As a neutral i wanted huddesfield to win.
When i ordered my tickets from the RFL i got ask which set of fans do i want to sit with,i said huddersfield.....i honestly thought your fans would get into the spirit of the CC and i was expecting a great atmospher

I was amazed at the empty seats around me, i was in block L section 544.
It was like a morgue, as a neutral i think i was shouting your team on more than your own fans.

Maybe the extra 12,000 fans in the hudds end were made up of neutral or huddersfield town fans who cant get up for a rugby game...i dont know.

Its hard to get the noise going at Wembley its a very open stadium seating wise I shaked hands with a few of your fans after who were good sports an said best team won I wish them well for them playoffs I wouldnt be so hard on your fans you have alot of good ones.

How many more would Castleford or Wakey have brought to Wembley, had they got there? Do you think Catalans brought thousands over when they made the final? Pretty much the whole of the RL world became Dragons fans for the day that year!

I don't think the point on here is about numbers; it's about the vocal enthusiasm of the fans who went. If as has been suggested some of the fans were there for the first time then they will have been inhibited by their ignorance but they will have still caught the atmosphere because it's undeniable at Wembley. It's a shame that Hudds fans who do sing couldn't have been seated together but then both teams had such a short time to get ready for the final that it was probably impossible for the work to be done. The RFL needs to sort that out for next year because having such a short gap between the semi and final will have put pressure on Hudds when a longer time spell would have given them chance to get interest going on a local basis and make proper plans.

Sorry for butting in here on your forum, guys. But, FWIW, I think that Daz is right. I was in the huddersfield end myself, cheering for you guys, and I got asked by some huddrsfield fans to sit down and try to be quiet!!! I was trying to get some support for your team!!! As was my Dad, and father in law!! All to no avail, so ended up enjoying how the Warrington supporters got behind their side, and cheering on the Giants on my own, In a Cas top!!! Doenst quiet seem right does it??
Anyway, I enjoyed my day out down there, hope all you guys did too. Unlucky on the day. The bounce of the ball never went for you I'm affraid. Hope to see you in the play offs.

Whats cas and wakey or catalans got to do with it.
I know for a fact if cas got there, there would have been as much noise as the warrington fans made. Anyhow it's not about what other clubs 'would' have brought. It's about why the hudderfield fans just didnt for some reason be up for the game. As the other cas fan as said most where just happy to sit with there arms folded in nice quiet surroundings.

Would they? How do you know?

I'm just not sure it's right for other teams' fans to be critical of Hudds' fans. No-one knows how their own fans would react to Wembley until they got there themselves.

I was there in '86 and '92!! And we made loads more noise on both occassions!! (just a shame I have to go so far back for us being there!!)

I was there in 70-86-92.
The NL1 GF we took over 10,000 i think that tells it's own story.

And back in the day, Huddersfield took thousands and thousands too and made a ton of noise! (I know from my Dad's and Granddad's reports!) I'm talking about today. How does anyone know how their fans will react [itoday[/i, until they actually get there?

Oh dear a very sorry experience this is turning out to be - gees if other teams fans are cheering on more than our own what does that say.......thanks to all CAS, SAINTS AND WAKEY fans for trying to wake the dead amongst the Fartown fans!!

I was sat in Block 549 and I will never sit there again if I go again. I was sat in front of some Halifax fans and whilst getting quite vocal on a few occassions they were getting stuck into me for doing so - gees PASSION ANYONE.

what's the wigan walk got to do with anything, do other fans of other clubs never go early.you say, you concede a try inside 2 minutes so you can't find the energy to support your team,absolutely pathetic.let's face it your team has worked wonders to get where they are,trying to become a big club,alas the fact is your support doesn't deserve them.

You know what, I am kinda fed up of our own supporters having a go at each other, people watch the game in their own way, there wasnt much to cheer about after the first 10 minutes anyway.

So those of you that want to cheer and shout get down to see the lads tomorrow and [ireally[/i do something to help the team - lift them now, when they are down


Stop wasting energy on slagging off those fans that wont be there and wont read this forum.

If (and hopefully when) I go again I will not sit on level 5 either. Will sit on the bottom tier as they seemed to have more spirit.

The kid sat next to me had a hooter. He persistently blew it from the minute he got to his seat (one of many on the row due to them swapping about half the game) but as soon as the game started he didnt bother...because his Grandpa told him to stop it!

There is still a large number of Fartown Fans who cannot grasp the singing scenario...they consider this more of a football thing. I am very vocal at games and will shout and sing wherever I am. I often get people turning round to see who is shouting...I often ask them why they are looking at me as the game is being played in front of them!

I have witnessed people who do not even clap when the team come out on to the field at the start of a game, nor clap or cheer when they score. Makes me wonder why they bother going sometimes but I suppose everyone cannot be the same.

I agree however you are preaching to converted on here pal - do us a favour and write to the Examiner so that the glory hunters and absentee's can read it!!

People were looking disgusted at me and my wife because we wanted to get behind the lads, going behind made no difference. I didn't go to the game because we were going to win, I went because I wanted to support my side and make a racket! Infact, I'm not feeling too down about losing because we lost to a better side on the day and that's the way it should be...the best side getting the glory.

There is clearly a divide of opinion and I can accept to an extent fans being more reservd during a normal Super League game, but for the sake of a Challenge Cup final I think we could have made a bit of an effort. Regardless of the score you need to spur your side on, give them that lift when they need it. Anyone who say's it doesn't make a difference is talking tosh. If you look at Stoke City in the Premiership, they were proven to have the noisest home fans in the league...compare their home form with their away form and you will see what I mean...and they had just been promoted, so hardly a team of world beaters!!!!

Come on Hudds fans!!!!

I agree with you on this one Ant.

Put yourself in the position of a 'new' giants fan. Got home after watching their first game live and decide to search on the internet to find more info and read others experiences at our capital city and what do they find?

A closed shop! We should be encouraging these people to come back, to learn the words to our songs. To sing along.

How do we go forward? Well my idea I will be putting to the club is twofold:

1. When dishing out tickets allocate specific blocks strategically for singers. Then why selling tickets ask people if they want to be in the singing areas and distribute them accordingly. This will create areas of noise within the stadium which will get the other fans singing. For example how many sing "Wise Men Say"? and how many join in with the "Fartown" chant at the end?

2. Offer songsheets to fans when they are purchasing tickets. They can be paid for by prereserved advertising and only charge the advertiser if we get there. Lets face it we have more songs than "Fartown...Fartown..." but our fans and certainly opposition fans never hear then because there are so few of us who know the lyrics.

Lets turn this thread from a negative into a positive and work with the club to ensure next time it doesn't happen - we blamed Twickenham in 06 for the lack of atmosphere in the ground, now we have no excuses.

Nothing described on here is unique to Hudds supporters. At Saints we have people who sit silently, who will only clap when a try is scored (and sometimes when the other side score a try as well!), who will never shout or sing (for or against) or boo the ref, who tell other people off for making a noise, standing up or sitting down or basically doing anything that inconveniences them! And we have consistently got a ton of 'glory hunters' at Wembley - we manage to sell at least 25,000 tickets but get an average gate of around 10,000. It's a mystery, this fan thing, but it's no different at any other club and don't let any other club's fans give the impression that it is! You're just feeling it today because Wembley is a fish bowl: everyone can see you and hear you and compare you.

Did my rendition of forever blowing bubbles at the end do enough to be roped in to our book of hymns?!?

I went to Saints v Bradford in 1997 Cup Final and it was rocking, we were stood up the whole game, singing, shouting, cheering and Bradford gave as good as they got too. I'm not gonna accept that Saints fans don't get behind their side and sing in a final. My dad's a Saints fan before anyone out's me as a Saints fan!!!!!

Good post, would go along with that.

I like Wise Men Say, think its a great song and more people are getting used to it since, as you say, more join in with the Fartown part at the end.

I think more people want to join in but dont feel confident enough. If someone wants to sit quiet that is up to them. I think there is a conflict between the two and like you say it may be better to put the singers together, and those who are more reserved together rather than the singers being told to shut up by the reserved ones, and the reserved ones being criticised for not singing.

If you look around the pharm on match day the people who like to make noise, chant etc, it's the centre of the Kinler bank. The riverside in general is quiet. The few of us, from our relatively small crowds, who do try and create some atmosphere were never going to compete in a stadium like Wembley.

Thank you very much to all the fans of other clubs for cheering for us. I've seen my team play in front of about 350 fans not long ago. Going bust. Then the Superleague debacle, promoted before anywhere near being ready, merging and finishing bottom of the league 4 seasons running is hardly the best preperation to try and out sing a team as well supported as Warrington. Not having a go at Wires fans but look at how their crowds dropped and all the booing at the start of the season. Imagine if they'd suffered as we have. A team that's played every game in the top flight since day one. We'll be years, if we ever, at all get anywhere near matching that level of support. Don't get on the backs of the fans that do go, be happy we have increased our support in the last 30 years and hope a small measure of success will bring increased support for the future. Young fans are already starting to sitt at the back with us, singing along. They are the future. We need to encourage them.

And if you're Wire and reading this, Well done on your support yesterday, FANtastic!!!

You are right about the two stands at the Galpharm.

My Sister and her lot are planning on moving over to the Britannic stand next season to join in

Then ask your Dad about Knowsley Road!

In a final we do get behind our side, yes, but there are still people whinging in that crowd. I know. I've been near them! We just take more, so they are not as obvious. But they are still there.

Come on be fair, Knowsley Road is not so much a ground more an archaelogical site!!!

We have a great ground with all top notch facilities, we have a really good team and we do have a small number of very dedicated and vocal fans but for what our chairman and his staff including the players have laid on for us in the last few years it's a very poor return....and I'm not talking about numbers here, our home attenances are decent now...pretty steady and competitive...it's just the level of noise we create, even for the derby games...9 times out of 10 we are always outsung by the away support!

You pay it a compliment! We just think of it as a wreck!


But honestly, if you were to visit Knowsley Road as a Saints supporter, it would be no different than what you have described in terms of vocals. It's only the 'pop side' (the longest standing side) that ever gets vocal anyway and the only time the place livens up vocally is when the match is a really tense affair because both teams are in a pitched battle. We've had three of those this season: Wire, Wigan and Leeds. The rest of the time, the away support - even the Celtic fans bless em - have outsung and outnoised us. Honestly! It is true and is a subject of much baffled discussion on RedVee. Yet our away support is generally very vocal (with the exception I think of the CC semi - when we all saw the writing was very much on the wall from very early on in the match!).