This was NOT their decision

they had NO say in it...their own sport ????

So how expensive is Wembley or Old Trafford, and who pays for these venues?

Do the clubs taking part in those finals lose out on prize money?

Personally, I would have kept Blackpool and move the GF from Warrington to Halifax at a Push.
The Northern Rail truly is a mickey mouse cup now. Imagine if its a Sheffield v Workington final! Won't be more than 1000 there for that one!
On the plus side, The Shay is close to the Town Centre, Pubs, Bowling Alley and other amenities.
Rugby League Chairmens finances must be really struggling to come up with a decision like this though. Its another nail in the coffin for Semi-Pro Rugby League at this level.

Well be fair. The NRC Final potential attendance comes nowhere close to those two Finals.

Suppose we got to the NRC Final. I still think our club would make more money' now that I know how much it costs for the Finalists to play at Blackpool.

This of course is in response to Glow's post.

I wasn't trying to imply the crowd was anything like those, (even though the cost maybe similar per head?) I was simply asking who pays the bill, the teams playing or the RFL?

So how much did Blackpool FC charge ?

I'm surprised Championship clubs was unable to make money on taking upwards of 3,000 fans from each club paying a average of £10.00 ?
Throw in the SKY TV money from the event, not to mention any prize money and then add in the fact it raises your profile as the chance of getting lapsed fans back and it does seem strange clubs have lost money here ?

I'd say our club didn't do much in terms of add on sales that you can make a profit and increase your brand awareness on when reaching a final (T'shirts, Hats, Flags, Scarves etc - the things all the football clubs do very well at) but I thought when we made the final at Blackpool it was seen as a huge relief and a help to our finances as wasn't it around the time AT's money had gone ?

So what was the loss Leigh incurred on reaching the final at Blackpool and giving over 3,000 of our fans a damn good weekend out ?

Sorry did not make my post clear enough. Just as an example I should have said gate receipts at the Grand Final would be in excess of £1million the cost of playing at Old Trafford pales into insignificance as a % of gate receipts as opposed to the cost of staging the NRC Final at Blackpool which is £50k.

Re the Wembley Final I am sure I read that the RFL take all the gate receipts.

Grand Final gate receipts are split between all of the clubs participating in the play offs, so the RFL must pay for that one.

Challenge Cup Final gate receipts are split between the RFL and the finalists.

Clubs retain all of their own ticket sales for the Magic Weekend.

Bit of a pattern here.

I thought a Rail Final is a special day out and a good Piss up in Blackpool.Won't be the same atmosphere at Halifax.

Also half the fans won't attend, can't see more then 4000 fans for this event

The RFL wont save £50,000...............just more money for the SL clubs and a step nearer to the lower leagues becoming a feeder comp IMO. They will get their way and turn into into a mirror image of the NRL and be a closed shop, just look at the duel fiasco......exactly how the NRL works by sending players to the feeder clubs to regain fitness/match practice.

Thanks Matt, kind of how I thought it was.

Lynda just in case you’re wondering even if we get to the final this year and I’m not on holiday, I wont be needing a coach.

Your coach load in 2011 are exactly the type I've been thinking of glow who have been knocked off the crowd in an instant.

I seem to remember out of the 54 people on our coach it was something like less than half could be classed as regulars, over half (including one or two of the regulars) had never been to a RL final before and about a dozen had never even been to a game.

Your just upset cos you've no reason to get the charabanc out the shed now

My latest improvement is a ‘little boys room’ added to the side so I don’t even need to go back to the house for a wee.

If we get there, we will be lucky to take more then 3 coaches I reckon.
Unless theres sponsers from Fax willing to subsdise the cost.
Come on fax you know it make sense.

Carry on like this glow and you'll be paying rates on it.
Have you got broadband connected to it?

Wi-Fi

As a Halifax Fan i think its good for us but i completely agree that it will not be the same. We have had great days out in Blackpool with the family and to us it will just be another game at home.

Hopefully this decision will mean work on the north stand and skircoat will be done sooner and we can have a shiny new scoreboard.

Disappointed with the decision but i'll be going to the final if we are in it or not. Hopefully to support the Leythers!!

With the grand final being at ours , not much excitement this year about getting to the final

Be nice if we managed to win a play off game though!