What's everyone's thoughts on the attendances at matches thus far? Over 16,000 at Leeds, but only 1200 at London, just over 4k at Wakey and 5k at Cas.

Our attendances make me laugh. Only 16K there on Friday? Ok then, we will leave it at that.

You think there were more? The SS certainly seemed very crowded, so I was thinking 20k or so.

That said, Wire brought I'd guess 1k at most (compared to 3k or so usually) and the Carnegie seats were empty at the bottom.

It's good to see the likes of us, Hull K.R., Saints etc getting decent crowds, but the likes of Wakey, Bradford, Cas, London, Hudds etc have an awful lot of work to do. I know the weather hasn't been great but I haven't let the weather influence me once about whether to go to a game or not, in over 35 years (and that includes hobbling half a mile through ice and snow on a pair of crutches up to Headingey in the Winter-era.

Don't forget Leeds is a big city compared to Wakey,Cas so % to population is a big differance

The attendances at the Leeds-Wire game, and Cas-Catalan games were higher than they were for the same fixture last year.

Our attendance lower maybe because of the inclement weather in an uncovered stand on a Friday night in a game live on sky TV.

True, but also take into account the fact that, apart from the overly priced Xscape, there's f-all else to do in Cas and Wakey


Having said that, over 10% of the population of Castleford did attend their game on Sunday.
I hope Leeds don't follow suit, because that would mean approx 75,000 fans and the grounds not big enough and people would have to stand on the yellow hatched areas, which we all know is a crime punishable by death.
Speaking of dying at Headingley, I nearly did when I saw the prices they're now charging for a pint........£3.50 for a "pint" of terrible beer. Is this a ploy to discourage rowdy behaviour from the Southstand chavs?

Price of a pint is ridiculous these days, no matter where you go

It's crazy, I went from the New Burley club paying about £2.20 for a decent pint, 300 yards up the road for a crappy one at £3.50

I must be spending too much time drinking in town. I came away thinking £3.50 was quite reasonable!

Come out to sunny tadcaster and drink Sam Smiths, cheapest beer in yorkshire and most of its superb. Although his wine is becoming a bit expensive .
My pal went in a bar in Edinburgh , asked for a pint of Stella ,the barman pulled it and asked for seven pound fifty pence,obviously he was told were to insert the said pint.

£7.50?! Fook me it's like being at wembley

I think I can guess where this thread is going. I'll brush up on my percentages and fractions!

No they weren't, the Cas v Cats game was down on last year.

Was going to mention Sam smiths. There one in Pudsey less than two pound for a pint of strong larger, can't go wrong

Now then lads, there is good real ale to be had all over the country for as little as £1.75 and choice of guest beers for around £2.10 if you look for it.
Just find a Wetherspoons and do without in the ground.
Simples!
Fizz at £3.50 then becomes completely unneccessary in or out of the ground.

(Then, if you join CAMRA you get 40X 50p off vouchers to spend in Wetherspoons, bringing the cheapest pint to as little as £1.25!
That would get you approximately three ultra-cheap pintsat every home game
- use your head and stop being exploited.

Do you still have to have a beard and wear sandals to join camra.

No, but it sounds like you do have to drink in Wetherspoons.

I'm not sure which is worse.

The last time I was in a Weatherspoons the group I was with sent a total of twelve pints back to the bar because they were "off" (for want of a better word), it doesn't help that one of the group was employed in the labs of a large brewery for 35 years so knows what he is talking about but the bar staff couldn't understand the nature of the complaint and kept pouring replacement pints from the same pump - so they got sent back too.

Eventually they bought lager, supped it and we left.

I don't know how true the urban myth is that Weatherspoons sell cheap "ale" because its close to its sell-by date and they buy it in cheaper because of that, but the beer they were serving that night had not been kept well at all and the staff just didn't understand that.

I won't say where, but one of the bar staff I encountered recently couldn't serve me alcohol because they were under-age! Work that one out.

I don't drink enough these days to make a big enough saving to justify going in any of the Wetherspoons within 20 miles of where I live.

That said, there is a corner of my brain that still thinks a pint costs £2 and gets upset when it's over 3.

I'm getting old, no doubt, but not yet ready to start bemoaning the price of beer.

I must have the same brain damage!

If you had more than a passing aquaintance with these establishments, you would know that it is spelt "Wetherspoons" (no a).
There are seven or more branches in Leeds alone and they have a very high turnover of beer so it doesn't get chance to go off.
As an ex-publican I advise that though it is possible to get a bad pint in any pub, the staff can always offer several alternatives - most Wetherspoons have at least 5 different bitters on at any one time. (They encourage you to taste themfirst in shot glasses)
The low prices enjoyed derive from huge buying power with over 900 (yes 900!) pubs throughout the country. This is a measure of their success!