Leeds Rugby Take the RFU Shilling
By apb
May 23 2005
Leeds Rugby have today announced that they have accepted an invitation to play their first "home" game of the newly sponsored Guinness Premiership at Twickenham, in the "London Double-Header".
Quoted on the official site, Gary Hetherington says that its "It is a real honour to be asked to take part in such a prestigious event and the perfect way to continue where we left off last season". Phil Davies, showing his support for the decision and for his club said on the same site "This will be a great occasion and it’s fantastic that we will be part of it. We will have to forfeit a game at Headingley but getting the chance to showcase the club again at Twickenham is a unique opportunity. Hopefully, Justin Marshall will be making his debut for the club and it will really kickstart our season".
All fine and dandy then. everyone will look forward to a wonderful day out where Leeds Tykes finally gain some recognition among the rugby union cognescenti. The Tykes have arrived, and are here to stay.
Everyone, maybe, except one. I personally am completely dismayed at this decision. I believe it shows a real shortsightedness on Leeds Rugby's part, and could easily undo all the good work that the team, the management, the marketeers, and yes the existing fans have put in at a stroke.
The Cup Final was a one off. It was the Tykes' first ever trip to Twickenham, and the everyone associated with the club quite rightly wanted to be a part of it. Perhaps it was only Phil Davies and the team that thought there was anything more than an outside chance of the win, so the fact that they did it was even better. Twickenham was a happy place.
But at the start of the coming season, Twickenham will be a very different place. There aren't very many teams in rugby union that take a large number of fans to away games. Northampton Saints, Leicester Tigers and perhaps Gloucester are the only three clubs that take significant away support to all premiership games. Leeds, it is well documented, tend to bring a mini-bus load at best.
So, what is going to make this game any different from a standard away game? I honestly can't see there being anything. The stadium is a four hour drive away (longer if you're stuck on a coach that insists on parking before you're let off, even at the cost of seeing the game!), and the match is nothing more that a run-of-the-mill match against London Irish. No offence meant to the Irish fans, but I can think of more glamourous games to be getting out of bed early for. And of course, the double-jeopardy is that Irish's home ground is less than a hour away.
I believe its a very, very bad idea. I believe there will be a dearth of fans at Twickenham supporting Leeds, and the bad feeling that this will engender in sponsors and fans alike may well cost Leeds Rugby more than the alleged £100,000 they've been promised to take part.
One thing is for sure. I won't be there, and as a result, my season ticket is already devalued. I'm not even sure I'll be buying one.
What do YOU think? Post your comments on the message board....