RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

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CitizenSmiff
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by CitizenSmiff »

I still think the RFU are setting themselves up to look foolish here. All but two of the stadiums are over 30k as far as I can see. Will these be any more than half full for, say, Japan v Tonga?
This is the most glaring error of the whole affair; for example with the Falcons drawing crowds of around 5,000 just what percentage of the 52,000 capacity St. James Park do the RFU expect to sell for Russia vs Argentina on a rainy Tuesday evening? It'll make the sport look more niche than it actually is and lose money in the process as behemoth football grounds are so much more expensive to operate than our traditional venues. Plus if we aren't allowed to take our pints back to the stands there'll be hell to pay!
biffer
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by biffer »

CitizenSmiff wrote:
I still think the RFU are setting themselves up to look foolish here. All but two of the stadiums are over 30k as far as I can see. Will these be any more than half full for, say, Japan v Tonga?
This is the most glaring error of the whole affair; for example with the Falcons drawing crowds of around 5,000 just what percentage of the 52,000 capacity St. James Park do the RFU expect to sell for Russia vs Argentina on a rainy Tuesday evening? It'll make the sport look more niche than it actually is and lose money in the process as behemoth football grounds are so much more expensive to operate than our traditional venues. Plus if we aren't allowed to take our pints back to the stands there'll be hell to pay!

Exactly. Whereas you can imagine that somewhere like the Rec could produce a fantastic atmosphere for something like Samoa v USA
Rinzler
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by Rinzler »

CitizenSmiff wrote:
I still think the RFU are setting themselves up to look foolish here. All but two of the stadiums are over 30k as far as I can see. Will these be any more than half full for, say, Japan v Tonga?
This is the most glaring error of the whole affair; for example with the Falcons drawing crowds of around 5,000 just what percentage of the 52,000 capacity St. James Park do the RFU expect to sell for Russia vs Argentina on a rainy Tuesday evening? It'll make the sport look more niche than it actually is and lose money in the process as behemoth football grounds are so much more expensive to operate than our traditional venues. Plus if we aren't allowed to take our pints back to the stands there'll be hell to pay!
Don't forget Sunderland's 42,000 seater Stadium of Light in on that list as well. I accept having one of these stadiums to spread the game around the country, but both?
Jose
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by Jose »

I think the organisers have gone mad and think they're hosting the Olympics again, and everybody will just buy all the tickets. I'm not convinced, unless they're planning to make large numbers of tickets for less prestigious games really cheap (e.g. no more than £15/£20 for adults, £10/£5 for kids). Appreciate that games with England, Ire, Wales, Scotland, France, NZ, Oz and SA need to be at grounds with 50k capacities, but that still leaves a number of group games which would be much better suited to (full) rugby grounds than (half empty) football stadia.

The point about failing to invest back into the club rugby game is also well made. Is this seen as a one-off with no view to expanding the support for rugby union clubs in England? If not, then it makes far more sense to encourage people to get people who've never been to go to rugby stadia (where they might consider returning to watch what is usually there) than football grounds.
Last edited by Jose on Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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biffer
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by biffer »

Rinzler wrote:
CitizenSmiff wrote:
I still think the RFU are setting themselves up to look foolish here. All but two of the stadiums are over 30k as far as I can see. Will these be any more than half full for, say, Japan v Tonga?
This is the most glaring error of the whole affair; for example with the Falcons drawing crowds of around 5,000 just what percentage of the 52,000 capacity St. James Park do the RFU expect to sell for Russia vs Argentina on a rainy Tuesday evening? It'll make the sport look more niche than it actually is and lose money in the process as behemoth football grounds are so much more expensive to operate than our traditional venues. Plus if we aren't allowed to take our pints back to the stands there'll be hell to pay!
Don't forget Sunderland's 42,000 seater Stadium of Light in on that list as well. I accept having one of these stadiums to spread the game around the country, but both?
I think they may base the group with Scotland in it in the North East if they can, unless they end up in the same group as England. Scotland v South Africa at St James' would surely sell out. However for other games it's obviously daft.
jamiewilkinson
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by jamiewilkinson »

Absolutely GUTTED, I may have understood if they club turned round and said they dont think it would benefit the club and it wasnt suited, but for the WRC2015 committee to announce that... well I am extremely disappointed.
I just hope that the committee dont forget the fans that support and love the game and allow them first dibs at tickets

Peter Tom's statement sums up how he feels about the decision and probably the rest of our feelings towards it aswell
biffer
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by biffer »

jamiewilkinson wrote:Absolutely GUTTED, I may have understood if they club turned round and said they dont think it would benefit the club and it wasnt suited, but for the WRC2015 committee to announce that... well I am extremely disappointed.
I just hope that the committee dont forget the fans that support and love the game and allow them first dibs at tickets

Peter Tom's statement sums up how he feels about the decision and probably the rest of our feelings towards it aswell
Apart from England games, I don't think tickets will be a problem. For the smaller teams I'm pretty sure you'll be able to buy them on the day.
Nik
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by Nik »

My email to Peter Tom:

Dear Peter

I write to you as a long standing season ticket holder of Leicester Tigers that is absolutely dismayed to see that the most successful European Rugby Club has been passed over to hold any world cup matches at our stadium - passed over for the concrete, soulless structure that is home to the Leicester City FOOTB ALL team.

The most successful European Rugby Club that is Leicester Tigers with the stadium of 20,000 plus has also been passed over to the Kingsholme ‘shed’ venue in Gloucester – what on earth has possessed those ignoramus’ to come to this decision of venues?

Please please confirm that you are going to fight this and ensure that there are matches to be played at the 2nd best stadium in the country (the first being Twickenham), the 2nd being the Fortress at Welford Road?

I await your reply, still in utter disbelief, but having confidence that you - the Head of our Club - will be pounding desks, demanding a rethink or peoples ‘heads’???

As Always
Life was like a box of chocolates - until I ate them! :smt061
fleabane
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by fleabane »

Good on yer, Nik!
Valhalla I am coming!
bc
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by bc »

While I agree that, on the face of it, a 24,000 capacity true rugby venue is not considered is very poor. There is not much we can do if, as it stated earlier in this thread that the pitch is too small for international rugby then there is not much we can do now.
The question has to be asked why was this not considered when the Caterpillar stand was constructed?
Nik
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by Nik »

bc there is much we can do - I am currently looking into the decision making process - we can do a lot:

first guys we need to start the tweets trending - i'm not kidding here.
secondly - we need to start getting letters to this Ross Young and the RWC buffs.
thirdly - if we are passionate enough and stick together we can do this - trust me - we get signatures, we get exposure - WE STICK TOGETHER AS A TEAM and we'll be heard - TRUST ME.

whose in??????????????????????????

AM NOT A SCHOOLKID I'M SERIOUS ABOUT THIS, THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH THE CLUB CAN DO - BUT AS SUPPORTERS WE ARE LIMITLESS WE CAN DO AND WILL BE HEARD....... OUR BELOVED CLUB NEEDS YOU - SO ARE YOU IN?
Life was like a box of chocolates - until I ate them! :smt061
jamiewilkinson
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by jamiewilkinson »

The CAT stand would not have made any difference to the length of the pitch, one of the criteria's we failed on. Yes we could have probably developed part of the CAT stand into a warm comfortable media Hub, but WR is what it is. The crumbie stand is old but it is what we make it. I cant see them changing their minds but I love the enthusiasm Nik has.
Nik
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by Nik »

jamie come along for the ride and let me prove you wrong.... a tigers beer being the trophy......

are you in?
Life was like a box of chocolates - until I ate them! :smt061
kingneptuneii
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by kingneptuneii »

Pah, tigers dont need to host the RWC. we went one better and singlehandedly won it a few years ago :smt023
Never mind the ball, get on with the game!!
trendylfj
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Re: RWC 2015 venues.. no welford road??

Post by trendylfj »

Why am I not surprised at this decision? The idea of drinking in the souless bars of football stadiums, chatting to fans from other countries, sitting at least 20 yards from the touchline, eating :censored: expensive food and paying a lot of money for the privilege is excellent news!!!!!!! Maybe I will just do one thing - chat to fans from other counties in a nice friendly pub and watch the games on the box and save myself a small fortune. I am now singing - I am now a rich man - diddle diddle diddle diddle diddle do - I am now a rich man.

THEY ARE PLONKER!!!!!!!
Hehehehehehehehe
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