I'll hold my hand up to not going yesterday as I was watching the Utd v Liverpool game (Liverpool supporter btw, there are also lots of those around here).

My idea would be to move the kick off time or day of the game if a local high profile football team are playing because I just think we'll always suffer unless we're in SL. I know people will say "we shouldn't have to" and they're right to a degree but we've got about 1,500-2,000 die hards and they'll always turn up.

You could argue that perhaps we only lost 250 people off the crowd yesterday but for arguments sake say we'd moved the kick off to Sat evening and those people plus everyone else had still turned up it's an extra £3750 through the gate (at an average of £15 per ticket).

I realise not everyone will agree with this and it's probably not the ideal solution but just a thought.

it doesn't help when there is no promotion from our league, i mean 1 up 1 down was bad enough before.
nearly all crowds in championship 1 are below the 1000 mark, but they can get promoted, to a league 'without' promotion.

Like most people have suggetsed.
Open the stand opposite the main stand,
let kids in free with an adult (make in the family stand)
Get some cheap food for the kids, sweets and pop.
Encorage more disabled people free with a paying minder (after all it has a disabled viewing area may as well use it)
There will be more noise and once people start to visit and enjoy themselves they will be the future supporters.



Get Parky pig back.

Yeah people perceive there is nothing to play for and others would say "what's the point we'll never get back in SL anyway".

Unfortunately that's just something else that the club is up against. You can understand people's reluctance but I'm sure things will pick up as the season goes on.

Maybe friday, saturday and even sunday evening kickoffs are the answer or an attempt at one. People say we need to change and puttng a specticle on when there is nothing else on is probably going to attract some more fans.

yeah, i would never stop going, but i know some folk who have. it's not the same anymore, but i still love the club.

Me personally am not to fused about getting into SL as yet but see where you are all coming from.

I'm all for Saturday evening and although it won't suit everyone we should at least give it a shot perhaps?

No matter what time or day we play you will not satisfy everyone.

Andy at the ticket oiffice is a top bloke & yes worldcup we should bring back parky the pig

Well it will be 18 pound to sit in Fax's new stand and 15 to stand behind the sticks

Also think people are having to stretch their finances further with the lack of work and overtime, it can be a bit difficult to justify spending 50-60 quid per month on the rugby when money is tight anyway.

Two points on this well three in my opinion.

Its pretty costly to pay on the day regularly so i think we missed a trick with the season tickets

Glad to see most on here dont pay to go watch Wigan, Wire etc because if you did you would be paying considerably more than £20 to sit down the touchline so were people get we charge the same is beyond me.

And finally how can you entice any fans to come and watch us when the season means nothing with that draw bridge down. Its the RFL that are killing the game by having no promotion/relegation. No other sport does it I wonder why?????

I think its clubs and fans that are killing the game more by continuing to have the obsession with SL. Most clubs in our league can't get into SL anyway so they aren't effected.
Most fans didn't turn out week in week since 2004 (with slightly more interest for a few months in 2005). We all know that 2 sets of fans turned up for the big one at the end of the season. Attendances for the bread and butter league games have been in decline for a while for us with or without SL is everything being dangled there.

It will be my first time at the Shay & I want to be where the Leythers are to show the lads the support & sing my heart out. I've heard on here some mentioning going behind the sticks wot stand are they reffering to & is this where we're all going? Thanks

Which teams in our league cant get in SL?? Currently all of them, with the draw bridge down which cant get in and why??

Me and you could start a football team tomorrow and with the correct ground facilities you can get to the Champions League, can you do that in RL, NO!! In fact its the complete opposite you can stay in the elite league and play in a 1930's stadia!

Some good ideas on here especially opening the East as a Family Stand.

Do the club have a marketing department, this is not a pop at them, its a genuine question as I honestly have not seen any marketing going on to get people in.

Another point, rather than people just saying it on here, suggest it to the club, THEY are the ones who can do something about it not people on here

Lets look at facts here:

v Oldham 1627
v Featherstone 1729
v Whitehaven 1891

Is there a trend here? None of these fixtures involved more than 50 traveling fans?

Lets see what happens on Easter Monday.

By the way, I have not included the cup game v an amatuer side which was played after 2 other games over that weekend involving Leigh teams at the stadium

I have not included Barrow with the "kids offer" kindly donated by the co-operative.

I have not included the friendlies with Super League sides who brought very good followings considering the circumstances)

I am not saying this is good enough.

I am not saying that there should be more offers to entice some fans in.

I am saying our crowds are still on the up and lets see over the next couple of home games what transpires.

Dont forget we have gone from the dross last year to a bit of improvement this year. Just like 1999

Could you put the attendances you left off on just out of interest please matey.

I wonder what our averege attendaces were in the last Ian Millward or Paul Terzis era? I would guess about 2200? Put 2200 people in Hilton Park it will seem much fuller than 2200 at The LSV.

A couple of points.
The club is currently incapable / unable of marketing itself for one reason or another, harsh but true.
Now in the past we had our diehards to fall back on if the club underperformed (on & off the field), however the RFL have just about cheesed off the vast majority of Championship club diehards with its its recent policys and 'brain stormers', thus RL outside of SL is posting some woeful attendances (in fact quite a few in SL are feeling the pinch as well).

Throw in a recession, people want value for money (and demand more for there leisure pounds) and you have what we have got now.

about 20 years ago Oxford Utd got in top league with a load of crappy small stands dotted around the sides....supposed to be a stadium. That kind of fairy tail story would not happen now with the money involved now. I think with number of clubs going under in football because of greed and total loss of reality when chasing success suggests that football is far from a great model to compare something
to aim for. You would need 100's of millions to move from a poor relegation threatened side in PL to a champions league contender - not actually getting in champions league but a contender.
The very fact (you are one of the worst on here too) that fans go on and on about SL, and going on and on about its not fair, the drawbridge etc etc Contributes to the negativity towards the competition we are in now. A competition where we are damn lucky to even be in the championship, never mind being a force again at this level.
But I will get back to the bread and butter games tho, and attendances. Crowds have been on the decline with or without having the SL is everything as the prize.

Just for Ian C

There have been another 20+ Oxfords who have gone on to play in the Premier League, I repeat you cant do that in RL because we have the most non sensical rules ever imagined. If the RFL ran the FA; Bolton, Wigan, Blackburn, Burnley, and many others would be instantly kicked out of the premier league to be replaced with a must needed team from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Plymouth, Norwich oh and dont forget the much needed teams from Leeds and Sheffield.

Oh I forgot ANY team can make the premier league ground permitting and not judged off some luidcrous location policy, oh and guess what teams like Leicester, Man City and Leeds for example when falling on hard time managed to keep a huge core following for the day they would return to the top flight I ask again can any team outside of SL promise that to their existing fans?

The core principles of the wonderful franchise system 18 months into it are still sadly missing. Where are all the youngsters being promoted at these bottom clubs who dont need to worry about relegation? How many overseas players now play in SL in 2010 compared to 2008? When the answers to those questions are of a positive nature then just maybe the franchise system might work.

Until then the americanised system should be well and truly left on the other side of the atlantic!