When will the Tykes have their own identity?

By Timofe
May 9 2004

At his post-match review talk after the Sale game, Jon Callard expressed some of his concerns for the future of the club, in particular its identity. What can we do to improve the situation?

Yes, the Tykes is a relatively new club compared to some in the Premiership; yes, we are a small part of the sporting scene in Leeds; yes, we draw our support from the far reaches of Yorkshire and beyond. However, we have a team and an increasingly loyal fan base (looking at the number of season tickets sold year on year).

What we don’t have is a home. At Headingley the facilities are great, bars plentiful and prices variable, however, which bit of Headingley is undeniably Tykes only? I’ll go further: if the Tykes left Headingley, what would change? They’d have to take a hoarding down (maybe even two) and clear out a bit of merchandising from the shop. Would there be any other visual changes? Do we live there?

We play at Headingley, but outside the corporate facilities what is there to show for it? We haven't even got a sign that says to the passing public when our next game is. Is it any wonder that we have so few fans within walking distance of the ground? 40% of Rhinos supporters walk to games (according to Leeds Rugby’s own research). Corporate facilities are one thing, but even the users of those facilities have told me that they are surprised how little attention is given to the normal punters.

Yes, there’s Chandos (and I don’t mean any disrespect to them) but unless you’ve been a fan for more than three years you may not know about it. We don’t play there so there’s no obvious reason to go there. If you’re interested, check out this site’s history page for more information.

Sorry, but success on the pitch is not enough. I realise that we've only been a big name since we got into the Premiership, but it's been nearly ten years since the club was formed. When does it mature?

Representatives of your LTSA had a long chat to JC after his comments to offer our support. He's very frustrated that the Tykes have no "home" (my word, not his). I've lost track of the numbers of offers we've made to the company to discuss the direction the fans would like the club to take. We need to work together so that we all belong there.

Let's start a campaign to take residence at the ground. I'm not asking for much - how about a Tykes wall in the Long Room or, better yet, a Tykes wall in the Supporters' Club as well? The new management in there are keen to redress the historical balance (and the beer is significantly cheaper!).

Jon mentioned the achievements of this year, with Ronnie’s World Cup medal, Clive’s U21 Grand Slam, the Tykes first foray into the Heineken cup and our first cup semi-final, but what about the achievements of other players at the club? How many players have played for their national side? How many have played for England? How many have played for England A? Do you know? Are you told? There are plenty to go at!

On match days how about a reason to go to the game other than the rugby? Mainly, I'm referring to things for kids to do here. I have two young children who I'd love to bring to games (with their full-price paying mother), but they get bored after 20 minutes. Why not follow the example of other Premiership clubs and shell out £30 for a bouncy castle for the day? If I can afford to hire one for a birthday party the club can afford one for match days.

How about a competition or two (and I don't mean for the right to buy international tickets). Something as simple as giving a signed ball away each game would be cheap and easy to do, yet provide another reason for going to games.

How about providing food (other than the £2.50 hot dogs and associated burgers, etc)? Get people there before the game to eat on a Sunday and they'll stay for the afternoon.

To paraphrase JFK, in addition to what the club can do for you, what are you prepared to do to help out? Do you bring your friends to games? Are you a member of the Supporter's Association? Do you wear the merchandise you bought other than on match days? Do you receive and display posters announcing the next game? Do you talk to the coaches or players in the Long Room after the game? If not, why not? Have you told anyone about your views? I'm as guilty as anybody. We can all help out in some way to make this club ours, but only if all of us pull together.

Any other ideas? Hit the message board – we’ve only got three and a half months to make a difference!