Agree that it would be silly to change the KO times now, the biggest issue is whose idea it was to have the magic weekend on the same day as the FA cup final in the first place. the media will all be focussed on the football, the wider non-rugby public of Manchester and surrounding area will be more inclined to watch the football and a fair number of rugby fans who watch football may have the inclination to watch the football.

Hull City getting to the final was a bit unpredictable but the RFL have been lucky it wasn't a Man Utd vs Man City final, that would have worked well trying to get the casual fan there. Suppose they dodged the nightmare bullet of it being City v Wigan tho.

It baffles me why Magic Weekend has moved forward a week .Checked the Man City website and there doesnt appear to be anything planned for the bank holiday weekend

Exactly.

Bit of forward planning many months ago and this wouldn't have happened.

Shows once again how incompetent the RFL are. Who on earth decided to hold it the same weekend as the FA Cup Final?

Whether City got there or not it is still crazy planning



Can't believe the people of Hull expect game times to be changed to accomodate us though. I'm sure we wouldn't be happy if it was Leeds or Wigan trying to change things?

I'll be watching rugby end of. By far the best sport.

One Direction concert I believe

Same thing I thought but the dates are 30th,31st may and June 1st

If City took circa 27k to the semi final does that mean they got outnumbered by a 3rd tier team?

Does that not signal enough of a message to Allam that the demand is simply not their for a Stadium extention. I am aware of load who went to the semi final as a one off day out ( no problem with that at all btw, )

Yes, Utd sold 35k....

I'm torn on the subject. On the one hand it makes for an unfair competition. On the other hand, having been to the etihad for the entire weekend a couple of years ago, it is a wonderful event and a great venue. I have been to grand finals and challenge cup finals, both with Hull playing and without, and as a day out, I much preferred the magic weekend.

Unsold tickets have nothing to do with it, Arsenal took 49,000 to their semi-final and also get 25,000 tickets.

33k

If Hull FC were playing Sheffield RLFC at wembley (average £50 a ticket) in the semi with all likelihood being that they will be in the final in a month do you think you'd get a big turn out? This was Sheff utd's final, they knew in all liklihood they weren't going any further and if they did it would be a historic win. All this was for City was a potential banana skin.
If City did kick on a level (highly unlikely) then the demand would probably increase and for the big games they would sell out 30K - £35K. Don't know the average gate this season but it must be around £23k - £24k if you take out the cup games.

Whoever it was saying they's struggle to sell 25k for the final is really kidding themselves.

I e-mailed the RFL to clarify why Magic Weekend is not taking place over the Bank holiday weekend.This is the reply is recieved from Rob Porteous





Thank you for your email below and I’d be delighted to clarify the reason why Magic Weekend is being played a week earlier this year.



Due to the Football World Cup taking place Manchester City’s season finishes a week earlier this year. As part of their pitch maintenance they used to remove the turf after their last game however since 2012 they’ve delayed this by a week in order for us to be able to play the Magic Weekend fixtures. It is for this reason that we’ve had to move the weekend not because of One Direction.



Kind regards

Rob

City got 32,500odd
Sheff United got a couple hundred less

It was reported in the HDM that city were trying to encourage fans to buy tickets for the semi final as they would have more difficulty getting final tickets, but some fans decided to take a chance

Swansea at home, vital game, decent weather, £22 per ticket raised a crowd of 22,5000 ! By my reckoning only sold out 5 or 6 times all season. Man City only sold out the day before the game, those were £35 though.

Sadly Hull folks not wealthy enough to bring in the numbers wanted. Crowds about at their peak - absolutely no point in extending stadium.

bigger problem than you think. Coach times from wigan/leeds are scheduled to arrive at an appropriate time for a 7-15 kick off. Are you suggesting we inconvenience coach firms to accomodate something that has no significance to wigan and leeds fans?

for what its worth, what if wigan latics had beaten nal? We would have the same problem. Make a decision which team to watch

so lets stop blaming the RFL for bad planning, and blame One Direction

Intresting that on Superleague backchat the panel all agreed the RFL should swap Wigan v Saints game with the Hull derby. For the sake of two and a half hours I would of thought it wouldn't really affect anyone's plans as everybody would be there anyway. All the Hull people would be then able to watch Hull City if they choose and if City did win the cup, the Hull derby would create a fantastic atmosphere in the last game. Come on RFL grow a pair for once and let common sense prevail.

Hang on it's 27 miles from the DW to the Etihad and there are 4 games on. So one has to ask why a team with the shortest distance to travel would decide that they are only going to go to one game?
Them being bumped up to 5PM will not effect those going all day AT ALL.

It's also only 36 miles from Elland road to the Ethiad which is hardly a massive Journey in itself either.

Your example is not that relevant. The fact remains that there are more tickets made available for the FA cup semi finalists than the finalists . Irrespective of probability of a City win (and bear in mind Sheffield Utd had already beaten some premier league team, so it was not a forgone conclusion) , there was less chance of a final ticket than a semi final. I appreciate the travel factor, but Arsenal fans were more than interested against a lower league team as they knew it was a day out at the national stadium. The final has always been a lower allocation of the competing teams.

I never suggested they would struggle to sell the 25k for the final. Just pointed out that there is not the huge following that Allam things is going to appear should the KC be extended.

Let's face it there have been plenty of games this season they have not sold out.

1st its wigan v leeds kicking off 19.15pm game to finish at 20.50pm

2nd last train from manchester to hull is 21.12pm changing at leeds getting there at 22.09pm and leaving leeds at 22.22pm getting into hull at 23.25pm

that would give hull fc / hull kr fans 20 mins to get from man city ground to manchester Piccadilly to get the last train back to Hull

RFL have said that the move from the Bank Holiday weekend is due to Man City's season finishing a week early due to the World Cup, so they are digging the pitch up a week earlier too.

Swap it with the earlier Widnes v Salford game - no train problems.

Could finish even later than 20.50 pm if our game against Hudds was anything to go by.50 minute first half

the RFL won't want a mass exodus of Hull & Rovers fans on the final hooter to go watch the City game on TV, the games have been arranged so that the crowd builds during the day then peaks at the start of the Wigan-Leeds game.

selfishly i'd like to watch both the FC & the City game, but I can see the RFL's point of view on this.

Speaking as not a fan of City, I can see the dilemma if you do follow both clubs. As has been pointed out, its not every day City get to a Wembley final, therefore it is understandable if a person decides to give Wembley priority.
I hope they go on and win it.