After 35 years of watching the Wire, last night my daughter and I went to watch our first Grand Final (lol...for obvious reasons). She has been to the 3 recent Wembley visits and I have been to challenge cup finals, regal trophy finals etc in the past.

(Now here's the contentious bit). Given that it was our first ever GF did anybody else feel....well, to put it simply... disappointed with THE EVENT. We never got that "tingle" as you walk up to the stadium that you get at Wembley. We had a laugh and a joke with fans of Leeds + a couple of others outside the ground but there wasnt that "party atmosphere". Inside the ground I think that perhaps OTs age was against it so Im not going to criticise the facilities too much. Pre game build ups are never "fun" but I found the whole GF warm up BOOORRRRRRIIIINNNNGGGGG (would like to say here though, dont include the serious moment of the 1 minutes applause for the 2 police officers in that) .

When we left, we never felt that we had just lost a chance to be champions. It felt simply that we had just lost a game against Leeds.

Whether it was the chilly weather, the fact that it was an evening game, the fact that it was just down the road I dont know BUT frankly, as an event, actually dont rate the Grand Final.

Whether I would feel different if we had won, I dont know, as most of these impressions were built up before and during the game. IMHO the challenge cup final is the better event whilst I concede that the Grand Final has the more desirable prize.

The atmosphere is different at the GF compared to the Wembley party. The tension is there as a whole seasons success rides on one game.

Go as a neutral it is better.

I thought the same throughout the day. Whilst there was a good feeling of getting to the Grand Final it just didn't feel the same as the CC final if you know what I mean. (Without any smart bum comments). Still immensely proud to have got to the final though.

Will have to agree with the OP. Had a great afternoon around Oxford Rd, good aptmosphere, banter with fans from other teams etc, but on arriving at Old Trafford and firstly seeing the very public male urinals, just had an under-welming feeling about the place.

That was my 1st visit to OT since the Hull/Widnes game in 91, and tbh, it would'nt bother me if I did'nt go back. I don't have a problem with the result, my gripe is the ticket pricing. I paid £31 for my ticket and ended up on the front row, pretty much at pitch level, and thus unable to form a view on the game as a whole. It would seem that those who'd paid less for a ticket, had a better view,and, to me, that does not make sense.

If you'd have won the whole day would have been a bliss but being a Saints fan and losing 5 on the trott we know how you feel

As has been said the atmosphere between cup final day and GF day has always been different. The GF is much more tense and cup final day is much more a day out. However I'm in an enviable position as a leeds fan having watched my team at OT on numerous occasions and in terms of atmosphere last night was one of the best. Both sets of supporters made a racket and it really resonated through me, literally making me tingle

The day, the stadium, the event, the feel of pretty much everything didn't feel as special or important as Wembley. The week building up to Wembley is exciting. As soon as you see Wembley there's a tingle you get and the butterflies get going. Never had that feeling building up to or about last night's game.

Challenge Cup: need to win 5 games to win it, 90000 stadium, 116 year history
Play-offs: need to win 3 or 4 games to win it, 75000 stadium, 15 year history

I pretty much agree with everything the OP said yesterday was my 4th GF... And i wasn't impressed with the previous 3, i was hoping that with own team playing there it would be better... Yes i was more involved and yes i did enjoy it more than the others (other than the result).

But as an occasion it just doesn't compare to Wembley at all IMO...

Agree with that.

The Grand Final is the one to win IMO because of that tension and what it means. As a fan of a club involved im not sure the days that enjoyable because of the nerves involved.

Wembley on the other hand has a more light hearted feel about it. The cups great to win but you do have that safety net of the play offs if you do lose it and I think that eases that tension. The fact that Wembley is 200 miles away from home for most people gives it more of an event feeling.

Grand Final= Means more to win

Cup Final= Better day out

Got to agree with the OP. I just didn't get that feeling before or during the game. Wembley for me, still means so much more. After the game, an even this morning, I just didn't get the feeling that we'd lost out on anything special, just got beat by Leeds. Roll on next year, and lets have another trip to the Capital.

The Grand Final is the more important of the two without a doubt, but they are both completely different. Grand Final - big day out in Manchester, played under the floodlights at one of the best club football stadiums in the world. Full of tension, nervousness, hoping that after 27 rounds of SL and 2/3 playoff games culminate in becoming champions and playing the NRL Grand Final winners.

Challenge Cup Final - weekend away in the August bank holiday sunshine, played in the afternoon at arguably the most iconic stadium in the world. There is the heritage of the CC spanning over 100 years, becoming part of history.

The Grand Final has only been going 15 years, but people say it's the pinnacle of British Rugby League. Two fantastic finals, but thought about differently by the RL community.

doesnt even come close to wembley..stupid urinals out in the open for all to see.my wife and daughter needed a toilet and ended up going in some brick building opposite the bishops blaze which was for men..then buying a few tinnies cos we couldnt get in any of the pubs we were told buy police to put them in the bin..inside the ground we had some moronic leeds fans in our end that had no interest in the game but just trying to goad the warrington fans..coming out of the ground there was the shouts of come on kn*b head i`ll f****n spark you out or words to that effect.all in all a bit of a let down when compared to wembley

Am astonished at most of the comments on this thread.

Me and my mates met up at 2pm and had a great day and watched a great game of RL. The match was wide open until the 75th minute. We supported Wire.

You don't know how lucky you are supporting a great side who regularly beat the best sides in our game.

Tell you what if you are bored going to your first Grand Final why don't you come and watch the club me and my mates have been supporting all our lives

. We are quite close geographically.

we are not really on about the game it was more a case of pre match atmosphere etc

the main problem i think, is because manchester is quite spaced out, you had fans at piccadilli gardens, deansgate, oxford road, the ground.

and the ground is in the middle of a built up area there isnt that open space gathering area that there is at wembley.

all in all had a good day out, watched a good game but for atmosphere and build up and party feeling wembley wins hands down

The Grand Final is by far the better event. The Challenge Cup is more relaxed as it's generally sunny and losing isn't particularly disastrous as it's not that important. The Grand Final is a great event, held in a superbly atmospheric ground. You're not telling me it's not special when your side walks out onto the pitch? Given the importance of the Grand Final, it is a lot more tense and nervous. Losing it is a pretty horrible experience, but when you win it, it's incredibly special, far outweighing the feeling of winning the Challenge Cup.

Whether you enjoy the day is down to what you do. We've usually gone early and had a meal at one of the restaurants on the road to the ground from the motorway. Always full of league fans in various kits discussing the game. Then walked down to have a pint or two at the pubs near the ground. Wembley is utter rubbish in that regard, there is nothing at all to do around the ground.

Your opinions will probably change once you win it.

Old Trafford's a sh*thole. And I'm not basing this on any football rivalry. Everywhere feels cramped, the seats, the concourses, the turnstiles. Compare this with the spacious and open Wembley and you feels like you're a sardine.

No flags on sticks as well? I know that's a small thing but it adds atmosphere and colour to the day, something that Wembley has in buckets.

obviously winning the gf is better than winning at wembley but yes wembley is clearly the better day

[=#0080FFiChallenge Cup: need to win 5 games to win it, 90000 stadium, 116 year history
Play-offs: need to win 3 or 4 games to win it, 75000 stadium, 15 year history [/i

Problem with this is: the 5 games to win the Challenge cup can be Batley, Rochdale, Broncos, Saints, then Featherstone but the 4 to win the GF will only be the top 8 and if you win outside the top 4, it is significantly harder.
Don't get me wrong, the CC final is awesome and am sick as a parrot that we have lost 3 on the trot but it is certainly not harder to win. It is simply a performance on the day...again.







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Good, but could be better

Logistics are a nightmare and the stuff at halftime was hopeless, there were interview, presentations and a raffle to win a years supply of Heinz Big Soup, FFS

70,000 people turned up and saw a game which I was far too nervous to enjoy but I'm pretty sure I would have loved watching as a neutral. The volume was far louder than Wembley. The Super League Champions were crowned.

It's an absolutely brilliant event.

Agree with all of this I was left feeling slightly underwhelmed long before it was clear we were not going to be Champions.

I thought the Trophy presentation was small time, why they make players do this stupid American thing of speaking to the fans on a microphone I'll never know.
Get the whole team up not just the Captain and for Fecks sake the Boards they get the team to stand behind and infront of for the celebratory photos get some bleedin proffesional ones done. they looked like a junior school kid mocked em up after watching blue peter.

the only good thing about the GF is the stadium looks full on the TV pictures so it looks good for our game, it also give us a lot more exposure than a firsst past the post system would give us. ....So my only gripe is find a better stadium than a big hole in salford and have a look at the NRL and try and put a bit more effort into the pre match than a warble of Jerusalem and six fireworks.

It felt marginally bigger than a Wires Wigan Game at the halliwell jones........

Personally prefer OT to wembley. And that's from a Leeds UTD fan!!

Didn't enjoy a single moment of that game, never felt like that before, not the stadium or the nobs or anything like that, just the pressure of it all, it felt like an ordeal, i was drained at half time and full time wiped out.

Would sort of agree, wembley feels like a fun day out. GF you can feel the tension.