I attended two finals in Blackpool with HKR & have attended others since it is a great day out but Halifax is not for me I would not have gone even I was not working as I made a weekend away of it. I enjoyed it on TV & it shows how good a game we have as long as the teams are matched. I think it also highlighted the gap between the championship & the full time Super league, not in skill or entertainment but in the physique of the part time players they were all diferent shapes & sizes just like most of us. Thats why the way we introduce these clubs into the top level has to be thought out very carefully.

Think yourselves lucky, when the Giants won this is 2002 the final was played in Featherstone !!!

I watched it via internet and thought it was a great game till Sheffield collapsed, fair play to Leigh though, they were excellent.

2200 at a Super League game on Friday? Thoughts?
4870 at a Super League game on Friday? Thoughts?

Bear in mind, Super League attracts much more media, RFL and SKY TV attention than a Championship fixture.
Another problem which probably knocked a lot of the attendance was the game was advertised as ticketed.
There should have been a large promotion in various league publications and local media stating that you could pay on the day for any fans that may have fancied popping down at late notice.

Sheffield brought around 300 fans. I hate to think what the attendance would have been if Batley beat Leigh in the Semis.

Hope it reverts back to Blackpool next year. I don't think there will be a huge attendance in the Championship final at Leigh if Sheffield are there neither.

I was there for that too, Huddersfield vs Hull KR at Fev haha!

Wasn't it called the Buddies Cup then?

Leigh lost it at Dewsbury in 2000 , won it at Keighley in 2001 , both against the home teams, then lost against Salford in 2003 and beat HKR in 2004 ,both matches played at Spotland in Rochdale

But since they moved it to Blackpool it had been building as an event, just a shame the RFL and the clubs decided to cut costs rather than invest in it

It didn't start until 2002 so you have that wrong.

He's referring to the Trans Pennine Cup which was effectively the League Cup at the time. Might even by the same trophy but not 100%.

Different name, same comp

Top day out.

Hard to say whether Blackpool is the right choice, like Starbug says it's a better location, with more prestige and appeal, gets a bigger crowd. On the flipside Blackpool FC started charging so much that the winners would have got pittance at the end of the comp so it wasn't really worth winning. We got 16k + whatever gate receipts, doesn't sound a lot but you wouldn't believe how much that is to a club like Leigh.

Sorry that we don't have the excellent facilities like you do. We haven't had the millions of pounds from SKY like you lot have.

Maybe you should come down to the ground soon and you can see for yourself what the club have done in recent years in upgrading the facilities. It's nice that we own our own ground and everything else in it.

Back on subject - Another cracking final, not seen a bad one yet!

whoah there, i wasn't having a pop at Fev's ground - more the fact that that the others were moaning they've had to go from Blackpool for the final to Fax.
My comment was a 'think yourselves lucky you had the chance of a day out in Blackpool' comment.
Nowt against POR - had some good battles there in the past and its a proper rugby ground too !