I went in the ground an hour before kick off because the Premier Inn which I'd been drinking outside now had a huge queue to get in, nevermind get to the bar, so I decided to go for a couple on the concourse of the ground. If I thought there would be no alcohol on sale in the ground I'd have waited in the queue at the Premier Inn.

Apologies to all who are offended by this act of mindless hooliganism.

Not a real fan.

I think the day is what you make of it. Old Trafford is never going to feel the same as Wembley as Wembley is a long day/weekend out. All the anticipation of going somewhere you don't go that often and spending pre match around the stadium in the pubs or up Wembley way.

Old Trafford is never going to feel the same. Fans are spaced out around Manchester City centre or around the ground. I've been to Old Trafford hundreds of times so there's nothing special in that either. I'm not sure what people are complaining about OT either. It's a hundred year old ground that has been redeveloped many times in that period. It's never going to compete for comfort with a brand new ground like Wembley or even the City of Manchester stadium but it can generate one hell of an atmosphere with the right crowd in it. Do people not notice how bad other Football and Rugby grounds are.

A friend of the wife was complaining that it was badly organised and that it took over an hour and a half to get out of a car park. What that's got to do with Old Trafford or the RFL, I don't know.

I had a fairly good day in all. We went to the pub for a few in Warrington. Had a laugh with mates before getting the train in to Oxford Road with a few cans bought near Central station. Rather than find a pub to spend the afternoon in, we got a few more cans and walked to the ground. Hung around the ground until half an hour before kick off. There didn't seem to be as many fancy dress or neutral fans as Wembley.

Not much in the way of pre match entertainment but that doesn't really bother me. Didn't really see any trouble where we were in the ground. My only complaint was that with the noise of the crowd and the size of the stands I felt a bit detached from the game but the drink probably had an effect on that as well.

Left at the hooter. I saw loads of Leeds fans who had left before the presentation which was bizarre. Ended up walking to Trafford Park to catch the train home which was at 8:50 ish. Train was packed but everyone was in good spirits and was still a few laughs to be had.

All in all, a good day out apart from the result.

If I was in charge of the RFL the recommendations I would make are a bit more pre match/half time entertainment for those who want it and segregation of fans. To the point of asking who you support at the time of buying your tickets so that you don't end up with the opposition fans or groups of your local rivals sat amongst the finalists support. Tickets should also come with a warning that if you do end up sat amongst rivals and you start to antagonise them, you will be kicked out. Or even better, held in the cells underneath the ground (if they are still there) until after the match has long finished. That was the punishment they used to give you if you even dared to climb into the Stretford end from the Stretford paddock.

I've a feeling this thread wouldn't be half as long if we'd have won on Saturday.

The advert was undoubtedly superb. However the first time I saw it was when I watched the sky plussed version of the Grand Final back over the next day. Surely this advert should've been all over the telly throughout the playoffs?

In a nutshell.

I can't understand the problem with OT itself either. After Anfield, Wilderspool and the HJ, it's probably the ground I've been to more than any other for a number of reasons - several Liverpool aways, 2006 FA Cup semi, 2007 FA Youth Cup, Olympic football, previous Grand Finals, and a couple of friendlies years ago involving Celtic.

My only gripe with it is that I don't particularly like the club that owns it, and I wish my football club had the scope to build our ground up to the same size and standard! It's a brilliant ground.

I don't know where people get the idea that the play offs are the culmination of the league season to decide the champions.

No it's not. It's a cup competition in which, in theory, any one of eight teams can win and as a cup competition the CC beats it hands down for drama, history and romance - when aussies come over here thay come to play in CC finals because there is no other comp like it.

I'm not against the concept of a grand final but until the format means it's the incumbent champions (team that finishes top) versus the best of the rest in a one-off event, instead of the product of 3-4 weeks of mosyly pointless games for the benefit of SKY, it will always feel a bit jaded unless you're a neutral.

And yes, if we'd won I'd have been estatic but more ecstatic than the Huddersfield CC win that confirmed our re-emergence ..... probably not.

Enjoyed the day enormously , but then I would say that as I'm from Leeds.
Old Trafford is ok, personally I prefer the Etihad though.
We decided to leave Manchester late. Parked the car at Rushholme where the curry mile is and walked to and from Old Trafford.
Had a few beers in the city centre before and after the game,chatting with many Wire fans who were all friendly enough.
Finished off with a curry at mid-night and back to Leeds for 2.30am

Because the winners are given the SL Trophy and called the Champions. Hope that helps.



And because when they were growing up, the only big english RL game they watched on telly was the CC Final, because the SL Grand Final only started 15 years ago (and when RL last used playoffs and final to decide the champions - i.e. most of the sports history - these games were not televised)



I agree the format needs looking at. In principle I like it because it gives most of the teams in the league a chance to qualify for most of the season and progressively rewards final league position with benefits in the playoffs. But in practice, the fans don't turnout, too many teams underperform and there doesn't seem to be enough reward for finishing top.



But that's probably because that was our first major trophy for 35 years. Had we won the Grand Final as our first major for so long, I'm quite sure would have been just as ecstatic.

Meanwhile, Andy Gatcliffe agrees that the Grand Final experience needs to be improved and has emailed the RFL about it

The Cup Final doesn't suffer from being an earlier kick off and that too is played on a day with Premier League football. Also, yes there are drinking places in walking distance of Wembley and you get people drinking all morning on coaches, minibuses and trains. Others spend their time in London before travelling to the stadium in the last hour, much like people do in Manchester.

Moving the kick off would be a huge improvement.

I thought it was fine. The tram afterwards was mither though. Great stadium, great occasion. The event was soured a bit because we lost, I'm guessing we'd all be loving the event had we won. Funny how the CC final has never been crap.

1990 - losing in the Challenge Cup final to Wigan felt like poop (maybe part of it is because it was Wigan) because "we had just lost the cup final". Losing a CC final HAS felt crap.
2012 - losing to Leeds felt to me like we had just lost to Leeds NOT that we had just lost the chance of becoming champions.

I was there in 1990 and wasn't massively gutted, we weren't favpoured at all that day although gave quite a good account of ourselves.