Not only do Fev lift the League Leaders Shield for the third consecutive year but also lead the way on how to run a championship club!



Their average attendance this season for the Co-Operative Championship is 2,283 which is a 38% increase on 2011. To achieve this average attendance and to have 1,000 season ticket holders shows how quickly the club is growing.



Commercially, they have had record bar sales as well as sold out hospitality at many of their home games, that’s what happens when unlike us they own their own stadia!



I think it’s about time the Leigh Centurions board stepped up to the mark off the field like our coach Paul Rowley has on the field, I might add a coach our board didn’t want until pressure at the fans forums made them re think.



In stark contrast to what the board at Fev are telling their fan’s at the last fans forum all we heard is Trevor Barton patting everybody on the back like he always does but we still have a massive overdraft of some £90K, the bank is reducing our overdraft facility, we can’t pay a £9k tax bill and all this is because our crowds are down, averaging 1,500 instead of the 1,800 -2,200 as in the budget.



To top it all we are told we lost 350 season ticket holders but because we increased the price we didn’t lose any revenue! I wonder why? Perhaps losing our Sunday afternoon games and choosing Friday nights instead, not rocket science is it!



I have heard so much this past year and its fantastic what Paul Rowley is doing on the field as well as off it securing a squad that has bags of potential to take the club forward.



However my message to the Leigh board is get your act together! Firstly by stopping the loss of fans and season ticket holders because once you lose a fan it’s 10 times harder to get them back.



I know the board are trying with their recent questionnaire but stick to what you know works and when a business is in trouble you never jeopardise a steady revenue stream as the board did by changing our games from Sunday afternoons, even after the fans were told we would be playing on Sunday!



It’s been said so many times but the club has to improve the match day experience because it’s still dire! As fans we have raised this so many times and people are not going to part with their hard earned cash to get what is being dished up at Leigh before and after the match, and to top it all be ripped off with exorbitant beer prices! £3.20p for a can that cost 80p less that 500mtrs outside the ground! (Morrison’s)



I know I hear the board saying it’s nothing to do with them beer and food prices its LSV. So at the last fans forum they told us how well it was working with LSV co so let’s see just how well it is working by asking them to do something about it to help the club and themselves attract more fans.



Unlike other clubs whose board members invest in their club our board members are not putting any money in the club. It’s down to the fans and their generosity, like supporting LISA and the lottery that is going to keep the club going with the ultimate goal of the club being self sufficient.



I think the plan will be with the money we get from the RFL next season it will clear the overdraft etc. But never count your chickens until they hatch if that is the plan.



Perhaps I have missed something this season but apart from cutting cost and a lot of patting each other on the back I am still trying to see what the board has really achieved.



Measure of a good board is hitting and exceeding budget, driving growth and maintaining financial stability none of which the Leigh board of directors have achieved.



I am sure if the team’s performance was the same on the field changes would be made!



I wonder what changes the board is going to make to address these problems for next season and beyond. Or like this season is it going to be the same old same old, excuse after excuse.



I think a good start would be to set a realistic budget, increase sponsorship whilst attracting new revenue streams and a better match day experience to bring back the fans and season ticket holders we have lost!



See its not only on the field we need to step up to the mark with Fev but off it too!

Bungo

Why do you need to leave spaces in between paragraphs?

I'd have thought turning the club from the brink of extinction with 4 contracted players to being second in the league, Challenge Cup Quarter Finalists and NRC semi finalists with 19 players contracted for the following season just 10 months later is pretty good going, personally.



Let's face it, the crowds were hardly pouring through the gates for Sunday's, and the games that have been on a Sunday this year have pretty much backed that up, so I think Friday's were a risk worth taking if it's been backed up by an increase in corporate income etc.



As for the catering etc, have a pint and summat to eat before the game, sorted.



I agree there is a lot of work to be done but given the situation last October I'd say the progress has been tremendous.



By the way, operating without any substantial investment from the board is something to be proud of in my eyes rather than something to knock! We've found out all too often ourselves what happens with an over reliance on funding from directors, so maintaining a good relationship with LISA and the lottery is surely preferable than directors throwing their money down a black hole?

Matt you should n`t ve responded leaving spaces in between paragraphs.....

I think this is a good post and if the board read this they should take note a lot of it makes good business sense. I think PR has done a fantstic job this season and hope ALL our supporters get behind him as he and the players deserve.

Sorry Matt cant agree with you about Sundays it was said at the last fans forum last season we averaged around 2300 per game and this season we are down to 1500 per game, dont see how you can say it was worth the risk losing so much revenue, fans and season ticket holders financial suicide in my humble opinion. Overdraft increased to £90K from £60K last season how is that an increase in corporate more like a £30k loss. Yep it is tremendous the progress from last season but what about the future?

How is the catering sorted? I know so many fans that dont even buy a pint let alone have something to eat unless you know something I don't? I get the point of the first poster on this one and agree with them about needing to get the budget right and attract new revenue streams. I would also add the club is so reliant on LISA that its so important to keep up the current membership and increase it year on year. A balance of revenue streams is so important, agree we don't want another senario like when AT pulled out but on current revenue streams its going to be difficult to move the club forward. Why do you say directors throwing money down a black hole?

I would like to point out that despite a very similar posting ' style ' , I am not the poster who started this thread, or the most recent one to reply

Haha I what a set up this thread is.



A new poster (read new username), decides to come on and slate the board, and lo and behold another new member posts in reply agreeing with everything the OP says.



Shame on you. If you want to have a go at the board and the way the club is run, at least be brave enough to do under your own identity.

Does seem rather strange , although one actually joined in march and had a dig re Andy Burnham!

Starbug - I think everyone on here knows that you would never hide behind a pseudonym.



I always ignore long, critical posts by members who are making their first contribution to the forum ( Bungo) or their second contribution (Tin Tin) especially when their prose styles are so similar that they are quite possibly the same person with an axe to grind...



Also, any one who says that we should only have Board members who will put a load of money into the club is so far off the mark that their opionion is, in my eyes, totally worthless.



I believe that our Board have done a very good job in circumstances which I don't think most people quite appreciate - we were days away from extinction.



Of course things can be better but the interaction with customers (fans) is better than it has ever been and the club are willing to try new things and, hopefully, learn from them.



Finally, the LSV cannot control the price of food and drink in the stadium any more than the Club can. The licence to operate the refreshment franchise is owned by a private company and until the franchise in rebid then they can do whatever they like! Harsh but true....

Some of the posters points are valid ones re getting more fans through the doors.

If we want that SL place in2015 we HAVE to Increase our fan base.

This years been all about trying to keep afloat on a small budget and we have managed that and finished second, so a massive amount of praise for all those who have made this possible.

Next season will be one were we can try and build.

We have Richie in place now and part of his job will be to market the club, it's a massive task but with the right backing from the board the club can make it work.

I'm looking forward to next season already.

I totally agree that there are areas which need working on and I don't think anyone, including the board, would dispute that. But I also agree with toadstool and anyone who posts in this manner should be treated with the contempt they deserve.

So there you have it folks, make a negative or critical post and be treated with contempt.