got to say the atmosphere was 10 times better than old trafford.
would love the final to be at wembley.

Im going to make an effort to get to the CC final every year now no matter whos playing.
for anyone who hasnt been I highly recommend it.

I took two Man Utd fans from work and they're coming every year now they enjoyed it that much. They commented on a passionate, yet freindly atmosphere and not getting treated like cattle like they do when they go to the footy made them really enjoy the day.

I've had some superb weekends at the CC Final as a 'neutral' (you never really are!) but the best of all was Leeds v Hull at Cardiff. I love Cardiff.

I agree, though - it's always a cracking weekend, mixing with salt of the earth RL fans.

Wembley and the CC is a million times better than the grand final!!!

Not if you lose the first and win the second!

Cardiff is a million times better than Wembley. Wembley is great because it's "Wembley" and carries great history but forca day out at a top class stadium then Cardiff heats it hands down

Agreed,
As I just posted on the other thread. The Stadium itself, great facilities, great view, plenty legroom, but why spend all that money and do sod all with the infrastructure. We were staying overnight so went by coach, why no link direct road from the motorway? It was after 6 p.m by the time we got off the car park.
Still far too few restaurants and bars close to the stadium and not enough toilets outside the ground.

I agree about Cardiff. I went to the new Wembley for the one and only time when we beat Hull in 2008 and although it was a great result, I hated the stadium. I thought it was a soulless place and way too steep where I was sitting. I had a hit of vertigo, I was too far away to tell who was who (bar the different teams) and I was too removed from other sections of fans to really sense any atmosphere. Whereas at Cardiff, which I went to for the first time this season, the atmosphere even with only 30,000 was ten times better. The low roof over the lower tier really helps and the action is much closer. If it wasn't for the kudos and coverage holding the final at Wembley brings, I'd be 100% behind the final being permanently staged at Cardiff. There is a far, far better environment around the stadium too. The new Wembley has destroyed what was so good about the old one: all the atmosphere around Wembley Way and such like. It's just a miserable dump of an industrial estate.

totally agree. Cardiff is my favourite stadium and challenge cup venue

Can't beat a good night out in Cardiff after the final.

I agree with the pro-Cardiff brigade. Saturday was my first visit to the new Wembley. Great view from our seats, good stadium, right result (for me, of course), but not a patch on the Cardiff experience. Apart from the Millennium being such a great stadium, Cardiff being a small city means everyone stays together, whereas in London the crowd soon disperses. Better atmosphere all round in Cardiff. I would have kept the Challenge Cup Final there.

Got to be a serious concern 6,000 Less Tickets sold from last years CCF at Wembley, what does it look like all those empty red seats around the ground, Twickenham must have a real grin across their faces at RFU HQ, but then this season a lot of clubs are also suffering with declining attendances, though we keep getting told the game has never been better, is it just the financial situation.

The night before a final a special night is always held for media etc, this season the Sponsors budget was low and could not run to it so the two clubs and the RFL had to chip in!

I do have worries about the game at Wembley on 5th November tickets have to be sold! we are tied in at Wembley for the Final for long term.

Why?

78,000 plus turned up this year; 76,000 turned up in 2009 and if you look back to when the new Wembley opened, 2010 was the exception and not the rule. If you look back further to the old Wembley, the figures are similar with a few spikes into the 90,000s. Rugby league attracts around 75,000 to its showpiece final and has done for decades. If the seats hadn't been empty in big patches we probably wouldn't have noticed them. And we were spoiled last year because it was a technical sellout (I say technical because there was still the ring of indifference to spoil things).

And I think 75,000 is pretty damn good for a sport that gets absolutely no media coverage and is often treated as if it is less popular than tiddlywinks.

2007 St Helens 30–8 Catalans Dragons Wembley Stadium, London 84,241
2008 St Helens 28–16 Hull Wembley Stadium, London 82,821

2010 Warrington Wolves 30-6 Leeds Rhinos Wembley Stadium, London 85,217
2011 Wigan Warriors 28 -18 Leeds Rhinos Wembley Stadium, London 78,482

Why? because season 2009 seemed a blip, was it Huddersfield were not a draw, look at all the 80,000 plus! my comment was the decline since 2010.

I'll just go and check the Carnegie site again because those figures look different from the ones I saw last night.

ETA: Prior to 2007 there were a mix of attendances in the mid 70,000s and mid to high 60,000 with the exception of a couple of years in the 1990s when 90,000 was recorded.

So my instinct was right: attendances in the 80,000s are the exception rather than the rule. In the last 15 years there have been just three occasions when 80,000 plus attendances have been recorded, all three being at the new Wembley. Interesting that two of them were when Saints played! (Given that we are always told how we don't turn up)

According to League Weekly, the BBC viewing figures were up this year on last for the quarter and semi finals - 21% and 26% respectively. And yet the BBC's coverage is shrinkng year on year. Amazing how the station we all pay for isn't listening to a growing number of its customers!

That can easily be attributed to both Leeds not selling as many as they could have because of fans expecting a battering and a lot of neutrals staying away for the same reason.

The fact that they are probably two of the most disliked teams at the moment won't of helped amongst the neutrals either.

You are completely right about Leeds not selling tickets which is a bad indictment on them as a club, the first time in a while they have a bad season (Why Heatherington took McDermott from us with his record is beyond me) and they don't back their team? However much people may not like Wigan they have had some bad seasons but their fans still backed them home and away, they sold all their allocation and had extra and the football team attracted a good attendance for them of 17,000 plus kicking off at 12.30pm

It sickens me to read comments like "most disliked teams" that is not the game I grew up in, there was not real Hatred and that is what it is years back okay yes competitive and good humoured banter, is it just a reflection on life today that our game is stooping down to the levels it does on the terraces and the language used in some forums and so bitter hatred?

Back to SaintsFan comment I took some stick myself on my own club website for attacking the BBC for putting the warm up on the red button! they have known the dates since the season fixtures were released, they set the kick off time, why not have had it 3pm and allowed more pre match coverage on the main BBC1 Channel, so many people seem not to know about the red button? Perhaps with the increased audience was down to people sticking around after the F1 Qualifying Session? so we gained from that. In the weekly media someone was calling for the The Challenge Cup to go to Sky, no way should we sell out in that way, if the BBC are not interested why not ITV, they are doing the Rugby Union World Cup.

I think the BBC will not continue with the Challenge Cup if they can get away with it and there are serious doubts about the Super League Show this year it has been a farce some of the times it is broadcast and how fans outside of the North West are expected to watch at an unearthly hour on BBC2. The administration of Our Great Game is a shambles what we allow and how we run such a major events.

That comment wasn't from my perspective, I was talking about the eyes of the general populace. I sat down to watch a good game of RL as a neutral without any inclination towards either side.