Their is a thread on the widnes site about interest in the game.I think interest is being lost, and fans are not going due to no promotion or relegation.I know we are probably in a good postion due to boxes ticked, but i still think it is a rubbish system.If was not for the franchise rules and salary cap, we would not have as many youngsters.If your good enough they will come through like grady,flynn and houghton etc.We have a weaker squad compared to fax,barrow,and fev in hindsight.If they get several injuries they have senior back up players.Bring back promotion/relegation as i am fed up of nothing to play for now,accept stupid boxes.

I agree - the system is lame BUT i still need my rugby fix every week. I still enjoy watching my team and i still get the buzz from the competition. In my mind i know that Halifax aint going to Super League but it's not going to stop me watching the game. The only time i would stop is if Halifax went out of existence.

I realize that others aren't so generous with their commitment and yes, many fans will be lost to the game. For the RFL though, so long as SL clubs are posting record average attendances they're not bothered about the leaakage at the other end.


Keep the faith.

Forget the bigger issue and just enjoy the 80 minutes and the reasons you first started watching the game. As weird as it is, I've rarely enjoyed my rugby as much as I have during 2009 and the start of this season (you can't blame it on the success!) because I've given up constantly comparing us to Super League clubs etc and just enjoying going to 'proper' clubs and seeing some beltin' matches along the way.

I agree with what you say little rich and leyther.You both have strong squads, and would not surprise me if your teams are in the grand final.I feel as if i go to watch widnes as it is my club.I like to watch my rugby as much as anybody,but i feel their is not much banter, as teams not bring much away support.Hopefully leigh will bring a few to stobarts and maybe fev.But i cant see dewsbury,batley,or sheffield bringing much support.Well if my team widnes gets superleague i would actually feel sorry for clubs in the championship.If we do not get a licence our attendances will plummet, and i think we would scrap the youth set up.It is very costly and i feel we will be lucky to get a top 6 finish.

I understand what you're saying Offthecuff. I really do. The drop in crowds was anticipated for being stuck in this division with no p & r. People like sport for competition, making competition more controlled and artificial certainly puts people off especially if you're one who loses out.

This sport will collapse from the middle, it's not exactly a healthy thing to do but greed is the order of the day.

same here, i aint working at the minute so find it hard to spend what little money i have on going all the games, can only see the crowds dropping even further next year and if we aint in super league after that then they will continue to drop.

Mate i will keep going only as it is my team.But if we do not get a licence i know alot who will not go the games. Think this year we need to do some marketing, as the decision is made early 2011?So our attendances need to be up as we put the bid in october.So this season is important for us, and only 6 home games left.We need to market now, and put across how important attendances are for this year.

I wish I could sit here and tell you what a fool you are, but I can’t. I know far too many people who feel the same way. Even though I still enjoy the games themselves, there is a certain detachment and, apart from the odd game, excitement and atmosphere are rarely seen or felt these days.

It does feel that there’s little to play for, and even getting a licence wouldn’t feel like it did when earning it via P&R.

It’s becoming a real challenge getting my lad excited and he definitely seems to be losing interest. He senses the situation, and the lack of any excitement and atmosphere isn’t making it any easier. It felt quite cruel to drag him away from his favourite TV programme (Dr Who) to go and watch us play Toulouse last Saturday – he wasn’t happy.

Not long after i joined this forum i posted a message on a similar topic expressing my concern about peoples interest in the game, however i did say i couldn't see my self losing interest as i've followed fax for so long, HOWEVER-
I've been supporting Fax now for over 25 years and i thought i would never tire of doing so. But over the last couple of years my interest in the game as certainly diminished, as far as i'm concerned the no P/R is killing the game for teams like ours. I no longer get excited about going to watch a match, infact sometimes the only reason i go is because my father in-law likes going and we've always gone to games together since i met my wife.
I don't go to away games prefering instead to spend the day going to different attractions/site seeing with my family. As i work most saturdays, sunday is the only day we can do this.
I've just been lookin at Fax's fixture list, (not including poss Challenge cup/ play off games) there are only 6 home games left and for one of these i will be away on holiday. That sounds a little sad that i might only have 5 games left between now and the end of the season. but to be honest i'm not that bothered.
Sorry to be depressing but I know there are quite a few others who feel as i do.

You have a PS3 pepe? because you can get iplayer on there so he can enjoy Karen Gillan, err, Dr Who over and over if he wishes.

Widnes needs Super League, without it were slowly dying.

Sad but true.

The sooner were out the better, im getting a little fed up been out of the top flight and the shocking atmosphere and awful away support doesnt help in getting newbies through the gates. Whichever way you look at it the championship and championship1 for that matter will be a place for lost souls beyond next year.

Im a Viking Get me Outta here!

At the end of the day we're a club with ambition. We're going to suffer if our ambition is limited. I hope we go up, I pray we go up, and I'll feel bad about the good teams in this division we will leave behind.

There will be 2 French teams in SL, Catalans and Toulouse.
Dragons just announced new stadium plans on what can only be inside Franchise knowledge!

True as much as we annoy each other it would be a shame for the facilities at leigh to be Ignored, likewise Halifax seem to be progressing the right way both on and off the pitch.

I do hope we get in, i will age another 30 years if we dont. That and the fact that ill pack the game in i think.


Anyways enough of that for now.......

Yes, he has a PS3, and every other game playing gadget you can think of. He just cannot wait for any longer than is strictly necessary to watch it. We’ve got Sky HD, so we recorded it for him, and he still wasn’t happy!

If we don’t get out of this league, I doubt he’ll want to carry on going at all. He’d sooner go out with his mates these days. I loved the game when I was 11, but I had a great team playing RL at the highest level, and I had no Nintendo X stations and Wii PSP’s to play with…







…oh and Dr Who was then too.

I've heard a lot of people say this; I'm not so sure. I think the 'die-hard' will still be there, no matter what happens with the club. It'll certainly be depressing though.

alot of people saying these things are 'die-hards' and have been for a number of years but with current finances and if we cant get promoted for another 3 years then you are just throwing good money away that can be spent in better ways.

Why are you throwing good money away? My support of Widnes isn't based on Super League or nothing.

The people who I've heard say they might stop watching Widnes are not saying so because they think it's a waste of time and money but because they would be so upset at the decision to not let us in.

This is the time more than ever Widnes fans should be turning up and supporting there club..

You cant be giving the RFL any excuses for not giving you the place in SL every other fan knows you you should have got 2 seasons ago.

I see you're not a frequenter of the VT then.

at this moment in time i dont work, i go as many games as i can but if there is continually going to be nothing to play for then it gets a bit pointless

Tis not necessarily the end for the lad. I've seen people go through periods early on where they're not interested but they regain it later on when they realise there is more to life than Ricicles and Going Live!

Actually during the 80s there wasn't much more to life than that thinking about it.

You guys are hilarious, even if there WAS auto P and R then you guys wouldnt have got promoted, you didnt win the league last year. Before you go moaning about how your being wronged by not being in the big league maybe you should win the comp underneath that first. Sure you have "ticked the box" but wouldnt it be nice to cap your (almost certain IMO) return to SL in 2012 by winning the competition.

P.S dont see this as a dig at your club or take the usual RLfans practice of slagging me off, I have a lot of time for your club and the people who are involved with the organisation, not to mention your superb fans.

P.P.S as a Barrow lad I can only give my opinion on it: Since my local side got promoted from Champ 1, I feel very fortunate that Barrow now get to rub shoulders against sides like yourselves and Halifax (both former SL clubs), and while it feels odd having won the competition and now having to repeat the process I know that as Barrow Raiders stand it would have been almost impossible for us to compete in SL.

You are 100% correct, good post. Not only did we not win it last year, we've never won it since we got relegated and have just 2 Northern Rail Cups to show for it. The reason for the opinion we should go up is the criteria that's been laid down and the likes of Salford were given the nod on the promise of a new stadium that won't be ready before next round of licences anyway.

And I pretty much agree with that opinion, the reason given was your finances and I'm not sure it was a good enough reason when you consider Celtic's financial trouble and you cant see Salford raking in the cash on the gates they get, it was all about location and I can understand their reasons for that.

My main point is some people are bemoaning the fact P and R is not in operation, yet if it was Widnes still wouldnt have been promoted.