Super League Grand Final - New Deal for Old Trafford

[Taffy Tiger]

A new 3-year Deal has been announced . Old Trafford will host Grand Final until at least 2027

[Eddie]

Good, it’s the best place for it. 

[phiggins]

14 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Good, it’s the best place for it. 

At the moment it is. But I'm fearful for what state the stadium will be in in 2027

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, phiggins said:

At the moment it is. But I'm fearful for what state the stadium will be in in 2027

Manchester United will still be playing there. 

[phiggins]

16 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Manchester United will still be playing there. 

Not sure of the relevance, unless they plan on making some improvements / repairs while they plan their new stadium. They’ve neglected it for 20+ years 

[Toby Chopra]

If as hoped we get more than 62k this week, and as also hoped for things keep improving, then capacity wise OT really is the only option for the next 3-4 years. Nowhere else in the north is big enough.

Long term we'd hope to be able to play a grand final elsewhere in the country, but we're not quite there yet. So OT it is, despite its issues.

Wonder what this means for the refurbishment though. There can't be any major demolition plans in the next 3 years if we're locked in to 2027.

 

Edited October 7, 2024 by Toby Chopra

[Gav Wilson]

An iconic venue but not safe for rugby league. Hopefully the Grand Final moves to the freshly expanded Etihad at the end of this contract, until United build their new stadium.

[Gooleboy]

Old Trafford is desperate for some big improvements it has been neglected by its current owners. And as for those drops after the in goal areas, very dangerous. The Ethiad is by far a better stadium.

[Eddie]

57 minutes ago, phiggins said:

Not sure of the relevance, unless they plan on making some improvements / repairs while they plan their new stadium. They’ve neglected it for 20+ years 

It’s good enough for one of the biggest clubs in the biggest sport in the world, I’m sure RL fans can cope for one evening. 

[OriginalMrC]

Sorry it's a dump and likely to get worse while Man Utd decide if they can afford a new stadium.

The one positive is I've always found the atmosphere really good. 

[Hopie]

Other then the length of the playing surface it is the best choice of venue. Lets stay on board, and get booked in for the new Old Trafford when it is built.

[WN83]

1 hour ago, Gav Wilson said:

An iconic venue but not safe for rugby league. Hopefully the Grand Final moves to the freshly expanded Etihad at the end of this contract, until United build their new stadium.

It'll be interesting to see what the plans entail with the new ground. If it's a new build on the land the club owns, you'd imagine United may try and continue at Old Trafford until the new one is ready (or for as long as would be possible). If that is the case, the GF may never move until the time the new place is open. 

On a side note, I'd imagine the new ground will be like Spurs with a retractable pitch. If that is the case then you'd hope the future would include the woman's final on the same day, as well as maybe the academy final. 

[Chris22]

Pleased to hear this. Manchester United are a key partner for the sport. If we move from Old Trafford out of choice, I predict that Grand Final will be played at Elland Road within 10 years.

[Gerrumonside ref]

1 hour ago, Chris22 said:

Pleased to hear this. Manchester United are a key partner for the sport. If we move from Old Trafford out of choice, I predict that Grand Final will be played at Elland Road within 10 years.

Why Elland Rd?

Edited October 7, 2024 by Gerrumonside ref

[Gerrumonside ref]

Manchester United FC are going through a period of top down driven rationalisation and are making many cutbacks both back office plus in football operations (even youth football development which was once unthinkable in their cultural philosophy).

If the current partnership we have is being extended then there must be some monetary value that they place on it because they won’t be doing it now out of any emotional link with rugby league.

On the balance of the pros and cons of playing the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford it probably works best for our main demographic when weighing up capacity versus ticket price versus location.

It should be a business decision for us first and foremost about how we can best monetise our biggest club night.

Change shouldn’t be unthinkable though, but must be fully justified.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2024 by Gerrumonside ref

[Gav Wilson]

Pretty mad when you see it in perspective. Only thing that's missing is the drop down to the tarmac/ad boards...

 

[HawkMan]

Let's hope the new Old Trafford design team doesn't overlook Leigh fans needs ,and has enough coach parking spaces, something criminally overlooked at Tottenham, as a particular Leigh fan told us over and over again.

[phiggins]

2 hours ago, HawkMan said:

Let's hope the new Old Trafford design team doesn't overlook Leigh fans needs ,and has enough coach parking spaces, something criminally overlooked at Tottenham, as a particular Leigh fan told us over and over again.

That’s some call back. It’s over 2 years since rl was played at Tottenham! 

[Futtocks]

[Hopie]

14 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

[Leyther_Matt]

3 hours ago, HawkMan said:

Let's hope the new Old Trafford design team doesn't overlook Leigh fans needs ,and has enough coach parking spaces, something criminally overlooked at Tottenham, as a particular Leigh fan told us over and over again.

I suppose there is a certain irony that the new stadium is going to take up virtual all of the existing parking spaces.

The infrastructure in the area already struggles with 75,000 and there hasn’t been too much of a discussion how that will change with 100,000 to deal with. 

Edited October 9, 2024 by Leyther_Matt

[HawkMan]

1 hour ago, Leyther_Matt said:

I suppose there is a certain irony that the new stadium is going to take up virtual all of the existing parking spaces.

The infrastructure in the area already struggles with 75,000 and there hasn’t been too much of a discussion how that will change with 100,000 to deal with. 

I hadn't realised that 100,000 was the target capacity. Is that good for the GF or not? 60,000 in a 75,000 capacity stadium looks good, as I'm sure we'll see this Saturday,  but in a 100,000 one I'm not sure, though who knows what attendances will be in 2028.

[phiggins]

1 hour ago, Leyther_Matt said:

I suppose there is a certain irony that the new stadium is going to take up virtual all of the existing parking spaces.

The infrastructure in the area already struggles with 75,000 and there hasn’t been too much of a discussion how that will change with 100,000 to deal with. 

The trams are a disaster after a roses match, dread to think what it’ll be like round there with 100,000 in 

[Leyther_Matt]

1 hour ago, HawkMan said:

I hadn't realised that 100,000 was the target capacity. Is that good for the GF or not? 60,000 in a 75,000 capacity stadium looks good, as I'm sure we'll see this Saturday,  but in a 100,000 one I'm not sure, though who knows what attendances will be in 2028.

Depends if Hull KR get there  

I do think there’s an inevitability that we’ll end up at the Etihad though. The only question is whether that is forced by the decline of the current Old Trafford or because the new one is too big (or we’re priced out)

38 minutes ago, phiggins said:

The trams are a disaster after a roses match, dread to think what it’ll be like round there with 100,000 in 

It’s improved a little over the last few years with the extra tram lines, but losing those car parks will make a big difference for both football and cricket

[Harry Stottle]

On 07/10/2024 at 17:03, Gav Wilson said:

An iconic venue but not safe for rugby league. Hopefully the Grand Final moves to the freshly expanded Etihad at the end of this contract, until United build their new stadium.

Going to say exactly the same Gav, there has been a few near misses behind the dead ball line. An accident waiting to happen, surely it could be safeguarded with large inflatable tubes and they would not cost a lot,  I do know about these things from my buisness life.