rlstoryrl

fancy a trip over for this, can see a few neutrals from the uk heading over to sample the noucamp. bit ambitious to mention a sellout though i can see a decent attendance if they do their marketing.

bonus points to the first one to use the phrase 'a few thousand rattling around in a 99000 capacity stadium'.

barca has always had a little bit of a RL presence, i remember seeing copies of open rugby in the newsagents over there in the mid 90s

Not forgetting the mighty Wire played there, long before the pies were invited.

Im sure Leneghan will put a different spin on it.

They couldn't break Millwall so let's now try and take on Spain.

If Barcelona could attract some 15,000 - 20,000 of their football fans to attend on top of the Catalans and Wigan fans then it is possible to have 30-35,000 attend. That would be a great success. And so long as the stadium was open only in the lower tier then there could be a decent atmosphere.

Well Barca's chairman seems to be supporting it actively so could well see lots of publicity at their home matches. Going to be played on a saturday evening, good time as barca play around that time a lot i think so their supporters will be used to it.

do the spanish catalonians have a strong affinity with their french counterparts?

One thing I would say (and I know people will say it’s being negative) but they could’ve scheduled it a little bit better by having it later in the summer.

The match takes place the night before Barcelona’s final league game (away from home) if they’re playing for the league title then the club and city’s focus will be on that and not promoting and attending a RL match they night before. That’s why a couple of weeks later would’ve made more sense. Might only seem a little thing but little things can add up to an event not being as successful as it could be.

3000 fans in a 90000 stadium is going to look stupid

18k for Cat v Wires in the smaller ground, Why would there only be 3 k for this?

Always one rugby league fan who likes to put a negative on great news. How can anyone say this is a bad move?

Who said it's a bad move, but it's only exciting for Wigan fans who want to go to the game.
I doubt Hunslet Hawks fans are saying "Yes...GET IN !!!!"

For any Wigan fans who want to / are able to make the trip, a visit to Barcelona is possibly more a) more attractive, but b) more expensive than Perpignan. 120 miles away for Catalans fans, and I don't see how the football mad locals in Barcelona will flock to the game?

I'm sure that Catalans have done the sums and agreed the fixture with Wigan, so there must be some sort of financial sense behind the decision.

SL come up with the fixture list, and we can't start juggling fixtures just because a team wants to play a game 120 miles away from their home ground with the incumbent club at the remote ground having an away game in a different sport the day before.

I guess there's some potential for local interest, but only if the match tickets are at a heavily discounted price. What I don't understand is what Catalans are trying to achieve? They can't be hoping to get regular support from Barcelona locals given the 240 mile round trip for regular home games.

In the summer test match, 19000 at the smaller Mile High Stadium looked ridiculous on tv. Why do we keep persisting in taking the game to iconic stadiums without the demand being there? It consistently makes us look amateurish. One of the unique aspects of watching this great sport is the atmosphere created by us, the fans. If we want to grow the sport in Barcelona (which I am sure every one of us does), it needs to be played at a stadium that can create that atmosphere and inter-rivalry comradeship that is unique to our sport. Mini Estadi first and then if that gets sold out we move to the RCDE. To ergonomically grow the sport is the way forward and not trying the “Big Bang” like this. One day we might just get to see the Nou Camp bathed in blood and gold banners from top to bottom and a load of pasty Northerners looking around them in bewilderment!

Didn't Fartown play Catalan of old in Barcelona for a cup?

I can't wait for this this fixture, Barcelona is a marvellous city and it will interesting to watch the greatest game being played at such a fantastic ground. I have just bought some cheap flight tickets from Birmingham to Barcelona. Not yet decided on where I am stopping yet though.

Near 100,000 capacity stadium, Wigan averaged circa 13k attendance, Les Catalans circa 8k = approx 21k if every single one of them attended.
How many neutrals will attend ? Locals ? Other Club supporters ?

I would be very surprised to see more than 30k there, probably less & with the RFL's record of promotion this will become a sorry joke !