Always an interesting question I find and one I'd be delighted to hear from others about.
With myself I owe my interest to both Grandads and my father. One Grandad followed Wigan religiously until he moved to Atherton to live with my Grandma in the 1950s, I often recall him saying that one of the reasons he took to watching Leigh was that it was cheaper to travel to Hilton Park than it was to get to Central Park from his new home!
Anyway, he learned the error of his ways and became a Leigh fanatic! My dad too, was (and still is) a big Leigh fan, he's been watching them man and boy and is another big reason why I watch rugby league.
After going to one Leigh reserve team game in the mid 1980s with my dad, I didn't take much of an interest until my other Grandad took me watching a Divisional Premiership tie against Swinton at Hilton Park in 1989. Leigh lost the encounter 20-8, the final game of an otherwise outstanding season and I don't recall much about the game other than getting on the ground seconds before the kick-off and sitting on the terraces in the second half - drenched in sun but not fully understanding or appreciating the game. I didn't really look to rugby again until some 18 months later when I began playing at high school.
I went again to Leigh in April 1991, and they won - 26-13 against Huddersfield and that was it, I was hooked.
The following games I saw were away at Doncaster (a 42-10 win at Tattersfield), away at York (a tough 11-6 win at Scarborough's McCain Stadium) and the season was ended by a heavy defeat (32-8 at Thrum Hall) to Halifax.
Without sitting down with an abacus I'm not sure how many games I've been too since but my love of the sport never diminished, unlike my prowess as a player!
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