Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Thu Aug 29, 2013 2:16 pm  

Chris.Taylor wrote:

But what's poor in regards to facilities? Just the capacity?

If so, they are increasing that with the new stand and clubhouse expansion.

The experience as a whole. The Capacity especially. What are the increasing it to? Are they doubling it?

And i Know that some will bring up 'well what about stadium X, that’s also rubbish'. Yes, it probably is. But that’s the problem isn’t it. We need to improve.

Is the bigfella’s going to attract the 10k minimum needed to compete at SL level? Ever?

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Thu Aug 29, 2013 2:25 pm  

I'm not sure what the official capacity will be Smokey. I assume in the region of 8,000? 3/4 of the stadium will be seated - now that is good facilities!

We do need to improve, that's why the club have spent thousands of pounds improving it.

Is that a 10,000 average crowd attendance? Not many teams do, but with the club owning the ground and food and drink outlets i'm sure they wouldn't need this magical number.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Thu Aug 29, 2013 2:57 pm  

They do. They need to be there. They are competing with clubs with relatively huge sponsorship deals, relatively huge corporate markets, attendances much bigger than 10, who own their stadiums and have other revenue streams.

Selling a few extra pies and pints isn’t going to get Fev in to a position where their 4k average means they can compete with Leeds £13m turnover.

I have to be honest. If 6k seats impresses you as ‘good facilities’ for a 21st century sports stadium in a top level fully pro league, you are being particularly unambitious.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Thu Aug 29, 2013 2:59 pm  

William Eve wrote:

You spoke to Wembley Stadium? .

Yes. I can't entirely rule out that it was probably a human being that took the call, though. As I can't rule out that some cretin out there somewhere might actually believe that I literally spoke to an inanimate stadium, and that it answered.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Thu Aug 29, 2013 3:12 pm  

SmokeyTA wrote:

They do. They need to be there. They are competing with clubs with relatively huge sponsorship deals, relatively huge corporate markets, attendances much bigger than 10, who own their stadiums and have other revenue streams.

Selling a few extra pies and pints isn’t going to get Fev in to a position where their 4k average means they can compete with Leeds £13m turnover.

I really do believe you are being far too negative for your own good. You should be encouraging teams to continue to grow, develop and improve. Rather being negative!

In the space of 7 years, we have seen the club grow from a National League 2 club, into a team who has won the league leaders shied 3 years on the trot (hopefully 4) on Sunday.

Improve the fanbase, facilities, commercial deals, playing structure, off field structure and youth development.

Do you honestly believe that any team could magically increase there turnover to £13m from the Championship? Infact I bet there isn't another Super League club that does! It takes years to do this.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Thu Aug 29, 2013 3:14 pm  

SmokeyTA wrote:

They are still poor, but double the capacity and we have a start.

If you look at those clubs you see the point I am making. Wakefield and Cas with bigger stadiums, a better start point and a bigger potential market haven’t been able to compete at the top, and have struggled to be sustainable even simply bumbling around at the bottom. How are Fev, with the disadvantages they face going to be able to be so much better? Because if they aren’t, they are going to face exactly the same problems Wakefield and Cas do, plus those ones which are specific to Fev.

But those clubs have been allowed to stay as they are struggling along with no threat to their status. Other than Widnes which took 6 years to get in and in the end those clubs mentioned remained as Wrexham folded and took the hit.

If you have standards then it's not about drawing up the bridge to keep undesirables out, it should mean those in are booted out too, but then we would be looking at a SL with more like 10 clubs or maybe 9. At which point it's less of a league more of an association and money would fall away faster.

I'm not a fan of London being replaced if they go, as I think it's a 12 month busted flush with 2 down none up for 2015.

A club dropped in to the 2014 season could scrape 13th, but 12th would be very unlikely.

However, from 2015 if Featherstone get promotion, there is no reason why they should not replace the bottom club of SL, if they want to???? We are a sport after all, Licencing does make it feel like more of a dragons den competition, which for me is a big turn off. If it's all about bean counting, then why play, just count up the beans, award the trophies and lets pack up and go home.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Thu Aug 29, 2013 3:21 pm  

Chris.Taylor wrote:

I really do believe you are being far too negative for your own good. You should be encouraging teams to continue to grow, develop and improve. Rather being negative!

I want teams to grow. Im not being negative at all. Im being supremely positive. I see no reason why the game can’t have a top 12 filled with WIgans, St’s Leeds, Hulls, Wires, Les Catalans etc, im asking how Fev can be one of them.

In the space of 7 years, we have seen the club grow from a National League 2 club, into a team who has won the league leaders shied 3 years on the trot (hopefully 4) on Sunday.

And that’s great. Its not really relevant to what we are talking about here. But good on them.

Improve the fanbase, facilities, commercial deals, playing structure, off field structure and youth development.

By a large magnitude.

Do you honestly believe that any team could magically increase there turnover to £13m from the Championship? Infact I bet there isn't another Super League club that does! It takes years to do this.

No, I don’t believe any championship club would make that jump in a year. In fact I don’t think many could ever. That’s why im asking the question. Are Fev ever going to catch up to the Leeds, St’s, Wigans, hull’s of this world or are they always going to be reliant on the big boys being hampered by an SC which hasn’t increased in a decade already? Do they have a realistic plan to get from where they are to up with those bigger teams or are we simply restructuring the entire game so that they can be also rans in perpetuity or until they go bust?

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Thu Aug 29, 2013 3:30 pm  

bewareshadows wrote:

But those clubs have been allowed to stay as they are struggling along with no threat to their status. Other than Widnes which took 6 years to get in and in the end those clubs mentioned remained as Wrexham folded and took the hit.

If you have standards then it's not about drawing up the bridge to keep undesirables out, it should mean those in are booted out too, but then we would be looking at a SL with more like 10 clubs or maybe 9. At which point it's less of a league more of an association and money would fall away faster.

I'm not a fan of London being replaced if they go, as I think it's a 12 month busted flush with 2 down none up for 2015.

A club dropped in to the 2014 season could scrape 13th, but 12th would be very unlikely.

However, from 2015 if Featherstone get promotion, there is no reason why they should not replace the bottom club of SL, if they want to???? We are a sport after all, Licencing does make it feel like more of a dragons den competition, which for me is a big turn off. If it's all about bean counting, then why play, just count up the beans, award the trophies and lets pack up and go home.

Its not about ‘undesirables’ this just feeds in to the misplaced paranoia and conspiracy this game is famous for. Its about making sure that teams are playing at the right level. A team getting stuffed week in week out does nothing for them and nothing for the competition. A team overstretching itself to compete is simply slow suicide. Holding back the top so that someone who can’t compete without it, damages the entire game.

If Fev are wanting to come up and be promoted as part of a plan to grow to the level of the big boys (and lets not forget, it is an unfortunate fact but they are playing catch up aswell) then fine. If they want to be promoted because they like the idea of mixing it with the big boys but have no realistic plan for growing to a level where they can be sustainable competing with the big boys then it is a terrible idea which damages the competition they are promoted to, and themselves.

The ‘bean counters’ aren’t counting beans to see who wins, but to make sure that clubs are competing at a level which maximises games and the clubs potential.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Thu Aug 29, 2013 3:33 pm  

Unfortunately i'm not a club shareholder or director and don't know the strategy they have in place.

I think the answers are relevant, because without improving what we have then how can we become a powerhouse? You have to build it up slowly over time and they are.

In regards to the changes of the game, where are we? Has anything been officially announced?

Seeing 12, 14, 16, 18 or 20 teams all at the same level as Leeds would be incredible. I think the licensing system has started to see some clubs really improve, whilst others have had some major hiccups on the way.

IMO the top of the Championship this season has been the most exciting yet and was shown last night.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Thu Aug 29, 2013 3:42 pm  

Chris.Taylor wrote:

Unfortunately i'm not a club shareholder or director and don't know the strategy they have in place.

I think the answers are relevant, because without improving what we have then how can we become a powerhouse? You have to build it up slowly over time and they are.

How are you going to catch up by building slowly? Is everyone else expected to only build slowly aswell? Im not having a go at Fev, but simply this idea that clubs can just keep doing relatively small things and improving relatively small things and everything will be ok. It wont. Im not saying that we don’t need to improve these small things but for Fev to catch up to the big boys its going to take some bloody huge improvements and im not saying they can’t do these huge improvements, just that the system we put in place needs to A)give them the best chance of making these improvements and B) not promote to a level they can’t sustain if they can’t make these improvements.

In regards to the changes of the game, where are we? Has anything been officially announced?

Seeing 12, 14, 16, 18 or 20 teams all at the same level as Leeds would be incredible. I think the licensing system has started to see some clubs really improve, whilst others have had some major hiccups on the way.

Should be confirmed pretty soon I would think.

IMO the top of the Championship this season has been the most exciting yet and was shown last night.

I agree. And the championship is a good competition that people enjoy. Helping to build and facilitate that competition as a breeding ground, in pretty much all ways should be the way we should go. The best youngsters should be playing in the championship and not in youth teams or not at all, marketing and building that competition would give a club like Fev the opportunity to get the infrastructure they needed in place if they are to ever be an SL side.

This new format will destroy the 2nd tier of the game.