50,000 sold to ESL

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I

I_LUV_AFL

Club Legend
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Apr 27, 2002
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The Englishmen are getting behind the GF as much as Australia and NZ did for the NRL after 50,000 have been sold and the game is still a week away. Great news for the game over there, this on top of a 35,000 crowd in Russia, 25,000 in Lebanon and 83,000 in Australia.
We are finally seeing our potential after the Super League War saw how far we really could stretch.
Also in the Top 125 rugby league clubs in the world we have teams from Fiji, South Africa, Australia, NZ, Russia, England, USA, Moldova, Tonga and Irleand. Great stuff!!!
 
dont they usually sell out the grand final over there?? league is doing worse than i thought.
 

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Originally posted by GH_
dont they usually sell out the grand final over there?? league is doing worse than i thought.
Click to expand...
Get bent, GH. It sells out but not as quickly as this years one has been selling.
Rugby League is doing worse is it? I have't heard of AFL in England. What would they call it then?:rolleyes: :confused:
 
MOff

Originally posted by MoffOnTou
it should be a sellout, between 60-65,000 will be there

how many did the richmond/essendon game in london get btw??

Moffo
Click to expand...

I think about 12,000 to the game in London.

Rugby league in England has improved out of sight (suppose some of the Aussie boys add to that;) , but I really enjoy watching their games here....just wish every game was played here in Aust......another case for the NRL Channel on Fox;)

When Harry Kewell came out for the WC Qualifier last year, he really gave r/l a big leg up, saying its the fastest growing sport in England, next to soccer...and that he quite liked the game:D
 
Tatuki

Originally posted by Tutaki
Are you serious that Harry Kewell said that? That's huge. The Grand Final will be huge aswell in England.

In Russia, Locomotive beat Moscow 14-12
Click to expand...

I swear on the Bible, that he said that.
He was being interviewed on 3aw by my *favourites*:rolleyes: Gerard Healy and David Hookes and they were asking him about afl in England and how many people play the game over there and he replied, he did not know much about the nos. playing afl, but he was aware that rugby league was doing very well now, with the game growing quickly and that he enjoyed it....much to the dismay of Healy and Hookes ;)
 
Long secures late Grand Final win

by League Express on Saturday, October 19, 2002 at 11:59:03 PM GMT+1


A LAST minite field goal from Sean Long secured the most dramatic of Grand Final wins as St Helens beat Bradford Bulls 19-18 at Old Trafford.

Long slotted the one-pointer from almost in front to condemn the Bulls to their fifth consecutive defeat to Saints in major finals.

The Bulls had much the better of the first half, and led 8-0 with a try to Scott Naylor and two goals from Man of the Match Paul Deacon.

But Saints were ahead by half-time courtesy of converted scores to Mike Bennett and Long.

The Bulls roared back to lead 18-12 with tries from Robbie Paul and Michael Withers, before a Martin Gleeson try and Long penalty levelled the scores.

Both sides then had field goal attempts before Long coolly slotted home the winner.

And even then there was controversy, with the Bulls claiming that Chris Joynt made a voluntary tackle in the dying seconds.

But Saints were crowned champions for the third time in four years, in front of a record Grand Final crowd of 61,138.

FOR THE FULL MATCH REPORT AND COMPREHENSIVE REACTION, SEE MONDAY'S RUGBY LEAGUER & LEAGUE EXPRESS

Credit: www.totalrl.com

Sounds like a great game, can't wait for the replay on fox today! (it was on live this morning, but i wasn't able to watch it at the time)

Cheers,
Moffo
 
Tutaki - Australian Football in Britain has a two division leaue run by the BARFL and they came fourth in the recent International Cup .
Take a tip "fastest growing" is positive spin for smallest .
i.e. easy to double in size when you're small .
But it sounds good .
 

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Originally posted by Brian
Tutaki - Australian Football in Britain has a two division leaue run by the BARFL and they came fourth in the recent International Cup .
Take a tip "fastest growing" is positive spin for smallest .
i.e. easy to double in size when you're small .
But it sounds good .
Click to expand...
Are you referring to rugby league or AFL in your statement.
If you are referring to rugby league and I am not saying you are, you had better think again.
Rugby League has always had a huge spot in Englands history. The mighty Kangaroos were hailed as the best sporting team in the world bar none and tickets would be sold out months in advance.
They held the highest rugby league crowd ever for 55 years when 105,000 people attended the Challenge Cup Final between Bradford and Warrington.
And in an extreme case, when the British Lions had squared the series at 1-1 all soccer games were called off in the entire UK so that everyone could watch the deciding game and it still ranks as one of the highest watched TV programs in the UK.
Add to that it is the second largest ball sport behind soccer and you have one very large sport.
 
I Know that rugby league is strong in Britain .
Therefore it's a big statement to be "fastest-growing"
Are we talking crowds , players , clubs or all three ?
I thought Union would be number 2 ?
 
Well the crowds are well up and alot of interest is coming from London in South England where rugby league is frowned upon by the more wealthier Poms who see it as a convicts sport.
I am unsure on player numbers but one thing is for sure and that it that English rugby league is finally getting it's act together with Tri-Nations Rugby League, WCC (they have won it the last 3 years), the Ashes and now the Kiwi Tour.
Also the introduction of a new set-up will be very beneficial for the code in Britain where they will have Divisions similar to soccer.
Next years Challenge Cup will also have Russian, French, Welsh, Irish, Scottish and English teams.
 
Originally posted by Richoagain
Yeah, union's bigger than league. Just a bit.
Click to expand...
Richo, do you live in England? As I am wondering if this has always been the case and is union bigger because it is played in all of England and not just huge in North of England like rugby league is.
 
Originally posted by Tutaki

Richo, do you live in England? As I am wondering if this has always been the case and is union bigger because it is played in all of England and not just huge in North of England like rugby league is.
Click to expand...

well my dad comes from england and he says that union is much bigger than league over there (but then again, he comes from an area that is union biased) but he said overall, still union is much bigger.

perhaps we could rely on someone from a league strong area to give an "objective" view?
 
The parts of England where league's big aren't so heavily populated - plus I'm told some clubs in Egland considering shifting back to union... there's a bit of a prestige thing - rugby's always been for the private school boys, whereas everyone else plays soccer. League is seen by a lot of people as just a working class version of union, and essentially the same game.
 
Richo

Its really hard for us to speculate from Aust. the popularity of the football codes in England, but one thing we know is that soccer is the No.1 footy code, but I think generally the English seem to like all their football, not unlike the Queenslanders here in Aust.

Do you live in England?
 
Originally posted by Richoagain
The parts of England where league's big aren't so heavily populated - plus I'm told some clubs in Egland considering shifting back to union... there's a bit of a prestige thing - rugby's always been for the private school boys, whereas everyone else plays soccer. League is seen by a lot of people as just a working class version of union, and essentially the same game.
Click to expand...
Some clubs are looking after union aswell. I also heard on rleague.com that rugby league is growing at a rapid rate in England and Wales. Is this true? It looked pretty genuine and it said that there has been 70 new clubs in total for both nation in the last 3 years.
 

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