Super League’s Magic Weekend heads to Newcastle for the first time on Saturday and Sunday, with the league’s general manager, Blake Solly, adamant it will be the best yet.
All 12 teams will play at St James’ Park after the event had to be moved from Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium because of renovation work. Newcastle is the fourth host, with Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium and Murrayfield in Edinburgh being the other homes since its inception in 2007.
Solly believes that with record attendances expected, as well as six intriguing matches, the ninth edition offers more good news than ever before. “I think it’s going to be the best Magic Weekend ever, both on and off the field,” he said. “You can never predict the weather – especially in the north of England – but if we get good weather it will be sensational. The activities we’ve got in the fanzones around the venue are going to be better than ever, and the crowds will be bigger than ever before too.
“We’re live on Sky Sports 1 all weekend, which means that we will likely deliver a record viewing audience for the event.”
More than 40,000 fans are expected at St James’ Park on Saturday, which would make it the highest attendance in Magic Weekend history. The highest so far is last year’s Saturday figure of 36,339 – with the largest aggregate attendance of 64,552 also expected to be beaten.
That, in the eyes of Solly at least, is justification for taking the event to the north-east despite interest from a number of other venues, including Coventry’s Ricoh Arena. He said: “It’s rewarded the faith we had in bringing the event here, and we couldn’t have asked for any more from those we’ve worked with; the local authorities, the football club and the stadium people in general – and the fans in the north-east.
“In terms of what our expectations were when we settled on Newcastle 12 months ago, it’s been a massive over-delivery in terms of the results. It leaves us with a really tough choice for next year’s venue.”
Saturday promises to have the most enthralling action, with the second Hull derby of the season between Hull FC and Hull Kingston Rovers preceding the big game of the weekend, as Leeds, the league leaders, take on third-placed Wigan again after their ferocious encounters in the past two years. The event opens with Salford taking on Widnes, who will wear a special Newcastle United-themed shirt to raise money for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.
Sunday opens with Huddersfield versus Catalans Dragons, followed by two more derbies when St Helens, who have signed the Samoa international prop Lama Tasi from Salford for next season, face Warrington before the event closes with Castleford playing Wakefield.
Super League agreed a one-year deal to take Magic Weekend to Newcastle, but Solly says: “Early indications are that Newcastle want us back next year, which is great news. We also know the Etihad want us back too. This is an event lots want to get hold of and it shows how valuable and brilliant it is.”
Magic Weekend figures
Record attendance
Single day 36,339 (2014, Saturday)
32,516 (2008, Sunday)
32,384 (2007, Saturday)
31,249 (2013, Sunday)
30,891 (2011, Sunday)
Record aggregate attendance figures for weekend
64,552 (2014)
63,716 (2012)
63,144 (2008)
62,042 (2013)
60,214 (2011)
Host venues
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (2007, 2008 and 2011)
Murrayfield, Edinburgh (2009 and 2010)
Etihad Stadium, Manchester (2012, 2013 and 2014)
