Why old Trafford?

[Bearman]

If the RFL were to invest some ( a lot of money) they could use the ground they own

[Oliver Clothesoff]

29 minutes ago, Nomad XIII said:

Attendance was ~65,500 two years running, maybe 2002/3. Those were both sell outs

Thought as much but wasn’t sure. 

[Just Browny]

We should keep asking the question, because Old Trafford is looking a bit tatty these days and the pitch is much smaller than we would like. But, for now, I think it ticks more boxes than any other options. Wigan and Warrington fans couldn't be persuaded to attend playoff games at their own grounds this year, so mobilising 20,000+ to go to Cardiff in perhaps a week looks risky.

[paulwalker71]

I doubt that we'd get anywhere close to 64K if it moved to South Wales, Ireland or London.

Yes, the pitch is a bit small, but having it in the North and having a 70K capacity means that Old Trafford is the obvious choice.

[GUBRATS]

Because to play it anywhere else at this moment would be suicide , as Dave suggested , the emtyhad if they increase the capacity , but that is still in Manchester , maybe in fifty years when ' New Elland Rd ' is built , but it won't bother me either way

[Davo5]

2 hours ago, Smoketrail said:

As a grand final I'm wondering why at Old Trafford? Stadium and crowd looked good, but the pitch looked awful. Too small in goal, too small width, football lines all over. I think it should be bid on and moved around every year. Where else could it be held?

The pitch at Old Trafford is one of the biggest in the Premier League,the only problem is the slope down to the advertising boards at each end.

As any other suitable alternative will be a football ground,you will still have football markings visible,but come on those markings don't detract from the viewing experience and I've yet to speak to anyone who says that would be a reason not to attend.

The game has many issues,the Grand Final at Old Trafford isn't one of them.

[Bod]

Kicking off at six gives a better atmosphere but getting home after on trams and train was a complete nightmare. The crush on the trams was very dangerous for passengers.

[GUBRATS]

2 minutes ago, Bod said:

Kicking off at six gives a better atmosphere but getting home after on trams and train was a complete nightmare. The crush on the trams was very dangerous for passengers.

But even more manage it 20 odd times a year , big crowds equals issues with travel , same issue wherever it's played , maybe be OK next year with Toronto in the final ?

[Oliver Clothesoff]

Till there’s a new stadium in the North that rivals Old Trafford for attendance, we aren’t moving this anywhere. Everton’s new one (52k), Anfield (54k) and the Etihad (55k) are all 10-15k off being what we need. 

Magic can be moved around with more ease than a Final because it’s known whose playing. While the fixtures itself may not be known for another month or two, we’ve been given seven months notice of where and when the next Magic Weekend is being held. 

[eal]

Let's just play it in Toronto.

[Denton Rovers RLFC]

OT is an awful ground in the cheap seats, IMO that's in part why they aren't taken up despite being giveaway prices.

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

I can’t see anything like as many people being bothered to go to Cardiff as go to OT though, given the distances and probable overnight stay involved. 

based on what evidence? Fans have travelled in numbers to Edinburgh for the CC final, spent money going to Newcastle which isn't exactly round the corner, have you ever thought that a far nicer ground, a far nicer environment around the ground is massively more appealing and also makes it easier for fans in the South to attend?

Given it's supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport are you saying that you want it on your doorstep or you aren't going? Pretty much that's what Stains fans are like, just look what happened when your bin shed was being built, an extra 8 miles and your attendances dropped off a cliff, almost halved didn't they despite a very good 2010 season, surprised you took so many to OT to be honest given the distance

[Mister Ting]

2 hours ago, Eddie said:

Where would you go that isn’t a dive and has good facilities around the ground though? It really needs a 70k capacity and to be in the North of England. 

I would say minimum 55k capacity is a sensible requirement. The NFL only demands that to host Super Bowl, a stadium should be capable of accommodating 70,000.

[Dave T]

4 minutes ago, Mister Ting said:

I would say minimum 55k capacity is a sensible requirement. The NFL only demands that to host Super Bowl, a stadium should be capable of accommodating 70,000.

I wonder whether a 55k ground would allow us to drive up ticket price and remove the need for discount and give us more income than 65k at Old Trafford.

[Mister Ting]

5 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I wonder whether a 55k ground would allow us to drive up ticket price and remove the need for discount and give us more income than 65k at Old Trafford.

It makes you wonder why newer NFL stadiums are smaller than their collegiate counterparts.

[Denton Rovers RLFC]

1 hour ago, Just Browny said:

We should keep asking the question, because Old Trafford is looking a bit tatty these days and the pitch is much smaller than we would like. But, for now, I think it ticks more boxes than any other options. Wigan and Warrington fans couldn't be persuaded to attend playoff games at their own grounds this year, so mobilising 20,000+ to go to Cardiff in perhaps a week looks risky.

yeah cos driving 3-4 hours is so massively difficult to arrange, christ people can organise coaches in a day or two, if we held the final at a decent time of day, say anywhere between 2:30 and 5pm - personally I think it should be mid afternoon not early evening, then some fans could even get the train if they so wished, I'm sure that's not many anyway but it's a viable option if played earlier 

It really isn't rocket science, god help people if they were to ever book a holiday at short notice

[Gerrumonside ref]

Old Trafford is looking a bit tired, but probably fits the bill for now.

The venue of the Grand Final should be constantly under review as newer more modern facilities present themselves in the north or the south (if the sporting balance of power starts to shift in U.K. rugby league).

Interestingly NFL players used to the cream of facilities are raving about the Tottenham Stadium.

 

 

 

[eal]

Some RL fans seemingly will only attend games at stadiums that are in sight of their housing estate.

[Gerrumonside ref]

It’d be cool to make such a big event out of Grand Final Super Saturday that people will want to go regardless of whether their team make it or not.

We might have to think a bit bigger than fireworks, cheerleaders and Shed Seven (Sorry, Rick), but then Rome wasn’t built in a day.

I did enjoy Saturday of course, but I’d like a strategy of making this a really big deal as soon as we can in the future, an event that people would be willing to save and plan all year to see.  

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

26 minutes ago, Denton Rovers RLFC said:

yeah cos driving 3-4 hours is so massively difficult to arrange, christ people can organise coaches in a day or two, if we held the final at a decent time of day, say anywhere between 2:30 and 5pm - personally I think it should be mid afternoon not early evening, then some fans could even get the train if they so wished, I'm sure that's not many anyway but it's a viable option if played earlier 

It really isn't rocket science, god help people if they were to ever book a holiday at short notice

If the aim is to get a big crowd, then I don't really see how moving the game a lot further away from the majority of supporters, and consequently significantly increasing the cost of attending, is going to improve that situation. As other posters have pointed out, with the finalists only being confirmed 1-2 weeks out from the game, it doesn't give people long to make plans and find a considerable amount of money. I don't know the cost of trains from the North West or Yorkshire to somewhere like Cardiff, but my guess is they won't be cheap. Just make it easy for people to attend.

[Oliver Clothesoff]

55 minutes ago, Denton Rovers RLFC said:

OT is an awful ground in the cheap seats, IMO that's in part why they aren't taken up despite being giveaway prices.

based on what evidence? Fans have travelled in numbers to Edinburgh for the CC final, spent money going to Newcastle which isn't exactly round the corner, have you ever thought that a far nicer ground, a far nicer environment around the ground is massively more appealing and also makes it easier for fans in the South to attend?

Given it's supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport are you saying that you want it on your doorstep or you aren't going? Pretty much that's what Stains fans are like, just look what happened when your bin shed was being built, an extra 8 miles and your attendances dropped off a cliff, almost halved didn't they despite a very good 2010 season, surprised you took so many to OT to be honest given the distance

Cup Finals give sides 4-6 weeks notice of whose going and Magic is announced months in advance. Next years has been announced 7 1/2 months in advance. You can’t try and compare either to the Grand Final. 

Why does the game need to be worrying about how accessible it is to fans in the South? The Challenge Cup is at the same ground every year and is for something like the next 10+ years and these so-called Southern fans aren’t attending. 

[Mister Ting]

18 minutes ago, eal said:

Some RL fans seemingly will only attend games at stadiums that are in sight of their housing estate.

So what? I'd only attend a game that was at the bottom of my garden.

[Oliver Clothesoff]

5 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

It’d be cool to make such a big event out of Grand Final Super Saturday that people will want to go regardless of whether their team make it or not.

We might have to think a bit bigger than fireworks, cheerleaders and Shed Seven (Sorry, Rick), but then Rome wasn’t built in a day.

I did enjoy Saturday of course, but I’d like a strategy of making this a really big deal as soon as we can in the future, an event that people would be willing to save and plan all year to see.  

Saturday should be the biggest event in our calendar and could and should be done so much better than hiring out a tired band from the 90’s with a Persian rug. 

[fieldofclothofgold]

We have a good relationship with Man Utd too did they tell RU where to go when they wanted to jump in to our spot 

[Mister Ting]

In an ideal world, we'd have half a dozen or more stadiums bidding to stage this great event.

[GUBRATS]

Best thing about the off season , the surety that the ideas become more and more crackpot every year