Well folks, surprise surprise ....

The London away game due for a 15.00 on the 12th June has been changed to a 17.00 kick off according to the Leeds and London websites.

- This SHAFTS any fans wanting to watch the game by going to the capital by train and destroys any bookings already made. To get any sort of cheap ticket and make a day of it, those train tickets come on offer around 12 weeks before the game. It is now virtually impossible to get back from The Stoop to Kings Cross in time for the last train to Leeds at 20.00 on the Saturday nights.

- This is about the 3rd year in a row when this fixture has been messed about about on a Saturday. Why ?

- If the worst comes to the worst, why wasn't it scheduled for a Sunday afternoon (it's actually easier to get / from on the train than a Saturday game) and trains run far later on a Sunday night than they do on Saturday evenings.

- Some fans don't want to spend hours cramped up on the club coach and prefer the mobility to get up walk around or have a coffee when they feel like it that the train brings.

- Some fans don't want to be ripped off by the excessive pricing of 'official' club travel packages

- Some fans might want to make a day of it in London, taking in some of the sights or seeing friends, whilst watching the game later in the day. After all, I was under this strange impression that we were some sort of family sport ...

- Some fans might want the occasional alcoholic beverage, a simple pleasure that is denied whilst going on a coach. I'm not talking an all day bender, I'm talking a few civil pints.

- It's faster on the train than going by coach.

- Even by kicking the game off at 16.00, fans would still be able to make it back for the last train and I wouldn't be on here venting my spleen.

- If there was some form of compensation scheme to refund travel tickets (that aren't refundable themselves) bought in good faith by fans, which are then subsequently messed about by television.

- Just change the website and hey, stuff the paying customer at the end of the day ....

I understand that the sport needs the oxygen of publicity that Sky TV brings, but really given the large distances and high cost of getting to London in these tight economic times, shouldn't games from teams in the north be treated in the same way that the Catalan games are and not changed well after the majority of the regular fans have made the travel arrangements and paid their hard earned dough to acheive it ?

As you might be able to tell, I'm getting a little p**sed off by being treated like dirt by this sport. There was a time not very long ago when I'd like to have seen London be a sucessful outfit, but now frankly, why should I bother caring or at the very worst getting off my backside and supporting the game for real at the sharp end (or at all for that matter ?) simply because of the way I am being treated. In case the complacent RFL haven't noticed, the entertainment pound is hard-fought over these days and why should it bother being invested in a sport that clearly couldn't care less about the change or the people that bother to support the sport at the end of the day. If I buy tickets for something like a gig or a play, rarely do I have those times and dates messed around on a whim shortly before the event is due to take place, so simply, next time why don't I go spend my cash in that direction and let rugby league wither on the vine ? (Like the Magic Weekend's healthy increase in crowds again this year ... Not)

Maybe we should all put the collective nail in the London coffin and just boycott the fixture, either this season or from next year onwards ... That way the rugby authorities can play the game when they like (at 3am in the morning, probably to attract the massive television audience in the Maldives or some such excuse) and it won't affect us. I'm sure the TV paymasters could cover the shortfall that several thousand missing Loiners would bring, although replacing our atmosphere might prove more of a technical challenge.

To throw salt in to an already open wound, this change hasn't bothered being mentioned on either the Leeds website or the London one (indeed, the Blackpool match programme still has the game listed at 15.00) given some semblence of an excuse for the change. If you're going to change it, don't just sneak it on to the website and hope no-one notices ... How about some form of formal announcement and then change the website ?

I hope I am wrong in terms of the fixture scheduling, but I suspect not. Once upon a time, fans via this forum used to be able to question club officials about various decisions and why they were made. It might be interesting for them (London included) to come on here and justify the position and perhaps explain why they spinlessly roll over for fixtures like this, without defending the fans interests with so much as a whimper ....

The alternative is simple. Be honest with the fans and admit that frankly you'd rather not have the hassle of us actually turning it and watching the game in person. That way, we'd all know where we stand and we can go on and do other things with our lives and the current large proportion of our time that is fixed on rugby at the moment can be slimmed down and spent doing something more positive and we'll all watch the games as some detached observer from the comfort of our own homes. Just let us know and we'll do the rest.

If you don't go to the game you will watch it ontelly . Sky can't lose .

Personally it is the one away game I won't miss . It is a great day out .
If I could only attend one away game this season it would be Quins .

Its been changed like this for a while now, its a double header with York City Knights vs London Scholars, www.league.quins.co.uk/news/10919.php Surely this game wont be on Sky, that will mean Leeds would have been on 4 times in 4 weeks (Bradford away, Wigan home (cup BBC), Wakefield home, Quins away)

Its been changed like this for a while now, its a double header with York City Knights vs London Scholars, www.league.quins.co.uk/news/10919.php Surely this game wont be on Sky, that will mean Leeds would have been on 4 times in 4 weeks (Bradford away, Wigan home (cup BBC), Wakefield home, Quins away)

I feel the same, it is one of the first (along with Catalans) fixtures that I look at first on the list when it comes out each season.

You miss the point that by playing it at 5pm, fans who want to use the train to watch the game in London (and there are many) and more importantly those who have already booked their train tickets in anticipation of this game are YET AGAIN facing losses on tickets that they can no longer use.

The last train to Leeds on a Saturday night is 8pm. (during the week the last one back in actually 11.30pm)

I know several people, like myself, who have shown support for the game and got train tickets in good time (and at a reasonable cost) who face an expensive alternative for the sake of an hour. This is the 3rd season in a row that this game has been mucked about with and frankly, enough is enough.

The game has always been scheduled for 15.00 with the Skolars game before it.

Why does the Blackpool programme from last Friday have the game down as a 3pm start ?

Quote AdmiralHanson="AdmiralHanson"The game has always been scheduled for 15.00 with the Skolars game before it. Why does the Blackpool programme from last Friday have the game down as a 3pm start ?'" I dont know but that article is from 15 December 2009, and as it says on the article, 2.30PM KO for Scholars, and 5PM for Quins vs Rhinos so its been planned long before the season started. Quote AdmiralHanson=" www.league.quins.co.uk/news/10919.php"After the completion of the community fixtures at various venues in the region, London Skolars will begin proceedings with their Cooperative Championship 1 fixture against York City Knights at 2.30pm, before Harlequins play their engage Super League fixture against reigning champions Leeds Rhinos at 5pm. The day promises to an epic one for sports fans who, after the Quins RL game, can watch England’s World Cup group game against the USA on big screens in the bars. '"

Quote AdmiralHanson="AdmiralHanson"The game has always been scheduled for 15.00 with the Skolars game before it. Why does the Blackpool programme from last Friday have the game down as a 3pm start ?'" I dont know but that article is from 15 December 2009, and as it says on the article, 2.30PM KO for Scholars, and 5PM for Quins vs Rhinos so its been planned long before the season started. Quote AdmiralHanson=" www.league.quins.co.uk/news/10919.php"After the completion of the community fixtures at various venues in the region, London Skolars will begin proceedings with their Cooperative Championship 1 fixture against York City Knights at 2.30pm, before Harlequins play their engage Super League fixture against reigning champions Leeds Rhinos at 5pm. The day promises to an epic one for sports fans who, after the Quins RL game, can watch England’s World Cup group game against the USA on big screens in the bars. '"

The games been planned like that for ages dude, the Skolars York game is on before it.

EDIT- I see I haven't said owt new here, as you were...

there clearly is an issue with wrong information somewhere, and a slow updating of wrong information

I think you know that the RFL dont consider train cusiomers in their plans (dont tell Northern Rail as they may stop their sponsorship)

If its happened to you in the past I'm surprised that you booked the train tickets again on the vague hope that it might not be changed again this season (when in fact it had already been changed).

Quote Frosties.="Frosties."Its been changed like this for a while now, its a double header with York City Knights vs London Scholars, www.league.quins.co.uk/news/10919.php Surely this game wont be on Sky, that will mean Leeds would have been on 4 times in 4 weeks (Bradford away, Wigan home (cup BBC), Wakefield home, Quins away)'" BBC and Sky schedules are completely different and although we may be on t.v V Quinns it counts as the HOME teams t.v. Fixture.

Quote Frosties.="Frosties."Its been changed like this for a while now, its a double header with York City Knights vs London Scholars, www.league.quins.co.uk/news/10919.php Surely this game wont be on Sky, that will mean Leeds would have been on 4 times in 4 weeks (Bradford away, Wigan home (cup BBC), Wakefield home, Quins away)'" BBC and Sky schedules are completely different and although we may be on t.v V Quinns it counts as the HOME teams t.v. Fixture.

will it be on Sky, isn't England v France that day at same time?

I am most surprised that you have been unaware how long this kick off time has been established.
I would summise that as so many have mentioned they were aware of it you must be a tad shocked.
But i do agree that while we are particularily lucky to always have this fixture in June its a great day/weekend outing....