Evidence of north-western big clubs' power over Super League with Magic Weekend move

[josie andrews]

After four successful years in Newcastle, Super League has taken the Magic Weekend to Anfield, leaving a lot of fans seething.

In 2015, the Rugby Football League took the decision to move the Magic Weekend [VIDEO] to Newcastle. Manchester City's Etihad Stadium was undergoing construction immediately after the 2014-15 Premier League season, meaning the RFL had to look elsewhere for somewhere to host the Magic Weekend - a concept first introduced in 2007.

Newcastle's St James' Park and Coventry's Ricoh Arena battled it out for the rights, with Newcastle winning. Since then, Newcastle has twice broken the Magic Weekend record attendance - in 2015, 67,841 spectators turned out with over 68,000 the following year. In the city centre and engulfed in a friendly atmosphere, St James' Park looked to be the perfect venue.

But, Super League clubs have taken it upon themselves to switch to Liverpool's Anfield, a stadium, coincidentally, nearest to Lancashire sides Wigan and St Helens and Cheshire club Warrington.

Ian Lenagan, Eamonn McManus and Simon Moran
The rift [VIDEO] within Super League and between Super League and the RFL has been well documented in recent months and Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan, Saints owner Eamonn McManus and Warrington owner Simon Moran have been at the forefront of this. After Nigel Wood was ousted from the Super League board and replaced by the Super League clubs' owners in November 2017, the three owners then took it upon themselves to announce the scrapping of the Super 8s in June 2018. At the time, Leeds owner Gary Hetherington labelled it a "power grab" by "a small group of men that think they own the game".


Though Hetherington's comments at the time were dismissed by a lot of fans, the decision to move the Magic Weekend to Liverpool - which is less than a 45-minute drive from Wigan, St Helens and Warrington - rather than the three-hour journey to Newcastle seems more than just a coincidence. Are Lenagan, McManus and Moran expecting more of their fans to turn up to give them an advantage? Or, with the trio at the helm of the Super League clubs, is it a way of flexing their newly-found muscles in a two-fingered salute to the RFL?

Liverpool itself
Liverpool is a fantastic city, but Anfield is approximately three miles outside of the city centre - hardly walking distance from any of the pubs in the centre. Newcastle's St James' Park, however, is situated a short walk from the throng of bars and clubs lining Newcastle's city centre streets. Newcastle's atmosphere also takes some beating with the inhabitants as friendly as they come with few rough parts. Liverpool, on the other hand, is notorious for its trouble at night especially in the surrounding suburbs where Anfield is situated.

Yes, Anfield is a magnificent stadium and has already hosted England's second Test against New Zealand in the 2018 series and the 2016 Four Nations final. But, these were one-off games rather than a whole weekend and it remains to be seen if that kind of atmosphere and occasion can be reproduced or if the magic of Newcastle can be replicated.

Fixture list
The fixture list for the 2019 Magic Weekend has also done no favours with winning over sceptics; Leeds play London, Castleford [VIDEO] play St Helens, Huddersfield [VIDEO] face Hull FC and Hull KR do battle against Salford. That means no Hull derby, no Leeds-Castleford derby and yet again no Wigan-Saints derby.

By omitting such fixtures as these, a lot of the attraction for these clubs' fans has been lost. Some would argue that they already play each other enough during the season, but they will be playing the same team at least three times - home, away and at the Magic Weekend - regardless of who it is.

Superb planning
Super League needs to be given a pat on the back for switching the Magic Weekend venue to Liverpool at a time of the Liverpool marathon (please take note of the sarcasm). Nearly 20,000 people ran in 2018 with more expected in 2019. As such, hotel and accommodation prices have already skyrocketed after the announcement that the Magic Weekend will too be organised for the same weekend. If this isn't evidence of the naivety of leading Super League clubs then what is? Fans are already finding it difficult to find suitable accommodation at a suitable price and this is only going to get worse as time goes on.

What can we expect?
So then, what can we expect from Liverpool? Well, it will take something special to beat Newcastle and it appears the decision to move has been met with disdain from the vast majority of supporters - especially when numerous polls throughout the year have gone in favour of keeping the event at Newcastle. Despite the fact that the Magic Weekend has made a home in the toon, it was supposed to be a concept that moved to different parts of Britain in an attempt to attract new fans and give existing fans an exciting day or weekend away.

Liverpool, for the most part, is an attractive place and major steps have been taken in recent times to improve the city. In addition, it will be interesting to see if the city takes the Magic Weekend to heart like in Newcastle. For me, though, the move to Liverpool reeks of north-western big clubs' (St Helens, Wigan and Warrington) increasing stranglehold over the sport as a whole. It's a move that benefits these three clubs enormously and it is no surprise that it is the owners of these three clubs that have been the most vocal about changing the sport. If the rest of the Super League clubs aren't careful, Lenagan, McManus and Moran could run amok.


https://uk.blastingpop.com/sport/2018/1 ... 73003.html

[josie andrews]

Biggest load of crap I’ve read in a long time!

Typical Yorkshire Mafia reporting from a reporter who I have been led to believe supports Castleford!

[Wigan Watcher]

A terrible move to scouceland.... Leaving that ground at night is dangerous at best... The local pubs are also a place you dont want to be and yes the city is a good drive away. Go in your car and maybe it will not be broken into!

NOT FOR ME... it will be watched on the TV

[fozzieskem]

Still can’t get my head round the move to Anfield,it’s certainly a super league move that much is true,but for me it’s lookibg like we will give it a miss,it’s easier to get too for me and the wife was born not far from there but it’s just not a nice ground those seats still give me nightmares.

I hope it’s a one off and common sense will be put back next season and we all go on a proper day out spreading the word,because they ain’t spreading the gospel in Liverpool they have a decent SL to go and watch in stains and they ignore it,it is a hood drag into the town centre it’s not 5 mins away that’s for sure and the pubs? Well to pay your money and take a chance,Liverpool is a great place for a night out but the best magic weekends are the ones you can pop out the ground and have a look round the shops if you so wish this doesn’t do that as we know

Oh wel always next year

[moto748]

Biggest load of crap I’ve read in a long time!

Typical Yorkshire Mafia reporting from a reporter who I have been led to believe supports Castleford!

Supporting Cas isn't a crime, josie!

But whilst the reporting, especially in the first few paragraphs, is certainly not neutral in tone, nevertheless the piece makes some fair points, not least regarding the wisdom of setting a date that coincides with the marathon.

The general response on this forum to Anfield has been far from positive, so although it may please IL, it's far from clear that it's a hit with Wigan fans in general.

Is what we are seeing 'muscle-flexing' by IL, Moran and McManus? Maybe so, at least in part. But that's not to say that fans will be jumping for joy.

[medlocke]

Biggest load of crap I’ve read in a long time!

Typical Yorkshire Mafia reporting from a reporter who I have been led to believe supports Castleford!

it's far from clear that it's a hit with Wigan fans in general.

8 people on an internet forum is a far cry from Wigan fans in general, I've seen at least 30 times more praising it on social media

[thegimble]

Biggest load of crap I’ve read in a long time!

Typical Yorkshire Mafia reporting from a reporter who I have been led to believe supports Castleford!

it's far from clear that it's a hit with Wigan fans in general.

8 people on an internet forum is a far cry from Wigan fans in general, I've seen at least 30 times more praising it on social media

I agree.

Time for SL to take the magic weekend to various stadiums and not just a jolly weekend for some to Gerodie land. To get to Wigan takes me 2 hours i can make Anfield in 90 minutes on a good run.

Went to watch Liverpool v Southampton in September and i was very impressed with the work done to the stadium.


And if it annoys the Yorkshore Mafia who have held the game back makes it evern better. I will be attending the Saturday would not even have bothered going all the way to Newcastle.


If parking near the ground worries you then park in a City centre car park and bus it up and down. 10 in a taxi and 20 in a bus.

[josie andrews]

The only problem I have with Liverpool is the seating, hardly any room between rows. Other than that I enjoyed this year’s Test Series there.

[Nezza Faz]

And why should the Yorkshire clubs have a five year monopoly on a shorter travelling distance than for once, the clubs in this area, who incidentally are all strong clubs with good crowd support - certainly better than Wakey, HKR, Cas, and Hudds.

The neighbouring towns of Wigan, Warrington and St Helens may not provide hotel owners with "house full" signs but I reckon there'll be many more going along for the day, maybe as only last minute impulse fans, but now don't have to pay a fortune for an overnight stay, and that's especially true of families, and I can see many more families going to Anfield for the day, especially if there's an attractive "Fanzone" centred around the stadium.

No sympathies at all for those Yorkies being asked to travel further than us. Typical luddites !

[Caboosegg]

I would have much prefered Manchester again but hey ho.
But what a load of rubbish its like Hertherington wrote it.

Just as many Yorkshire teams in SL but blame the 3 local ones? It forgets that this so called power grab was every club in SL but leeds not just Saints/Wigan/warrington.

I dislike Liverpool myself however it has so much to offer as a city for traveling fans that it cannot be considered a bad move