with all the teams in the championship been not too far apart this season.(york to leigh been the longest i think) could there not of been a magic weekend held somewhere in the middle this season.elland road, galpharm,headinley.too late now i know but maybe in the future its worth a try.

Well they're always complaining that there aren't enough fixtures, so don't see why they don't give it a try one year. Reckon you'd get a fairly good turn out for both days if you held it in Leeds. Reckon a fair few neutrals would turn out as well.

Who are you referring as "they're"?

How do SL clubs make money from the Magic weekend? Is it a percentage of the gate or a flat one off fee?

They would be fans of Championship clubs.

Unsure about what the clubs get, but I know that the original deal saw the RFL getting paid a fair whack by the Cardiff Tourist Board which is what allowed us to reduce the league by one game.

"they" moan about not having enough fixtures as they are only 18 league games, and most clubs struggle with finance's. How would a magic weekend help the clubs with finances?

If it meant that clubs didn't a lose a home fixture and the clubs expenses such as travel and winning/losing pay were paid by the RFL then I'd be all for it.

I never said they moan. I said they complain, and it's a fair complaint.

What is the average of each Championship club? About 1,500? (Thats probably generous wheb they had 4 more clubs). Multiply that by 14 and that's 21,000. Average of 10,500 a day over two days would effectively give everyone one extra home game. Would that be achievable? I reckon so.

I'd have said LSV with it's modern pitch would be the best option, but lack of train station and proximity to other clubs makes it unviable.

Galpharm could work? Maybe even Odsal with it being RFL owned and having plenty of room for beer tents/events, plenty of room for fans to mill about etc.

Are you kidding? LSV would be one of the worst options, mainly because it'd be a home game for one (or actually two) clubs. Plus, how many people are gonna want to travel to Leigh and stay over? What's there to do in Leigh?

It'd have to be a neutral venue in a tourist destination where people would want to visit and stay over (rules out Hull as well, I know!). I'd probably say it'd need to be in the heartlands as well at first, especially if it wants to get neutrals from SL clubs to bulk up the attendance (you'll probably struggle to get many neutrals to a second-tier league on-the-road game, considering we struggle getting them to SL). I'd probably say Headingley as a start, then work it from there.

Headingley is in flatcapper country though, therefore a no-go. How about Manchester?

Did you actually read what I wrote? I said the pitch at the LSV could take the wear and tear with it being so modern, but Leigh as a place/location isn't viable.

What's wrong with people?

Odsal would pretty much be perfect, near the motorway network, slap bang in the middle of all the Championship teams as well. With the RFL holding the lease you'd expect event running costs to be lower.

Just one issue really, it's a dump.

Ignore him Jonny he/she`s just a condescending weapon who supports Hull.

Cheers lads.

I did read what you said, but of the reasons you said were against it I'm surprised the fact that it is one of the club's home ground wasn't one of them. I wasn't having a dig. I wouldn't say its proximity to other clubs was an issue personally. 3 of the 4 additional clubs next year are likely to be from the North West.

Just out of interest, what is so special about the LSV pitch that you wouldn't find at other top RL grounds?

Care to give a reason for this rather pathetic and immature cheap shot, and how my supporting of Hull has anything to do with it? Isn't [ithat[/i condescending?

The problems I can see is getting the regular home fans to travel somewhere, a ground which isn't so big that it swallows up any atmosphere that is generated also somewhere that people want to visit or at least different or not a dump.

Preston? Regular rail links to most of the north (2 hours on train from York) ground holds about 25k which may be big but at the same time if between 10-15k show it is a good atmosphere. Also it is somewhere different, plus Blackpool is only down the road!

Doncaster, Workington, Barrow Whitehaven arn't exactly close to Leigh are they? Oldham is 12 miles from Huddersfield and 17 from Leigh. Rochdale is 15 miles from Huddersfield and 18 from Leigh.

The LSV pitch is 3G, which is part artificial. Hence why the England schoolboys switched games there when we had the hard winter and it was playable when all other sports wern't.

The point I was making was that it was central to them. They're closer to Leigh than most of West Yorkshire. Rochdale/Oldham are pretty much bang in the middle of Hudds and Leigh. 20.2/20.8 miles and 21/22miles I got for the distances.



The pitch at LSV is a Desso GrassMaster, same as Doncaster. Natural grass combined with artificial parts.
3G pitches are 100% artificial. LSV is not. The outdoor pitches are 3G.

The difference in getting from Cumbria to Leigh or Huddersfield is about half an hour. Oldham and Rochdale don't come into it then. So 'close' to Leigh you will have Leigh, Swinton.

Close to a number of grounds in West Yorkshire you 'could' have:

Halifax
Batley
Featherstone
Dewsbury
Keighley
Hunslet

With the following possible clubs closer to West Yorkshire than Leigh:

York
Sheffield
Doncaster
Oldham
Rochdale


You're right about the pitch, it's not 3G, but like I said it's part artificial, part turf. But my point still stands about wear and tear on the surface.

I still think that West Yorkshire would be a better place to play a Championship Magic Weekend though.

That's an interesting way to try and twist stats there, but completely illogical! You've basically pulled out the Cumbrian clubs to help sway your argument. Half an hour is a pretty long time, and a fair few extra miles.


I never said it wouldn't be a better option to have it in West Yorkshire. In fact, the second post on this very thread is me suggesting Leeds as a venue.
But a venue in/around Manchester would hardly be that much worse.

Whilst your point about the wear and tear of the pitch is a fair one, but it doesn't seem to have been a factor at any of the other Magic Weekends.

Not really, they're still over 100 miles each from Leigh. Also, none of these teams are actually in the Championship.

If half an hour is a pretty long time why would you ask all of the Yorkshire teams to trek across the pennines to East Lancs just in case some teams in Cumbria might make it into the league?

Also I do think the pitch is an issue, a Chamionship Magic weekend won't be played at a stadium with super modern facilities, it will most likely be played at a Stadium that is already over used, Galpharm, Headingley etc

Come on Jonny, none of the teams may be in the league this second, but it is very likely that at least two of the four promoted teams will be from Cumbria, and a very considerable chance of all three making it (Oldham won't meet ground criteria IIRC), so let's not pretend it's a "just in case" situation.

It's around 30miles closer for the Cumbrian clubs, so in the event that all three Cumbrian sides are promoted, that'd make it 9 in Yorkshire closer to Leeds/Hudds and 5 in the NW closer to the Manchester area. Like I've said, it'd be better in West Yorkshire, but it wouldn't be that big an issue if it was in the Manchester area.

As for "why would you ask then to come across the Pennines?", because you need to find the best ground for the job. Proximity may be better in West Yorks, but that doesn't mean price, facilities for the event (not just a typical RL game) would be or that it'd be available.


What would you define as "super modern facilities"? And why does the pitch become more of a reason for Championship clubs than SL clubs?

I assume when you say "it'd need to be at a ground that is already used" that you mean for RL, which I agree with. It'd need to be at a SL ground, and if you want it to be in West Yorks then there aren't a huge array of choices for decent facilities. Headingley would be great due to the bars around it and it has space to walk around it. Not sure if a ground with that much standing would be ideal though. Then there's the Galpharm. Odsal obviously a no-no due to the lack of cover.

why not at Blackpool as part of the Northern Rail Final Weekend ??

How can the NRC Final be a part of a Championship MW?!