Would have been good to play it at wembley warm up for the challenge cup final, plus gives the teams in the lower leagus the chance to play at wembley

I cant believe it totally gutted nowt better than seeing plenty of Leythers at the Promised Land , and a good week-end also ,i think the attendance will suffer .

Leave it at Blackpool I say and also have the GF there too................SL have the big weekend each season, so I think Blackpool should be made the home of the Championship so the lower league clubs fans can enjoy the finals weekends away.

The sheer stupidity of the RFL is only matched by the sheer stupidity of Championship RL club Owners

Anyone remember the film ' The Incredible Shrinking man ' ?

Well we now have ' The Incredible Shrinking Sport '

Words fail me , I dislike Blackpool as a place , have done for years since I used to work there , Its grimy , tacky , horrible , but as a venue for the most important RL Championship ' event ' , it is perfect

Maybe they should hold the ' Magic ' weekend at Headingley or Odsal , and lets see how the attendances drop

I concur.

It would seem that the championship chairmen have as many brain cells as the idiots in Red Hall.

As Matt says, They just may as well kill off the event now. The number of new or lapsed supporters that championship club finalists can attract on the back of a weekend at Blackpool can not be under estimated.

Some will want to sample that again and along with additional ticket revenue, added merchandise sales and extra sponsorship from a Blackpool final, the clubs have the opprtunity to turn it into a real money spinner.

I doubt a final held in Keighley, Dewsbury, Oldham or elsewhere would bring in a fraction of the revenue that will do now.

Should be left at Blackpool for all the reason already stated, simples.

So has any decisions been made today as to were the NRC & the GF will be played,and what about the club call gimmick,have the clubs adopted that ?

No... no one's going to Blackpool, They will be coming to.............. THE SHAY, No official announcement just yet but apparently it's nailed on to be held in Halifax

And where would we all park

don't know mate, my sources now say Salford

Incredible decision which shows not only are the RFL inept and have not the slightest clue what Championship fans want to see but (far worse) it underlines just how totally out of touch the Championship clubs short sighted owners are.

The NRC final is about a event, the day, the build up.
Playing it at a normal run of the mill RL ground (where we visit or have visited frequently) means its a 'non event' so it becomes like any other match.
I remember pre Blackpool the sub 1,000 gates for this competiton when at Keighley and Rochdale (bearing in mind it was the two best supported clubs at Rochdale in Hull KR and Leigh).

A incredible decision that shows as a sport we are really short on creative thinkers with a vision.

Whilst not arguing with the sentiments of your post, Jenky, the gate at Spotland for Leigh v Hull KR was 4,383. Not a good gate by Blackpool standards, but still not 'sub-1,000'.

The previous year's gate, (2004) for Salford v Leigh, also at Spotland, was 6,486 - virtually the same as last year's gate for Halifax v Featherstone, at Blackpool.

If its Salford then the same question where will people park.

Pay in advance (£5.50 isn't it?) and pour the money into Salford/Peel/Koukash's coffers!
I thought the idea was to use a Championship ground - not put money into a SL club?