Indeed ... I'd certainly be interested in something for say, £30, even if it took a little longer than a regular service.

In terms of 'Do They Still Have Specials ?'... Top Gear didn't have any problem putting one together to race Richard Hammond to Edinburgh the other weekend Whereas once-upon-a-time, you'd have gone to 'BR' to sort it out, these days you need to speak to a private company. IIRC, there was a special train laid on for the 2000 Cup Final at Murrayfield that went from West Yorkshire.

Certainly a train from Leeds - Wakefield - Castleford - York - Newcastle to Edinburgh would not be a logistical problem. Bradford requires a bit more work (a reversal somewhere) or how about making two trains merge at York with one from Humberside ?

didnt go, so no

Loving that idea.

Until you wrote this!!

I attended on saturday and stayed all weekend.

Although the stadium element was not as good as cardiff , edinburgh as a city is and easier and cheaper to find accomodation

Improvements

1 give 10000 on both days tickets ( not all weekend tickets) away to locals. Get them to apply for up to 4 tickets with their name and address details to build a marketing list for RL in scotland. Start the process in january.

2 Start a scottish schools RL comp like the one they have for the challenge cup and play the final as a curtain raiser. Give players from earlier rounds and parents free tickets.

3 Give all pubs clubs corner shops etc a pair of tickets for the owners and a pair to have as a draw (again collecting marketing info)

4 Have the fastest man in rl comp on day 1 and a kicking comp on day 2
Reps from all clubs including NL clubs. 5k top prize.

5 5k for the man of the match to be presented on the pitch. 5K for the top tryscorer on each day.

6 Space left for the extra fixture could be last years NL grand final regular season fixture. If not NL1 v NL2 or scotland v wales selected from NL.

7 give hibs/hearts season ticket holders the opportunity to apply for say 2500 free tickets

all positive thoughts, if a tad naive, all the freebies would end up on ebay!

Who won? Wire fans or kr fans in the fan down hill race?

The ticket thing was a bit stupid, but I wasn't complaining... had the cheapest tickets!!!

Only other thing I didn't like was how empty the place was for the Rovers - Wire game!

Had a superb weekend. Six of us rented a flat in between Murrayfield and Edinburgh centre for 3 nights and it only cost £35 each. We could walk to the ground and get the bus into town if we wanted. No problems at all. You just need to do a bit of research beforehand and you can get a cheap deal and have not transport trobles.

If you were on a budget you could take all your food and drink. As it was we enjoyed the variety of grub served around the stadium and there were plenty of bars so the queuing was minimal. A beer was £3.50 and grub £4+ but this is par for the course at this sort of thing.

The only thing I would change would be to ensure there was more covered places to stand outside the stadium. If it had rained it wouldn't have been as good and everyone would have been stuck in the stadium itself for shelter. As it was in the sun it was excellent but we were lucky with the weather.

I'd recommend the experience to anyone. Don't be put off by the miserablists.

i love it!
if it had rained we would have been stuck in the stadium!

er wasnt that the general idea of this whole glorious event?

If you'd have gone you'd have enjoyed sitting in the sun enjoying the atmosphere and the banter with other fans. It was a really enjoyable experience. Having not been to Cardiff I wasn't sure whether it was all it was cracked up to be but I'm a convert. Other than the cup final RL doesn't have any other events like this.

grand final cancelled then?
sorry we dont need 2 and a half big events in our game at the present time.

and would you rather see mm survive than cc final??

GF played on a usually wet October evening in all too familiar grim Manchester?

Yeah spiffing, a night for all the family!

Sorry RL does need more than 2 and a half events. The event in Cardiff or Edinburgh gets coverage for the sport it just wouldn't get otherwise. Check out the Scottish papers this weekend. The regular British press also gave the game more coverage too. That attracts sponsorship as it shows we're not a just a parochial game played in a northern backwater.

But never mind. Sounds like you mind's made up. Are you James Graham in disguise?