Tommygilf

I found it uncomfortable personally, but it undeniably carries a prestige value and it was a critical part of the "maximising big games" strategy the World Cup was going with.

31 games in the mens World Cup. 29/31 in the North of England. 25/31 in historic counties of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire. 8/31 games in stadiums with capacities greater than 26k. That's just 2 more than in 2013 (though 4 of those were double headers for the opener and semi finals at 75k capacity Cardiff and 90k capacity Wembley). The World Cup is doing a lot right and has been one of the only positives in RL for the past few years. I do worry that there are too many "safe" venue choices, so much so that they risk crowding eachother to the extent that they stop being "safe" choices. I'd have hoped that stadiums have relatively equivalent alternatives - Workington to Newcastle was an example of that; Liverpool to Wigan isn't.

Was he the Emperor's cousin?

London consistently provides our biggest attendances for Internationals (alongside Leeds). The world cup originally stated they wanted 1,000,000 attendees. We're not going to get that if our largest QF venues are 25-28k capacity. Anyway, who said Wigan would be profitable?

People will make the effort to go to Liverpool. Yes Anfield as a stadium isn't perfect and the area isn't great, but the city is fab and for a weekend with a Quarter final in its an attractive prospect for people from across the country to travel to. Its a destination as well as a venue. Wigan is far less so. Which is why its less than half the capacity (indicating they are expecting to sell half as many tickets).

I really enjoyed it (despite losing). Been meaning to go since they started up then covid happened and just getting the opportunity now. Will probably go again next Saturday too.

Plenty of people have answered that to you directly throughout this thread.

If they were looking at 50k at Anfield then it depends where they want to go. Manchester City is an excellent facility and keeps the marquee fixture in the North West at an elite stadium that has successfully hosted RL in the past. In Yorkshire, Bramall Lane and Elland Road are due to host games the weeks before and after, which probably puts them out of the question. Hull and Huddersfield are already hosting quarter final fixtures too. London and Coventry strike me as other obvious choices. London has a track record of good crowds for England fixtures and from an organisation perspective would allow England 2 weeks with no travel between their last group game and the semi final. It would mean that England are spread about a bit more. There's also obviously a greater choice of potential venues too. Coventry on the other hand only has a single (if major) fixture and is 1 of only two existing venues outside the North of England. Improving access to the England team to those without elite RL on their doorstep already seems logical enough. In all seriousness Goodison Park has a pitch the same size as Anfield's and at just shy of 40k capacity wouldn't result in a major fall in ticket sales.

England's quarter Final (and double header with the Women's game) should be a premium event in a premium Venue. It could also be a growth opportunity if so desired. Anfield was an attempt at those things. Wigan is the opposite sadly.

First game away vs North Wales. First home game at Penryn vs Midlands Hurricanes.

Anfield was set to be the venue England's quarter Final (so long as we qualified for the quarters) regardless of the draw. Emirates likewise for the Semi final. Our 4 quarter final venues are now Wigan, Bolton, Huddersfield and Hull. Wigan are still the second largest venue in that list and most likely will get the England game - them or Bolton. Odd that a venue with less than half the capacity has been chosen as the alternative.

I believe it was 80% as supported by this article: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/northern-powerhouse-at-the-heart-of-rugby-league-world-cup-2021 29 out of 31 is significantly more than that. And no matter how you paint it, another game to the Heartlands (which are already pretty saturated with fixtures for this tournament) in a relatively small stadium for the premium team in the tournament is a downgrade sadly.

Given there is literally 2 games outside the North I don't think even the powerhouse funding was that stringent, but regardless it does still strike me as a downgrade. England shouldn't really be playing in a less than 30k capacity ground for a home world cup - especially when so many games are in the heartlands anyway.

Apologies if there is an existing thread. I went to my first Ice Hockey game this evening for Leeds Knights vs Peterborough Phantoms. Didn't understand some of it and Leeds lost, but I still had a really good time. Very reasonably priced too.

London should absolutely be considered as a replacement. Coventry maybe too. England are now playing in Bolton and most likely Wigan in the tournament now, which feels a bit more lowkey than the vibe they will want to show.

No offence to Wigan, but this was an opportunity to take a Marquee game to a top tier venue and it feels like a step backwards

It doesn't at all though does it?

Bevan French?

There is a rooftop bar at the Catalonia museum right at the harbourside. It is genuinely a cracking view and reasonably priced too considering.

I see Prison FC, after being highly active with their signings in the summer transfer window, have now started a womens team.

Well I'll take the opportunity to point out how that is fundamentally flawed and should be ignored without further consideration.

Unless its admiral!

Doubt they'd let these in when they didn't let Manchester Rangers in.

Seems more than reasonable for those fans.

I do think there is a place for RL to get a bit more specific in fan areas etc, though it would have to be done on a club basis for most events. Right now its all a bit samey at some clubs and that causes problems because you are mixing fans with different expectations. The "family game" mantra means that we have little kids in our hardcore supporters stands - and a lot of people don't want that and likewise most parents won't want their kids so close to bad language etc but are able to because of the approach of clubs. There is a group at Warrington who get a bit of a bad name because they stand in a certain section. At Leeds, our kop stand has been turned into a half seated stand and it has impacted the atmosphere generated. Compare that to say Elland Road for football (used as an example because I know it best). There is a large family stand down one side, a traditional Kop End, a family/corporate stand and a "young lads stand". Plenty of fans start in the family end, migrate to the more boisterous ends, and then end up back in the family end when they start bringing their young kids and they're a bit old for all that. I'm not sure we have that diversity of choice in RL as much as we could. I'm not sure if that has to be forced (ie 16 and older only in some stands) or can be socially engineered. Places where this is very negative is say at magic weekend, where the lack of family areas has caused issues for fans clashing with people wanting a load of beers. To me, being more specific can help everyone have a better experience. There could be a place for tifos, coloured smoke things, flags etc. But you can't just plonk that into the ground as things currently are.