RIP - Swinton Lions RLFC (1866 -2019)...
So, today the Rugby League team I have supported for 30 years has decided to change its' name to become more 'marketable', it is not moving grounds or even area, it is just switching the place name from the suburb of Salford it came from to the City we are currently playing in, Manchester.
Same team, same colours, same logo (with two words moved around), different name. Why the hubbub?
In Britain, this is totally out of character, in North America, it comes with the territory. The result, half the team's supporters are up in arms and have said that today will be the last time they go to a game.
Now, if we already had loads of supporters, or many guaranteed and ready to support Manchester, this wouldn't matter so much but we don't. It is a risky strategy, but one that needs to be tried; Swinton's fanbase is an ageing one, there are some kids, teens and twenty-somethings but it is largely forty plus with many pensioners and when central funding from the TV deal gets cut in 2021, the club (if it isn't already) will become unviable then. Something has to give.
I get the logical side of it but the emotional side of it, the supporters sing 'Swinton' more than 'Lions' and that it is the place where I grew up, as opposed to Manchester, where I now reside.
Perhaps it is me resisting the World changing and a piece of my childhood that I thought would always be there drifting into oblivion? Things will never be the same again, although it may be similar and sometimes that's eerier.
Today was lovely - Toni, Travis, Paul and his Dad, Kerry's Dad joined the regulars of me and my Dad, Stevo, Julian, my cousin Rick, Spelly and Mackenzie etc and the ground was bouncing as we smashed Sheffield Eagles 48-16... but that was still only 800 people. We need 2,000 to try to compete and prosper in the long term.
What I do know is, that I would prefer an alive club called Manchester Lions, than a dead one called Swinton Lions. That's the bottom line and if history isn't paying the bills anymore, we'll have to suck it up and try something new.
Same team, same colours, same logo (with two words moved around), different name. Why the hubbub?
In Britain, this is totally out of character, in North America, it comes with the territory. The result, half the team's supporters are up in arms and have said that today will be the last time they go to a game.
Now, if we already had loads of supporters, or many guaranteed and ready to support Manchester, this wouldn't matter so much but we don't. It is a risky strategy, but one that needs to be tried; Swinton's fanbase is an ageing one, there are some kids, teens and twenty-somethings but it is largely forty plus with many pensioners and when central funding from the TV deal gets cut in 2021, the club (if it isn't already) will become unviable then. Something has to give.
I get the logical side of it but the emotional side of it, the supporters sing 'Swinton' more than 'Lions' and that it is the place where I grew up, as opposed to Manchester, where I now reside.
Perhaps it is me resisting the World changing and a piece of my childhood that I thought would always be there drifting into oblivion? Things will never be the same again, although it may be similar and sometimes that's eerier.
Today was lovely - Toni, Travis, Paul and his Dad, Kerry's Dad joined the regulars of me and my Dad, Stevo, Julian, my cousin Rick, Spelly and Mackenzie etc and the ground was bouncing as we smashed Sheffield Eagles 48-16... but that was still only 800 people. We need 2,000 to try to compete and prosper in the long term.
What I do know is, that I would prefer an alive club called Manchester Lions, than a dead one called Swinton Lions. That's the bottom line and if history isn't paying the bills anymore, we'll have to suck it up and try something new.