The comments coming out of hull was that it would be a 2/1 or maybe 3/1 outnumbering however that clearly wasn't the case, unless a lot of your guys bought tickets but failed to show up!

The rfl said 3 to 1

Wigan bring the same as fc the crowd would be nearly 80000

the RFL were wrong then saw about 15 hull fans in our end both top tiers were nearly empty

I know what you mean re: Wembley, but at the same time, there are only three other stadiums in the country that could host even yesterdays crowd, the lowest in years. You wouldn't want to use Old Trafford as it would take away from the Grand Final, we probably couldn't use Twickenham with their restricted number of events (and it would have all the same problems as Wembley bar a first year novelty factor), which leaves the Millennium Stadium. I wouldn't be opposed to hosting games there (Magic for instance), but just feel the game would lose some some status in the national eye if we were to leave Wembley. Anywhere else other than Wembley is downgrading really, we just need to get the marketing right. At the prices that the RFL were selling at surely it isn't that difficult to find 30,000 neutrals/interested Londoners?

sadly I agree, sky have devalued the comp so much now its time for a change

Never going to be 3 to 1 but I'd have said 8-10k more Hull fans than wigan. Your end top tier was almost empty

so was yours no where near that many more,

Is it Sky, or have cup competitions just had their day?

You look at football and the League Cup is basically a reserve competition now up until the final, and everything you can say about the Challenge Cup is virtually word for word said about the FA Cup. Even FA Cup semi-finals don't sell out any more, and I bet it won't be too long before a final doesn't either.

Could just be that with so many games on TV now every week that both sports are saturated and both cups have lost a bit of relevance/sense of occasion, but I don't think Sky can be blamed alone. You have to capture people's imaginations, and cup competitions just don't seem to do that any more. It's the managers and clubs more than anyone that disrespect the competition with their selections.

So was yours, seriously. No question there were more Hull fans there, but those saying 10k more are miles off the mark. I was very worried before the game that it would be embarrassingly different, but in the ground Wigan had more than fans I was expecting and Hull had less than I was expecting.

Club Wembley was close to full, but the top tier was sp for both.

Roger Draper said in League Express last week that Hull had sold 16,000 tickets but they were expecting 20,000 FC fans in the stadium. Wigan had sold 8,000.

Some media type we're quoting the 3-1 figure in cluding Chris Irvine of The Times

@Chrisirvine
Word is Hull outnumbering Wigan fans 3-1 @TheChallengeCup final
- last one turn the lights out in West Hull #CCHulWig

So hull took 60k, you'll spunk like HKR fans if you carry on like that, how did they know the sales figures? We bought ours through the RFL

What's the issue here? Everyone knows Wigan don't travel away. Just look at the semi final last year, when they took roughly 1800 fans compared to our following.

What the ell does it matter who took the most fans, your club won the cup, is having more fans at the game more important than that, Jesus get a life

Remove your pie tinted glasses and look again. The tiers attributed to Wigan were empty...and I mean empty. At least half full on the Hull side.

Hull fans were around double Wigan.
And im not trolloing because they even out numbered Warrington last year by a 1/3.

It seems both of us have both gone shat in support. Displaying an underlying dismay at our current coaching set ups perhaps?

Play the CC at the start of the season with the final in May if the RL want to persist with Magic move that to the last round of matches before the split.

Well the RFL said 23k tickets sold to people in Hull postcode areas and I doubt there were more than 15k wigan fans there

30k neutrals?

they just werent at all

ewe have a fan base outside of wigan postcodes

Hardly surprising we were outnumbered. I saw plenty of non-hull shirts in my area, but they were all supporting their Yorkshire brethren. I didn't see any saints, wire or Leigh shirts, but even if they were there, they'd still choose Yorkshire over Wigan!

Another factor for the gradual decline in the Cup Final attendance, is the annual neutral pub trip.

When I was a student in the 1980'd on Huddersfield, our local village Slaithwaite, ran a Wembley Weekend every year. Not sure if it still runs? but there has been a decline in traditional drinking pubs and Social Clubs over the past few decades, were more people go out to have a meal and a drink. Others drink at home and then go out later, therefore these trips of an additional 40-50 fans will also have been on the decline.

price also, 50 pound a ticket, 80 for train or 40 for the coach. 90-130 each there, think thats killed off the neutrals and I cant blame them

Neutrals, the ones who go each year, are the ones who can maximise discounts on tickets and travel. 4 months ago, you could get a club Wembley ticket for £30 and train tickets for £28 from Leeds. Hardly bank breaking.

For a full day - ticket, travel, food, ale - you're looking at £150+ easily. That's probably double the cost of 10 years ago.