I don't mind the draw, but maybe superleague clubs shouldn't be seeded, that way you still might get super League clubs playing each other early on and champ clubs have a better chance of progressing to the 4th/5th rounds

[quote="Steve0":6wfmgqpn]I don't mind the draw, but maybe superleague clubs shouldn't be seeded, that way you still might get super League clubs playing each other early on and champ clubs have a better chance of progressing to the 4th/5th rounds[/quote:6wfmgqpn] I agree. I’ve said this before, the Challenge Cup works better when the First Round (proper) is an open draw of 32 teams, including all SL, Championship, League 1 and any non League clubs, coming through from a Preliminary round. That’s how it used to be for a century and in the early 80’s Hull drew Millom at home one season; and Rovers away another season (when we were the Top 2 teams). It’s just the luck of the draw. The Cup had been sanitised too much to favour the SL clubs and the same is happening in football. Sometimes change is necessary, but sometimes tradition works perfectly fine.

the seeding bit is fine if it's against professional teams but not amateurs. These teams probably play on a field with a rope around it

so its either GB Police/York Acorn or Oulton Rangers, who beat London Chargers today

[quote="bishops finger":3tpzn1hm]It is a god send your right, aswell as an early round cup game it'll probably be the only game that the first team play before the season starts, so yes you'd expect us to go pretty much full strength, and get a tough match too Fc will be away at an amateur team, so your game will probably be more like a full on training session, obviously you'll progress through but I'm not sure how much fc will get out of the game in terms of it getting your lads battle hardened.[/quote:3tpzn1hm] I have to agree with you on this tbh. I can't see our boys getting any more out of a game against an amateur team than they would get from training. It's good for us in that it's essentially a bye and we have the option to rest or play as many first teamers as we want, but it's not going to do much for our match sharpness. I suppose the downside for you is that you have to respect York and send a decent team, running the risk of injuries etc, but you will get more out of it in terms of a hit out.

[quote="number 6":3880j400]so its either GB Police/York Acorn or Oulton Rangers, who beat London Chargers today[/quote:3880j400] York Acorn beat GB Police so we face the winners of next weekend's Round 2 fixture between them and Oulton Raiders.

Tickets for the Wigan home game on sale Entry will be free for all junior supporters with our ‘Kids Go Free’ offer – these tickets are available for all supporters aged 16 or under across the ground, with club chairman Andrew Thirkill covering the cost of all of the junior tickets purchased as a thank you for the incredible support of our members over the off-season, having reached the 7,500 membership mark!

[quote="mwindass":3ulu3sjr]Tickets for the Wigan home game on sale Entry will be free for all junior supporters with our ‘Kids Go Free’ offer – these tickets are available for all supporters aged 16 or under across the ground, with club chairman Andrew Thirkill covering the cost of all of the junior tickets purchased as a thank you for the incredible support of our members over the off-season, having reached the 7,500 membership mark![/quote:3ulu3sjr] I'd hope we'd get at least 12k for this fixture.

[quote="ComeOnYouUll":2xt0l7c4]I'd hope we'd get at least 12k for this fixture.[/quote:2xt0l7c4] This opening home game will give some indication of the mood amongst the wider support base, how much of a positive effect the new ownership has engendered across the club, also how much negative effect is still lingering from the disaster that was 2024. If the attendance is above 12k (hopefully) that will be a definite sign that most have wiped last year from the memory bank. If the night's attendance is below 10k (unlikely given pass sale figure) then we still have some way to go to rectify the horrors of the past twelve months with many waiting to see a clear improvement before returning to the fold. Hopefully the majority are ready to rally round the flag for another rollercoaster ride on the Fc train

[quote="Steve0":333ozqj5]I don't mind the draw, but maybe superleague clubs shouldn't be seeded, that way you still might get super League clubs playing each other early on and champ clubs have a better chance of progressing to the 4th/5th rounds[/quote:333ozqj5] no room in the sport for common sense or providing simplicity and excitement of a lower club being drawn against a S/L team Another IMG f--k up

[quote="ComeOnYouUll":3j412oa6]I'd hope we'd get at least 12k for this fixture.[/quote:3j412oa6] We got 12,600 against Saints for our first home game in 2022 with a similar offer so I'd say that's about right. As if often the case when we draw a bigger crowd we lost by over 30 (Gale got sent off in the sleet)