Anfield World Cup games to move to Wigan

[Scubby]

2 minutes ago, Chris22 said:

I know comparing us to RU may not be wise but I'm going to do it anyway! When England hosted the union WC in 2015, the lowest crowd for a quarter final was 71,000.

Here is a map of venues for the RU World Cup in 2015 and then ours in 2021 (at present).

   

I know we need the majority of venues in the north but think we could have had a little more ambition (we seem to have contracted in terms of spread since 2013). If you are in large swathes of the country you are hundreds of miles from being able to attend a match, limiting its accessibility.

28 towns and cities made a bid to most a match (40 separate venues), the most interest we have ever had. I agree that the 80% target of matches in the north was sensible and also essential to secure funding, but feel 94% (as we currently have) is too high.

One more match in an unexpected location does not seem to be too great of a risk, especially at the QF stage, which doesn't have the greatest appeal in the heartlands, but may have a greater appeal to a casual audience.

 

The Government money was part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative so I think on this occasion there were some constraints. Hence, why no games in Wales or France for example.

[Harry Stottle]

15 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

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.

Well for one I am certainly very happy with England at both those venue's, both under 10 miles for me, not that I am being insular by any means but it is certainly more appealing than Leeds and Hull. 

[GUBRATS]

Just now, Harry Stottle said:

Well for one I am certainly very happy with England at both those venue's, both under 10 miles for me, not that I am being insular by any means but it is certainly more appealing than Leeds and Hull. 

Me too Harry , I'll hopefully be attending both , as for Anfield , never been inside it , but a serious dump around it last time I was there , if it's anything like Elland Rd , then I'll give it a miss , stands built for standing don't work with seats for me 

[Tommygilf]

31 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

The fact we can’t have a Test Match on a full sized pitch is embarrassing,the area is a slum & transport links back into the city are very poor,it’s hardly a devastating loss to the tournament.

I totally agree, its far from ideal as a venue for RL. That doesn't make swapping it for the DW an equivalent swap.

[Tommygilf]

15 minutes ago, Scubby said:

The Government money was part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative so I think on this occasion there were some constraints. Hence, why no games in Wales or France for example.

They stipulated 80%, as per this https://www.gov.uk/government/news/northern-powerhouse-at-the-heart-of-rugby-league-world-cup-2021

We have gone well above and beyond that.

[Scubby]

2 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

They stipulated 80%, as per this https://www.gov.uk/government/news/northern-powerhouse-at-the-heart-of-rugby-league-world-cup-2021

We have gone well above and beyond that.

To me, more effort should have been made to push a little further down the country - Sheffield, Leicester, Derby all 30k+ stadiums still within touching distance of the core audience and fresh enough to draw local ticket holders.

[Tommygilf]

7 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Well for one I am certainly very happy with England at both those venue's, both under 10 miles for me, not that I am being insular by any means but it is certainly more appealing than Leeds and Hull. 

What, Coventry and London?  

Seriously though, that is all well and good Harry, but you also have the final within 15 miles and 3 group games and an additional quarter final too.

I think that is oversaturation and asking too much of locals who will of course prioritise the England games. Of those games, only the Final is in a marquee venue large numbers will travel across the country to to support more local attendees.

[Tommygilf]

8 minutes ago, Scubby said:

To me, more effort should have been made to push a little further down the country - Sheffield, Leicester, Derby all 30k+ stadiums still within touching distance of the core audience and fresh enough to draw local ticket holders.

I don't disagree. We are well within the Northern Powerhouse funding percentage so there is the room to be flexible now.

I personally cannot understand the logic of only having 1 game in London.

[Scubby]

6 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

I don't disagree. We are well within the Northern Powerhouse funding percentage so there is the room to be flexible now.

I personally cannot understand the logic of only having 1 game in London.

There are some great venues in London now for a pool game. Brentford would have been a great choice as would the Stoop. Would have worked a treat for an Australia or NZ pool game.

[JohnM]

2 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

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?

Attendance does not equal profit.

[Damien]

6 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

I don't disagree. We are well within the Northern Powerhouse funding percentage so there is the room to be flexible now.

I personally cannot understand the logic of only having 1 game in London.

Again though it depends on what venues are available.

I do agree though about London and said so when the original schedule was announced. We should have certainly had more games there.

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

Again though it depends on what venues are available.

I do agree though about London and said so when the original schedule was announced. We should have certainly had more games there.

Where wouldn't be available? I think you don't need much imagination to see there are numerous possibilities - Anfield is only unavailable due to a renovation apparently.

London screams massive missed opportunity.

[Tommygilf]

6 minutes ago, JohnM said:

Attendance does not equal profit.

Of course, have it in my back garden then! Make loads of savings!

Wigan would have to cost significantly less than half of what Anfield was to make sure this move isn't costing the RLWC 2021. And that's if the stadium is being operated as a cost to the tournament. Neither of us as far as I am aware know what the host venue arrangements are and whether local councils, stadiums or the tournament are footing the bills. I'd suspect 1 or a mixture of of the former 2 options with the stadium retaining matchday revenue from food and drink will be the 

So attendance does help profit, a lot, for spectator events.

[Tommygilf]

15 minutes ago, Scubby said:

There are some great venues in London now for a pool game. Brentford would have been a great choice as would the Stoop. Would have worked a treat for an Australia or NZ pool game.

Or the London Stadium for England's QF

I think if were targeting 30k less quarter final attendees, that has to be justified somehow.

[Damien]

16 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Where wouldn't be available? I think you don't need much imagination to see there are numerous possibilities - Anfield is only unavailable due to a renovation apparently.

London screams massive missed opportunity.

Well Anfield isn't and it's quite possible that other stadia aren't avaliable too. I've seen it said that the issue is around potential UEFA competition dates. Things like that will affect other clubs and venues too. Then there is the fact that quite frankly plenty of Premier League clubs don't need the money and wouldn't be accommodating anyway,  especially at that time of year.

I certainly don't think it's inconceivable that Wigan is the best of the available options.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Damien

[Exiled Wiganer]

I thought at the time that the organisers were making life more difficult for themselves than they needed to by not playing in Wigan. There is a very strong history of people watching these games in big numbers when staged in Wigan.

These games will need far less time and energy to sell, leaving the organisers more resources to look at pushing other games. I think one big game in London is sufficient - we southern based lot will turn out in our 10s of thousands, don’t worry - and that the organisers should use any resources spared from this decision to target Newcastle and Middlesbrough. I think the north east is much the best option for expansion we have in the country, and am thrilled we have so many games in the region. 

Edited November 14, 2021 by Exiled Wiganer

[Gerrumonside ref]

I doubt they went from Anfield to Wigan without exploring other options.

[Scubby]

3 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

I doubt they went from Anfield to Wigan without exploring other options.

They did but Leigh was double booked.

[Dallas Mead]

“Northern Powerhouse”.  Jesus H……

[Gerrumonside ref]

7 minutes ago, Scubby said:

They did but Leigh was double booked.

How did I know that would be your ‘train’ of thought!

Edited November 14, 2021 by Gerrumonside ref

[Scubby]

4 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

How did I know that you would be your ‘train’ of the thought!

I'm sure the RLWC organisers thought the Aussies wanted decking

Edited November 14, 2021 by Scubby

[Irish Saint]

Let's hope the EFL don't allocate Wigan Athletic a home fixture on that date or it may have to be moved again.

[Harry Stottle]

2 minutes ago, Scubby said:

I'm sure the RLWC organisers thought the Aussies wanted decking

Well you have 3 games to pick from at the LSV Scubby, albeit being a well travelled 'live' fan of a game I am sure you won't be missing any of them, and who knows you may be granted an audience with Derek John Beaumont if you tell him your coming along.

[Harry Stottle]

5 minutes ago, Irish Saint said:

Let's hope the EFL don't allocate Wigan Athletic a home fixture on that date or it may have to be moved again.

It won't have anything to do with Ian Leneghan though, he know longer has his dual role with the Football League, does he?

[Tommygilf]

10 minutes ago, Damien said:

Well Anfield isn't and it's quite possible that other stadia aren't avaliable too. I've seen it said that the issue is around potential UEFA competition dates. Things like that will affect other clubs and venues too. Then there is the fact that quite frankly plenty of Premier League clubs don't need the money and wouldn't be accommodating anyway,  especially at that time of year.

I certainly don't think it's inconceivable that Wigan is the best of the available options.

Anfield isn't available because of stadium renovation work planned to coincide with the winter world cup, I don't think every possible stadium will be doing similar. 

I think Wigan is the "safe" option. In that they have 30k less tickets to shift and only 25k to sell to an already captive local audience. Its not "safe" of course because its 30k less potential attendees in a venue in throwing distance from another quarter final venue, and 3 group games, and the final (I haven't included St Helens and Warrington's games in there either). 

Its asking a lot of 1 area imo - on top of the downgrade.