On my way in, the Stoop was humming with activity, a few Leeds fans had arrived already, a couple of players were on the pitch and there was a purposeful air about the place, and I suddenly thought how much the club had changed. I asked Mark if  he was pleased with the progress of the club the last two years?

"You mean are we where we thought we'd be at this stage?  I think we're ahead actually.

"You've got to remember where we were, where we've come from. I don't expect everyone to remember how it was - but I do.  I remember before I joined...before I'd been offered a job...I came here to see a couple of games - like a mystery shopper...First one was Northampton, a night game - they put out a second team, and we won.   But just 2000 people here. I sat in the South stand, had a pint, had a pork roll....had a look at the crowd.. .and it was one of the worst games of rugby I'd ever seen... But the pork rolls were good and the Guiness was great.  But it wasn't good.

"A couple of weeks  later I accepted the job. I'd just seen Quins play at Saracens a week or so before and we put 50 points on them - they were the worst Quins team I ever saw. Then they went to Bath  - something similar [it was  77-19] Then  - I came down here to watch us play Leicester. We lost 54-5 at home.  Beautiful summer's day, 4000 people, 2000 of them from Leicester.  I stood in the West Stand. We were awful. And the West Stand crowd...well I've been at grounds where the home side's not going well. But I'd never heard a home crowd before that had  gone through criticism and into ridicule - they were laughing! They weren't even getting annoyed. They were laughing at the players" (At this point your correspondent shuffled uneasily in his seat, and re-tied his shoe-lace) "and I remember thinking 'this is much worse than I thought' Then on Monday I went into work and I realised we only had seven players contracted into the next year. And we were losing money.

"So...did I think that in two years on we'd have... what? Played in three semi-finals...won two of them...played two finals...won one of them. Qualified for the Heineken Cup  Attracted Will Greenwood, David Wilson, Andre Vos,  retained Keith Wood got an U19, and U21 side going, brought through seven youngsters... got the average crowd to 7,000, sold 4000 season tickets? No.

"No, I didn't think we'd get there as quickly as that.  It takes longer.   Look at Gloucester for example: I remember them at their worst.  In 1995  I took a team [Saracens] down to Kingsholm and Gloucester were in bits.  We  fought what was a relegation decider - they had to beat us to stay up.  So it's taken them since then - what seven years to get to a place where you can genuinely say Gloucester might win the league. Six years to win a trophy. That's a seven year  improvement to take them from where they were.  No I didn't think we'd have achieved what we have in two" 

The importance of the fans...

So, a seven year journey for Gloucester - maybe it'll be the same for us.. how important are the fans in that journey do you think?  Is a fan base essential to get from rock bottom to the top? Is it helpful? Does it make any difference? or are they peripheral?  "Oh the fans are important. Yeah.  For one thing they attract the players. Especially the new players just starting out, or the ones coming into the premiership.  They want to play in front of a good crowd. They don't want to play somewhere that's soulless, or empty. In the old days,  if they came to the Stoop and it was dead, and then they went to, say, Bath or Kingsholm and it was  more alive well - where would you want to play? So yeah,  it's very important for that"   But don't you think the crowd has got better at the stoop? I don't just mean attendance figures - I know they are up - but is the crowd different?  "Oh Yes. Oh yes, I think so.  I'd say one thing that has really changed is that instead of having what you might call 'spectators' we're we now starting to attract fans - and they care more, and are committed, That's how it should be, that's the nature of sport, that's the sort of club we're trying to build" 

What the fans want...

I read earlier in the season that you thought the Zurich Wildcard was an excellent idea, because the fans like to see a play-off that's really meaningful. Does that mean you're against the championship playoff?  "No I think it's great and  and it's in-line with almost every other major tournament..look at Super12. look at...." Yes, as a spectacle it's great I know the reasoning, but calling the winner the champion club? Don't you think that the team that wins the league, game by game, ought to be the champion club?  "That's the football mentality - which is a terribly managed sport anyway. Why should Rugby copy them?... No, not at all. Why should the league be the only thing ?  Anyway look at the advantages the league winners  have got this year, one less game...two weeks off, If they can't win the play-off given that advantage they don't deserve to be called champions. I think play-offs are great. I am sure we'll move in that direction to decide relegation as well"   

The Spirit of Rugby....

(Now, dear reader, before the interview one of my resolutions was NOT to argue with Mark about relegation, tradition, the spirit of rugby and all that.. so naturally I dived straight in )  And you think that would be a good thing? "Well if we have relegation, a play-off's a good way to do it.  But as you know I'm completely opposed to relegation, always have been.  I think the idea that you could - well take a club like Newcastle, the idea that they could invest millions of pounds in a stand - which they need - and then suddenly get relegated, just like that, all gone...just to provide the...the momentary thrill of a relegation battle at the end of the season - what's the point of that?"  But that's looking at it solely from the point of view of the clubs that are IN the Premiership!  Isn't it more about the clubs in the 1st division - shouldn't they have a chance of going up?   "No I don't see that at all - it's a different game". So you'd be happy for instance to have a professional premiership at the the top, dispose of the ND1 and have an amateur game below that? "that's exactly how it should be in my opinion"

The real issues

Suddenly I came to my senses and remembered my duty to the message boarders, and I cut the small talk and determined to raise the big issues - the ones that are really dear to the fans hearts.  I'd jotted down a few of the topics that come up again and again on the boards, and put them to Mark  fearlessly, relentlessly......and quickly:

• What did you think of the insulting music that we play for visiting teams? "Well, it depends: if it's........witty enough, then it's OK. No, I don't mind it"
• What's the deal with Sundays - we've got two Sunday games - Are we thinking about playing on Sundays? "No. No We're a Saturday club, I think"
• Would you ever consider sharing the Stoop with another ZP club again? "I'd take some persuading. I'd take some persuading, but everything has a price"
• The Chief Coach job is quite a demanding role -  do you think it's fair to ask the Chief Coach to also take on the burden of being Chief Executive? "Well....it's not ideal" Will you change it then?  "Not this season"
• Are we going to put in our application for new stands soon? "not any time soon. We won't have a new Stand for next season"
• Do you think we got the season ticket pricing right? "Well, you could say that the market said we did. We sold nearly 4,000. Yeah I'd say we got the range about right. "  Do you know how much an Club Season Ticket actually was for this season?  (He did).

The message boards

What do think think of the message boards, and articles on ComeAllWithin. Did you  take any notice of them? "Do you mean do I read the boards and then pick the team?  No!"  But you do read them  "Yeah, of course.  They're like a running opinion poll.  OK it's a small sample and they do tend to attract the fans that are.......committed...but it's a good way to find out what they think"  Does anything on the boards disappoint you? Or annoy you? "No, no. Fans have a right to their opinions. It'd be a dull world if they didn't.....I don't agree with all of it, though."   Do the club actually get ideas from the board? "Of course we do, it's a fantastic feedback mechanism"

Quick-fire

Time was running out and I asked Mark few quick fire questions

• When we played Leeds last season, did you already know for certain that there would be no relegation? "No"
• do you think a team will actually get relegated this year?  "Yes"
• do you think Leicester will win the league again? "Ummmmmmmmmmmmm. Yes"
• where will you play Vos in when he arrives? "Oh, back row, definitely"

Time for one last question: What job would you leave Quins for?  " I don't really think that way. I was 22 years with Saracens. I'm not going anywhere soon"

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

Harlequins Poll