A message from DB. : Wed Sep 13, 2017 2:34 pm
.Leigh Centurions owner Derek Beaumont has outlined his plans for the Club in his programme notes for the Halifax game on Friday evening.
The Centurion, Leigh Centurions' 84-page programme will be on sale as usual priced at £3.00, but excerpts from Derek's column are set below:
Given this is our last home game of the season I thought it appropriate to look back over the season and at the same time let our sponsors and fans know where I am at personally in terms of stability for the club. It could prove not to be our last game here at LSV should we be involved in the Million Pound Game with a home tie but as that is not known I will take the opportunity now.
The Warrington game was the worst I have watched this season. It was a poor game and it was like watching seventeen people commit suicide. We won the game more times than we needed to get wins in the Qualifiers, it was painful. We could have prevented every try, we gave three tries at least from terrible errors. Over the Pennines Hull KR had beaten Widnes and secured their return to Super League and I am particularly pleased for Neil Hudgell and the fans of Hull KR as they came out in droves to support him and buy season tickets once they got relegated which was his obvious motivator to keep funding the shortfall. Tim Sheens deserves huge credit for what he has achieved with the squad he has had and how he has used it. I genuinely am pleased for them and know exactly the relief they will all be feeling. It’s like walking on sunshine.
As they say, one man’s gain is another man’s loss and it remains to be seen who will be relegated to the Championship. London have been playing very well and still have an opportunity albeit against two Super League teams in ourselves and Widnes. One thing is for sure at least one of us will lose our Super League status.
So where does that leave us? Well I have thought long and hard on this one. In 2005 after getting promoted into Super League and seeing it not sustainable I walked away. Whilst I don’t have an appetite for the Championship I won’t walk away again at this stage as I still believe that this Club can become an established Super League club for many years and I am not giving that vision up after a setback.
We have proven we can add to the competition by being competitive in our first year and not finishing bottom. We have met all the minimum standards including attendance and have had a positive impact at the club owners’ meetings, building friendships and business relationships that fellow owners want to see continue.
Whilst the Super League structure remains uncertain at this stage along with any parachute payments and indeed our Super League status what isn’t uncertain and I can say with absolute clarity is I am going nowhere.
I haven’t given up at anything in my life and have had many setbacks personally and in business but I don’t give in. As long as this town supports the Club I will support it. If the fans stay with us and still buy their season tickets and the sponsors still support as they have then I will maintain my support and keep us spending the cap with a team that will come straight back even if the structure doesn’t change to include us.
I have already recruited some quality additions to the playing roster and have other irons in fires. I have also added some quality off field proven individuals to take the squad to another level and I have no intentions of going backwards.
I have always taken the positives out of any situation and if we do go down we will have the opportunity to build again. We won’t be finished, we will come back stronger. That I can assure you.
Knowing how you will deal with every eventuality gives you certainty in uncertain times and that is a healthy position for this Club. The lads still have it in their hands to perform and keep themselves in Super League, whether that’s finishing third, which is still possible or playing home or away in the Million Pound Game and I believe in them to achieve the goal of maintaining their Super League status and I will keep ‘Beleighving’ in them until the final hooter tells me otherwise.
I would also like to thank each and every fan who has contributed to this Club however great or small, be it in money or time and to all the sponsors whom are a vital lifeline to this club the heartbeat of this town.
It isn’t a case of who watches the most games or who spends the most money as a person spending £20 a year percentage wise could be investing more than someone spending £100k. It is about contributing what you can, supporting through the tough times believing that doing so will bring better times ahead. That is what has got Hull KR back to where they want to be and it is what will get this Club where it deserves to be over the years whether it stays in Super League this year or not.
I have a motto in my business: TEAM- Together Everyone Achieves More. If we stick together, owners, directors, sponsors, volunteers and fans alike we WILL take this Club onto great things, no matter how many storms we come across, we will steer this ship to its destination.
The full version of Derek's Column will be published as usual in this Friday's Match Day programme. Make sure you pick up your copy at the Leigh Vs Halifax game on Friday night (8pm kick off), priced at only £3.00
it should be raise the roof 
