I've been waiting for this subject to come up as a Barnsley lad born and bred and a Barnsley FC fan .

The time to put some work in to attracting new fans from over here is right now , probably as greater time than there's ever been .

Barnsley FC are losing fans by the hundreds , the club is in serious managed decline and the apathy surrounding the club is significant .

There's a huge opportunity to tap in to this apathy and direct it towards Trinity with a decent marketing strategy , I don't actually have any concerns about Barnsley losing fans to Trinity , firstly the two sports aren't competitors as such given RL is primarily a summer sport and my opinion Barnsley deserve to lose fans given the way the club is run and the overall match day experience and the state of the stadium .

If you were to talk to Matt Ellis he'd probably tell you the same .

Darton , Kexborough , Staincross , Mapplewell , Royston , Athersley are less than half an hour from Belle Vue , I live in Staincross and it takes less than 15 minutes to get to Belle Vue .

You get people coming through those turnstiles , decent match day experience with food and drink , a nice warm evening and a cracking Super League game and I'll guarantee you'll get many returning .

Many Barnsley fans are crying out for something else to do such is the apathy and I think it's not just BFC but the way football has now gone .

I've followed the club all over the country and fallen out with it big time and there are hundreds like me .

Just to add regarding Barnsley Council , they are very protective over Barnsley FC , they now own the ground , training facilities and surrounding land 100% .

They also know full well the Barnsley FC match day economy to the town .

I'm not certain they would be too enthusiastic about having links to Trinity if they saw them as a threat to BFC .

Trinity in my opinion would have to market the Barnsley area themselves .

Never mind mate, no-one will hold that against you....


Seriously, you're right about BFC - shockingly led club. My bro in law and nephew are season ticket holders and don't go to all the home games.... I haven't been since last season.
With Matt being a Barnsley lad, I think it would be easier for us to attract fans - I have emailed the club to offer any help and I have friends who are planning to come to a game next season.
Also, I think any potential fans that live near town ( I live in Old Town) or even Wombwell/Elsecar too, as they can catch the train as I do from Barnsley, so it could expand the area even further.

Yep, with Matts' enthusiasm I don;'t think we'd need Barnsley Council,,,,,

Think it's worth taking a loop fixture to Barnsley at some point.

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.

Quote ="WT_Midlander"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.

Quote ="WT_Midlander"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).

One other thing.

I was scrolling through SM reels earlier and I saw a reel of a sports team using their big screen to show fans but with filters on them such as crying filters etc.

I thought it would be quite a fun and novel thing to do for some light entertainment now we have a big screen perhaps pre match and half time.

Assuming the technology is there to do something like that.

We don’t necessarily have to do exactly that but there will be little ideas like this that could enhance game day.

Ellis mentioned he'd like to do things like that at the Shareholder meeting.

I too am a Barnsley supporter, but ultimately RL is my sport, and have gone off football over the past 15-20 years or so, and because of that struggle to justify shelling out on further ticket fees.

I do think trying to expand and tapping into the community is a great idea.

One question I would ask though, is it played in the schools, thats where to get them engaged

The other interest area to Trinity could be just in to Kirklees , I'm thinking about the Clayton West , Scissett , Denby Dale and Skelmanthorpe area which again has easy access to Wakefield and about half an hours drive to Belle Vue .

I don't believe it's a Giants hotbed , then again the Giants don't really have a hotbed so it's fair game territory in my opinion .

If it's a Huddersfield postcode it will already be in their score.
I assume you can't overlap, just pitch to include a new area.

Wakefield have been involved with Emley, Newsome and surrounding areas for a few years now, had some cracking young lads down especially Emley

Well Flockton is out that way and it has a Wakefield postcode.not sure about those named

I grew up in Emley and went to school in Skelmanthorpe and can confirm it’s HD8. Both Wakey and Giants do bits of outreach round there but there are more Huddersfield fans just because that’s where people identify with. BLM is right - Wakefield do more work with Emley Moor and their juniors so benefit from that. But ultimately it’s not got the potential fanbase Barnsley has, for all the reasons outlined by others above.

It's not about where we can develop players.
It's about where we can prove we develop players and I assume supporters in areas not covered by a rugby team.

So Barnsley is fair game but Huddersfield or Kirklees isn't. We can get players from there but it won't count as our area as it is already allocated to Huddersfield or Batley/Dewsbury

Otherwise Leeds could say Wakefield area is theirs.

Can Wigan or Warrington claim Las Vegas?