not be available to either Leigh or Swinton.

- As a result of the pitch being unavailable, the RFL was unable to devise a fixture solution, whereby Leigh and Swinton home games did not clash. Leigh were offered, at short notice, the opportunity to select their preferred day to play. Friday was chosen, for the following reasons:-

* Corporate sponsors tended to prefer Friday – leaving the weekend free for family activities.

* This is borne out by better sponsorship/box/meal sales for night matches. Contrary to popular belief, the Club DOES benefit significantly, from such ‘corporate’ match day sales.

* The players welcome the occasional weekend ‘off’, to be with their families.

* The team could potentially gain some advantage, in terms of recovery, from playing on Fridays – where the following week’s opposition has played on the Sunday.

* Leigh will get first use of the pitch, on weekends where fixtures clash.

There is a recognition, at the Club, that some supporters are unfortunately going to be inconvenienced by the match day changes, but it is hoped that this will just be for a ‘one-off’ season.

Still doesn't really explain the 'Sunday statement' from the Fans Forum as the question asked at the time is no different to the one the RFL have asked, only two different answers have been given. As it is, if the club generate more money from playing on a Friday and attendances aren't affected too much then I think a case would have to be made for the 2013 season to play ALL games on a Friday night and have a clear policy to do so from the outset rather than fans being misled, whether that was intentional or not.

Fair enough, thanks for letting us know Alan

Couple of things Alan, why not move all games to a Friday then??

Unless the catering company have lowered their match day meal charge then we make around £2 per meal! Granted their will be other spin offs such as ensuring match day, match ball sponsorships get covered!!

For me it should be all or nothing to Fridays, a mixture should lead to the worst season ticket sales of all time!

You're welcome.

Matt,

At the time of the Forum, Keith was unaware of any clashes. That was only brought to light recently, by the RFL.

The Club is using this unavoidable situation to test the waters for evening matches. It could be seen as an even higher risk to play all home games on a Friday.

In an ever demanding world people plan ahead, is it Fridays or Sunday's we watch the mighty Leigh as a family, oh wait a minute

Is the grass being cut
Are Swinton at home or is it away
Are the moon and sun aligned

It's a joke Alan and how you can defend this farce is beyond me!

But if it is such a risk then why not say our preferred day is Sunday, in line with the answer given at the Fans Forum?

were only plating 5 games on friday, book half days off.......

We only have 11 home fixtures though, so thats half of the games.

So basically the sponsores dictate what the club does not the 2000+ fans on the tearrace, fair enough. I wonder how many people don't buy a season ticket this season? and does it really matter if they don't?

the club in the past have done a couple of big surveys seeking fans views (both new and lapsed) on what kick off times they will prefer. On both occasions I suggested Saturday's at 6:30pm KO personally, however the results of both were by all accounts for Sunday 3pm and by some margin.

* The first Survey was undertaken by a team led by Professor Dale c2005.

* The second was as recently as last year (IIRC) and Allan Rowley confirmed the response voting for Sunday was more or less emphatic.

Make of that what you will but I do agree with Tipster Ste if we are going to be bold then we should move all fixtures to a new game day / time ( TV fixtures excluded) so the public are fully aware when Leigh RL play all their home fixtures and can plan accordingly. The new day / time will very much become an habit.

TBH I can not believe We are now in the same position as 2005 where the common held belief from our SL campaign was that having no regular game day was a resounding failure.

I really do hope it's a success but already I have work and family commitments that mean I (Along with Sophie) will be missing more games than usual next year. As a result I am sorry to say I also will be paying on the day next year.

Right, just an idea but ideas welcome - what if in a hypothetical situation we declared Thursday nights as our 'preferred' game day? We'd then have a pattern of knowing when the games are taking place, regardless of TV interference. How does the corporate for a Thursday compare with a Sunday?

Like i have said what does it matter we think? If something aint Broke..........

But we are broke, that's the problem

Apparently Millward wanted to play Friday's last year but was shouted down on this.

Ian wanted to play Fridays from the moment he landed, wonder if he will get his way at Cas?

Fair comment Matt but if the reason for this is to get more corperate they know that doing that they would p*ss the fans who is the most important? We need the money but we also need the fans else whats the point of having a club?

Coaches want whats best for players but at the end of the day RL like all sport is an entertainment for the fans so they are the most important.

As long as the extra corporate makes up for a loss in your average fan then sadly I don't think the club will see it as an issue. Money talks.

No your right mate but like i keep saying they only play rugby for people to watch its a form of entertainment so if no fans went to watch what would be the point? I think some are enjoying the 'Prawn Cocktail' side of things, anyway it seems sad that after 25 years of watching home and away i can't be d with em now!

We better build a new banqueting suite then mate based off the small amount we do make per head on the corporate side then we would need to shift some meals to make up for the ordinary fan

Don't forget the ticket income Ste plus obviously trying to get such companies involved with the club as sponsors etc.

Agree about the additional sponsorship mate, but for the entire basic corporate day we make less than the price of a matchday ticket

The club have made a decision, the best one they could make under the circumstances they were in. IMO after seeing some of the posts on here, it could be a blessing in disguise for the club, a case of out with the old and in with the new, I cant actually believe some of the posts on here because the games have been changed to a different day, they haven't been moved to another stadium 160 miles away, or had HUGE increase in prices, WE ARE JUST PLAYING ON A FRIDAY. I cant undertand why people that can attend the games on a Friday are saying they won't be going. Theres a huge market of people that dont/ can't go to Sunday games, just hope the club will do something to bring them in. Im also pretty sure that the crowd average will rise again this year.

I'll be joining the Touchdown Club as soon as I possibly can, and hope others are too.

Get that Friday Feeling, 'I'm so excited' - Crunchie