To those who live in the UK

[Knight87]

Ok, in the Super League, out of the 12 teams, 10 of them are located in Northern England (Harlequins and the Les Catalans being the 2 that aren't). Are those 10 teams located in Northern England close to each other, or are they spread out from each other (as I'm not aware geographically where they're located in Northern England)? Which ones would you say are closest to Manchester?

Also, with Hull KR, why are they playing at the dilapidated Craven Park, when they could be playing a top class stadium at the Kingston Communications Stadium (like Hull FC do)? Whats the diff between Hull FC and Hull KR?

And also, to those who live in the UK, which teams would you say (in order) have the highest fan/supporter bases over there, play out of the best stadiums and obtain the highest home crowd averages?

 

[roughyedspud]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_League_(Europe)

but to help you out with the easy ones...wigan would be the closest to manchester,wigan is in greater manchester..

hull KR play out of craven park because thats their stadium,whats the difference..i'll leave that for deluded pom to answer...lol

highest fans/supporter base is generally between leeds rhinos & wigan warriors

 

[deluded pom?]

The difference is they still live in a timewarp trapped in 1980 (a bit like Dr Who but not nearly as entertaining) and are red and white scum and we aren't. The roots of the two clubs are actually in what is now the home area of their rival. However in the mists of time they relocated to the opposite sides of the city and it's been that way ever since. East Hull is Scum land and West Hull is the home of the chosen few. Historically Hull have always had a better following than the Dobbins and have won more major trophies. As for why they don't play in a top class stadium like we do well the KC is based in the West of the city (the city is divided East/West by the river Hull) and the scum were reluctant to alienate themselves from their traditional fanbase of schoolgirl mothers, juvenile delinquents and doleys. ;-)

 

[The Clan]

Most of the SL clubs are spread east to west accross the north of England, a distance spanning about 110 miles.

Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield and Castleford are all in West Yorkshire and are within an approximate 25 mile radius of each other. Potential SL clubs like Halifax, Doncaster & Featherstone would also fall into this area.

The two Hull clubs are about 50 miles east of Leeds and are just a couple of miles apart.

Wigan, Sts and Warrington are based between 55 and 65 miles West of Leeds and are within a 25 mile radius of each other. Potential SL clubs Widnes and Salford are within this cluster of clubs.

Celtic Crusaders are in South Wales about 120 miles south of Warrington.

Harlequins are based in London which is about 185 miles south of Leeds.

Leeds get the biggest attendences at the moment wiith around a 17,500 average
Wigan would have approx 15,000
Hull have 12,000
Followed by Bradford, Sts, Warrington with approx 11,000
Hull KR,Wakefield and Huddersfield have about 7,500 but are all rising dramaticaly.

Castleford average around 6,500
Harlequins are poor with approx 4,500

The Catalan Dragons in France are getting about 8,000

Hope this helps

 

[Knight87]

Most of the SL clubs are spread east to west accross the north of England, a distance spanning about 110 miles.

Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield and Castleford are all in West Yorkshire and are within an approximate 25 mile radius of each other. Potential SL clubs like Halifax, Doncaster & Featherstone would also fall into this area.

The two Hull clubs are about 50 miles east of Leeds and are just a couple of miles apart.

Wigan, Sts and Warrington are based between 55 and 65 miles West of Leeds and are within a 25 mile radius of each other. Potential SL clubs Widnes and Salford are within this cluster of clubs.

Celtic Crusaders are in South Wales about 120 miles south of Warrington.

Harlequins are based in London which is about 185 miles south of Leeds.

Leeds get the biggest attendences at the moment wiith around a 17,500 average
Wigan would have approx 15,000
Hull have 12,000
Followed by Bradford, Sts, Warrington with approx 11,000
Hull KR,Wakefield and Huddersfield have about 7,500 but are all rising dramaticaly.

Castleford average around 6,500
Harlequins are poor with approx 4,500

The Catalan Dragons in France are getting about 8,000

Hope this helps

So, how long does it take to drive from the far West (ie Wigan, St Helens, Warrington area) to the far East (Hull)?

but to help you out with the easy ones...wigan would be the closest to manchester,wigan is in greater manchester..

How far is Wigan located from Old Trafford?

And also, what is it like living in Northern England (in comparison to the South, eg London)? Is the weather nice there? Which suburbs are best?

The difference is they still live in a timewarp trapped in 1980 (a bit like Dr Who but not nearly as entertaining) and are red and white scum and we aren't. The roots of the two clubs are actually in what is now the home area of their rival. However in the mists of time they relocated to the opposite sides of the city and it's been that way ever since. East Hull is Scum land and West Hull is the home of the chosen few. Historically Hull have always had a better following than the Dobbins and have won more major trophies. As for why they don't play in a top class stadium like we do well the KC is based in the West of the city (the city is divided East/West by the river Hull) and the scum were reluctant to alienate themselves from their traditional fanbase of schoolgirl mothers, juvenile delinquents and doleys. ;-)

How does it feel to see Hull go 25 yrs without premiership success (last time they won was in 1982/83 season), whereas the Rovers I believe won it in 1984/85.

 

[Knight87]

Also, which would you say are the best stadiums to see Rugby League at over there in the UK? I must say the JJB Stadium (where Wigan play at) looks very similar to Skilled Park on the Gold Coast, where the Gold Coast Titans play. A lot of those English stadiums look similar to Skilled Park:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skilled_Park

Also, what's the purpose of the Challenge Cup? Is it to give the minnows a chance of winning something in their life? It isn't as prestigious or as popular as the Super League, right?

 

[roughyedspud]

iwigan is 24miles (by road) from old trafford


whats it like living in northern england? grim lad grim

which "suburb is best" ........alderley edge, thats where all the 'soccer' players live lol

i like oldham,not many do though

 

[roughyedspud]

Also, what's the purpose of the Challenge Cup? Is it to give the minnows a chance of winning something in their life? It isn't as prestigious or as popular as the Super League, right?

the challenge cup is the most prestigious RL cup in the world mate....more people went to the challenge cup final,at the world famous wembley stadium,than any other rugby league game last year,more than the NRL grand final,super league grand final & any of the state of origin games....and minnows don't win it....except this year;-)

 

[Knight87]

Yeah, but what is the purpose of having the Challenge Cup and Super League? Why have a knockout comp and a league comp? If the Challenge Cup is most prestigious, then why don't they do away with the Super League then? And also, if the Challenge Cup final gets big crowd at the final in Wembley, why doesn't Harlequins get big crowds (and why don't they take the Super League GF to Wembley?

And yes, I have heard of a CC Final match over 50 yrs ago that got over 100,000 ppl (and someone posted some pics of that match on this forum website, dunno where the link is. Someone also posted pics of old Rugby League International matches back from the 40s, 50s and 60s (some involving France, when League was #1 sport over there), but dunno where that URL link is).

 

[roughyedspud]

why have the challenge cup & super league ? ones a league & ones a knock-out cup what more explanation do you need? super league is for 12 clubs the challenge cup has 94 teams including teams from france & russia...you can't do away with a league and base your whole season on a knock-out cup,half the teams season would consist of 1 game....lol

why do does wembley get massive crowds and harlequins get crap crowds? 90% of the crowd at a challenge cup final are from the north thats why we fill wembley

 

[deluded pom?]

How does it feel to see Hull go 25 yrs without premiership success (last time they won was in 1982/83 season), whereas the Rovers I believe won it in 1984/85.

Oh, it's a wonderful feeling :sarcasm: Only Wigan, Leeds, Bradford, Saints, Halifax, Widnes and the Scum have won it in the meantime. So we haven't been waiting as long as most of the other teams.

 

[nadera78]

I went to Oldham once. Nearly froze to death at Boundary Park watching QPR play Athletic.

 

[deluded pom?]

I went to Oldham once. Nearly froze to death at Boundary Park watching QPR play Athletic.

:lol::lol::lol: It's a good job he never went to the 'sheddings isn't it spud?

 

[hutch]

The difference is they still live in a timewarp trapped in 1980 (a bit like Dr Who but not nearly as entertaining) and are red and white scum and we aren't. The roots of the two clubs are actually in what is now the home area of their rival. However in the mists of time they relocated to the opposite sides of the city and it's been that way ever since. East Hull is Scum land and West Hull is the home of the chosen few. Historically Hull have always had a better following than the Dobbins and have won more major trophies. As for why they don't play in a top class stadium like we do well the KC is based in the West of the city (the city is divided East/West by the river Hull) and the scum were reluctant to alienate themselves from their traditional fanbase of schoolgirl mothers, juvenile delinquents and doleys. ;-)

haha classic!

 

[roughyedspud]

:lol::lol::lol: It's a good job he never went to the 'sheddings isn't it spud?

boundary park is positively tropical compared to sheddings :lol:

some told me that once in the 80's we had to move a cup game from sheddings to boundary park because sheddings was frozen solid....the 2 stadiums were only 2 miles apart :lol:

 

[deluded pom?]

I used to like the double decker stand they had.

 

[roughyedspud]

the hutchins stand......

 

[Knight87]

would you say the move from September-April (ie Winter) to Summer (February-October) of Rugby League in the UK has been a success? What effect has this had on crowd attendances?

And also, do you like the playoff format (reintroduced in 1998), in comparison to the round robin home and away league format (like the English Premier League), with no finals?

 

[deluded pom?]

On the whole the move from Winter to Summer has been a resounding success with the majority of the season being played in decent weather on firm grounds. I personally like the playoff system but when you speak to people generally the feeling is that most don't like it and can't understand the need for a playoff if a team has gone through the season and tops the league after the regular games. This is simply down to tradition. We've always had frst past the post in soccer and for a fair length of time that was the case in RL before the switch to Summer. However people tend to forget that for a large chunk of it's history RL in this country has had a playoff to decide the Champions. My old man would always go on about Hull winning the Championship decider against Halifax at Maine Road (then home of Manchester City) in the 1950's and Dewsbury won the title in the 1970's from, I believe, eighth spot on the ladder. People always compare RL to soccer when historically RL has always been the innovative sport and soccer very much a traditional one.

 

[roughyedspud]

i like the play offs but i think too many teams play in it,i'd go for the top 4 thats it..why should a team finishing half way down the league,possibly losing more than they win get a shot at winning the whole comp?

as for winter or summer.....i'm in oldham so it does'nt matter :lol: