Loads-a-Money
By SK88
July 14 2012
Every club dreams of a sugar daddy to fund their progress, their successes, and plenty of clubs are looking out for one. But what if you are a pretty loaded bloke looking to dish out some sugar of your own, who should you go for?
Wasps are an obvious choice, but they are fundamentally a weak investment, their only tangible assets are their Premiership Rugby P shares and perhaps the 5 or 6 of their squad who would fetch reasonable transfer fees. They have the potential fan base and the history but to ever get back to an even keel would require £20-30m+ to fund a new stadium somewhere in west London plus ongoing support.
Leeds have a PRL approved stadium (or rather squat in someone else’s) which is half the battle to gain promotion and have in the recent past attract 13,000 to Headingly, albeit for a Jonny Wilkinson Christmas visit. But typical Premiership attendances of 5,000 in a 22,000 capacity ground, which is due to be expanded, is a tough sell to convince the punters that they must buy a season ticket to ensure their place; Championship attendances of around 2,000 shows that the fan base is pretty conditional on quality of rugby too. A move to a suitable sized ground could help them and in these fantasy circumstances isn’t out of the question.
Coventry are an historic club in the sport’s heartlands that after decades of poor league positions still attract 1,500 fans despite the attractions of European Champions Leicester and Northampton roughly an hour away. They own their own ground, with one good quality permanent stand and plenty of room to expand further. Located just off Coventry’s inner ring road the ground is very much more city centre than the out-of-town Ricoh Arena. However whilst their core support is strong question marks have to be raised over the potential maximum size of a fan base when the south, east and north of Warwickshire is already pretty well targeted by the East Midlands behemoths. With the football club in dire straits this city’s rugby club could blossom with the right stewardship.
Blackheath are another grand name of London’s rugby scene, unlike any of the others they are located in South-East London rather than on the A316 and have a ground with a large enough footprint to build a PRL compliant ground, the planners and NIMBY’s might make that hard to achieve but Quins have proved anything is possible. London is something of a crowded market but its size is so vast that it can easily support a team in the east. Fan base is somewhat unknown but the growth of the south-west London clubs over the 15 years of professionalism gives plenty of hope.
Moseley has gone through some tough times in recent history but has come through it with a settled home on Billesley Common which has planning permission to become large enough for PRL approval. Low attendances are a worry but with Birmingham being a vast conurbation without a single top club a period of success could change that. A weak playing squad makes them favourites for relegation from the Championship next season which would delay any plans for a season at least.
So if you are a Russian Oligarch, an Arab oil billionaire or a rugby man done good where should you invest your cash? Coventry is the obvious answer. The football ground could be used for one off “Big Games” and the local area is a hotbed for rugby talent. Reviving the old rivalries with Northampton and Leicester should help to grow a fan base. If Northampton can become European Champions why not Coventry?
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:07:28:11:33:48 by Tiggs.
Difficulty is a lack of an existing club with Plumpyship potential within a few seasons to base it on .. Newbury may nearest .. so buy Wasps and move them
'Lions led by donkeys' .. Lest we forget
Unsurprisingly London Welsh is not on that list for a whole raft of reasons.
Quote:Beckenham Wasp
More to do with a London Wasps not having any of the attributes for being a sustainable professional outfit.
There. Fixed that for you!
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Also Rich W Wasps have always been viewed as the down at heal and unfashionable club in London compared to those multi-coloured prima donnas South of the river. I don't think anyone could ever really accuse Wasps has being a bunch of toffs; that is Quins and Bath.
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Did you ever go to Repton Avenue and have to share the same loos as the players? Have even been to the Wembley area? Wasps were never the temple of public school privilege and wealth that you seem to imagine
Brian Moore accurately describes the differences between Wasps and their estranged multi-coloured cousins in this Telegraph article.
[www.telegraph.co.uk]
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Here is a good piece of rugby trivia. Which are the only two clubs to have won English League/Premiership in both the amateur and professional era?
Some nonsense about how only wins during the 'Premiership era' counting.
Old school.
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Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2012:07:18:01:27:01 by Beckenham Wasp.
League records should include all the seasons from 1987/88 onwards, however tempting it would be to wipe Bath's six titles from the record books!
I think they like to start in 1997/98 because that was when Premier Rugby was founded. Spurious if you ask me.
Quote:compared to those multi-coloured prima donnas South of the river
Who do you refer to BW? If it is Quins last time I looked they were North of the River Thames.
Of the clubs listed I would prefer Otley a fine town on the River Wharfe, however I guess one of our own from East of the M1 may well decide to invest his millions in this fine old club.
