If it's a few years since you've been to Nottingham I think you'll find it's changed a lot. Students (preferably rich, foreign ones) are a big new 'industry' there (as they are in many of our cities these days). However they housed in their own 'bantustans' with custom-built apartment blocks, their own branches of Subway, McDonald's, etc. That way they never have to actually mix with the local people. Or use city-centre pubs or suchlike. But it's a phenomenon that's going on all over the country. Bristol and Bath are going down the same route.

I don't live in Nottingham but I am there a fair bit.

centrally located? Its a good three miles put of sheffield centre and theres bugger all around there. It has to be Newcastle as it has that city cnetre stadium allowing the fans to come in and out. Hillsbrough would be case of attend a game then go home, theres no room for a fan zone either. Its totally unsuitable for a magic weekend

Barcelona would be brill if we're taking it abroad!

Sam Boyd stadium , Vegas

Actually it's on middle wood road

As a student in Nottingham you must be on about Uni of Nottingham as they have their own campus grounds out of the city centre. Nottingham Trent is in the heart of the city and we make use of a lot of what the city has to offer, it's literally 10 minutes from Market Square. A lot of our students actually move out of the uni accommodation for 2nd and 3rd year so we're hardly segregated from the rest of the city. No idea what UoN do though. But it's hardly a surprise students stick to their campuses when it's cheaper for what we need.

I wouldn't host it here though. The City Ground is too small and no actual fan park type area. There's pubs in the vicinity but not sure there's enough (obviously I don't know every pub near the ground) without walking back into the city centre.

It all depends upon what the RL's objective is for holding the Magic Weekend.

If they want it as a promotion tool for expansion then holding it somewhere with a realistic capacity, and sell it as at full price to the local population as a must see event, so Bristol & Coventry would be ideal, each running a 1 day 3 match event.

This could mean that traditional supporters might not be catered for, but might attract a new audience, new sponsors and new thinking, but, unlike the RLWC 2013, it would need to be followed up.

If they want to give the traditional fan base a day out and a festival of RL then just carry on with what they've been doing, but IMHO it doesn't really achieve an awful lot else.

I agree, at the moment it nothing more than an event for current RL fans.

A discuss should be had on what the RFL really want to get out of it. If that's what they want, the keep it as it is, if it's for expansion and opening up to new markets, then it needs to be re-thought.

At the moment, the only side that could potentially exploit the MW in Newcastle is the Newcastle Thunder club. other than that, Sky might get a few extra viewers.


I'd much rather games be taken on the road like we see in the NRL, perhaps using the MW as a dedicated on the road weekend? With Championship sides too, we could have 6 double-headers during the weekend.

Take games to the Ricoh in Coventry, run the day in partnership with the Coventry Bears, even have the Bears playing the first game to make it a 3-game event.

Have to say I’m not an expansionist either but that’s not a bad idea at all.

I’d go for Toulouse so as to promote that team already there. Also to be fair Perpignan is no longer a drawer as most of us have been at least once. It’s also not big enough.

I reckon Toulouse could cope and I reckon a weekend there with 6 games on offer would be very appealing. The Stadium Municipal holds 33,000 so it should be easily filled and tickets can be sold at fairly profitable price. For once demand would exceed availability which is sometimes a good thing. It would also be very appealing to the French media and thus French sponsors.

Might be worth chucking in some sort of competition that features the domestic French teams - say mirror tournament running at the Spacers stadium which will attract domestic fans and those British wants who can’t afford a two day pass for the main game or just fancy a cheaper more relaxed alternative for the day their team isn’t playing.

Any profits from the latter should go straight into developing the French domestic game. If a success I’d recommend it went to France once every four years.

Nottingham would be a top shout.

Magic weekend and Summer bash on the same weekend.

Think about it... mix and match SL and championship games at both Notts county and Nottingham Forest. so when you pay to watch your team you get a mix match of championship and superleague games. or if you wanted to keep both competitions separate, have both weekends running as normal. one in each ground. think of the atmosphere of both competitions and a fan zone full to the rafters with SL and championship fans. the amount of money generated in the city itself would be unbelievable.

Why not Toronto and Port Moresby?

Liverpool could host magic weekend at anfield and the championship version at goodison park on the same weekend with the park in between the stadiums as the fan zone

Wouldn't work because of TV schedule

Bit of a trek though innit. You can walk straight out of Forrest and straight into Notts county near enough