Likely due to the lads that jumped on to congratulate Owens when he went in for Widnes. Owens did not look pleased.

The stewards stopped the Widnes fans getting at Cas fans by holding the line around the perimeter, they aren't going to get stuck in as we would have liked

The venue was praised, without fences morons will get on the pitch at any venue.

Quite right. There is no excuse for going on the pitch. It' a nobody or no institution,a fault - it's the thick, detritus of Widnes society who were and are 100 percent responsible. Get then prosecuted, banned and made an example of.

A bit disappointed that despite offering apologies all round and mentioning the BBC and Tetleys, the aplology did not include the Castleford club and fans who are the ones who suffered the most.

As far as criticising the LSV is concerned, I don't know if it applies now but at one time what happened with games like semi-finals and internationals was that the RFL hired the ground and was responsible for things like catering and stewards. Could that be why they're getting a bit wobbly about this?

As soon as the idiots came on the pitch to celebrate Widnes' try (a habit Widnes' fans have had as long as I've been watching), the police should have been ready for the final whistle. However, the blame for this lies entirely with the idots commiting the crime.

A Hull fan further up the thread mentions how his club reacted to the semi final of 2000, and he is right. The Hull club took tremendous steps to rid themselves of that element, and continue to do so. I hope Widnes can learn from them.

I find it strange that some people think that you can't be a real supporter of a team unless you go to the game in a replica shirt.

I have a season ticket at Sheffield Eagles and go to most away games too, and I couldn't tell you the last time I wore a replica shirt.

I don't wear a replica shirt to Salford games either, never have and never will. Doesn’t make me any less of a supporter than those that do.

I also don't buy into the "these aren't real fans of Widnes Vikings", I am sorry but yes they are. It isn't like they took 15,000 to Leigh is it. They took their typical home crowd with them, so this “football bandwagon jumping bunch of thugs” doesn’t wash either.

Me bad if that is the case...I was told that by somebody in front of me...my view was obstructed by fans arm waving at the stewards to stop the Widnes fans at the perimeter railings...Widnes fans there..woman goes down..a case of 2+2=5.

I also forgot the morons goading the players and coaching staff.

This so called "fan" shouldn't be hard to identify :- www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 60875.html

This so called "fan" shouldn't be hard to identify :- www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 60875.html

I'm now hoping that the RFL and Wembley adopt the same stance that Old Trafford
use for the Grand Final ie no alcohol in view of the playing area.
I say this because up to a few seasons back I attended the Challenge Cup Final on a regular basis, if not every year.
I won't name the clubs involved, it's not their fault, but the game was spoilt by more than a few who, arrived stoned out of their minds,who thought it was fun to abuse fans of clubs whose teams weren't involved and trying to pick fights and thinking it was fun to empty their beer over anyone sat near them.
We asked a steward to intervene but he was not interested. So we left the game just before half time vowing never to set foot at a Challenge Cup Final again until Wembley and the RFL banned alcohol in view of the playing area.
I wrote to both Wembley and the RFL and several years later I'm still waiting for a response.
I was thinking of giving Wembley another go with there being a different club guaranteed to make the final from the last few seasons but after yesterdays scenes then I wont bother.

Agreed. The vast majority on the pitch were wearing Widnes shirts - they are unlikely to have shelled out £40 for a shirt if they are only attending one game and "jumping on the bandwagon" before they decided to cause trouble.
Widnes need to front up to the problem that they have a significant number of problem supporters, and deal with them rather than just running the "they aren't real fans" excuse.