A Comment From The Club

[Stevie]

Following Monday's announcement of the 2009 Co-operative Championship fixtures Vikings' Chief Executive Alex Bonney has issued the following statement.
"From the end of the 2008 season we made it clear to both the RFL and our fans that for the 2009 season we would elect to play our home games on a Friday night for both playing and commercial reasons.

"However, the RFL have the authority to veto the staging of any of these games if it would impact on the full-time employment of players with part-time clubs and given the unique make up of the division, with there being only one other Lancashire club in the league, this has had an effect on the number of games we can stage on a Friday evening.

"The fixtures against Toulouse, both home and away, were always going to be staged on a Saturday night as part of their entry into the competition. We then canvassed the rest of the clubs in the division to see if they would be willing to play on a Friday night.

"Fixtures were arranged with those who gave a positive response but some were unable to do so given their players' work commitments. However, the overall response was a keenness to play evening fixtures and the decision was taken that where a Friday night fixture was not achievable we would look to play on a Saturday at a time which would not eat into fans Saturday evening social commitments. Vikings' staff did conduct a survey with a number of fans to ascertain the favoured kick off time on a Saturday.

"One of our initial reasons for the change from a Sunday to Friday was the lack of competition from the Premier League. Whilst on occasions the Saturday night fixtures might clash with a televised football game, there will be less of an impact as there would be on a Sunday when Sky TV tends to show games at 2pm and 4pm as the Premier League season draws to a close.


"We believe that 2009 will be a great season for the Club and it is our aim to make match night, whether that be a Friday or Saturday, a great event at the Stobart Stadium Halton. In 2008 we broke the league attendance record and it is our ambition, with your support, to break it again in 2009.

"Finally, as the festive season approaches, may I, on behalf of the players, staff and directors here at Widnes Vikings wish you, and us, a prosperous 2009!"

 

 

[manxviking]

Forgive me, but won't 6pm Saturday games clash with televised rugby league games?

[yoda]

Forgive me, but won't 6pm Saturday games clash with televised rugby league games?

Yep.

And doesn't the season also overlap with the amateur game, who play on saturdays..?

[manxviking]

true...and trying to get from Prenton Park to the HS in an hour on a Saturday........





........well I'll let you know if it can be done on 21st Feb

[King Viking]

Forgive me, but won't 6pm Saturday games clash with televised rugby league games?

5.15pm football games, and 6pm rugby league games.

It would be interesting to know if any users of this board were surveyed?

[yoda]

true...and trying to get from Prenton Park to the HS in an hour on a Saturday........





........well I'll let you know if it can be done on 21st Feb

Did it for a sky game once, just about do-able if the bridge is clear 

[pastplayer]

I'm not a great fan of the change but we'll just have to get on with it and support the team whenever they play. Alex Bonney mentions about us breaking the NL1 attendance record last year and wanting to beat it again this year, but taking a slightly different slant on it, 4 or 5 of our Saturday home games take place at the same time as CEltic home games, so wouldn't it be nice to get 2 or 3 times the crowd of Celtics on every occaission? I know we wouldn't gain anything from but it would be nice anyhow.

[neilw]

I'm not a great fan of the change but we'll just have to get on with it and support the team whenever they play. Alex Bonney mentions about us breaking the NL1 attendance record last year and wanting to beat it again this year, but taking a slightly different slant on it, 4 or 5 of our Saturday home games take place at the same time as CEltic home games, so wouldn't it be nice to get 2 or 3 times the crowd of Celtics on every occaission? I know we wouldn't gain anything from but it would be nice anyhow.

Good point PP that would be nice to do each time this happens. I would prefer the Friday night but I can totally see why some clubs would not want to play on a work day night. People need to realise that everyone has bills to pay and in the current climate things are tight and as said some are under clouds of possible redundancy so need to be very careful what time they take off work.

Thurs, Frid, Sat & Sun will be the norm until we can get into SL IMO. Only then will we be able to switch fully to Friday with the odd game on Sat plus the away days on Sundays.

[Janet C]

I received a telephone call from an employee of the club on 24th Nov, asking me if our home matches were played on a Saturday would I prefer a 6pm or a 7pm kick-off. I don't know how they decided who to contact, but I am a season ticket holder just for the record.

[Spelly]

Sheffield have played a lot on Fridays, and I've never seen anything about the RFL stepping in. But isn't there a computer fair or summat at the Don Valley on a Sunday? Perhaps that's why our leaders continue to let the away fans do battle with the wall-to-wall Friday evening traffic, to get to Eagles' matches. Also, Rotherham United soccer are now playing at the Don Valley, so that will rule out the possibility of a few Saturdays for Aston's Mob.

(Selfishly) I'm not a great lover of Friday night games, as it's too much of a rush, and on Saturday evenings, a certain young(ish) lady expects me to take her out, so Sunday afternoons suit me (and her) down to the ground!

But if the Lions played on the dark side of the Moon at 2.00am on a Monday morning, I'd be there! 

Spelly.

Swinton till I die!

 

[Pop Cider]

Well the shower of bounties! No consideration given at all for us shift workers. We who have to work Thurs, Friday and Saturday Nights and Sunday afternoons have been shafted well and truly. Doesn't S O'C and S Mac realise how hard it is to swap shifts to go and watch our beloved club? I really feel sorry for all these day workers and housewives/husbands who are winging about kick off times. If we are playing on a Saturday at 6.00pm then go along and cheer the lads on. If you prefer to watch 'Strictly X-Jungle' then stay in front of the box. And no true fan would stay in and watch the Wire v Huddersfield rather than the Vikings live.

[TEZLEY]

There were no complaints by the RFL when Salford and Sheffield played friday games

[Spelly]

Well the shower of bounties! No consideration given at all for us shift workers. We who have to work Thurs, Friday and Saturday Nights and Sunday afternoons have been shafted well and truly. Doesn't S O'C and S Mac realise how hard it is to swap shifts to go and watch our beloved club? I really feel sorry for all these day workers and housewives/husbands who are winging about kick off times. If we are playing on a Saturday at 6.00pm then go along and cheer the lads on. If you prefer to watch 'Strictly X-Jungle' then stay in front of the box. And no true fan would stay in and watch the Wire v Huddersfield rather than the Vikings live.

You have my sympathy, and admiration mate! I'd hate to work shifts!

My job is 9(ish) to 5(ish) Monday to Friday, which makes it pretty easy to work the fixtures around.

Phil Wood the hooker we got from you, has occasionally missed a game through work, but to his credit, the day we won that heart-stopping golden point game down at the Celts, he'd worked a 12 hour shift the previous night, and grabbed a quick kip in the car, as his his girl-friend drove him to Bridgend! 

Spelly.

 

[Brynhild]

Well at least we have a comment from the club now and know that its not exactly their choice.

I'd don't see why Saturday has now been chosen instead of putting it back to sunday, but all credit to SOC for sticking to his guns. We're not going to get a lot out of these next three years so why shouldn't he try some new things to see if they do/don't work now, before breaking the bank when we're in SL.

[Neil]

Erm excuse me if i sound a bit thick.... Ok some clubs have part time players and wrok commitments etc etc etc.... But why Saturday evening at a time that is seriously inconvenient for a lot of people... Surely Sunday would be the logical alternative Seems very strange to me...

Fly