With the absence of any concrete figures for the Leigh Leopards, I thought that I would delve into the B rankings and see what I could find.
There are 7 A rated clubs, so from a Leigh perspective we can ignore them, because under the mock exams they all passed and are therefore exempt from relegation. 8-14 is were the real action is happening and there is a natural gap between these 7 groups and Featherstone and Widnes. Castleford have now had a recount approved, pushing Leigh into the relegation zone.
8. Salford Red Devils – B – 13.80 – Super League
9. Huddersfield Giants – B – 13.49 – Super League
10. Toulouse Olympique – B – 12.97 – Championship
11. Castleford Tigers – B – 12.91 – Super League
12. Wakefield Trinity – B – 12.52 – Championship
13. Leigh Leopards – B – 12.45 – Super League
14. Bradford Bulls – B – 12.02 – Championship
Previously mentioned are the results for Salford and Bradford, which give a reasonable indication of where the points were gained and lost. Leigh are more similar to Salford than Bradford so I will concentrate on their figures.
Salford's scorecard:
Performance – 3.43 points from 5
Fandom – 4.15 points from 5
Finances – 2.15 from 4.5
Stadium – 1.83 from 3
Community – 2.25 from 2.5
Performance – Max Points - 5
Each season all clubs in Tiers 1-3 (Men’s only) are ranked 1-36 based on their final league positions each season i.e. after all matches have been played in each season.
The season league rankings are calculated over the last three seasons
2023 – Salford 7th (3.3333) – Leigh 5th + Challenge Cup (3.5556) + (0.25) = (3.8056)
2022 – Salford 6th (3.4444) – Leigh 13th (2.6667)
2021 – Salford 11th (2.8889) – Leigh 12th (2.7778)
Average Score: Salford - 3.2222 (Actual Salford score 3.43) Leigh - 3.0833 or (3.000 + 025) – (3.2500) Depending on whether the Challenge Cup is averaged over 3 years or not.
Roughly speaking performance over the 3 years Salford are 7th and Leigh 11th.
Fandom – Max Points – 5
Attendance – Average over the last 3 years
2023 achieved 8th spot in the average attendance for the season, including a new record against Wigan (sell out) stadium restricted with the stage for bands.
8. Leigh Leopards – 7,254; Highest: 10,308 v Wigan (R27); Lowest: 5,423 v Castleford (R11)
Salford – 3 years in Super league >3000 – worth 2 points
Leigh – 2 years in Super League >3000 – worth 2 points
Viewership – Average over the last 3 years - >150K = 1 and <150K = 0.75
Salford – 1 point
Leigh – 0.75
Digital – Social Following – Website Visits – Total Engagements
Maximum score – 1.5 and minimum score – 0.33
Salford scored 1.15
Leigh – best guess 0.625
Totals
Salford 4.15
Leigh – 3.375
Finances – 4.5 (Overall Weighting 22.5%) – 3 year average
Absolutely no idea, but as an outsider Salford are a community club with no debts and no money (selling club) Leigh have a benefactor but no stability outside of the owner.
Maximum score 4.5 and minimum 1.40
Salford scored 2.15
Leigh probably scored around the same 2.15
Stadium – 3 (Overall Weighting 15%)
Facilities – 1.5
Salford 1.5
Leigh 1.5
Utilisation – 1
Salford - 0.2
Leigh - 0.2
Primacy of Tenure – 0.25
Salford 0
Leigh - 0
LED – 0.125
Salford - 0.125
Leigh - 0.125
Big Screen – 0.125
Salford - 0.125
Leigh - 0.125
Salford scored 1.83
Leigh best guess 1.83
Community 2.5 (Overall Weighting 15%)
Catchment – 1.5
Salford – 1.5
Leigh – 1
Foundation – 1
Salford – 0.75
Leigh – 0.75
Salford – 2.25
Leigh – 2.0
Summary
This is a best guess as to how the points are distributed. Some fields are nailed on certainties and others are comparisons to Salford and an attempt to reach the final scores published
Salford Leigh
Performance 3.43 3.1
Fandom 4.15 3.375
Finances 2.15 2.15
Stadium 1.83 1.83
Community 2.25 2
13.81 12.455
In my opinion a good season in 2024 will raise the score, but we lose 0.25 unless Leigh can win the Challenge Cup again.
There are no addition points to be gained from Stadium and Community, so the big areas of gain must come from Fandom and Finances. There are 0.5 points available if the Average attendance is >7500 but that is unlikely due to 1 of the years being in the championship.
Gains can be made from improving merchandising and hopefully Patrick is a step in the right direction and the website is now able to accommodate E-commerce. Stories abound of people being unable to buy replica shirts and around the time of Challenge Cup the stall on the market was an empty cupboard.
The biggest single area of improvement is Digital Scoring. This does not appear to have a 3 year average. This means that improvements in the next 12 months will have a direct impact. A possible 0.9 is available if the digital team can start to develop some content across Facebook, Instagram and the Leopards website.