Quote: Shoe Shine Johnny "When I was a kid in the 1980/90s going to Wembley was like this 'new exciting world' . I rarely went to other parts of the country (or abroad) and I would imagine it would been a ritual for thousands of RL fans from the north. There was no London team in the top division then, no trips to the South of France and no Grand Final. The Challenge Cup was the only chance for a 'big day out'.
This year I have been to London 15 times, France x2 Edinburgh x 2, Denmark, Sweden, USA, Italy, Dubai, Hong Kong.... (blah, blah) you get the picture.
The Challenge Cup final does not mean the same to kids growing up as it did in my generation. It is important yes, but we live very different lives now. We also have World Cup games at OT, Wembley, Cardiff etc, as well as the GF It is a much harder sell to an audience that is all to quick to pour scorn on RL (while professing to love it at the same time).'"
Spot on. The world has changed.
William has liked to compare 1985 to this year, so here it is:
1984/85 Premiership Trophy Final - 15,518
84/85 Lancashire Cup Final - 26,074
84/85 Yorkshire Cup Final - 25,237
84/85 John Player Trophy Final - 25,326
84/85 Challenge Cup Final - 97,801
Total - 189,956
2013 World Club Challenge - 20,400
2013 Magic Weekend - 30,793 & 31,249
2013 Challenge Cup Final - 78,137
2013 Grand Final - ? but assume its roughly similar to last season, say 70,000
Total - 230,579
So an extra 40,000 people attending big RFL club events this year than in 1984/85.
The average attendance for Division 1 in 1984/85 was 4,751 compared to even Williams calculation of the current 2013 average of 8,500.
The club with the highest average attendance in 1984/85 was Wigan with 10,784, compared to Leeds currently with 15,165.
The club with the lowest average attendance in 1984/85 was Workington with 907, compared to London currently with 2,213.
