The biggest tragedy surrounding the Challenge Cup Final is how SKY, Super League and the RFL have downgraded the importance of the occasion in favour of the Grand Final.

Shifting the dates from one time of the year to another & seeding Super League teams while full time professionalism has made it impossible for lower league clubs to even dream of playing in the final.

It used to be Rugby Leagues big day out, with fans from everywhere in the game booking their hotel rooms, coaches and marking it in their diary from one year to the next. It mattered not who was appearing in the final, every club had huge numbers of fans attending including amateur clubs.

It used to be said that the FA Cup capacity for old Wembley was 102,000 while just a week later the capacity for the Challenge Cup was 98,000. Reason being the average Northerner is bigger than the average Southerner, we need ent worry about that anymore as we’ll never trouble the capacity limit again.

That said, the move to Spurs new stadium was a great one, the atmosphere looked and sounded amazing and by all reports the experience within the stadium was fantastic. Let’s hope IMG have some plans that’ll reinvigorate the Challenge Cup and the game as a whole.

I think you would find Trinity have tremendous support if we get back to playing in a cup final!
We weren't the best supported club the last time we went in 1979, but I believe the final against Widnes was only about 500 short of the 90k capacity. We have thousands more 'supporters' in a final!

I'm sure it was fantastic being there absorbing the atmosphere and everything else that goes with the day out, but for me watching it on television with it not being at Wembley it just didn't feel the same, it just seemed like watching a match at the magic weekend.

I know I said there weren’t as many fans at the final as there should have been, but way more than the magic weekend games… it’s usually like watching a reserve game atmosphere wise, IMO.

Wembley Has never been the same since it was rebuilt. I always say that the Principality stadium is probably the best stadium location (pubs not travel) and atmosphere wise but spurs is very close if not better.

I don't think it's the fault of the two clubs fans as even if the two best supported clubs were challenging they wouldn't come close to filling it, it's when all rugby fans come together for the final, those that go for the day, and those that make the yearly pilgrimage for the weekend that made it a bit special, maybe those days have gone now for different reasons, but I weren't comparing it fanwise, with it not being at Wembley for those looking in from the outside for me anyway it didn't feel like the cup final but more like a game at magic, or perhaps the grand final at best depending to an extent whether you want to make a weekend of it in Manchester

I was in the same area, almost bang on with the half way line too. I was convinced I was in the wrong place and expected to be ejected at any moment

The ground is first class and the bar area unbelievable.

As others have said, it was a great game too. Think the best team lost, perhaps Smithies should have been off.

I’ll have to agree to disagree with you 1315 ,back in 79 I was there as a lad and from what I remember Wembley was packed , but back in those days trips were booked by pubs and clubs all over the North as a yearly event regardless who we’re playing, not just the participating clubs fans .Those days are sadly gone and so has the industrial landscape that contributed so much to that era of packed stadiums . What we’ve got now added to our monthly expenditure , mobile phone bill , internet cost , sky , etc etc the list goes on , 79 was a simple lifestyle for most and Wembley was a culmination of their sporting hero’s and fans coming together for a celebration, but which has been dumbed down year on year unfortunately.

It looked great on TV and I commented to Mrs KH that it should be held there every year. The only down side for me was the medal presentation at the end - distinctly low key and naff. The days of pub, club and amateur teams filling buses to go the final are over unfortunately. To quote an awful cliche, it’s no longer, “Rugby League’s big day out” when a trip to London was, for most rugby league fans, a one off, yearly, special occasion. I do think the game yesterday went some way to restoring the image of the Challenge Cup and it could really be promoted as an “event” if the facilities at Spurs are as good as people are saying on here.

Spot on , it was great if it was your club but if it weren't it didn't really matter it was the occasion as you'd already booked anyway, I went in 79 with a dozen or so from Crofton and I was the only one that went to the match, the rest of them couldn't get out of a bar called De Hem's on Shaftsbury Avenue, did well off loading they're tickets though to a tout, they weren't what you'd call regular fans just happy to go for the occasion as is the case with a lot more, sadly as you say through spiralling cost of living and a genuine loss of interest in the game those days are well gone, haven't been to the new Wembley simply won't get ripped off paying the prices, maybe if we get there, saw Toppo in Piccadilly Circus on the Saturday night, it was no good asking him if he was enjoying himself, he was that legless he could not talk properly

I didn't go as unless Wakey are there I am not interested. As for the game I am afraid it's going down the pan. I didn't watch all the game as I find watching other teams play quite boring. That said the consistency around discipline from the recs was out of the window yesterday. Last week Bentley got a yellow that should have been a red and did us no favours. Smithies should have been off on a red without a doubt helped Wigan. Let's see what the panel says but for me it's killing the game. It's like saying dish it out there won't be cards now.

Smithies is definitely going to be sitting a few games out at the very least imo ,maybe more with his track record. Ref definitely aired on the side of caution with the red but should have had 10 on the sidelines at the very least . Lots of pressure on him to keep the game going as a spectacle and we’ll never know now if Hudds would have made the advantage tell, seen plenty of games where the side down on players score next . Enjoyed the game as a spectacle and as an event, it’s still has got a special affinity to me , hopefully my grandkids will carry that on

As much as I try not to bear grudges and am a big fan of anything from Yorkshire, I still can't get over the way shudds have over the years taken advantage of our player situation, so for me I was quite happy to see them lose, especially when it looked like they were going to win, one other pleasing thing about it was Liam Marshall scoring the winner, a quality genuine player who plays the game in the right spirit and manner unlike some others, well done kid you deserve it for having the right attitude.

I'm the same, getting fed up with watching thuggery and them getting away with it, it's bad enough that games are now hardly televised so we don't benefit from reviews and that with professional fouls not being penalised in the proper manner its no wonder crowds are drifting away.
On the spurs stadium I watched a program on its development and it's one hell of a stadium.

the other day I went to watch Killers at the keepmoat and for its size is a nice bowl stadium but my gawd we was a 1 mile away from the stadium queuing to get parked at the race course to do a park ride and it took 1 3/4 hr to get there

Have been going to Wembley for donkeys years, regardless of finalists, but the 2020 pandemic year really got me out of the habit. Would have found it tough to sit through the Saints v Cas final so didn't get back into the grove for 2021 either. Had this years semi draw given us a Saints v Wigan final, with the added incentive of seeing Tottenham's ground, I might have gone but no way would I want to be present at a possible Shudds win.

I’d be than happy for the final to adopt Tottenham as it’s new home.

Fantastic organisation, and great stadium experience. The stewards were superb and despite them not being used to the oval ball seemed to genuinely get into the game.

Bars and toilet access superb.