The management of the Scarlets recently sent an update out to registered supporters to let them know that the accounts for the year to 30 June 2013 have now finally been signed off and will be "lodged with Companies House when the Board deem appropriate".
By law the accounts should have been filed by the end of March, so they are now more than four months late. While we wait to find out when the Board deems it appropriate to comply with the law, the men in blazers have some good news that they wish to share.
Season ticket sales are the best of all four regions, we are told. Or viewed through the cynical eyes of some seasoned supporters on the Scarlet Fever Forum, that almost certainly means that sales are down on last year, the logic being that if ticket sales were up, we would have been told. They may have a point.
Then there's the tricky subject of the Red Room (financed by council tax payers). This venture is "not as successful as had been hoped, but we may see changes in the near future" (my italics).
So that's all right then. One visitor to the forum noted that the Red Room offers an attractive breakfast menu, but doesn't open until 10am.
On the bright side again, supporters are told that current financial targets are "very much on track", although we will probably have to wait another year to find out how true that is.
There is still an "impasse" between the regions and the WRU, but some progress has been made. Only a pedant would point out that you cannot make progress when things have reached an impasse.
Having dealt with the awkward business of the accounts in one line, supporters were told that an exciting new venture with Scarlets in the forefront would be announced very soon.
We didn't have to wait very long to find out what this venture is because a statement has since been issued announcing "a groundbreaking partnership" under which the Scarlets will adopt the .cymru .wales domain name on the internet.
This is good news and shows, as the rather hyped up press release says, that the Scarlets is committed to promoting Wales and the region's Welsh identity.
A very good time and place to reinforce that message, you would have thought, would have been at the Eisteddfod in Llanelli. The Scarlets certainly had a presence, and quite a few of their players were on hand during the week, but supporters on the Scarlet Fever forum felt overwhelmingly that this was a missed opportunity, with poor marketing and poor planning.
Whereas some of the other regions were promoting and selling their new kit, the Scarlets' new shirts were not available for sale on the Maes, and there was no other merchandise on sale. Someone blamed this on poor internet connections, but none of the scores of other vendors at the event seemed to have a problem with credit and debit card payments.
To their credit, the Scarlets still did better than the WRU which stubbornly refuses to recognise the existence of the Welsh language despite the fact that many players and supporters are Welsh speakers. A stone's throw from the Scarlets on the Maes, standing out like a sore thumb, was the gleaming WRU lorry emblazoned with English-only slogans. Even the ice cream vans did better.
By law the accounts should have been filed by the end of March, so they are now more than four months late. While we wait to find out when the Board deems it appropriate to comply with the law, the men in blazers have some good news that they wish to share.
Season ticket sales are the best of all four regions, we are told. Or viewed through the cynical eyes of some seasoned supporters on the Scarlet Fever Forum, that almost certainly means that sales are down on last year, the logic being that if ticket sales were up, we would have been told. They may have a point.
Then there's the tricky subject of the Red Room (financed by council tax payers). This venture is "not as successful as had been hoped, but we may see changes in the near future" (my italics).
So that's all right then. One visitor to the forum noted that the Red Room offers an attractive breakfast menu, but doesn't open until 10am.
On the bright side again, supporters are told that current financial targets are "very much on track", although we will probably have to wait another year to find out how true that is.
There is still an "impasse" between the regions and the WRU, but some progress has been made. Only a pedant would point out that you cannot make progress when things have reached an impasse.
Having dealt with the awkward business of the accounts in one line, supporters were told that an exciting new venture with Scarlets in the forefront would be announced very soon.
We didn't have to wait very long to find out what this venture is because a statement has since been issued announcing "a groundbreaking partnership" under which the Scarlets will adopt the .cymru .wales domain name on the internet.
This is good news and shows, as the rather hyped up press release says, that the Scarlets is committed to promoting Wales and the region's Welsh identity.
A very good time and place to reinforce that message, you would have thought, would have been at the Eisteddfod in Llanelli. The Scarlets certainly had a presence, and quite a few of their players were on hand during the week, but supporters on the Scarlet Fever forum felt overwhelmingly that this was a missed opportunity, with poor marketing and poor planning.
Whereas some of the other regions were promoting and selling their new kit, the Scarlets' new shirts were not available for sale on the Maes, and there was no other merchandise on sale. Someone blamed this on poor internet connections, but none of the scores of other vendors at the event seemed to have a problem with credit and debit card payments.
To their credit, the Scarlets still did better than the WRU which stubbornly refuses to recognise the existence of the Welsh language despite the fact that many players and supporters are Welsh speakers. A stone's throw from the Scarlets on the Maes, standing out like a sore thumb, was the gleaming WRU lorry emblazoned with English-only slogans. Even the ice cream vans did better.
6 comments:
You imply that Welsh speakers are getting a rough deal in comparison to English speakers.
But shouldn't we now go on to better define these Welsh speakers. Perhaps by country of identity. And, of course, religion. And so on. Just the same as is done in the Middle East.
It all leads to such harmony!
Well, their publicity officer should get a pat on the back for such creative hype without content. Is he or she a CCC officer in their day job?
Anon 09:21 What a silly person you are, lacking any sense of proportion. Cneifiwr commeting on the WRU not using Welsh has you making comparisons with the butchery taking place in the Middle East.
But that's the tactic used over and over again by those of a certain 'outlook'. Rather than address an issue in a reasonable and balanced manner make idiotic comparisons in the hope of silencing the opposition and putting an end to the discussion.
If you want to defend the WRU then stop making lurid comparisons with the Middle East and put forward a reasoned argument for not using the language of so many players and supporters.
If it was a Welsh Rugby Union lorry I would expect to
See some Welsh language written on it,they haven't got
a clue have they.9.21 you should say English only
speakers ,instead of English speakers,as welsh speakers
can also speak English.
12:07, I think you have made the point of )9:21 rather nicely.
Well done.
Yes - let's remind the WRU of their sheer hypocrisy next time they stand there with tears in their eyes as the crowd roars out the national anthem before a rugby game. "O bydded i'r heniaith barhau" - O let the old language endure. Oh - hang on - perhaps it's English they have in mind...
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