Re: The Guardian/Andy Wilson : Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:59 pm  

Gazemous wrote:

Because Hull FC have a quality stadium, 10,000 season ticket holders and a turnover over £4million - three key things that Super League clubs need to have going forward and the reason why they don't need to merge, nor are under pressure to merge. Neither Cas nor Wakey have even one of these things - which is why people question the future for the clubs. Unless there is a significant chance of getting these things in the near future (there isn't), the merger talk will not die soon.

I've already said I have massive reservations about a merger, but the fact is that if we don't get bricks laid at Glasshoughton in the imminent future, our last hope of remaining an independent club in the highest tier of the game will have gone. Now, there are plenty of people (me being one of them) who would support Cas in the National Leagues (whether Cas could support themselves financially is another thing altogether), but we shouldn't be focused on placating the old fans, but attracting the next generation to the game with a successful franchise.

The other consideration is that the Cas area has the best RL schools in the country, the town owes it to those players to have a Super League club on their doorstep to aspire to play for. Alternatively, we could just let local new RL fans and local RL players go to Leeds and Bradford and just let the club die as a part-time entity.

I fail to see where cas placate the old fans, there schools policy is a good one encouraging young ones to come down, But to just ignore the 40+ fans is a retrograde step, i for one was brought down in my youth by my grandfather who was at that time in his 40's and alot nore people i know now are taken down by their grandparents, what are you saying these people should be ignored, All fans young and old should be encouraged, After all we profess to be a family club, or are you only part of the rugby league family untill you reach 40 ?

Re: The Guardian/Andy Wilson : Sun Jun 20, 2010 7:06 pm  

Speedy wrote:

untill you reach 40 ?

I'm well pasted it then.

Re: The Guardian/Andy Wilson : Sun Jun 20, 2010 7:14 pm  

poppys mum wrote:

I'm well pasted it then.

We

Re: The Guardian/Andy Wilson : Tue Jun 22, 2010 12:58 pm  

jus@casvegas wrote:

A merged club will end my 35 year interest in rugby league stone dead.
Cas in championship i could live with ive done it twice before.

For one year each time. If your club was consigned to the lower divisions indefinitely then it's reasonable to assume that your support levels would be similar to that of clubs already in that situation. So although you might keep watching, there's plenty who wouldn't. Having said that, I doubt that a merged club would be successful.

Re: The Guardian/Andy Wilson : Tue Jun 22, 2010 2:05 pm  

Lots of people seem to want to rubbish the idea, and I am not saying it IS a good idea - but to ignore it is to ignore an option.
It is easy to criticise, but not easy to suggest anything constructuve and it is easy to say things 'wont work' but what will?

For instance 5 years ago I would not have considered a viable business model for a shop that sells garbage quality sub-standard goods and everything for a quid - but it is a strong and successful business.
7 years ago a specialist fast food chain in every high street franchised selling sandwiches for more money than your local butty shop?
7 years ago Woollies going from every high street?

What I am trying to say is, if you capture a market and work that market well - then you can afford to strain relations with some of the demographic - becuase you invest in the future of the brand....... Sport supporters are like smokers in many marketing ways - that you are always losing them from the top end and that is sustainable and profitable if you can keep recruiting them in to the bottom end. Don't like that example, but it kinda fits.

Stop thinking about the badge and your emotions for a moment or two and think about it as a business - becuase ultimately the business of sport is what funds the on-field activities, not the other way round anymore. And if the stadia and merger happened tomorrow in a puff of fairy dust - if the new club still maintained the values of Cas and Wakey or Cas and Fev for that matter and still felt like part of the community and there was a CC final appearance and a GF appearance by 2015 and 4 or 5 rep players in the team - I think peoples objections would soon seem less important, mine would.

There is of course the middle ground of a shared stadia, which I really like the idea of but that in a lot of ways is more complex from a funding and business perspective to get off the ground.

Like I said before, I am not endorsing it, just throwing an option out. We could take the favourite tried and trusted route - blame Richard for lackign ambition, Jack for not throwing money at it and Terry for being a crap coach - that'll do it!

Re: The Guardian/Andy Wilson : Tue Jun 22, 2010 2:19 pm  

I must admit i've thought about it and chatted with other fans on the issue recently. I'm a Cas fan and always will be but as you say mdean, the option as a business has to be at least looked into. Not because RFL says we have to, or Eddie and Stevo or any other numpty journalist. Looking at the FA premier league, which teams in the last 20 years has managed to compete with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United? Leeds United made it for a season and then died on their booty. Arsenal have made a good push, but they were a pretty decent sized club anyway. Chelsea have come into it more so recently thanks to a super billionaire throwing money at them. Multimillionaires are the only chance for any smaller club. Even Manchester City are thought of as a big team now simply because they have a money man behind them.

Where is our big money man? I don't know of any billionaire Cas fans and i would very much doubt any other billionaire would see Cas as a way of making more money. So that avenue is pretty much dead. Our option recently is to build a shiny new stadium and hope/expect that with this comes success, "because Warrington have done it". For me, as a business plan, that statement is absolutely shocking. Warrington didn't just build a new stadium.

A merged Cas, Wakey and even Fev team could become successful. I think that success would come much easier though than convincing many fans like myself. The problem with our game is it's history and tradition. We look at the NRL and dream our competition could be as strong. Then when someone mentions throwing in a merger or a franchise club like Castleford Trinity Rovers or whatever, we all moan and outright refuse to support it. I do believe it could work but haven't the faintest idea how anyone would bring us all together. not that this is my dream or anything of course. I'd much prefer Cas and Wakey, and even Fev to do it the hard way and succeed.

Re: The Guardian/Andy Wilson : Tue Jun 22, 2010 2:36 pm  

mdean wrote:

Lots of people seem to want to rubbish the idea, and I am not saying it IS a good idea - but to ignore it is to ignore an option.
It is easy to criticise, but not easy to suggest anything constructuve and it is easy to say things 'wont work' but what will?

For instance 5 years ago I would not have considered a viable business model for a shop that sells garbage quality sub-standard goods and everything for a quid - but it is a strong and successful business.
7 years ago a specialist fast food chain in every high street franchised selling sandwiches for more money than your local butty shop?
7 years ago Woollies going from every high street?

What I am trying to say is, if you capture a market and work that market well - then you can afford to strain relations with some of the demographic - becuase you invest in the future of the brand....... Sport supporters are like smokers in many marketing ways - that you are always losing them from the top end and that is sustainable and profitable if you can keep recruiting them in to the bottom end. Don't like that example, but it kinda fits.

Stop thinking about the badge and your emotions for a moment or two and think about it as a business - becuase ultimately the business of sport is what funds the on-field activities, not the other way round anymore. And if the stadia and merger happened tomorrow in a puff of fairy dust - if the new club still maintained the values of Cas and Wakey or Cas and Fev for that matter and still felt like part of the community and there was a CC final appearance and a GF appearance by 2015 and 4 or 5 rep players in the team - I think peoples objections would soon seem less important, mine would.

There is of course the middle ground of a shared stadia, which I really like the idea of but that in a lot of ways is more complex from a funding and business perspective to get off the ground.

Like I said before, I am not endorsing it, just throwing an option out. We could take the favourite tried and trusted route - blame Richard for lackign ambition, Jack for not throwing money at it and Terry for being a crap coach - that'll do it!

The thing is the fans dont spend there hard earned cash to support a business, they do it to support a club, take away there club and replacing it with another is, for me, no differant to saying 'right the clubs folding go support huddersfield or bradford.' Why should cas fans be forced to have any loyalty to another club? a club that would no doubt be called wakefield since some marketing pen pusher who has never seen a game of rugby in his life will go 'ah thats the name of the district, it represents them all' when nothing could be further from the truth. Maybe not at first but there is no doubt in my mind thats what would happen.

Re: The Guardian/Andy Wilson : Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:58 am  

A merger would mean the death of Castleford RLFC, that is enough of an argument against a merger for me.

Re: The Guardian/Andy Wilson : Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:03 pm  

I didn't spend a night at post office road with a red and White no merger sticker on my programme and shouting my lungs out at half time just to give up on 'MY' clubs singular identity now.
Supporting Cas is the same for me as my beloved Everton, I made my choice.

A club is for life.

Re: The Guardian/Andy Wilson : Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:45 pm  

It's like listening to the con dems all this Sh!te. if you say it long enough people will get used to it, tell you what, if you want to support any team other than catleford tigers rlfc, then do us all a favour and foxtrot oscar, but dont you dare tell me or any other harden cas fans that has supported the club for as many years as i care to remember to support a load of fabricated bollox as what your suggesting. Remember gateshull - or shudds giants,(and they got a million quid to do it) good examples of mergers arent they !!!!