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GB V Aus crowds


JohnM

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Crowds increased for GB v Australia matches when the game started to think big. The moment they began to be seen as big events played in large stadiums and major cities things changed. The old Wembley, Old Trafford and Elland Road combo was fantastic and this years proposed Ashes was getting back towards that.

This has been proven time and again to be effective. Playing in small venues at Hull, Wigan etc is not and you get the results you deserve.

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10 minutes ago, Damien said:

Crowds increased for GB v Australia matches when the game started to think big. The moment they began to be seen as big events played in large stadiums and major cities things changed. The old Wembley, Old Trafford and Elland Road combo was fantastic and this years proposed Ashes was getting back towards that.

This has been proven time and again to be effective. Playing in small venues at Hull, Wigan etc is not and you get the results you deserve.

Absolutely. Rugby League fans enjoy going to Rugby League games and the wider public enjoy going to events.  Hold a match at Wigan or Bolton and you are only fishing in one pond. Hold a game at Wembley or Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and you are appealing to much much wider audience. 

As you say. A proven formula. 

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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1 hour ago, Damien said:

Crowds increased for GB v Australia matches when the game started to think big. The moment they began to be seen as big events played in large stadiums and major cities things changed. The old Wembley, Old Trafford and Elland Road combo was fantastic and this years proposed Ashes was getting back towards that.

This has been proven time and again to be effective. Playing in small venues at Hull, Wigan etc is not and you get the results you deserve.

Very similar to my thoughts. I've mentioned it a few times, but in every 3 match series there should be a game in London, one east of the Pennines and one West. In London there are now a few grounds we could look to use and in Manchester I'd happily swap Old Trafford for The Etihad. Yorkshire maybe offers less scope for change but crowds have been consistently good at Elland Road so the approach would still hold. We just need some consistency on getting the Aussies, New Zealanders and now Pacific Islanders over on a regular rotational basis and to implement it

100% League 0% Union

Just because I don't know doesn't mean I don't understand

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15 minutes ago, Cumbrian Fanatic said:

Very similar to my thoughts. I've mentioned it a few times, but in every 3 match series there should be a game in London, one east of the Pennines and one West. In London there are now a few grounds we could look to use and in Manchester I'd happily swap Old Trafford for The Etihad. Yorkshire maybe offers less scope for change but crowds have been consistently good at Elland Road so the approach would still hold. We just need some consistency on getting the Aussies, New Zealanders and now Pacific Islanders over on a regular rotational basis and to implement it

Newcastle is a viable venue now as well, if you’d consider that to be East of the Pennines. 

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1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Newcastle is a viable venue now as well, if you’d consider that to be East of the Pennines. 

I did think about putting Newcastle in that post but generally the crowds in Leeds have generally been good over the years and gives a good catchment area from north east, Hull, Sheffield and the East Midlands. Newcastle is certainly a viable option (and actually easier for me personally) so lets hope for a great crowd at the Samoa world cup game so it can become a more regular venue for internationals

100% League 0% Union

Just because I don't know doesn't mean I don't understand

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31 minutes ago, Celt said:

4300 packed into Salford for this game v Italy in 2013.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/sport/amp/rugby-league/24565586

Imagine the pride the English lads must have felt running out before that crowd. The buzz must have been incredible.

It wasn't enough though... 13th ranked Italy beat you with a late drop goal.

😂

Topic is GB vs Aus crowds.  Presumably you are a GB rugby league fan.

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1 hour ago, Celt said:

I don't think anyone is stupid enough to think GB and England aren't the same thing. It is exactly the same players FFS.

GB doesn't really exist anyway - it made a temporary comeback in humiliating circumstances last year, and will not resurface again.

England, is the modern day GB. 

Still babbling on about this Kelt.... let it go lad. We are all part of the British Isles so be proud of the British isles 13.

If you hate England so much maybe stick to a RL forum that only deals with Celtic nations....🤣🤣

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35 minutes ago, JohnM said:

But this is about GB v Aus. You ARE British, right?  Answer yes or no.  You are a rugby league fan,right? Answer yes or no.

Dont think he is - every thing he posts is just a dig at England for some reason.

Dont think we will see GB for a long time and GB playing in the UK ever again. For me the shirt is iconic but as the other nations in the British Isles haven't progressed it's probably not worth it.

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My purpose in starting this topic was to show the crowd levels at GB v Aus games over the years. It wasn't meant provide an opportunity for anti-British sentiment from an anti-league troll . I was more concerned to show that these games were not always as popular as some thought.

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1 minute ago, Wigan Riversider said:

From memory GB v Australia crowds were at their best in the UK from 1986-1994. Granted I don't remember the 1970s or earlier.

1992 WC final at Wembley had 72000. Can't see anything similar happening again in all honesty.

Crowds were not huge for the 1982 tests.

Well in the last world Cup here that crowd was beaten for the final involving Aus and NZ, and we got 67k for the semi versus NZ. 

That is at least similar. 

I expect the World Cup Final next year to sell out Old Trafford and some huge crowds for England games. 

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1 minute ago, Dave T said:

Well in the last world Cup here that crowd was beaten for the final involving Aus and NZ, and we got 67k for the semi versus NZ. 

That is at least similar. 

I expect the World Cup Final next year to sell out Old Trafford and some huge crowds for England games. 

Fair points indeed 👍

Perhaps there will be massive crowds when the pandemic restrictions are lifted.

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My original post should have taken us to images from my Rothmans from 1990 so won't show crowds after then.

In the golden years when 17 million squeezed into Odsal for the cup final replay,  these were the GB vs Aus attendances

1952: Leeds/ Bradford/Swinton approx 31k at each

1954: In Australia, 65k/46k, 67k

1956: in UK, 22k/23k/17k

.........................................

1982: Hull/Wigan/Leeds: 26k/23k/17k

1984: Australia 30k/26k/18k

1986:  UK, Old Trafford 50k,  Elland Road 31k, Central Park 20k

1990; UK , Wembley 50k, Old Trafford 46k, Elland Road 32K

1966 and 1990 really was a golden year when so many of us thought we were in with a chance of winning the series. These were the days of star Aussies  guesting over here, Mo at the peak of his powers, and no doubt other factors.

Clearly, to me at least, Aussie intertest in playing GB was high but waning, possibly because of lack of competitiveness.

Just wishing and hoping that the World Cup might just revive interest in fans to support the international game, something they dont seem to have done recently.

Look, too, at the stadiums used. Wembley, Old Trafford and Elland Rd.

 

 

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3 hours ago, Wigan Riversider said:

From memory GB v Australia crowds were at their best in the UK from 1986-1994. Granted I don't remember the 1970s or earlier.

1992 WC final at Wembley had 72000. Can't see anything similar happening again in all honesty.

Crowds were not huge for the 1982 tests.

Didnt the 2013 final crowd at OT beat that crowd? We even got about 63,000 for the Wembley Semi final that year - ok that was for England but basically the same fans.

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24 minutes ago, JohnM said:

My original post should have taken us to images from my Rothmans from 1990 so won't show crowds after then.

In the golden years when 17 million squeezed into Odsal for the cup final replay,  these were the GB vs Aus attendances

1952: Leeds/ Bradford/Swinton approx 31k at each

1954: In Australia, 65k/46k, 67k

1956: in UK, 22k/23k/17k

.........................................

1982: Hull/Wigan/Leeds: 26k/23k/17k

1984: Australia 30k/26k/18k

1986:  UK, Old Trafford 50k,  Elland Road 31k, Central Park 20k

1990; UK , Wembley 50k, Old Trafford 46k, Elland Road 32K

1966 and 1990 really was a golden year when so many of us thought we were in with a chance of winning the series. These were the days of star Aussies  guesting over here, Mo at the peak of his powers, and no doubt other factors.

Clearly, to me at least, Aussie intertest in playing GB was high but waning, possibly because of lack of competitiveness.

Just wishing and hoping that the World Cup might just revive interest in fans to support the international game, something they dont seem to have done recently.

Look, too, at the stadiums used. Wembley, Old Trafford and Elland Rd.

 

 

Interest in international rl in the uk doesn’t help when we haven’t played a home test since 2018... 

wales vs England - 1992 10k in Swansea 95 & 96 both over 5k in Cardiff 

we then didn’t play wales until 2001 in Wrexham which got 6k 

We need to play home test too as well as the Aussies & kiwis etc 

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Quite so, but its crowds at  GB ( or currently- England) vs Australia that are my indictors of the health of our game; There was  general excitement in the population around the period 1986 to around 1992 and its starting to look like the World Cup is going to generate the same, not with fingers crossed but with confidence. 

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17 hours ago, Celt said:

I don't think anyone is stupid enough to think GB and England aren't the same thing. It is exactly the same players FFS.

GB doesn't really exist anyway - it made a temporary comeback in humiliating circumstances last year, and will not resurface again.

England, is the modern day GB. 

GB is still scheduled to tour Aus, I have yet to see that retracted, you most obviously have done with that statement, please direct me to it?

I love to go on these tours and was looking forward to the next one, wearing that iconic shirt, the locals don't make any judgement on the name of the team that comes from these isles be it GB or England.

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2 hours ago, JohnM said:

Quite so, but its crowds at  GB ( or currently- England) vs Australia that are my indictors of the health of our game; There was  general excitement in the population around the period 1986 to around 1992 

You need to extend that to '94 at least given that series was the record attendance for a test series.

Even in '97 after all we'd learned from the WCC the test series crowds were robust.

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