I sit in the Martin Dawes Stand at the HJS and have never been showered with beer yet in the finals and this year's quarter and semi-final we were so alcohol is a problem. Could it be that we have non-rugby followers that are coming for the big day out and spoiling it for the rest of us? Big events also attract more followers. They will hide in their holes and come out for the next one. People were walking into town drinking from 6.30am. Baring in mind that the coaches didn't get back till 10.30ish that's an awful lot of booze time.

We also have to appreciate that every town has pockets of people that are socially inadequate! You have people that seem to have missed the social development part of their education (or maybe just missed education - who knows!) They just don't know how to behave in a social situation; add beer to the mix and it spells disaster.

We took 35/40 000 people to Wembley but don't fill our 13 000 stadium on a match by match basis. Despite other fans' assertions that we are the scum of the earth and there is always trouble when we are about I have seen very little trouble at our games (although I do accept that we have an element of our fan base who can't take losing gracefully). Whilst the game has the reputation of being the 'family' game, only the people can make it that way. Fans that go regularly know how they are expected to behave. One off spectators that just turn up for the big events may have different expectations - more so if they don't behave well in general.

That said, it should not be swept under the carpet. People should be held accountable for their actions.
Blaming the RFL for the way they issue the tickets is a bit unfair when/if our own 'fans' are fighting amongst themselves. They need to be identified and action taken. If they were misbehaving on the coach it should be easier to identify them. They are very lucky that the driver didn't turf them off the coach somewhere in the Midlands!

The thing that makes Wembley and other big events special is the way that fans from every club mingle. We took a newbie with us last year who couldn't understand why other club's shirts were on show. He was amazed by the ' Wire for a day- Saints/ Wigan for life' shirts he saw. Supporters from various clubs sat side by side, (even supporters from the two clubs on show) sharing a bit of banter and having a laugh, the way it should be. He couldn't wait to go again this year and even made a few other games along the way.

We need to open our eyes and accept that some people, from both teams, let the side down with their behaviour on Saturday. That said, don't let them overshadow the fact that the vast majority of people had a fantastic time, were well behaved and just enjoyed the occasion.

I am sorry for your experience and hope it didn't ruin your day too much. To say we have a 'problem' is correct but tbh every sporting club with over a handful of supporters will statistically have people unable to control themsleves. Let's face it, I have seen fights amongst parents at our local Under 10s. Add a bit of beer and hey presto. I saw my first fight, aged 6, between a Saints and Wire fan, 27 years ago so its hardly news.

I had a marvelous day and apart from the afore mentionned fight in the ground saw nothing but happy Wire fans. The bloke next to me was very drunk but he was the type that ended up in tears every time we scored - bless.

It is unlucky if you come into contact with more 'thugs' than 'fans' but as our support grows with fair weather supporters we are bound to have more incidents. Multiply supporters, multiply idiots. End of. There will still be people like me and my grandad who love the sport and appreciate good rugby (who by the way wouldn't dream of going anywhere near a pub AFTER a final with any supporters of any sport!).

I never seen a problem all day apart from the obvious stuff inside the ground, we mixed with Leeds, Wigan, Bradford and Saints fans and also their were fans from lots other clubs and it was great banter.

You will always get booze cruises that have been arranged from pubs and clubs from both the areas that the finalists are from, a lot that go on those are just going down to get p1ssed and they won't remember much about the game. Its just a minority of idiots that can't handle their booze that usually kick off, its the popeye and spinach syndrome where they think they can take on the world if someone says the slightest thing out of place.

Over 80,000 turned up at wembley, its just a minority of a few hundred that cause grief where as the majority of the fans were genuine RL fans and they had a great time and enjoyed the banter with the Leeds fans as well as a lot of fans from other SL and championship clubs.

I HAVE!
I'm a neutral - originally from Manchester but living in Kent now. Been following RL for years and attend many matches incl. Grand Final (10 years+) and Challenge Cup. I was there last year, in the same block - all good. I was there this year - anything but good. I saw lot's of hostility inside and outside of the Stadium, some of which has been mentioned.
Also, specifically in block 519 there were idiots throwing beer each time Warrington got a point. Sat next to me some people left at half-time and then some left half-way through tthe Second half having been showered in beer. The idiots who were throwing should have been stopped by the fans surrounding them, but they weren't. At the end I was showered in beer as more idiots threw their cups of beer, a lot of which went into the Club Wembley area too.

My view is these idiots can be identified - use the Wembley CCTV - then if the club and RFL have got any balls they can trace the individuals and ban them.
As for bans I think it's now time to ban all alcohol in the stadium too AND those who are clearly drunk before the game, do not let thim inside the stadium.

As an RL fan for many years (I'm 44) this has been the worst I've ever seen in terms of trouble pre and post match and also in the Stadium itself.

Leeds had their nutters but many Warrington fans were the perpetrators of this and that's exactly what I've reported the The RFL - I did it on Saturday when I got home I was that angry and pi$$ed off. It'll be interesting to see if anything happens though Or if the Muppets throwing the beer in 519, or those who just ignored it, own up .........

I didn't see any hostility apart from the well talked about incident 10 mins from the end, in fact it was a carnival atmosphere for most, throughly enjoyed my day. Trust me (no defense but perspective) Football is a complete different kettle of fish and they actually split wembley (the place not the stadium) in to 2. If you are wearing the wrong top for your half the police will remove you if you haven't already had your head kicked in.

rogues, you are a daily mail reader and you really pee me off! go away and please do not come back. i'm sick of you moaning about other fans, trying to tell the world how great wigan are, how their fans are above reproach and how every one else needs to be banned.
please as a man in your 60's you should know better, there was trouble in the 50's and 60's my old man tells me stories of having to run to the bus station in wigan on numerous occasions, he was a teddy boy and tells me stories of wigan fans carrying knives and chains. so get from behind your self righteous pie coloured glasses and please stop shiiiit stiring!
if you have nothing positive to offer this board i suggest you moan on the pie board rather than here.
whenever i notice you've posted on a subject i get a "here we go again" feeling, what does that say about you?

At the end of the day the people that started the trouble probably aint even on this board, in the link showing 150 pictures from wembley one picture shows the area where the trouble started so everyone should take a look if they was around that area and report any trouble makers they recognise

Thats the problem with success, it attracts a few Bar Stewards

Australians ?

I THINK EVERY WIND UP MERCHANT ON THE BOARDS ARE AT US TRYING TO BE LITTLE THE FANS AND THE CLUB Rant over will not look at this thread again.

in response i am a neutral supporter who went down for the weekend to support warrington they are a class act at the moment and i enjoy watching them thoroughly. i had a great weekend with the lads we got faced down there. but my point is i have never seen so many incidents at wembley before and it as totally shocked us, these werent just small incidents involving daft young lager louts these were grown men and women been so voilent on the streets i am not making this up. we dont want to see it at any club anywere anytime so lets all try and stamp it out together and lets all go down again next year and enjoy again. we had real good banter with all the fans.

no violence last year, what's changed this year.......oh yes the opposition....hmmmm......wonder what the problem is ?

We have a bad rep when we are no worse than any other team, why do people always feel the need to put us down ?

As said before by people who witnessed it, it would seem that Leeds fans in the Wire end would be the main instigators who were looking for a fight from the off.

Another thread

Makes it sound like a war zone I must of missed it all.

I can assure all the people saying it didnt happen that it very much DID,i was in block 510 and it kicked off right in front of us,men and women fighting,all bladdered and defo looking for trouble,i saw 1 lad get pasted by 4 lads and was helped out by paramedics,it didnt ruin my day because i wouldnt let it,but lots of people with young kids did leave before the end,wembley officials should use cctv and try and identify these idiots,but they should also look at themselves coz the stewards did nothing,i found my block,row and seat myself so what exactly is their role

I think we should lock this thread now - lets face it nothing is going to be done to prevent by posting it on RLFans.