RL in 1981-82

[themainbrace]

I remember that season well.  The Hull Daily Mail ran a story pointing out that Hull FC had the highest average attendance in the world surpasing even Sydney Olympic at the time.  I don't know whatever happened to Sydney Olympic.

 

I also remember that there didn't appear to be many away fans in rugby in those days, certainly not compared to these days.

[Bartholemew Smythe]

Yeah I went along to watch it, seem to remember it was 4-1 to Haven at half time before Leigh got on top in second half.

I was bricking it at HT but we came out on top,thankfully.The Journey back home was a good one albeit somewhat hazy one

[MrPosh]

I believe that Wakefield were one planning meeting away from work starting on their new ground.

[EdinburghExile]

I have a little booklet called the "Arrowfast Express Rugby League Routeway" giving road directions to the old grounds including Huyton and Blackpool Borough.  No date on it but it has a picture on the back of a Saints team containing Neil Holding, Eddie Cunningham, Harry Pinner etc and titled Arrowfast Express Trophy.  Tried googling it but no joy.

Any Saints fans remember this iconic Trophy? 

Never heard of this - I'd guess it was for a random sevens tournament or something?

[marklaspalmas]

I have a little booklet called the "Arrowfast Express Rugby League Routeway" giving road directions to the old grounds including Huyton and Blackpool Borough.  No date on it but it has a picture on the back of a Saints team containing Neil Holding, Eddie Cunningham, Harry Pinner etc and titled Arrowfast Express Trophy.  Tried googling it but no joy.

Any Saints fans remember this iconic Trophy? 

 

Fev won that trophy too in the 2nd division in 1980. It was for the club with most tries in the year.

[sweaty craiq]

The north west got hit with one of the worst winters on record, can't comment about the Devils side o t'hill, and the much anticipated top of the table clash of Leigh v Widnes was given the go ahead despite no public transport and few roads open due to snow. It was played in a blizzard with an Aussie ref before 2500 who somehow managed to get to the ground, would have been 8-10k on a decent day

Remember the great CC crowds at home v Wire and Cas, Cas was awful weather also looked like a monsoon, and that unforgettable tie away at HKR. The CC was always special at HP

[Dave T]

The north west got hit with one of the worst winters on record, can't comment about the Devils side o t'hill, and the much anticipated top of the table clash of Leigh v Widnes was given the go ahead despite no public transport and few roads open due to snow. It was played in a blizzard with an Aussie ref before 2500 who somehow managed to get to the ground, would have been 8-10k on a decent day

Remember the great CC crowds at home v Wire and Cas, Cas was awful weather also looked like a monsoon, and that unforgettable tie away at HKR. The CC was always special at HP

Interesting that back then your crowds for the cup were around double your regular average. 10.3k versus Wire for a 1st Round Challenge Cup game would be a struggle nowadays! 11.8k in the 3rd round v Cas

[thebull13]

The north west got hit with one of the worst winters on record, can't comment about the Devils side o t'hill, and the much anticipated top of the table clash of Leigh v Widnes was given the go ahead despite no public transport and few roads open due to snow. It was played in a blizzard with an Aussie ref before 2500 who somehow managed to get to the ground, would have been 8-10k on a decent day

Remember the great CC crowds at home v Wire and Cas, Cas was awful weather also looked like a monsoon, and that unforgettable tie away at HKR. The CC was always special at HP

I was the Leigh mascot for the Widnes game :-) It was freezing, Widnes tried to call it off half an hour before kick off but the Aussie ref (was it Graham Annersley?) told them to get on with it. Away at HKR, Des Drummond flattened Steve Hubbard with one of the biggest hits i've ever seen. Our coach got bricked on way home with some windows put through.

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

Just looked it up - the ref was Greg Hartley, who had, shall we say, a certain reputation Down Under.

[Futtocks]

I remember that season well.  The Hull Daily Mail ran a story pointing out that Hull FC had the highest average attendance in the world surpasing even Sydney Olympic at the time.  I don't know whatever happened to Sydney Olympic.

 

I also remember that there didn't appear to be many away fans in rugby in those days, certainly not compared to these days.

Sydney Olympic FC seem to be still in semi-pro existence. Formerly known as the Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club in the Fifties, according to Wikipedia.

[Bartholemew Smythe]

Interesting that back then your crowds for the cup were around double your regular average. 10.3k versus Wire for a 1st Round Challenge Cup game would be a struggle nowadays! 11.8k in the 3rd round v Cas

I remember a 10k+ crowd for our last match of the season in`81 v Wire.When Wire needed a win to take the title.Shirley Hesford giving Dessie the outside and then watching Dessie putting the ball over the line,pure quality.Bradford went on to win the title.

[Padge]

This was Fulham's second season. Would need to check the book, but I think Leigh averaged better crowds than Wigan, Leeds, Warrington or Saints. Those who like to hark back to the past being better than now should remember that most crowds at those clubs for league games were below the 5000 mark.

 

Leigh 3269

Wire 4465

Wigan4699

Leeds 4508

Saints 4736

Fulham 4321

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Leigh were no where near the best supported, as well as the above Bradford, Castleford, Fev, Hull KR, Salford and Widnes all had higher crowds than Leigh.

[Bartholemew Smythe]

Leigh 3269

Wire 4465

Wigan4699

Leeds 4508

Saints 4736

Fulham 4321

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Leigh were no where near the best supported, as well as the above Bradford, Castleford, Fev, Hull KR, Salford and Widnes all had higher crowds than Leigh.

Why have you used attendances from the 76-77 season?

[Bartholemew Smythe]

Attendances for the 81-82 season

 

Barrow 4162

Bradford 5816

Cas 3791

Fev 2806

Fulham 4321

Hull 13190

Hull KR 8723

Leeds 5599

Leigh 5939

Saints 4862

Wakey 3716

Wire 3838

Haven 2710

Widnes 5485

Pies 5497

York 3677

[Padge]

Why have you used attendances from the 76-77 season?

Probably because I cocked up my database query.

[Bartholemew Smythe]

Probably because I cocked up my database query.

So does that mean the bubble isn`t burst then!

[Padge]

So does that mean the bubble isn`t burst then!

 

No, it means I cocked up a query.

[Bartholemew Smythe]

Leigh 3269

Wire 4465

Wigan4699

Leeds 4508

Saints 4736

Fulham 4321

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Leigh were no where near the best supported, as well as the above Bradford, Castleford, Fev, Hull KR, Salford and Widnes all had higher crowds than Leigh.

Sorry to burst your bubble but you`re wrong!!!

[Bob8]

I remember that season well.  The Hull Daily Mail ran a story pointing out that Hull FC had the highest average attendance in the world surpasing even Sydney Olympic at the time.  I don't know whatever happened to Sydney Olympic.

 

I also remember that there didn't appear to be many away fans in rugby in those days, certainly not compared to these days.

A soccer team apparently?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Olympic_FC

[Southern Reiver]

Leigh 1 - 1 Warrington in the Premiership Trophy. Not a result you see every day.

Some of the second division crowds were just as miserable as today and that was with straight promotion. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

[Bartholemew Smythe]

Leigh 1 - 1 Warrington in the Premiership Trophy. Not a result you see every day.

Some of the second division crowds were just as miserable as today and that was with straight promotion. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

We lost the replay v Wire at CP 9-10.

[Padge]

Sorry to burst your bubble but you`re wrong!!!

 

Haven't I already admitted I cocked up the query.

[EssexRL]

I've got this one and several others.

 

There was a section which listed all the games in the season with a crowd over 10,000. There weren't enough of them to fill a page.

 

A few random attendance stats - Wigan got a crowd of 3478 for their opening league fixture, but more 17 000 for a cup game against Widnes. The two Wigan/Saints derby games both got 7000 odd, while the new year's day derby at Warrington was watched by a crowd of 3669. Fulham v Wigan at Craven Cottage had a higher crowd than Wigan v Fulham at Central Park. Leeds v Wigan at Headingley was watched by 4487.

 

Geoff Fletcher took his wig off before entering the playing field and was chairman as well as coach at this point and was absolutely livid

Worth remembering that crowds weren't always great back then. Imagine what we would think if Wigan got that attendance now!

[Lowdesert]

 

Heart of Midlothian and Charlton Athletic football clubs expressed an interest in setting up RL sides, whilst a feasibility study was carried out at Preston North End for the same purpose. Hull FC looked into leaving The Boulevard to groundshare with Hull City at Boothferry Park

 

There was a bidding war between St Helens and Wigan to sign Rochdale's Henderson Gill. The Hornets also announced plans to develop a multisport venue at the Athletic Grounds with Rochdale AFC.

 

RU players were targeted by League clubs, with international and county players regularly being approached. Most offers to have been turned down, including a 19-year-old Rory Underwood of Middlesbrough RUFC, who knocked back advances from HKR.

 

A group of York businessmen planned a 250,000 pound takeover of the city's RL club.

 

 

In slightly more bizarre news:

 

Bradford Northern staged a 56th minute walkout after 6 players (4 from Northern) were sent-off in a fixture against HKR. Heavy punishments were handed down to the players involved, including Northern's captain Jeff Grayshon.

Great post and good to reminisce. Apologies for editing, but these bits just made me smile.

Hearts - I've always thought RL would be ideal for the Scots, with real tribal rivalry, but Charltons interest surprised me. Kent Invicta must have generated some interest after all! And who will ever forget Gilly. What a player and character.

Rory's knock back was probably more to do with him getting more on expenses at Middlesborough than Rovers offer and the York takeover maybe should have been in the 'bizarre' section.

[JonM]

Worth remembering that crowds weren't always great back then. Imagine what we would think if Wigan got that attendance now!

 

Yes. There is a tendency in RL circles to go on about how much better things were in the past and how the game is dying, but the reality is the sport is way bigger now than it was in the 70s/ 80s/ 90s, at least in terms of numbers of people watching and the amount of money available. While it is clearly the case that some former RL towns (York & Barrow from the above list, but you could add e.g. Rochdale, Oldham, Swinton and a few more) are much weaker than they were, the big clubs have got bigger by a much larger amount.