The Halifax Courier have tweeted "New Northern Rail Cup final venue to replace Blackpool on the agenda too. Leigh, Halifax both possibilities apparently." How to kill an event in one move.

Clubs are sick of Blackpool FC picking up about £50k and them getting nowt. It's the first move from a more bullish collection of Championship clubs.

In that case it is an understandable move.

There won't be £50k to pick up if the event is played elsewhere. No coincidence that the crowds at Blackpool were virtually double (and more) than when the final was played at Rochdale.

How would it be fair if the LSV or the Shay hosted the final & Leigh or Halifax was in it with home advantage

Well that figure surprises me I would have thought something like 10% of the gate receipts to a host club. Where did you get it from Alan ?

We could still all go to Blackpool for the weekend and get coaches to leigh for the final though





Thats the only minus side to this,no weekend trip, therefore its a shame one of the cumbrian clubs haven't got a decent ground, could have had a lakes weekend. York is a good weekend away but their ground would be no good either.

I have sources!!

It would appear that the clubs are happy with that. I mean, would Sheffield be worried about coming to us, or Fev for a final; would we be worried about going to Fax; would Fev be worried about going anywhere, except Sheffield?

Completely devalues the event and the competition as a whole IMO though. As I previously posted, it's no coincidence that the profile of the competition was much improved when it was moved to a proper 'event' venue.

Just a thought what about one of the new clubs in Championship one , that could be a good one as most fans wont have visited and it would bring some funds to a new up and coming club, surprised the RFL haven't thought of it .

So instead of giving blackpool 50k the idea now is to give it to those that run the shay or the lsv,i'm struggling to see a difference?.Surely if the idea is to keep the money in the league then the comp should be held at a club that owns its own ground?.

I think the idea is that the two competing clubs get the 'lion's share' of the proceeds, and that the chosen venue gets a lesser share than now.

Do the clubs still win if the gate is half what it was?

Just as the NRC final has established itself as a decent event in its own right, with a weekend away to boot, it's going to be devalued by playing it somewhere usual. I don't want to spend a weekend in Halifax, and I spend most weekends in Leigh already.

A shame imo.

But will a NRC Final between say Leigh and Halifax attract half the gate, if it's played at LSV or The Shay? Wherever it's played this year, the gate was going to be hit, as there's a full Championship fixture list that weekend.

I suppose it could help to increase the number of neutrals attending.

I would say with a huge amount of confidence that there would be less Leigh fans in a final at the LSV than there would be at Blackpool. Even more so if played at Halifax. Unfortunately the clubs have seemingly hugely underestimated the importance of the occasion as a whole IMHO.

I would say you'd see a decrease in neutrals for much the same reason.

Hit #2 for the final.

I remember how the NRC/trans-pantomime cup/blahbah used to be. Anyone else remember finals at Dewsbury, at Keighley and at Rochdale? Want to go back to that?

A cup competition is only worth as much as it is valued.

Playing the game at a guaranteed nuetral venue is important, and what feels more 'cup final' than a weekend or day away?! Of course, with Blackpool we have the best of both worlds - it's not inconvieniant to go on the day, but it's perfect for staying the weekend too.

Taking the family for a weekend in Halifax or Leigh doesn't seem as attractive as Blackpool.

The carnival atmosphere and feeling that you got in Blackpool was a very big pull for fans going to the final. If you could recreate that at another venue with a weekend of rugby and events then it may work somewhere else. Hard act to follow though.

Need to build a pier on the Flash and a Big Wheel in the town with Silcocks attending that weekend too - just short of a donkey or two - no wait we have some of them already

Pity got a coach up and had a great day out the last time we made it to Blackpool.

Lets just hope they don't take either of the NRC or the GF to Salford.

Then we can all have a weekend away sat in traffic on Barton Bridge. Woo-hoo!

Got to say i agree with everything Matt & Michael have said so far, BlACKPOOL feels like a "proper cup final". Neutral venue that we don't go to through the regular season and because of the very nature of Blackpool you get a totally different atmosphere than at any other game through the season, so if it aint broke don't fix it !.