surely this needs to be built in Wigan...it would at the very least solve the problem of that little club having nowhere to play?

When did I say that?

It's all about Perception. Manchester is cool - Leeds/Yorkshire isn't.

I suppose Bradford is better than Wigan though as at least they can play rugby when they want to on their pitch.

Will I need my big coat at Saints tomorrow ??

Well perception tells me (and many others) that Rugby League is a no go in Manchester. For a start they don't have a team. As others have stated there is no high capacity stadium East of the Pennines so logic says that's where it should be built.

How high a capacity do you want it?

We already have a national stadium and OT works well for Grand Final. Magic weekend should stay on the road and netural venue for semis (and dont anyone say double header they dont work for club matches.)

If some work was done at odsal with then it would be a great venue for champs league finals day due to the land at the back which can be used like it was before for kids events.

Really? What's so "cool" about Manchester other than they've got the two best football teams in the country?

Wasn't Leeds voted as the number one night out for students recently? Largest financial centre outside of London? Bigger population. More RL fans.

Why is Manchester more "prestigious" other than they have two good football teams and a band comes from there?

As for when you said about the flat caps...
"But Leeds is in Yorkshire. If you want to promote the flat cap image, and hold our sport back, then go ahead, stick it there."
Why would the promotion of a flat cap image be a problem if not everything in Yorkshire was linked to flat caps?

This thread is going round in circles. A national stadium for our sport at the moment is not required, not enough cash, insufficient events, ground capacity.
If you were spending £50,000,000 (minimum) would you build a rl ground in Manchester, Leeds or anywhere else, just so the RL community would have a "home" ? NO
End of discussion, move on

40k would probably suffice for the medium term.

Keep the Grand Final in the prestigious City of Manchester (or rather, just outside of it ), and the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley. Everything else at the new stadium.

Why don't double headers work for club matches? A semi-final double-header would be far more enticing to a neutral IMO. Everyone has to buy a ticket anyway. You'd get more than the combined total of the two single semis IMO, and I'm surprised it hasn't been tried at least once yet (considering they'd done it for the 4N and now the WC semis).

Not really the end of discussion is it?

If you had £50m, you wouldn't spend it just so you could have a "home". You'd spend it to get a return on your investment. Could a ground owned by the RFL get a return on its investment? Not with just RL events. But you don't build a stadium just to host a few events a year, you try and maximise its use.

Totally hypothetical, but if the RFL had the money and Leeds Utd were wanting a new ground, there's a tenant and some income we could get there. Throw in concerts, etc. and it could do a treat. The increase to Leeds' economy from guaranteed RL events every year would give it some value to the council too. The KC Stadium resulted in a huge boost to the economy in Hull.

It's not as cut and dried as "can RL afford it for so few events?"

Sorry, but with the range of RL events that we have, we could jump into bed with a football club (perhaps The Etihad, Old Trafford or Leeds United), but a RL venue just wouldnt work.
To be viable a stadium would need sufficient capacity to come with the GF or CC final, if not you instantly take away the 2 largest RL events.
Alternatively, you go for say 40,000 capacity to give the game some growing room for internationals and maybe Championship finals etc, but this is too big for any of the current SL clubs.
Yes, a new stadium could host Take That or Justin Beiber, but wouldyou really build a new stadium to call home for 5 or 6 RL games per year, plus special events ? the answer is still no.

Isn't that what I said? Old Trafford wouldn't have us. I don't think Etihad would be allowed due to the restriction on events (plus I don't think they'd want us anyway!).
Elland Road is a dump, but Leeds United want to either upgrade or start from scratch. They can't afford it. They'd probably love to jump in to bed with us.


If there's an alternative, then there doesn't "need" to be then does there.


Why does it matter if it's too big for current SL clubs? You wouldn't have a SL team playing their home games there. It wouldn't be a neutral venue then.


Out of all the concert acts there is, you picked them two!

And no, you wouldn't for 5 or 6 games a year. But there wouldn't be 5 or 6 games a year.
Here's at least 10 RL days:
World Club Challenge. Magic Weekend (2 days). England vs Exiles (2 days). Challenge Cup semis (either DH or 2 days). Championship Finals. England autumn internationals (at least 3 days).

Add to that 2 concerts a year + 23-28 football games per season (if we jump into bed with a football club) + other potential external bookings, that's year round usage. It'd be very similar to how Hull FC and Hull City share.

Dont spoil his fun, he seems desperate for the RFL to plunge a pile of cash into a stadium, completely pointless for me.
If we want to create a "home" then we need to pick the best current stadium and get into be with the current tennant, which would still leave some flexibility to play games elsewhere if desired but, as I say, dont spoil his fun.

Depends what you mean by "don't work". What's more important? Selling more tickets or having more people in the ground?
As for a semi-DH, wouldn't the majority of the fans of the team that won the first game want to stick around and see who they'll be facing in the final? I know I would!


If Leeds United had a decent ground, then I'd be all for that.
Why not work together on building one?

And where has 3 or 4 games come from? I've listed 10.