We need to create interest within the club and the town.The way to do that is to sign a good ex super league player who probably has a couple of seasons left in him.Someone like a Robbie Paul or a good play maker.People will then start talking about the club and maybe come down to watch the ex superstar.I hear you say "but where will the money come from to pay his wages". Simples,the directors will have to put their hands in their pockets and pay the wages,it happens at other clubs so why cant it happen at Cougar park.

I think you are right.

Something needs to be done.



Mind you people knowing, we had 9 points taken of us didn't help did it.

The clubs need to stop thinking like charities , and start thinking like businesses , ideally successful ones

Hit the nail squarely on the head there.



It seems most club directors' think that the only way to make a small fortune out of Rugby League is to have a large one to start with.

The club chairmen are not alone in this assumption , the RFL see it as the ' model ' for the future as well

Success of a club begins on the field,if your not getting the results or have;nt got the quality of players needed then your doomed.Look at the attendance at the bulls over the last couple of seasons.I know there is no easy answer but money needs to be put into a venture to reap the rewards.You cannot carry on with new board members following on from the last ones.There was talk of super league in 3 or 4 seasons time, well we certainly dont meet any of the criteria so far,so its time to stop trying to come up with new ideas of how can we make a few hundred quid.It is not going to happen,or if it does it wont make much difference.The club needs a substancial cash injection from the directors to make a difference.Forget about bums on seats or standing,that will only happen with a successfull team.I know we would be furthur up the division if it had not been for the points deduction,but the club is static and thats no good for supporters paying £14 a time.

find ways to fund their clubs that are not dependant on success on the pitch , not influenced by other bigger local sports clubs , and can be used to guarantee the future survival of their clubs



To do this they need to sit down and start to work together



As I said they need to open their eyes , ears , but most importantly their minds



Until they do this they are sat on the same merry go round they have been for the last 20 years of decline

I dont think i am missing the point Starbug if success on the field means tipping more money down the black hole then so be it.Being content with what we have is not good enough and we must always be determined to improve. Dont get me wrong Barry has done an excellent job with the squad,but major investment is needed to improve.Its not just on the field,the bar and other areas are very "tired" and the changing rooms are not much better.Its called Continuous Professional Developement.If people dont have the drive and determination to take the club forward and are happy to stay as it is then i;ll give it 2 years.

First and foremost the club needs to sustain itself without the need of cash injections.



If we're losing money, there's 2 ways of dealing with it, raise more money or cut costs.



I don't want us going in to debt ever again, this should be considered a complete no-no by the board wether it to a bank, the taxman, or directors' pockets. I'd rather us be competing with the likes of Doncaster and be a healthy club than go bust because of another deluded pipe dream.



We as fans should ask what can we do for Keighley Cougars? Can we bring another friend to the game, can we dig deep and have 1 more pint in the ground

.



Personally I think the club needs to think about it's image "brand Keighley Cougars™" so to speak. Get the name out and about, sell fashionable merchandise that people want to buy and would be proud to wear out and about town, advertising the brand to other folk, a shirt with a massive cougar head on it or a fruit of the loom polo shirt with the club badge embroidered on it might have looked good 20 years ago but doesn't now. Find out why people don't come to games, is it because it's too expensive? Is it because they think we're cr*p? Are they disenfranchised after all that's gone on in the past? Is it poor facilities or negative perceptions of the club etc.



Starbug's right, why can't clubs put their on field rivalries to one side and help each other off the field? . If Glasgow Rangers and Celtic (amongst the top 5 biggest arch rivalries in football) can come together to sign a huge shirt sponsorship and kit supply deals I'm sure semi-pro Rugby League clubs can manage it.

So you are happy for someone else to ' tip money down a black hole ' for what you call success on the pitch ?



Nobody is suggesting that any club should be ' content with what they have " , but no amount of investment in ' RL ' will achieve anything , you cannot support a sports club with money made from the sport



' Continuous proffessional development '



You still dont understand what it is I am saying



If you have a business that due to changing circumstances can no longer finance itself , what do you do ?

Change the nature of the business or go bust!!



As someone has said winning certainly helps, only the money pit becomes bigger.



We need to find ways/methods/reasons that make people want to come to Keighley Cougars and part with cash. Winning is one of those but if it is the only one we will only end up see-sawing up and down ad infinitum.



I actually think the directors have started on this path with their excellent work in the community which appears to be baring fruit already, but we have a very long way to go. The key is surviving the rough bit. We have heard a lot of nice sound bites about future plans but at some point we need action not words.



The Bulls bandwagon was all formed off the back of our success, so because they did not do the original thinking that gave them their rapid success, they struggled to sustain this in adversity. This was aggravated because the clever people that took Cougar Mania and turned it into Bull Mania were poached by others and not replaced with similar quality - oh and they became very complacent - the one thing that kills all businesses.



Cougar Mania II (the cat strikes back) anyone????

Now we're getting somewhere



Diversification , 20 years ago a bloke called Ted Moult was on the tv dropping a feather down past a window in a TV ad , the company was Everest double glazing , that company is now Everest home improvements , they sell 20 odd products from garage doors to solar panels



Why dont they still just sell double glazing ? , because if they did they would not be able to make enough money to survive



They have found new products to sell to new and old customers



Problem is that no single club is strong enough or has a big enough profile to be able to sell something else . 20 clubs on the other hand workling together would have enough of a profile and enough support to make it work



As you say , complacency is the death of any business, ' evolve ' or die