You could see 40,000 empty seats? Yeah you're right, this years attendance is shocking compared to last years 79k, which is definitely accurate as its only Wigan games they lie about the attendance.

Are you implying that Wembley was half full?

i think comparing challenge cup attendances for the entire competition and comparing them to other years is a bit of stupid idea; remember a lot of the draws are done from the hat so if a small teams gets the home game with a small stadium then obviously it won't get an attendance as large as big team having the home game and the small team getting the away draw. All depends on the draws up to the quarter finals on what the end overall attendance looks like, Wembley is always likely to have an attendance that just varies by around 5-8000 so the earlier rounds really skew the overall attendance figures.

What a pity the 'stats pack' posts couldn't be put, sort of behind the more interesting ones, maybe only available by pressing a red button...

So, according to William Eve's stats, if the SFs next year are Wigan v Saints (12k example) and Leeds v Warrington (12k example) then Challenge Cup SF attendances will be up by 50% woooo hooo

Honest answer. No

I'd say about 65k

That being said, I find it quite ironic that someone that did not attend the final is bleating on about the number of empty seats.

Perhaps if those all too quick to criticise actually attended the major events the perception of the game (which you seem so bothered about) wouldn't be as low as you hope it to be.

Wigan took a few less than last time I was there, Hull took a lot more than Leeds. Nowhere near as many neutrals there though, which is where the big dropoff was.

Challenge Cup Final attendances in recent years are deliberately inflated by the inclusion of the alleged sale of thousands of empty seats along with the Club Wembley ring of indifference. This has never been more evident than at yesterday's "Empty Seat" CC Final where it was obvious to anyone that Wembley was at least one-third empty.

The sundry knee-jerk reactions and ad hominem responses directed as a result of the provision of genuine comparative attendance stats from semi finals proving that the Challenge Cup is attended by far less people during the SL era surprises me not.

I think as other posters have pointed out, many neutrals (myself included) decided to save their money for the World Cup.

We obviously can't trust the officially announced attendancies for CC finals, so to validate the figures for the last 25 years I'm going to stitch together photos from every final and count the number of people... watch this space!

People actually read the endless list of meaning less numbers he puts up ?

Thankfully all pre superleague attendances you use are 100% accurate

They are indeed to the best of my researched knowledge and I invite anyone to question their validity if they feel disposed to do so.

Top concept. You call an official attendance that does not fit your agenda made up but recognise figures that do validate your agenda. Do you have a side line in doing stats for north Korea.

If you wanted to be taken seriously you would show stats the show both sides. +ve and -ve.

Yes there were empty seats yesterday, but to say Wembley was at least a third empty is utter bolllocks.

[url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/rugby-league/the-calvin-report-a-prisoner-of-geography-fluffs-its-chance-to-shine-8783750.htmlSpeaking of North Korea...[/url


There's a 150+ page SL attendance thread which does exactly that. Perhaps your agenda didn't allow you to recognise it as such?

I assume all the pre-sold tickets are included in the totals, whether sat upon in the actual match or not? I would assume this would include the 'Club Wembley' crowd, who largely didn't turn up, though, to be fair, this is only the same as including season ticket holders who don't turn up which is also standard practice [including in other sports, so whilst it doesn't say how many were actually there, it is technically an accurate summation of how many held valid tickets for the game.

It would be interesting to know how many were there though..

Amusing to see William Eve being dealt with on this thread.

Were you there?

You went?

Indeed, and he just keeps digging and digging. Brilliant stuff.

He's pretty adaptable and has lots of time on his hands. I am looking forward to his stats on CC quarter final attendances soon. Sunday and a stack of Rothman's Year Books. Great way to spend a weekend.

Don't be daft. It's easier for him to count red seats by freeze framing the tv.

Unfortunately lots of people that don't like it have indeed 'done one'. I say 'unfortunately', but if you don't care if its just you and that useless clown that runs the RFL watching your definition of the greatest game played as a purely amateur sport, then cheer him on. I reckon it'll take no more than 10 more years to drive away all the people that annoy you so much.

It must be moved back to May
The club wembley are declared in the gate meaning 58000 tickets were sold