By STEVE MASCORD
COACH Jason Demetriou has issued a challenge to northern fans who mock London over their crowds and travelling support.
The Broncos open their Championship play-offs campaign against Doncaster at Cherry Red Records Stadium on Sunday after a big crowd bolstered by a ticket giveaway saw them win an ill-tempered clash with Swinton at Richmond last Saturday.
Demetriou says expecting large numbers of supporters to travel north is “unrealistic” – especially when few come in the other direction.
“Everyone keeps talking about our crowds – we’re easily in the top two crowds in the Championship,” he claimed.
“There were over 2000 people here for a game that means nothing with 17 of our best players not playing.
(It’s important to note attendance figures are not consistently published across the competition).
“Tell me another Championship team outside of Widnes that’s doing that. They’re not doing it.”
Social media is awash with fans questioning the size of the Broncos’ supporter base but the coach said: “The ‘you don’t bring fans’ (comes with) the expectation that thousands of our fans pay a fortune to go up north every second weekend.
“It’s just unrealistic.
“None of them come down here – very, very few. We’ll see in the finals series how many they bring.
“If you’re that big a club and you bring supporters – we’ll see, when you come down to London and spend your money.”
Fans wanting the take advantage of Sunday’s free ticket offer at the boutique ground in an exclusive part of London still had to register, meaning their details are now in the club’s database.
Demetriou offered: “For us, we’ve just been really impressed with how our fanbase has grown throughout the year and today was a good example of that.
“It was a great opportunity for us to give something back to our supporters who’ve done it tough throughout the year, travelling up and spending a lot of money.
“It bodes well for next week. I’m expecting a big crowd for our first finals game.
“I think you’ll see a well supported London Broncos.”
