https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/ranking- ... rst-37084/ Saw the headlines and thought we would be near the top.

https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/ranking- ... rst-37084/ Saw the headlines and thought we would be near the top.

There's a part of me that actually like grounds

Pretty much agree with Headingley, since I still love the old grounds and their character.

Used to love going to Central Park, and Naughton Park, which although everyone said it was a complete tip (it was) it had character in how tumbledown it was.

The KCOM is awful, no atmosphere, needs a standing area but of course it can't happen because of Hull City's presence.

Central Park was my favourite away ground, always a sense of occasion. I really did not like Naughton Park, always came away covered in whitewash or was it distemper? Then there was the let’s set fire to our own stand so Wire get cold and we can beat them! (Not that I hold a grudge).

It's also shaped a bit by your experiences/memories, I got very lucky on my visits to Naughton Park, I seemed to go when we beat them, but I just missed that Widnes heyday by about 2 years and they were already on the decline when I started going (although they still had some good players like Richie Eyres, Stuart Spruce etc).

Was there when Davies ran out to a volley of spit and abuse and we beat them, Boxing Day fixture postponed by a few days due to weather if I recall.

I had a hatred towards Knowsley Road really. It was a great old ground but always seemed to see us get a hiding there.

I kind of liked the fact that Wigan, Widnes and Saints, and to an extent Hull too, were strong teams formidable on their own grounds. It gave a certain aura to Central Park, Naughton Park, Knowsley Road, The Boulevard. You felt like you were entering enemy territory and it meant an away win was incredibly satisfying. You would come back home feeling like you'd done a successful raid on enemy soil.

The more modern grounds have lost that character even though the facilities are better. Also summer rugby has made it all more 'comfortable'. Positive progress of course, and important to attracting a wider audience, but when I was a teenager I did enjoy the grim intimidating atmosphere of these grounds on a crappy winters day.

I enjoyed going to Thrum Hall, with a stop at the Turnpike for lunch en route.

What has happened to Castlefords projected new Stadium? no offence to Castleford and Wakefield but they need new grounds to move forward in Super League .

Bit unfair on the "big" stadiums. DW And hudds are great when they are well populated. As for headingley. It shouldn't get such a high mark so long as it has that rubbish open terrace.

.....and that band that plays all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order.

I must say ,i have a phobia about Salford.. The exit routes from the car park are pathetic.

Speaking of Headingley, anyone remember a game against Leeds about 15 years ago when the Wire fans were in the open terrace? A cup game I suspect. About 20 minutes before kick off there as an almighty drum solo noise coming from one of the gardens of the houses behind. Everyone rushed to the back and peered over the wall to see a young lad banging away on a full drum kit in his back garden. A few minutes later, there was a minutes silence for someone connected to Leeds and the garden drummer coincidentally started up again. The Leeds fans thinking it was the Wire drummer directed a barrage of boos and "show some respect", "wire scum" from the other 3 sides. I think it was even mentioned in the newspapers about Warrington fans "lack of respect".

I might be in a minority here, and almost heretical, but I think Saints' new ground is the best overall. Similar to ours but more going on design wise externally (less boxy) I do like our full side standing as Headingly as it's a better RL mix IMO but they should lose points for their Away end.

I suppose that a fan experience can also be coloured by other things such as the rivalry and importance of the game, atmosphere, the price of pies, team performance, ease of travel/parking, the weather..

Having considered all that Saints are still top for me as you'll never beat the 'back in the box' moment

Agree about saint's place but we only normally see it at first hand when it is relatively full, when it is excellent. Must be lot different against Salford, wakey etc, as is the hj, but less noticeable with our lower capacity.
Under the stands the totally wicked looks really cheap.

Agree about LP I did love going to Knowsley Road even despite us not winning there. Just the hope every time we went and the fact we would always fill out that away end with 5-7k fans on a cold Friday night. the atmosphere was unrivalled.