Any of you Chemics heading to the final?
Needless to say, Mackenzie and I will be there, proudly wearing our Swinton shirts, but.......
Change of plan transport wise, as we were hoping to do our usual drive to High Wycombe, and train it from there. However, strikes have put paid to that, so we're gonna have to park up a lot nearer the stadium this time, but c'est la vie!
We have good some mates who are HKR fans, so we'll be Robins for the day, but in all honesty, I reckon Lam's Lads will do the biz with a bit to spare.
Up at daft o'clock, a distinctly unhealthy nosh, a visit to the fan park, then into the stadium itself for a three match extravaganza of RL, and yet again, tears streaming down my cheeks as the guest singer joins with yours truly in "Abide With Me."
Ticket sales are looking promising, so hopefully it's gonna be pretty full at the national stadium tomorrow.
Hope to see a few of you there.
Spelly.
Great game and fair play to the leotards for their win
Cracking game. Congrats to Leigh, felt sorry for HKR. Felt doubly sorry for the speccies who apparently didn't make it in time.
A great game to watch as a neutral supporter. HKR played much better than I thought they would.
I also thought that the Officials made two poor decisions, both to the detriment of HKR - the yellow card and letting off the Leigh double professional foul blocking of the HKR player which surely warranted at least one yellow card.
Just got back, and as usual, loved it!
Parked on someone's drive (legally and paid for) only about a fifteen minute walk from the stadium.
Three cracking games, and felt sorry for the Robins, but..............
As was pointed out earlier, some didn't make due to an accident on the M1, which is really sad.
Only criticism I'd come up with is the 1895 should not be last on, as thousands went home / for a drink / back to their hotels after the presentations of Leythers v Rovers.
A sixteen hour day, so won't need any rocking tonight!
Spelly.
@spelly A fantastic final Spelly. Just like both the SF. A brilliant advert for the sport. I know you won't have a word said against Wembley, but I repeat what I've been saying for years, the venue is way too big for this match. Maybe the Tottenham stadium could be looked at as a possible, permanent alternative venue. I'd prefer it to be in the north where the actual interest in the game is. Dave Woods said in his commentary that 20,000 fans had not made the game due to road congestion. I honestly find that very hard to believe. Also, 100% correct about the 1895 final, it should be the curtain raiser and not treated as some inconvenient side show. Then, when the 1895 and CC Final matches are out of the way, those interested in the women's final can stay behind and watch it. No surprise that the BBC was verging on hysterical over the women's final, just like the football WSL. Anyway, it is what it is. Sounds like you had a great day.
@spelly A fantastic final Spelly. Just like both the SF. A brilliant advert for the sport. I know you won't have a word said against Wembley, but I repeat what I've been saying for years, the venue is way too big for this match. Maybe the Tottenham stadium could be looked at as a possible, permanent alternative venue. I'd prefer it to be in the north where the actual interest in the game is. Dave Woods said in his commentary that 20,000 fans had not made the game due to road congestion. I honestly find that very hard to believe. Also, 100% correct about the 1895 final, it should be the curtain raiser and not treated as some inconvenient side show. Then, when the 1895 and CC Final matches are out of the way, those interested in the women's final can stay behind and watch it. No surprise that the BBC was verging on hysterical over the women's final, just like the football WSL. Anyway, it is what it is. Sounds like you had a great day.
I take in all you say mate, and you're not alone in your thoughts, but........
As I've said many times previously, Wembley has that je ne sais quoi for me.
The numbers that didn't make it today? I would imagine that'll never be known, but..................
Even if it was no trouble at all rising at daft o'clock, next year, we're gonna set off on the Friday, coz even though we were well in front of the incident, it brought it home that we too could've missed out.
Too big? Possibly, but what's Tottenham's capacity? I'm not sure. We went last year, but for me, it just wasn't the same. That Wembley "feeling" was missing, and this is from someone whose team have never graced the national stadium!
Play it in the heartlands? We already have the GT at OT, with our tickets are already booked, and this year, the date also co-incides with when I turn 21 again, so it'll be a double celebration.
Anfield? The Etihad? They're (in my opinion) OK for "one-offs" like an international.
St James' Park? Magic is there already.
Am I being selfish? again possibly, but I hope the Challenge Cup Final remains in that little corner of Middlesex!
Timing of the matches if all three are to be played on the same day? I'm pretty sure the Beeb would insist that the "big one" had a 3.00pm-ish start time due to programme scheduling, so.....
Allowing summat like a two and a half hour spread between KO times, would mean we're talking 10.00am-ish for the opening whistle of game one, which is just not on, so........
Being harsh, the 1895, or the ladies' game, would have to miss out. Poss as a curtain-raiser at OT instead?
Spelly.
a very entertaining final and a great advert for the sport.
I felt sorry for the ladies, who looked to be playing in front of a very poor crowd .
Surely, the ladies final would have made more commercial sense as a stand alone fixture in the heartlands, good marketing should have been able to draw a decent crowd , or even a double header with the sunbed final.
I have spoken to a couple of parents of girls ho have recently started playing RL and they seem to be of the opinion that taking their kids to London for a game that starts at lunchtime is a step too far , especially as they only want to watch one game.
@sunny it's funny how different people see things Sunny.
I thought the yellow was justified and that it was never an obstruction!
I couldn't believe Hughes wandering around in the in goal area, not even looking at the ball!!!!
Without his obstruction of his own man (Briscoe) it would have never gone to GP!!!!!
It sure is!
For once, the TV pundits (whose opinions are only as good as yours and mine) agreed with me.
But that's now yesterday's chip-paper news. Decisions were made, no histrionics from Players, a cracking game.
Great to see an unfancied name on the trophy.
@carpet-crawler I also find the 20,000 fans stuck in traffic extremely hard to believe. If true all must have been sat in the upper level.
@spelly for me personally Wembley doesn’t have the magic that it used to, it’s now just another soccer ground, should have kept the rounded ends. Wembley way is now like a walk through an estate of high rise apartments, why the towers couldn’t have been incorporated into the design I’ll never know. Sydney cricket ground still has a section of the original structure still there so why not Wembley.
I think in this day and age, there's not really any point in 10s of 1000s of Northerners traipsing down to London to watch RL. The ground isn't the same, the occasion isn't the same, the interest level isn't the same. Play it in the North, somewhere other than OT so as to keep it separate from the GF. Anfield or Etihad would be better than Wembley and much easier for the paying audience to get to.
Looks like I'm in the minority, but c'est la vie, but............
Being a Swinton fan, and a member of the Labour Party, I'm well used to it! 🤣
Anyway, I'm still gonna fight my corner for Wembley to remain as the venue for the Cup Final!
A couple of Smoke based Chemics were sat just in front of us yesterday.
Saw a lot of different shirts as ever.
Spelly.