On the subject of alcohol related incidents, just a quick thanks to the dysfunctional family on our coach home who demanded one our group move from THEIR unreserved seat and threatened to 'have him' when he refused, and then continued the abuse after he was bullied out, ultimately reducing my friend's 12 year old daughter to tears with their behaviour. Thanks a lot, you ruined our day.

After an incident on a Wembley coach in 2010, I said that I would rather drive next time, but I thought what could possibly happen on a 40 minute drive from Manchester? I wish I'd stuck to my original plan.

Never again!

Trouble is, like everywhere, you have sink estates, some of them people actually managed to either save some benefit or nick the lead off the church roof, it's why i hate the coach too, you always run the risk of getting one of these on there, even though most people are lovely.

Im a season ticket holder since 2007 and i left on the hooter aswell for the same reason. Was absolutlely gutted and couldnt listen to anymore "marching on together" "were leeds rhinoooooos". Clapped the lads for there achievements this season after the hudds game. Cant understand all this not true fan bollox if you leave earlier than others. Yes it would have been good to clap the team off but like i said i was gutted and wanted to go home and wallow in self pity.

We like to think the game is (or was) ideal but I can remember plenty of incidents of trouble at games, finals and regular season games, back as far as the 80s, and crap though the incidents last night were I don't think it's getting any worse.

That's not to defend it - I don't see the point of drinking at all at games as I want to be able to enjoy and clearly follow the action, and even a pint doesn't help with that.

I also think it'll remain part of the game. For many fans, and they are fans whether you like their approach or not (and I dont), they'll find a way to get hammered and this plus tribal support means there will be scope for trouble.

I actually thought quite a lot of Wire fans stayed to watch the presentation and the boys come over and show their appreciation......certainly a lot more wires fans stayed behind than leeds did at wembley.

Why we have to have another ing argument about the state of our own fans i dont know ...

lets do the proper thing and get stuck into that widnes loser

Agree with you completely.

Same happened when I went in 2010. We were in the quadrant of the "Wigan end" and felt like we were in the minority, being on the receiving end of abuse from fans with no colours on. The RFL need to stop giving tickets to other clubs in the East and West stands, because this happens EVERY year. Keep the tickets behind the goal for fans of the final clubs only.

Thats probably the best way to go. RFL sell tickets to anybody in north and south stands and leave the ends to the teams contesting the final.

As a non-Tory I don't agree with Yed's next post in this thread, but I fully agree with this (although I actually left two minutes before the end). I was devasted and had zero desire to see Leeds celebrations. I couldn't care less if some uber fans have a problem with this. It was most definitely not my second game of the season.

As for the good old "trouble is caused by people in no colours" argument. Can you explain to me why the fight (or at least the aftermath of one) I saw outside Wembley was between Wires head to toe in primrose and blue, including grown men in face paint?

Can you explain why I saw a grown man in a wolf costume with full Wire away kit over it boo throughout the minute applause last night?

Can you explain why I then saw that same person, along with his equally adult aged mate in a yellow and blue jester hat end up embroiled in bother with Leeds and Widnes fans - all in colours - at half time, resulting in said wolf arguing with his Warrington shirted girlfriend throughout the second half?

I don't like wearing colours (although I did have a Wire badge on my Harrington jacket last night - big game and all that!) but I don't behave like those fully kitted out clowns did.

Was this the kick off before the match that took place in East Stand 30/40 rows up from the corner flag? I was sat front row of North Stand near the corner flag and it looked like a right melee. A good few thousand Leeds fans seemed proud of the behaviour as a noisy "Yorkshire Yorkshire" chant went up. FWIW, it's not the first time I've seen aggro at the GF. Wigan/Saints fans had a good tear up a few seasons ago and IIRC about 20 or so Hull/Saints fans were turfed out last year for a first half dust up.

As for the whole "it'll be football fans" comments some of you really should be ashamed. I'm a follower of both sports and I can honestly say I've seen more trouble at RL grounds than at Football grounds over the years. This whole "we're all gentlemen" in RL attitude needs to be dropped.

I agree with that, as I have mentioned in another thread.

Most people who go on about "football behaviour" have absolutely no idea what they're talking about.

I think we're getting close to the issue for me now. Wembley had some issues but they never seemed as bad. Last night had a "football away match" feel in the stands, and it wasn't comfortable at all for large parts. The whole reason I stopped going the odd football match was because it just stopped being enjoyable because of the intense animosity. I felt it again last night, and it felt very removed from a RL crowd.

Maybe fans from the two teams in the final (and the RFL) should learn from this and only allow certain tickets to be sold by the respective clubs and have them all together in their own section of the ground and keep the other RL teams fans away from them.
Having a group of 'neutral' fans in the middle of the losing fans and laughing in their faces = disaster

This thread has come up (on here and redvee) after most of the GFs that we've been in recently; there is clearly a problem.

Kick off time needs to be brought forward and better segregation...I don't understand why the RFL sell tickets behind the sticks as this should just be for the fans that have been assigned that end...keep the neutrals together in the corners/sides to avoid this from happening.

We pride ourselves on being a family sport, which it is, but there is a clear problem when it comes to finals and we need to police it in a different manner. We don't need lines of stewards separating fans, but the RFL just need to sell tickets in a better way.

If that doesn't fix the problem then the last resort would be to stop booze being sold in the ground.

I was quite astonished by the simmering air of beer fuelled menace in Sam Platts before the game and the western edge of the North stand during the game. Full of people who had no interest in the game and were seemingly there to goad whoever was in earshot. I am not a shrinking violet but it still came as a bit of a shock, never seen anything like it.

Like the people above I will not buy tickets from the RFL again and will think twice about taking the wife and kids.

That would only work if there was a very very strict policy of not allowing anyone who is already drunk into the ground. But then you would have thousands upon thousands trying to get in with minutes to go (having waited in the pub 'til the last possible moment) and police or stewards having to decide on a case by case basis who's drunk or who isn't. Some may get turned away after just a couple of beers because they smell of alcohol whilst others get in because that particular steward is unable, or unwilling to say no.

I am still so angry that, win lose or draw, last night should have been the highlight of 35 years of following the Wire, but instead I felt incredibley uncomfortable and exposed and I hated almost every moment inside the stadium from 15 minutes or so before kickoff until I got out.