TheButcher wrote:Fridays do more harm than good. Just look at it!
Since say 1997, I'm quite sure Super League averages for Friday night matches are higher than those on Sundays; but as I alluded to before, the figures, rather than being a true indicator for the preference of the match day, are probably skewed by us having a more attractive team to watch for the bulk of the Friday night period.
Families with young children can go either way on this issue based on their lifestyles. Yes, it's true that a lot may be put off by the late finish of a Friday night. Some, however, will prefer Friday nights, because it gives them the remainder of the [proper] weekend to have a mini break, head off to the caravan, or just have a rest day on a Sunday.
Although personally I'd prefer Salford to play its home matches on Sundays, it wouldn't surprise me if the difference in preference between the two days was negligible. Favouring corporate sponsorship over paying supporters, whilst pragmatic, is set never going to sit well with many of us on here; but I am glad that we aren't relying so much on away support bolstering our coffers — which was always a bone of contention on this forum in, shall we say, the pre-Trish era.
Again, I'll come back to what I and others mentioned previously: the issue with attendances is more to do with the spectacle. Is it attractive enough? Does it offer value for money?
One of Salford's largest modern day attendances was against Leeds in 2007. It was played on a Friday night, in Weaste, in a century-old ground. Regardless, all the elements for a good spectacle were there: it was the first match of the season, Salford had come off a very encouraging previous year placing 5th, Leeds were the Super League champions and we hadn't defeated them since 1993/4 (?). A potential upset was on the cards — it stands to reason that more people are going to
want to see this.
The Salford team at present has regressed to the Harveyesque period of unpredictability. Most of the time, Salford will lose, and lose poorly; but now and again, they'll pull off the most unlikeliest of victories. This is opposite to the Harrison era where Salford were solid, rarely pushed around at home, but were as likely, if not less likely, to cause a massive upset. The problem for us now is that the latter of the two approaches is a safer bet, and a more encouraging watch overall.