I was in the corner of the Stretford End towards the South Stand, a few rows in front of the big screen.

It was all Warrington in my immediate vicinity, but there was some Leeds a few rows in front and some Widnes supporting Leeds as well. Naturally this led to some confrontation as people started getting wound up. I don't care what anyone says about it being a family game, people should be able to enjoy "banter" (in inverted commas because I hate that word), people can't handle drink, etc. The bottom line is it is an emotive sport and in a game of that magnitude passions are going to run high. If things start going against your team - as they obviously did for us last year - and you have supporters of your opponents, and even worse, supporters of your local rivals cheering them on - in your vicinity, it is going to wind some people up.

There was no excuse for Leeds fans being in our end last year because they've been to loads of finals and are always at the other end of the ground so they should have known better, unless they deliberately wanted to wind up the opposition. As for Widnes fans who just wanted us to get beat? Well fine, but don't come in our end then! If I had been at any of the Leeds/Saints finals I would have wanted Leeds to win, but I certainly wouldn't have gone in the Saints end, wearing Warrington colours, and cheered Leeds on. Behaviour like that is pure stupidity that's bound to end in tears.

I'm glad the RFL have taken a more sensible approach this year and not put behind the posts tickets on sale until the teams are known. It means certain people can have no excuse if they end up in "the wrong end" this time.

I've been going to Old Trafford for 32 years and I think I've only used the station at the ground once and that was for a Great Britain match with my dad.

Fair enough and I'm sure you have your reasons as to why, but in my opinion it's absolutely spot on. I've been back in central Manchester within minutes of leaving the ground every single time I've used it.

I was gutted after an Olympic football match and United/Liverpool last season when it wasn't open (due to railworks) because the tram is a horror story on match days.

There's no reason behind it. It's just something we never thought of back when we were going every other week on the train. I guess t was just easier, and a couple of quid cheaper, which is important when you're 15/16/17, to get on and off at Trafford Park.

We went home from Trafford Park last year. It was rammed but we did get on the first train that stopped there. It was a good laugh on there to be fair.

Someone posted on here on the Sunday last year that they couldn't get on at Trafford Park, and neither could the other Warrington fans waiting there. He got a bit uppity when I suggested that going to that station in the first place, knowing the train would already have taken a hefty number on board in Manchester, was perhaps not his most intelligent decision!

Anyway, I guarantee that anyone wanting to get a train to Warrington after the match should have very few problems going from the stadium station to Oxford Road, then Oxford Road to Piccadilly if the platform going to Warrington is chocker, then walking straight from Platform 13 to Platform 14 (do not go up the steps/escalator and straight into the queue) when they get there.

That's unless you're wearing tracky pants, in which case forget you read all that.

I have sat/stood near people from Warrington who have been absolute tools, likewise I have had fans of other clubs near me at Wembley etc and had a great laugh with them.

It's not what club people support but rather how people conduct themselves, for example I was at the LSV last Sunday and obviously the Batley supporters were mixed with the home fans. They were causing no issue whatsoever, yet a bloke stood next to me was kicking off and getting quite aggressive as he felt offended by their presence. The funny thing was that a few weeks earlier I had seen him at Mount Pleasant stood in the home supporters stand!

The problem with Old Trafford is it is close enough for people who aren't really that interested in the game to go along for the drinking etc, so you will always get idiots. Personally I don't want to see segregation in our game and don't see any need for it. I think IF we get there I will splash out a bit more for better seats to try and get away from the nonsense, though it didn't really affect me last year being honest.

I didn't enjoy last years event at all. Too many idiots from other clubs trying to spoil it. Contrast that with the Wembley trips, and I know where I'd rather go. I'll go this year if the ends are segregated. Evening kick off's = drinking all day, which, at such a highly emotive event is a bad situation when you start mixing fans.

Of course there's need for it. Look, I understand that the Grand Final and Challenge Cup Final rely heavily of attendance of nuetrals. If they were exclusively the preserve of supporters of the two clubs involved then they would be held at significantly smaller venues and the whole sense of event would be downsized, as would the revenue generated. I do get that. I therefore understand why full segregation can never be completely achieved because tickets have to be so freely available to all.

However, if we win on Thursday but then lost next Saturday the last thing I'll want as I feel the stake through my heart of failure again is a Wigan or Leeds fan jumping about celebrating in the seat next to me. Even worse than that would be someone in the colours of a team not even playing jumping about revelling in our misery - as I witnessed last year from the Widnes fans I mentioned earlier in this thread. You might think that would be a great laugh but it's not for everyone.

To me the RFL have got it right this time. The side stands are on sale for the nuetrals who want to go regardless and supporters of the clubs involved who want a better seat knowing they won't be in their own "end" as such and accept what comes with that. The two ends are held back for those who want to cheer on their team surrounded by their own fellow supporters. Absolutely as it should be, and infinitely less potential for aggro.

Getting to O/T last season was the highlight of my 30 years of watching the Wire.

But I was uneasy at the large number of 'fans ' from both sides who were blotto and open to a bit of 'higher end banter'. The United stewards were useless (as were the Wembley ones last season) & stood by as these drunken morons reduced the enjoyment of all those around them,.

Disagree on this one, I know Leeds fans who say this but the other way round. The Grand Final as a concept since it returned has been a real success story- the first final attracted 43,000, last year we had just over 70,000. There are posters around Manchester and it is a great day for the sport, 100 times better than the season ending on a Sunday night in Huddersfield.