It was great at Oakwell......
Think it was Matt's first ever game???
And a mere ten minute walk for me too!

I wonder if the Barnsley Chronicle have taken interest in what ME has done/is doing?
I know they did put a small mention in the Chronicle when he bought the club- would have thought with him being a Barnsley lad, they'd have shown a little interest - perhaps they already have?

I'm no marketing expert by any means but none the less the starting point is young school kids in my opinion in the Barnsley area .

Through schools perhaps you could have a few players going along and maybe doing a bit of touch rugby league with them and a Q&A session afterwards perhaps .

They could give away some free tickets with a parent also receiving them , you'd probably have to pick a non school night and possibly the warmer time of the season .

Saturday 5th July home to the Catalan Dragons looks perfect given Catalan don't bring any fans so the free tickets would be perfect for the West Terrace maybe and you aren't really losing out on income .

What's killing BFC is the lack of any connection between fans and ownership these days , back in the day this was always something the club had , the club was always right in the heart of the community and something the town could be proud of .

That's taken a huge knock these days , it's not necessarily the results or the the fact the club are in league one for the third consecutive season , we've had spells like this before and worst times but the fan base didn't feel the disconnect like they do right now .

The one thing Rugby League and especially Trinity are good at is it's connection with its fan base , the community projects they do and with Matt on board this has gone to a higher level with the improvement in facilities .

I'm convinced targeting the Barnsley area would reap rewards given where the club want to go on the field .

Honestly there's never been a better time than right now to do this because BFC aren't getting their act together anytime soon and may well get even worse on the field .

I understand exactly what you're saying.

I've supported a football team for over 50 years and I still love the club (it doesn't matter which one). But I hate the way football has gone recently, and because there is effectively an infinite demand for tickets - certainly at Premier League games - the fans are treated with utter contempt. I'll always follow my team, as it's been my whole life - but I've been supporting Wakey now for a couple of years. And I love it. I just get the feeling that they actually value my support, instead of trying to fleece me. I feel appreciated

I love it that I can just go online and buy a ticket. I don't have to have had some expensive special membership for donkeys years.

I can stand up on a terrace, just like I used in the good old days.

I can go into the ground without being bodily searched and made to feel like a terrorist.

I can cheer on players who aren't paid £100,000's per week, and don't roll around faking injury every time someone comes within 2 feet of them.

I'm a newcomer, but basically I love it. There must be more like me out there. I can't be the only one.

You aren't the only one by any means WT , I introduced the wife to Trinity last season , by her own admission she never thought she'd be into Rugby League even though she's a very keen football fan .

A work mate was supposed to be going to the opening game against the Bulls and couldn't make it at the last minute so she stepped in so as not to let the ticket go to waste .

Absolutely loves it and gets really in to it too , arguing like a good un with some Fev fans in the home game , I can't win an argument with her either so I knew they'd no chance .

Now she's got the new Trinity shirt to go with the Wembley one from last season and we are now both ST holders in the NF Stand .

Barnsley lass through and through but loves Trinity , the same thing happened to me when I first walked through those turnstiles at Belle Vue over 40 years ago , that's all it takes no matter where your from , as soon as the club get in your blood your a Trinity fan just as much as someone from Sandal or Stanley .

I agree with you entirely BT. I held a Barndsley FC season ticket for the last 22 years as well as a Trinity ticket, but packed in for several reasons thus: a} New team and new manager every season. You just get to know the players when it's "all change" once again, b) Too many Tuesday evening games in freezing wet weather,c) That long hike from the East Stand up Belgrave Avenue that nearly did me in on many occasions, d) A 15 minute car journey extended to a 70 minute journey when I started parking at the ground, owing to traffic congestion.

I've always thought that there was a large number of potential new Trinity fans in the Barnsley area. Not long ago there seemed to be a growing amateur RL scene in t'Tarn. We Played both Sheffield and St Helens at Oakwell in the not too distant past.

Matt, himself a Staincross lad, would seem the ideal ambassador to attract the fans across to Belle Vue

I remember reading the club news a couple of seasons ago or so and was pleasantly surprised at how many schools in that area we had officers/coaches going into. There were about 6 or 7 schools we linked up with if I remember rightly. It's an area we get fans from, we even landed ourselves with a great fan at the Oakwell many years ago that turned up trumps for us, can't think who though. Plus it's an area we've actively gone into schools to attract talent. I'm not sure where we stand at present but I wouldn't be surprised if we haven't kept up with the work we were doing in the South Yorkshire area under Carter and even taken it to the next level. It would be a good question for our Junior development guys or even DP.

There are some really good points in this thread. It would be worth someone (with the relevant local knowledge), dropping the club an Email at info@wakefieldtrinity.com and giving some feedback/suggestions. I dropped them an Email sometime back with a suggestion about ticketing, and had a good reply back - so they really were interested to have suggestions/feedback.

There are some really good points in this thread. It would be worth someone (with the relevant local knowledge), dropping the club an Email at info@wakefieldtrinity.com and giving some feedback/suggestions. I dropped them an Email sometime back with a suggestion about ticketing, and had a good reply back - so they really were interested to have suggestions/feedback.

WT_Midlander wrote:There are some really good points in this thread. It would be worth someone (with the relevant local knowledge), dropping the club an Email at info@wakefieldtrinity.com and giving some feedback/suggestions. I dropped them an Email sometime back with a suggestion about ticketing, and had a good reply back - so they really were interested to have suggestions/feedback. I did that, and also had a chat with Matt at the Forum, but obviously understand that he has quite a few things going on.... We even discussed my local which he's been in and knows some of my fellow punters there! Will drop the club a line.

WT_Midlander wrote:There are some really good points in this thread. It would be worth someone (with the relevant local knowledge), dropping the club an Email at info@wakefieldtrinity.com and giving some feedback/suggestions. I dropped them an Email sometime back with a suggestion about ticketing, and had a good reply back - so they really were interested to have suggestions/feedback. I did that, and also had a chat with Matt at the Forum, but obviously understand that he has quite a few things going on.... We even discussed my local which he's been in and knows some of my fellow punters there! Will drop the club a line.

Bit of a random one to throw in here but the YouTube site has had very few updates now for weeks.

The content on there has taken a nose dive recently. Last season saw it raise from nothing to 3.5k subscribers.

I do know that there is a lot going on with improvements and pre season starting and that they absolutely should take priority but it would be nice if the hard work continues on all the SM platforms.

It’s Christmas coming up and it would be nice to have some festive content videos etc with players to further grow the SM side (something we successfully started last season).