It will never happen, but if it did i'd build it in East Manchester, maybe the Oldham side of the city centre. Easy access for the Yorkies and Lancs. Let Oldham play there to keep the stadium ticking over and give a forgotten team a home.

The question needs to be "what will the stadium do for the 359 days a year that it won't be used for"?



Modern stadiums are seven day a week operations - just look at the facilities at Warrington (NHS centre) or Leeds (University campus, 30+ room hotel and conferencing centre) and other grounds that have facilities completely or largely unconnected to the playing of sport - that's how modern stadia finance themselves.



Is there a gap in the market in the northern conferencing / banqueting / hospitality market? Is there a need for (and finance for) another NHS centre or government department? Is the live music industry poorly catered for in the north? I don't think that you can answer yes to all of those questions.



At the moment, I think people are trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist. IIRC, we have a long-term deal and a good relationship with Manchester United, we have little trouble finding semi-final venues (and what trouble we do have is being rectified by new builds at Salford and St Helens) and the RFL is a stakeholder in Wembley National Stadium.



And do we really want the national side being "based" at one location (like the England football team)? Shouldn't the 'England' team be for everybody to watch, rather than a few people in one location? (IMO, England football was much better for the fans when they were 'on tour' during Wembley's closure, like many other national teams do, even if they did end up residing in Manchester towards the end).

I agree current setup for finals is fine they just need to play the internationals at larger venues to attract more neutrals, i think playing one game at wembley is the rfl's attempt to "test the water" on this front IF they get a 40k crowd then i feel we will see more international games there and lets face it internationals at Wembley are a bigger headline grabber than playing them at a Hull or Wigan.

Lease it to Cas, & Wakey.

Correct, it would be the catalyst for proper international competition and fund huge development of the game.



The SRU make 3 times as much as the RFL because of Murrayfield



The WRU make 5 times as much as the RFL because of The Millenium



The RFU make 10 times as much as the RFL because of Twickenham

That ain't as daft as it sounds . Big stadium built between NM and GH . Both teams share it . Could be the northen answer to Wembley . Middle-ish of the M62 corridor (although most of the RL SL community lives to the west of it ). Double-header weekend games could attract huge crowds . Hold the Magic Weekend there too . Current arrangements for CC final generally means a 400 mile or so round-trip for both sets of fans .WTF is all that about ? Could play big games in the heart of where the majority of interested parties reside . In the heart of RL land . Hudds would be a better location IMO , but as there are two teams with the intention of new builds so close together it could be a very good compromise , and the RFL could chip in and base themselves there .

Maybe the fans should insist that the RFL franchise themselves and demand an international stadium to give the game some stature. A stadium on the outskirts of Huddersfield close to the M62 would suffice with a capacity of 30 000 for starters, to be shared by a superleague team Huddersfield and a championship team.

It dosn,t take much vision to build one, think the RFL should start finance one and cough up the necessary £30 million.

So, we're playing our cup final and a double-header international with two home nations involved at Wembley... but a 30,000 stadium on the outskirts of Huddersfield as an alternative will give the game some stature?

I think for the past 100 + years you will find 99.9% of RL games are played in the North of England not in a rented one off ground 200 miles away. A national stadium should be in the very heart of where the game is played, unless you are a Harlequin fan of course.

I'm not talking about the last 100 years. I think you'll find that the percentage of RL games played in the North of England is above 50%, but I'd be surprised if it was above 75%. Don't suppose you're going to Bristol Sonics vs Northampton on Saturday, or Plymouth vs East Devon Eagles in the SW Cup Final on Sunday, though, otherwise we could discuss it in person.

The cost to build a new National stadium would be astronomical and out of the reach of the finances of the RFL. However, as one poster has mentioned and there is also another thread on the same subject, the Racecourse ground in Wrexham is up for sale for 2,000,000 for housing and the RFL already has a 750,000 lien on the property from the monies lent to the Crusaders. That would be very affordable and would be a lifeline for the Crusaders to enable them to continue operating. The RFL and the Welsh RFL could base world cup and four nations teams there, hold minor finals, e.g. Northern Rail cup or CC semi finals., saving themselves the cost of renting grounds from football. They could run the stadium for profit,organising concerts, maybe building squash courts, gymnasiuns etc to create other revenue streams.



Seeing s how they might lose their 750,000 if the whole operation at Wrexhan goes belly up the I think they should seriously have a look at what options and opportunities there are at the Racecourse ground.

I can't believe that people are suggesting that the RFL should build a 30,000 seater stadium, or buy the Crusaders stadium for that purpose. I also can't believe that someone has said that said stadium should be on the outskirts of HUDDERSFIELD. Are you out your tiny mind???



"And now to the RFL World Cup Final, live from Hudderdfield International Stadium." For Christ's sake.



If the RFL were to build one, it needs to be 60k so it can accommodate the Grand Final, other sports and rock concerts, needs to have state of the art conference and hospitality facilities and needs to be in Manchester. It's very simple.



Whether the RFL can afford it or not is another matter. And yet another matter is whether they would be inclined to, even if they COULD afford it.