Huddersfield Giants - claretandgold.co.uk • Re: Game 4 - hull fc (h)

From when i started watching Fartown (under Murphy) we were a club on the up. We stalled when we hit Superleague for a few years, but after relegation started climbing again and very nearly hit the heights. The biggest problem , however uncomfortable, is that the town itself didn't want it. We were winning nearly every week, had realistic chances of winning things and appeared in challenge cup finals. Attendances barely grew at all. I think Mr Davey and co. realise that all they can do right now is keep the ship afloat until 'maybe' one day the town does want it. If you look at league tables in most sports, you will find that clubs are more or less ranked by attendances. Sure, there are some fluctuations, but in the longer term, having a big fan base gives you more chances to get it right. You buy bad players, you have the money to replace them etc etc. According to attendance we are where we are meant to be, i am saddened that Huddersfield doesn't want a successful Rugby League team, and would rather watch football, but that is the reality. We tried to change it, and in the timescale we have had so far, have been unsuccessful.

The 70's and 80's were bad for Huddersfield in more ways than just the rugby played on the field. We lost a generation, and that lost generation never passed on the Rugby League bug to their children. Now we are trying to rebuild from scratch a supporter base, and to be honest not doing too badly, i see a lot of younger fans and children at games and that bodes well. For the first twenty years i watched Fartown we were simply replacing the old fans who had seen the glory days of Hunter, Cooper and Devery with new ones. Now they are all gone, and we have to build a new legacy from scratch.

I always want us to be vying for trophies and winning matches, but the reality is we aren't a well enough supported club to be doing that consistently, until we are we will continue to struggle.