Whilst I agree to a point, don't forget that it's not just about 90,000 fans attending one event because there's been 21 group games and 4 quarter finals plus the final to attend too.

These are fair comments and there is a bit of a feeling of close but no cigar. However, 70k is 70k. If we get to 73k here this will be the highest crowd ever to watch International RL.

In 2000, the SF crowds were 15k and 8k - just to put it into perspective. The SF crowd will also be 25-30k higher than the SFs in 2008.

Yep, the attendances across the board in this World Cup have been great and it's great that it's such a big improvement on 2008.

But the fact remains there are 20000 tickets still available for Saturday.

Absolutely guarantee there will be over 20000 people watchin it on the tv who could have been there if they truly put their mind to it.

If it means one less takeaway this month, one less night at the pub, or one less pack of ciggies this week, anyone who hasn't got a ticket should simply get off their bum and attend this match.

Life is there to be lived. If England make the final, that's a memory that will live with those that attend for the rest of their lives.

people can't afford it IMO.

the tickets are cheap...but the day out + travel isn't. Times are hard for ordinary folks. And its not about one less take away...its about putting food on the table for the family and paying the gas bill.

A lot of people haven't had a decent pay rise for 5+ years. (unless you are a director of a FTSE 100 company)

70K would be amazing considering the current economic situation.

Some people may just not be able to go like myself due to work, and to wembley and back is a long trip add into that parking or train fare plus the ridiculous cost of food and drink in the stadium, and fuel you can understand why a few are put off by it. When they can watch on tv for free.

Even though the CC final got 78k I think there are many fans who don't give a poop about there being a WC, and their team isn't playing so won't bother going, hard to hear but I think that could be a truth.

Jeeze you have as much grasp on finances as Alex Salmond...

A trip to Wembley for may is a train ticket, a match ticket, overnight accommodation, beer money, food to buy, tube fares etc...
If it was a trip round the corner to the local ground you could say it was the price of a packet of fags (you are seriously over paying BTW). 65k is a fantastic turnout and many would have been to other games too, oh and there is something happening on the 25th of next month too.

RL fans are never bloody happy.

Me and my lad are going on Saturday, but when you add up all the costs, the ticket price (which is very reasonable) makes it an expensive day out. Well worth it (to me) to go to a World Cup semi, with 60-70k there as well - and I've not been to the new Wembley either.

We'll have a great day (regardless of result), but really do understand why it's not a sell-out.

if it were up to me, you'd get a Knighthood for "Optimistic services to Rugby League"

\

The best attended RLWC in the 59 years of it's odd existence and some will still whine for the sake of it........if they hit 460k then 92% of their [uexpected [/ucapacity is ing spectacular..............80% of actual capacity is still bloody spectacular.

Absolutely. These posts are in no way meant to knock people who can't go for whatever reason.

It's simply about mobilising those who can. There are definitely at least 20000 people not currently planning on going to the game that COULD do if they really put their mind to it.

It's the World Cup semi final....if you COULD be there why on earth would you pass up that chance.

There are in excess of 100,000 regular RL supporters who attend alternate games every fortnight (home/away)....70%+ of these at a game is brilliant.....if you doubt me, check out what the average is for 2 weeks of professional soccer, divide by 2 and then give me 70%......it's slightly above the 63k England got on Friday!

We need to attract from beyond England, i.e the rest of the country as a UNITED KINGDOM.

This may well be my incompetence with a PC, but I couldn't work out what was going on with tickets on the site yesterday. Everything available was pretty much sold out, but a huge part of the upper tier was greyed out - presumably not open? If I've got it wrong, my bad, but if they're keeping it closed until everything else is almost gone, that's too long - I'm all for closing off sections if you know you'll never sell enough, but at some point you need to get them open so that purchasers have a range of options. The more options, the higher the chance of a sale. Lot's of people browse to see what's available - not all go online in the certainty that they're going to make a purchase.

I booked my tickets months ago, my train tickets were ordered more recently and they cost twice as much as the match tickets. I checked my bank account today and payday cannot come soon enough!
The semi final should sell itself as a must see event, but highlights markedly the poor media received from the sporting press towards the World Cup as a prestige event. Despite this the team have shifted enough seats to make the doublle header a winner.
This is a tough time of year to try and finance a trip to the smoke, even from East Anglia, but to see England, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji is amazing, to pay as little as I did for good seats is amazing too. A large crowd at Wembley of over 60,000 would be just great and I am proud that we will be there.
Make no mistake this will be a tremendous Rugby League occasion which, for my lady me, and thousands of others there and many hundreds of thousands more watching on Television will be an unforgettable event.
I am not in the least bit concerned about people who won't be there. This for me, has been a must see event since the day the fixture and venue was confirmed.
I would be more concerned if such a big occasion was undervalued by thousands of ticket giveaways. "The Big Hit" needs full media exposure this week accompanied by the ticket hotlline number. It will be a record attendance for a RLWC semi final.
A huge number of tickets have been sold and that is already good enough for me.

I think to sell it out in future we need to capture the imagination of the capital. That's why Super League needs London

What like the south east and London!

I'd be celebrating the size of the crowd Saturday rather then questioning it. I said on a thread yesterday that people shouldn't get hung up on the stadiums capacity but should celebrate the attendance. The figures banded about already are the ones we should compare to. The crowds at the semi finals of the World Cup in 2000 were pitiful and 2008 wasn't great either considering it was played on the doorstep of the super duper NRL and all its supporters. We also aren't afforded the luxury of having huge numbers of travelling support from Australia and NZ like they were when England fans went there in good numbers in 2008.

I do think we could have done better (if only some of the professional clubs would get off their backside and help drum up some support via club deals hey) but that's just another positive in my mind. There is room for improvement. In 2011 we got about 42,000 on at Wembley, fast forward 2 years and we've added another 25,000 to that figure which is surely exceptional progress?!

It's all positive in my mind.

Ticket price x3, Wife dropping me off at Wembley, cheap as chips

If your wife is going to drop you off at Wembley then why isn't she going to the game? Booooo, farce.



(That is a joke btw!)

She's at Work at 2, funnily enough I took her to her first Warrington game v Hudds in the playoffs, she loved it.

No need to justify, I was only joking. Some seem to think everyone within a 5-mile radius of Wembley should be herded into the game to sell seats...!

But in keeping with the charade "she's had months if not years to book that day off blah, blah, blah"






We get what we get, the RFL's World Cup team have certainly worked hard enough and the crowd will be cracking. My only addition would be to hope they made an intention target the Twickenham mob from last week and the football supporters from last night.

[iCome see England beat New Zealand with a win at Wembley.[/i (That's certainly a big poke in the eye for both RU and FA)

Probably a bit late now but unsold blocks of seats should be offered free to local schools - they may not know much about the game but what kid would turn down a free trip to Wembley?

I'm going to the game (its only tube travel for me) and taking a couple of mates from work - an NZ yawnionite and someone that has never been to a live Rugby game of either code.

I know you're messing mate, I have an Aus mate flying over staying at mine and I roped in a few guys from work, some of which have never seen a game of RL. Should be fun.

As others have said, it's not a cheap day out and we've had four weeks of 'all pay' games around the country - with one more big one to come.

I'm going to Wembley with the other half for the weekend and even with free rail tickets (using East Coast reward points), it's still probably going to end up costing me around £300 in food and two nights of accomodation - and that's before she hits the shops on Sunday!....

Anyone criticising this crowd should think back and try and remember the last time we had a 63k crowd and a 75k crowd in consecutive weeks for RL internationals. I've not looked, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't in my life time.

I've no doubt the cost has an impact. No doubt at all. One look at the sorry state of my bank account/credit card bill for this world cup already and i can understand why some people might not be able to make it, especially with Christmas just around the corner.

This weekend will be another £100-150 event for me, followed up by another expensive day next Saturday. I can just about afford it, but there are plenty of others who cant.

It would be great to get a full house, but realistically, getting 65-70k would be a fantastic achievement, and above most expectations.

While I get the OP point to an extent, we should remember just what a state international game was in pre-2008. We have come a long way. Even in WC year if you had have told me we would sell the final out and get 65k+ at wembley I would have laughed in your face as we only just managed to sell the DW out for the Aussies!

The point you make about the NFL is a fair one, but Considering football is out national sport, at least half the top tier was empty of England/Chile the other day.