Game aside, have to say the 'experience' was a real let down.
The 'Fanzone' was in a reality a joke, the atmosphere was hostile and it was like being back in the 80's at football.
It was horrendously expensive (2 kids with me), and if I'm honest, if we made it next year I would seriously consider whether we went again.
Ived been to all our Wembley finals, sat with non playing supporters and had a great time. Magic weekend, great (though for my money Cardiff was awesome and the best), so why so different at the GF ??
Looking back it just seemed to me a way that more money could be extracted from us fans, we left deflated and it wasnt just the result.
Will I go again, no, will I go again if Warrington get to the Final again, probably not, rather watch it in the Club with fellow fans and be less likely to be abused by drunken richard heads whose sole purpose was to 'kick off'.
Showcase event.....how ????

A lot of people in your situation (with families etc) have said the same which i find very, very worrying. If this isn't screaming out for the RFL to look at (one of many things really) then I don't know what is. The family game eh? Whoulda thunk it?

Strange thing is we can directly compare the Grand Final to the Challenge Cup Final. Same teams, similar attendance, I would guess similar numbers of Leeds/Wire/Neutral fans, and it would seem just as much alcohol involved yet very little trouble and very few disgruntled fans. Other than the result, which I don't believe made the slightest difference to the bad atmosphere, what is the difference between the two events? The only thing that sticks in my mind is I saw very few Leeds fans in the Warrington end at Wembley (and I assume few Wires in the Leeds end) but a lot of Leeds, or should that be none Wires, in our end at OT.

The more I read on this, the more I'm beginning to think "it isn't just me". Speaking to my brother today, I'm 30 he's 27, and he said pretty much the same as had been said on here. We have pretty much decided that we wouldn't go the GF again, and that depressed me. Until the last two years, (tough times) I've been a season ticket holder since the "Wolfpack" days, and this GF should really have excited me. I live and breathe Wire, but just getting closer to the stadium on Saturday, I didn't feel comfortable, the atmosphere just felt wrong and that spoiled the evening regardless of the result. If I'd had a young family with me, this would have been magnified ten fold. Give me Wembley any day, after one visit, I'm done with Old Trafford.

Grand Final was far more enjoyable with a much better atmosphere.

Is it just me or is Wembley an awfully bad stadium for generating a decent atmosphere.

More riding on the Old Trafford event, thus creating more tension??

Wembley is more of a carnival atmosphere, people just glad to have made the trip all the way to London - Without wanting to portray us northerners as uneducated, little travelled sorts, it has to be said that Wembley, because of its distance, still has the aura of a far off location, which makes reaching the final as much of an acheivement as winning the competition.

Whereas, with Old Trafford, because its relatively local to most RL following folk, it all comes down to the match, which isn't helped by all the hyped up tension beforehand....Throw copious amounts of alcohol into the equation and also the most bizarre segregation policy I've witnessed in a long time and you have the ingredients for trouble.

Ultimately, the RFL need to get the segregation sorted, because that's where all the problems stem from - It has two choices...

1. Stay at Old Trafford, ends for the finalists, sides for neutrals.....As many have noted already, there was lots of neutrals in among the finalist's supporters and some of these people were there to stir up trouble, even if it wasn't intentional. Basically, hold back sales on the two ends until the two finalists are known.

2. Move to the Etihad Stadium and bring the number of neutral's tickets to a minimum.....This would be a shame for the well behaved neutrals who enjoy attending, but surely the day belongs to the finalists, so they should get a go at tickets before the neutrals have their share.

What I couldn't believe when purchasing tickets online from the RFL site, was that I could buy tickets from ANY part of the ground...Yes, they advised on which ends were allocated to which club, but there was nothing to stop me mixing in the Leeds end if I so wished.

I know we want to promote a family sport, but that was just plain naive....Unfortunately, after Saturday night, it has been proved that there is still a nobhead element bubbling away under the surface of our sport and for the good of those who want to watch our sport in peace, the RFL need to realise this and amend their ticket policy accordingly.

I agree. The atmosphere at Old Trafford was miles better than Wembley and the only reason I enjoyed it less was because we lost. I took a 12 year old with me - whose mum would have killed me if he ended up involved in trouble! - and I didn't feel like either of us were in any danger at any point despite witnessing a bit of aggro. There's a lot of needless cryarsing on here, and not for the first time.

It seems whereabouts in the stadium people were sat made a massive difference to whether they enjoyed a great atmosphere or felt very uncomfortable in a nasty and intimidationg atmosphere. Sorry if I seem to be 'cryarsing', but I went to watch and enjoy a game of rugby, not to sit waiting to see, hear or feel what the cretins behind me were going to do next. Nor did I want a Leeds fan in my face every time Leeds scored or he felt his team had been hard done to by Silverwood.

IF we're good/lucky enough to make it back next year I'll then make a decision as to whether or not I want to go back. Until then this year is now done and dusted as far as I am concerned. Time to go into hybernation until February.

I can appreciate, for some the experience of the GF was tainted due to the trouble already discussed. My family group were in the family area in the 2nd tier North Stand, close to the North West corner. Although from our view we could see pockets of incidents in the west stand especially as the stewards were running in in numbers. Although the family area was mixed with supporters from different clubs the atmosphere was friendly.

The only time I was concerned for the safety of the youngsters was when leaving the stadium underneath the stands. This was very chlostrophobic and there were groups taunting or goading the Wire fans on for a fight. I can't say who they supported due to them not wearing any team colours.

If the Wire got to the final again I would not hesitate to purchase tickets in that area and take the 4 children (young teenagers).

As far as the whole experience, Wembley does it for me. I know to win the GF means more and maybe if we had won the memories of OT would have been different

I agree. Atmosphere was incredibly tense because a whole season's work was on the line. I also think they absolutely nailed the team entrance which added to the atmosphere - all that League of Extraordinary stuff was great.

Kick off time is fine but they may have to stop selling beer in the ground and they certainly need to segregate it better. Sad but true. Having said that, whoever takes most of the beer money (assume some sort of split between United and RFL) will no doubt rather keep the beer flowing.

I commented of the league of the extraordinary advert, how professional did that look?
It looked like a nike or adidas advert with their millions they spend.
This is the kind of thing we need in our sport, professionalism of the highest order in all aspects of our game.
Anyone remember that silly advert sky did with that fat lad not getting injured because he watches superleague? It was amateur hour at its best and made us look like typical fat council meatheads.
If this is the thing to expect then i'm getting a little bit excited for the future, just a couple of things to iron out and we'll do well.
Surely with some of the types of people involved in Rugby League we should pool together and use their other skills *cough* Moran promoting *cough, even for a small cost. Everyone pitching in together to make this sport more appealing on all levels instead of clubs bitching amongst themselves.

Certainly agree about the League of the Extraordinary thing, very slick and impressive. I've often wonder why, with the connections the likes of Simon Moran has, we don't have a huge band doing a half hour set as part of the GF or CC warmup, or even consider a Superbowl style half time show. Great entertainment for those in the stadium (this was severely lacking I thought), and what boost for the profile of the sport if artists the stature of Madonna, Beyonce, or AC/DC (off the top of my head) were to be there.

Banning beer in the ground does nothing but keep people outside longer. Remember the pre beer days at wilderspool and seeing the huge queue's down Fletcher street come 2:45

I must say that I was so caught up in nerves in the hour before kick off that any "entertainment" would have been lost on me - I can't even remember this League of the Extraordinary advert.

As someone who's never been to Wembley and who hadn't been to a GF final before I went with my 8 year old son and wasn't quite sure what to expect. We were in the North Stand 2nd tier and I thought the view and feeling of closeness to the action was excellent. There were two tools who happened to be Leeds fans two rows in front of us, who at various times times were drinking and smoking, but they were prats more than anything else - the sort of people who flick Vs at opposition fans at the other end of the stadium rather than the opposition fans around them. There were other very decent Leeds fans around them who I think were keeping an eye on them if they got too out of hand, and to be fair at the end of the game one of them did give a non-sarcastic smile and wave to my son, reminding him that Wire had beaten them at Wembley. A fight did break out quite a few rows above us at one point and the police ejected at least one person, but my boy seemed to be oblivious to it.

Overall I was left with the impression that it was not dangerous but you had to be wary of 2 or 3 possible troublemakers for every 250 or 300 decent fans. If we get there again I'd go back, and so would my son, like a shot. We shook hands with the Leeds fans around us at the end of the game, and the best line of the night for me came from a Leeds fan who good-humouredly pointed out that there was a separate exit to the gents at OT "Don't worry, it's your first time here"