HAVING read the recent articles and letters concerning the situation at the Blackburn Arena, there still appears to be many questions unanswered.

I have been a regular supporter of the Hawks for several years and, as a fan, I appreciate that money is needed to keep the team afloat.

However, we are told that sponsors are hard to find. Then we hear a rumour that several have expressed an interest and the management are not prepared to pursue - can we ask why?

In the days of Steve Moria, there was a growing crowd of supporters and they were of the paying variety, not recipients of the thousands of 'freebies' handed out now.

Of course complimentary tickets have a place in promoting ice hockey, but not when available in huge handfuls for anyone to pick up and distribute. If this continues, the Arena will only have non-paying spectators. Who will pay for a season ticket when you can't sit in your allocated seat?

When this happened to me and the person refused to move, I asked a steward to intervene and he was unaware of the seating arrangement.

Furthermore, in spite of the lack of promotion and publicity, if prospective supporters do venture inside the Arena on match nights what do they find?

The seating areas are a disgrace with old food, cartons, cigarettes and spilt drinks on the floor from goodness knows when.

During the course of the match if you are unfortunate enough to need to 'pay a visit', the ladies toilets are verging on a health hazard. All these points have been put to the Arena several times without satisfactory answer, along with other such things as: Why did Steve Moria leave? Why do we always seem to be the last to gather a team? and why, when we start to climb the ladder, does something unfortunate and 'beyond the management's control' always happen.

Should we be wondering whether someone is making it their business to prove that ice hockey does not pay? I suppose it could simply be someone's incompetence, couldn't it?

B FISHER, St John's Street, Darwen.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.