When there is a 2 month gap between the quarter finals and the semi finals, but then only a 2 week gap between the semis and the final, is it any surprise that the Wembley attendance was so poor ?

Not everyone goes every year and a significant number of people will only go if their own team is involved.

Giving them only a 2 weeks period in which to arrange accommodation and travel must mean that many just can't be bothered to make the effort given that it is also in school holidays.

Why not have the semis 2 weeks after the quarters and then allow 2 months for people to make finals arrangements ? Or is that too sensible ?

Even the Leeds "fans" would have no excuse then - (there were nearly as many of them in my local than there were at Wembley)

Great post. Trouble is the RFL don't do common sense

77,914 crowd isn't bad for a cup final though is it?

Add to that we're about a month away from the play offs and Grand Final, it leads to a crowded end of season.

This is an argument that's been going on since the RFL moved the Cup from it's original date at the end of April.

As for the people "not being bothered", I'm not sure that's true in 100% of cases. A lot of people might not be able to afford to make the trip on such sort notice. But still, that argument just strengthens yours.

I think this years schedule was due to the Commonwealth Games.

I think it's scheduled for the Aug Bank Holiday weekend like it always is.

We,ve been saying for years that the final shoulbe in July to avoid the start of the football premiership, each round should be in each month March, April , May and June.
The RFL should tender the media coverage out instead of letting the Beeb dictate the scheduling.

The RFL do the same thing with the Magic Weekend always schedule it with another big event going on that particular weekend, scheduling and planning is something that is alien to the RFL.

PUT IT back to may august is bloody

I'd have the final in May with the semis at least a month, if not more, earlier. The rounds involving SL teams to be every other week.

So if it was in 2014 it'd be something like:
Round 4 - 8/9th March
Round 5 - 22/23rd March
Quarter Finals - 5/6th April
Semi Finals - 19/20th April
Final - Spring Bank Holiday - 24th May

Hopefully might generate a bit of momentum and interest on TV rather than a game every now and again.

OT but I'd also introduce some kind of game-wide discount/incentive for season ticket holders to attend Challenge Cup games.

As with all these things there are other factors at play. But principally:

1. Are the primary broadcaster able to accommodate it? The semis and finals this year were close in particular due to the BBC having to push the semis back beyond the Commonwealth Games period when they more normally would be.

2. Is Wembley available? Spring Bank Holiday weekend it is permanently booked for the football play off finals so that is a non-starter.

Which semi final was in Glasgow?

Over the last few years I have seen fewer and fewer people in London over the cup final weekend wearing replica shirts. I was in the west end this afternoon and saw none for the first time. Is this to do with the game being played on the bank holiday weekend or are there other factors (lack of money, trips to France for away games at Catalans) affecting things?

I think its more to do with the beeb being unwilling to interrupt their wall to wall coverage of the Empire Games for the semi's....I don't know for definite that this is why the semi's were pushed back to 2 weeks before the final, but It wouldn't surprise me.

How big is your local ? I was on coach number 35 out of Headingley , and there were still hundreds of people waiting to get on other coaches as we departed .

For the millionth time please stop exaggerating .

LOL !

Very poor turn out for the final, and this is not actually a dig about Leeds. No matter how many coaches you saw there were still HUGE empty spaces at Wembley which MAY have been better filled if there had been more time between the semis and the final.

SURELY it makes more sense to give people the maximum amount of time to make arrangements ???

That's counting the club Wembley seats though and obviously hardly any of those turned up

This

And make every ticket £25.

Who made that figure up?

As its an all-seater stadium, the attendance figure for the final is based on how many tickets have been sold for the event. This includes not only the club wembley seats but also any tickets which have been sold to 3rd party retails, whether or not they subsequently sold them and the bum arrived on the seat.

I think this could be the key issue here, I was in block 542 (top tier at Cas end), and a week before the final I am pretty sure the RFL website said this block and all of the top tier were sold out apart for the small block above the big screen.

If the RFL did indeed sell them they probably won't care as they will trouser the cash even if it looks horrible on T.V and made the atmosphere flat. So I would like to know who bought these tickets?, Amateur clubs?, lower league clubs?, Touts, individual opportunists who tried to sell them through E.bay etc?

If they didn't whoever was in charged with that stadium graphic on the website wants to be dragged into the bosses office in the morning!

Got to agree with others that the scheduling is bonkers, the other issue is that it gives the finalists very little time to sell Merchandise. In 2008 Hull made over £500K and a large part of that was selling a shedload of merchandise during the months gap between the Semi and the Final, 2 weeks barely gives a club chance to embroider/heatseal a few t-shirts never mind buy anything else in.

Personally i'd move the final to either the first weekend after the football season, or the weekend before the start of the new season. The media are always desperate to fill the sports pages during these lean weekends and the final would get more coverage.

Someone stop them placing the statue at wembley, it's time to move to another stadium.

Wembley used to be an event, neutrals would be there in thousands, weekend pub trips would run from villages across Yorkshire and Lancashire, this tradition has finished and whilst the final is in August I cannot see it being reversed.

The tickets are that cheap that a lot of people probably buy the heavily discounted ones and don't bother attending when their team doesn't make the final.

It's time for a rethink, Wembley is far too big and London is too far and too expensive for neutrals to attend in the numbers they used to.

Also train travel and hotels costs are at a premium on the Bank Holiday weekend.

I cannot work out if this is tongue firmly planted in cheek or serious .

If serious it is the most stereotypical RL FANS FORUM reply I have ever read.

Club Wembley seating accounts for 16,532 seats on the middle tier (AKA - the ring of indifference with respect to CC Finals) along with approximately 5,000 premium viewing seats on the lower tier around halfway where teams enter and presentations take place.

Given that hardly any Club Wembley seats were occupied at the CC Final on Saturday, a reasonable guesstimate as to the actual attendance would involve deducting around 20,000 from the official figure.

58,000 (around two-thirds full) out of a capacity of 90,000 would appear to be about right.

Whilst I agree the attendance looked less than 77k only bums on seats on the day count to the attendance not tickets sold. Club wembley tickets are only counted on those who turn up.