...in 2020 is to be held in July.

So we will probably see a huge reduction in the gap btw. the quarters and Semi final.

June or even May would be better but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

Only moving to accommodate soccer European Championships. Ralph Rimmer on radio stated 2021 and after still undecided on timing.

Not a bank holiday weekend then.

1/4 final - Mid May
Semi final - Mid June
Final - end of July.

Give a 5-6 week gap between Semi and Final.

I wouldn't be surprised if the semi final was the week before the final!

Knowing the incompetence of the RFL they could go for a triple header.

Semis in the afternoon and final in the evening. Numpties

Great news because the event is dying, Catalan got a lot of stick last year for a low crowd but this years sales don't look a lot better despite featuring two of the leagues best supported sides and Widnes and Sheffield boosting the numbers, still many tickets left in the bottom two tiers.

They need to attract neutrals again, playing away from a Bank Holiday will at least help with the transport issues, people can at least get a train to London on a July weekend.

How does it accommodate the Euros? I know plenty of games - including both semis and the final - are being played at Wembley, but the tournament will be in June and July. Moving the Challenge Cup final to July actually brings it closer to the Euros, which will be long over by the time August Bank Holiday arrives.

Maybe they want to relay the pitch in August, i.e. the Challenge Cup Final will be the last game on the old pitch

That's a direct quote from Ralph Rimmer interviewed on the radio - I think it was 5Live RL Podcast but can't be sure.

A lot of rugby league fans are anti-football but many also follow football. Some are football first and rugby league second.

Having the CC final during the football season at the country’s biggest stadium (therefore harder to fill) hundreds of miles from the heartland sees a lot of neutral fans not bother going down to Wembley for the CC final.

With football costing so much these days, the cost and timing in going down to London for the CC final sees fans of football not bother with the CC final. So they’ll either stay at home and watch the CC final and their footy teams on tele, or choose to go to their football team’s local game, especially if they have a seasoncard.

It’s a bit different for the GF at Old Trafford because it is more local and the cost to get there from the heartland is cheaper. Plus it’s a smaller stadium.

The CC final does get larger attendances but that’s mainly due to it being the big day out for the two sets of fans it involves.

I bet a July CC final will see Wembley full. Rather than 68-77000 attendances (or worse if a foreign team gets there).

Bank holiday weekend is a bad time to hold it. The number of floating / neutral fans I get along to the final has dipped dramatically as it is a weekend for family.

Have it on a normal weekend and have regular season games over the August bank holiday.

Apart from the rail chaos this weekend, which has made it painful for many fans travelling down.
It's time to stop making excuses and promote the event way, way better than we do.

The BBC with it's "lego" style graphic does nothing to promote the Final or the game in general.
We have a sport, played by some of the greatest athletes on the planet, full of power ,pace and skill.
We have rivalries between clubs going back over 100 years and one of the oldest cup competitions in any sport but, there is just nothing out there to entice new people to want to attend.
Of course, since the GF was introduced and we moved to summer rugby, the final act of the season is no longer the challenge cup final and this is probably the main reason for falling interest but, at a time when millions of people can be "persuaded" to watch random people on a cookery show, being put in the jungle or taking part in ballroom dancing, it shouldn't be beyond the realm to sell out a cup final - no matter which two sides are playing and if the crowd numbers are poor this time around, with 2 of the top 5 clubs in the country, plus the 1895 final etc then, it would be terrible for the sport.

There just isn't the amount of neutrals anymore to boost the crowd to 80,000+. It used to be our sports big day out, it doesn't feel like that anymore. I know of 5 pubs in warrington that used to run a coach to Wembley no matter who was in the final. None of them do it anymore.

But why should it be down to the BBC to promote it ? IMO the challenge cup final sells itself, apart from last years obvious fail with Catalan getting to the final can anyone think of a drastically poor attendance or viewing figures for the final?

I reckon tomorrow will be the lowest following from Warrington for any of our recent finals (2009 onwards). I'm going but I don't want to and I'm not looking forward to it in the slightest.

Have a word with yourself - your team in is the cup final at Wembley on a summer's day with a chance of a big trophy, but you're not looking forward to it?

Lighten up mate! Plenty would swap places this weekend.

Yes I would for one the miserable git

It definitely felt as good as that in 2009. Now though with six major final defeats in a row behind us and a seventh on the way tomorrow it's kinda lost it's magic.

Form and past performance doesn't matter you could play your best game of the season and we play like we did against the Catalans semi final last season. Its who turns up on the day and wants it the most.

Go whenever you can. I little thought in 1975 that it would be 15 years before we'd get to the final again. Or in 1990 that it would 19 more years. We've had a very good run but in a sudden- death comp it only takes a few years being drawn away to Leeds ( normal Leeds) Saints or Wigan away in the first round and another gap opens.

It is also Leeds and Creamfields festivals on bank holiday weekend, which are slap bang in the middle of our heartlands and get about 100k each, even of only a few hundred of our Teenagers and 20somethings are going there rather than Wembley it still has an effect.

Could always do something else with the league games up North on Bank Holiday in August like an on the road round, double headers in bigger grounds etc, SKY would be up for back to back games that keeps the TV audience watching

Just looking back through the attendence history.

Throughout the late 80's and 90' a sun 80k attendance was standard.

Even the memorable saints bradford clashes at the start of superleague were 75-78k, for the last fixtures at the old stadium.


It only really crept over the 80k+ figure on the return to Wembley and I wonder how many of those years included the club Wembley seats.

If it hits over 70k it will be a good attendance.

Late 80’s early 90’s Wembley went fully all seated which was phased in over 3-4 years capacity reduced to just under 80k up untill rebuild so most finals up to around 98-99 where just about sell outs. Sheffield Wigan was probably first poor attended final as it was perceived as a walk over for Wigan.