Anfield?

Apparently St James Park has been gambled on as the next magic venue

Me to but only problem I see with St James' is that there is much room around the stadium. Thinking stadium of light would be a better venue. If it is held up in that area defiantly would be going for the weekend not just the one day.

Gambled on by who?

I'm not sure about Newcastle, I just don't think there's an appetite there for anything except football. I think the Etihad is the ideal place for it and it should stay there long term, though if for some reason it can't for an odd year I understand looking at Newcastle as the stadium is about the right size.
If, as mentioned, the seating at Elland Road wasn't so rubbish I'd be tempted to try it there but as it is, despite being a Leeds fan, I wouldn't go to it because of the seating.

Makron. Get it right Timmy lad.

Move it to London for next season and then the capital WILL have some RL there ................

oof.

SOL does have more room around it, but there is sod all there. At least with Newcastle you are close to a vibrant city with a great night life, especially around the Quayside area.

Macron. Get it right Cat lad.

Emirates Stadium (v near Kings Cross)... with a view to moving to the Olympic Stadium in 2016 or '17 to create another showpiece event in the capital?

Completely biased as I'm at Uni there, but how about the Britannia Stadium? There's food places nearby and it's easy to get to. Only downside really is that the buses from the Station to the ground are infrequent, but for football games they always put on coaches from the Station for away fans, so don't see why the RFL couldn't do that also.

No point picking grounds out of the air. It will go to whichever council or tourist board is willing to stump up the most money.

Cost of tickets are likely to rocket due to stadium hire, costs for a weekend in London are ridiculous (recently done it), especially for a family. Two big events in London is too much and attendances would suffer.

I work in Newcastle a few days a month and stay in the Encore hotel on Gateshead Quay (next to the Millenium Bridge), which is a two minute walk from Newcastle Quays, it is a really nice hotel and it is £67 a night for B&B (£12 extra for a second person in same room). I recently stayed in London in a very old, manky Premier Inn which cost me £144 per night.

Newcastle for me.

You can get cheaper than that in London. I stayed in the comfort inn Victoria for £99 for the room not long ago. Canary Wharf can also be cheaper at the weekends as the hotels there are used more for business in the week.

What we need to look for is a stadium with the surroundings to accommodate all the gumph that goes with the magic weekend. The Olympic stadium would be ideal for that however as a few have stated it's a long trek for most. Handy for me though



Pride Park (Derby) could be a decent shout if we want to take it somewhere new. I think Cardiff should be seriously looked at too.

Emirates stadium would be ideal, large area outside of the ground too.

Transport links equal to Manchester, Angel just up the road for drinks away from the stadium.
Holloway Road, Caledonia Road and Highbury&Islington tube within 5 minute walk of the ground.

Only if the Ethiad is out of action though.

They want Anfield if the etihad is out of commission

That's why I keep banging on about the Olympic Stadium. The whole Park is geared up to providing a day out for people and I reckon the Legacy Company would want to do a deal to bring this many people (who probably haven't been before) to the Park and to London, and would certainly help market it to local people - they already have a record of marketing successfully to local audiences with a wide range of events designed to attract newcomers to the Park (athletics, festivals, etc have all been held there in the past year).

Also agree on the points on costs - a weekend at the Emirates / Olympic Park need not cost more than Newcastle, in fact I would've thought with the train deals you can get to/from Manchester, Leeds & Hull to London it would be very competitive. Plenty of decent priced accommodation if you look hard enough, and a lot more of it.

Newcastle for me great city and close to the bars and train station.

would like to see the Olympic Stadium given a go when the new retractable seats are in though.

I think the RFL will try and tout the event to the highest bidder tho, theres surely got to be a council somewhere that wants the boost of 36k fans visiting their city and like Cardiff will pay a fee for it.

Biggest problem with older football stadium and indeed rugby stadiums is that they are built with house all around them as the land has since been sold for development.

Would have to be in a fairly new stadium or a national stadium so that there is plenty of space around for fans.

Thought the whole point was to "expand the game" to new audiences, but now its just a cash cow for the RFL, and Manchester isnt really out of the heartlands is it.

Agree with most thought that wither St James park (but abit enclosed) or the Olympic Stadium would be the most preferable options, they have to start getting some money in from somewhere for it.

Emirates you're on top of the ground, Olympic stadium too far from pitchside.

Is there a reason that it has to move? Or is the contract just up?

/\ The Etihad is been expanded so work has to be carried out during football off season

I am sure we will be signing a long term contract to keep it there from 2016!

I'd say St James Park / Anfield. Keep it North!

I think a lot of the crowd improvements that the Magic Weekend has seen have been down to it being hosted in the heartlands. It's one train trip. I only went over for Sunday and travelling from Dewsbury I saw several excessively full trains going to Manchester full of RL fans.

The costs for the travelling fan are less if the weekend is held in the heartlands and that's what will encourage fans to attend

What about Sheffield? Nice friendly city. Two grounds. 30 miles from Leeds and Manchester. Accessible direct by train from North Cheshire (ie South Lancs!). On M1 for West Yorks and Southern folk. M18 access to Doncaster and Hull. Not only that as Miss Dally is at University there it would give me a good excuse.