Cup Final attendance

[EDINBURGH-WARRIOR]

£21 TO £76 with no concessions make it a dear weekend for a family . If Wembley holds 90,000 there was no way there were 76,000 at the match on Saturday . Either there was a lot of supporters with tickets that did not attend or the RFL was putting a lot of spin on the crowd size .
With the Grand final still to come Rugby League end of season is becoming an expensive business .Dont get me wrong both events are great days out and i would not miss them regardless of the teams playing, but i understand why some might have to pick and choose one or the other or neither if their team is not playing .

[white elephant]

did you get in?[/quote]


got a 41 pound ticket for a fiver.

[cpwigan]

It is the first year I have known programmes be sold below the cover price immediately after the final.

[botica]

The RFL had given countless tickets away for this game, i personally could have taken a coach load on free tickets. I honestly couldn't give them away seriously? :conf:

[OAMJSONA]

i remember when not too long ago when most labour clubs in the area and other ares as well used to have at least one coach load of regulars every year going to the challenge cup final, these days i can honestly say i do not know of one that still does this( obviously i stand to be corrected)

may be my beloved sport is dying on its feet - it sure feels that way

But it could just be that there as been a change in society
and people are just not bothered any more i hope i am wrong here.

God gave us man

Then Wigan Rugby League Club

Nothing else matters

[botica]

I remember that too......... I think the challenge cup is just not the same anymore. I have no idea why.

Perhaps i remember the Wigan years and so of course everyone ran coaches from all over the place, demand for tickets were high, because we thought it was a done deal we Wigan would be in the final and we would go and watch.

Trips were sorted and booked well before the semi, we just knew we would be going. Now we wait and see!!! Do you not think when we went to watch whoever had got there it was because we had booked the trip already and so we might as well go anyway?


St Helens must be having the same feeling now as well...

[BriH]

Just been looking at me Challenge Cup book and interestingly nowts changed!
1951 Wigan vs Barrow 94,262
1952 Workington Town vs Featherstone Rovers 72,093
1953 Huddersfield vs Saints 89,588
1954 Wire vs Halifax 81,777
Re-play at Odsal approx. 102,569!!!!

[white elephant]

What about next year???????




Lets hope were there!!!

lets bring the passion back to the great stadium!!!!

[cpwigan]

I think there seems a definite change in RL with a decline in 'walk on' spectators and a concentration/increase in season ticket spectators. You see that in terms of one off matches say the early cup rounds, sometimes the play offs. I would surmise that even in finals sometimes the annual purchase market is holding steady but the finalist market is often where the struggle lies.

Wembley, fans belonged to two categories. Those that atteneded every final and often made a weekend of the occasion and those fans who only attended finals if their team made it to the final. I had family members who were the formers and I belonged to the latter. My own father belonged to the latter with the caveat that you attended every final Wigan reached because you never knew when they would next reach one. He went from 1970 until 1984 so he was of a generation that understood how long the wait could be.

If Wigan reached a final next year or the season after the demand would be there. For several clubs it will nt be no matter what. If the RFL / clubs wanrt fans to attend matches then they have to put a great deal of effort into promoting and marketing the games. The Big One was 3 months solid graft by Simon collinson and co. David Howes used to be brilliant for the RFL. Wembley is tricky now with such a short gap between semi and final.

[georgeorwell]

It does seem to be the case now, that the cup is shoehorned into a busy league programme, rather than being the major stand alone event it once was.

Like others who have posted, I was surprised at the choice of stadia for the semi's. Last year Saints v/s Leeds at Huddersfield attracted 19,900. On that basis surely Wigan v/s Warrington could have been expected to attract at least 15,000. On the other hand, the games were on terrestrial TV which must have influenced the attendance. Bearing that in mind the RFL probably chose smaller grounds that would be guaranteed to be full, as that would look a lot better on TV, rather that a bigger stadium being half empty. We live in a cynical world of spin!! I went to both semi's and have to say that they were absolute crackers; fast, open league, played with passion and commitment.

I agree that the semis are played too close to the final. It doesn't leave enough time for proper marketing to build up the expectation levels and to give fans a proper amount of time to organise themselves to attend. The marketing seemed to me to be along the lines of panic and desperation...."oh my God we have to fill Wembley" rather than selling the two teams and the prospect of a brilliant game. The final is a quality event, and is the major opportunity to present our game to the world. It must never be treated as an afterthought.

I also went to the final and have to agree that there didn't appear to be 76,000 there. The problem was the lack of Huddersfield support. We were in their part of the ground and surrounded by supporters from other clubs. Wire fans were great, supporting their team in good numbers and very vocal with it. IMO they are going to be a force to be reckoned with next season. Wish we had Mr Smith as our coach!!