Thame’s Valley Falcons!

The logic for the proposed name change and rebranding is quite clear on the part of Simon Vickers, who I believe has been involved with Chinnor RFC for decades. 

This seems to be about broadening their reach and developing greater interest levels, fanbase and potential sponsorship opportunities beyond Chinnor, Thame and Oxfordshire itself to encompass the wider Berks, and Bucks area also. The potential to bring many more thousands of people to the fold (not to mention potential players) could only help the club to kick on, with talk of a bigger ground in the future also. 

I admire Vickers' drive and vision, and it makes a great deal of sense to capitalise on a far larger area, especially as Chinnor are now the top rugby club in the Thames Valley, following the demise of London Irish a few years ago, with the next best placed team in the region being Rams who are currently a mid-table Nat 1 side at present.

Yes, I did read the article, thank you

I understand the logic and agree Simon is doing great things for the club, but I don't agree that a name change to Thames Valley Falcons will have them flocking from all over the region.

I don't believe there will be many people from, say Slough or Reading, who will decide they will come to Kingsey Road because the team is now called Thames Valley Falcons. 

Similarly, if a new franchise was parachuted into the Premiership, called themselves Thames Valley RFC and played in Reading, I wouldn't go and watch them !

I would say Chinnor are doing a good job at the moment in attracting support from the surrounding area, as the people I have spoken to this season have traveled from Banbury, Wycombe, Didcot, Marlow, Maidenhead, Abingdon, Aylesbury and Wallingford. No-one from Oxford though.......

People who have an interest in rugby know about Chinnor, those who don't have an interest don't, and in my view, a change of name isn't going to change that. Just my opinion.

One thing that I found striking in my visit to Kingsey Road was how young the crowd was. It was great to see so many folks in their teens and 20s were there.

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I agree Chinnor are doing excellently in attracting the youngsters, both male and female !

When Rams were rebranded in 2018, for various reasons they removed any geographical reference from their name. Most people would have worked out Redingensians were in or around Reading, but Rams doesn't give any clue as to their location. However, their rebranding seems to have worked out very well for them, average attendances have increased four-fold in 7 seasons .

Rebranding for Chinnor should be a good thing, after all they subtly changed their official name from Chinnor RFC to Chinnor RFC Thame not so long ago to increase awareness. Whilst the name Thames Valley Falcons may well bring in more sponsorship from further afield, I maintain the name change alone will do little to attract higher attendances. This is likely to come from continued good performances on the field, continuing to improve the spectator experience, continue to expand the marketing & social media presence, and perhaps a more imaginative rebranded name eg Raptors anyone ? There has to be a better alternative to Thames Valley Falcons !

Why not put it to a member's vote?

TVR sure that's a brand name 😆😆