Location, location, location

Tiger in profile
By Ian Birks
November 25 2004

Clearly the highlight, or lowlight depending on your viewpoint, of the week has been the announcement of an agreement in principle to merge the Leicester City Football Club with the Leicester Tigers in a 50/50 venture.

The announcement was made after some six months of secret talks between both parties and comes in the wake of the collapse of plan, apparently, to develop blocks of flats at Welford Road; a scheme that would only see a small increase in the capacity of the ground itself.

Reaction to the suggestion of the proposed merger and the implied move for the Tigers to the Walkers Stadium has been swift and in many cases highly critical of the Tigers board. Opposition to the move is the most popular stance from visitors to this site with a poll showing around 55-60% against relocation.

Without the full facts, this initial response to the news seems to be a knee-jerk reaction: it is certainly not based on fact, because, at the moment, there are scarcely any facts on which to base an informed opinion!

So with this in mind, let us look at what the announcement may mean for the future of Leicester Tigers. I have chosen three of the main arguments from the message board: history and tradition, capacity and atmosphere.

As a fairly recent addition to the Leicester Tigers family, I can, perhaps, look at the issues and consequences of relocating the Tigers a little more objectively than many.

‘Welford Road: History and Tradition’

Against a move: The ground is certainly not short on history! People that I speak to tell me of the days when they would go to the ground to watch, say, the Barbars fixture, stand on mud banks ‘before all of this concrete terracing was put in…’, walk up and down the touch line to watch the game ‘you could do that in those days – crowds were only a few hundred at the most…’, have a bit of banter with the match officials one of which would be supplied by the home side. Lines-men wearing jacket and a hat…. ‘..jumpers for goal-posts, isn’t it, wasn’t it? Hmm? Marvellous!’

Walk in to the Tiger bar and you can see the team photo’s, trophies, plaques, rugby memorabilia. Many bars have their own individual history to contribute. Surely a move to a new ground will detract in some way from the feeling of belonging, that the place where these icons are put on general view is as important at the item itself. What was that, leave Welford Road? Over my dead body!

For a move: Welford Road. ‘Fortress’ Welford Road. Known through out England and beyond as a traditional, old-school, proper rugby ground; a ground with lots of bars, terracing, wooden stands; an eclectic mix of old and new. The home of the most successful club in England, Europe and arguably the world. Walk through any entrance in to the ground and what do you see? The newer buildings are reasonable; the stacked ‘Porta-cabins’ next to the shop are an eye-sore and the older parts of the structure are, lets face, a disgrace. The toilet facilities are basic; the brick work, tired; the turnstiles, archaic. The terracing is poor when compared with, say, the terrace installed at Franklins Gardens. The roof in the Next (Members) stand leaks and the wooden benches in the Crumbie are cramped, buttock-numbing, and back-achingly out dated.

The regular visitors from the other premiership clubs may have come to accept, as we do, the short-comings of Welford Road, putting it down to ‘character’, but what must our visitors from Europe think of the home of the Back-to-Back winners of the Heineken Cup? What is their impression of the home ground of rugby legends Martin Johnson, Neil Back et al? Disappointed? Impressed? More the former than the latter? Highly likely!

The facilities at Welford Road may have been good in their day, but the old ground does not do us, the supporters, the team or the management any justice. It is time to move. The trappings of the club’s history can be taken off the walls and re-hung; a move to the Walkers would just be the next phase in the continuing history and development of the Tigers.

‘Capacity’

Against a move: We have in excess of 12,000 season ticket holders and a capacity of 16,815. Leicester Tigers has seen capacity crowds for most games in the last two or three seasons, despite relatively ‘poor’ seasons, by Tigers standards; this time last year Tigers were languishing in 10th place but still pulling in paying crowds. The ground could be developed to increase the capacity; redevelop the old members stand, rebuild the Crumbie and add a new stand at the club house end. Estimates for the ‘new capacity’ range from 22,000 to 25,000.

The ground that Welford Road stands on is prime building land and the local council seems to be less than helpful when the subject of development crops up. But, regardless of this, we should keep plugging away in the hope that the council will accede to our demands. In the meantime, we have time to find the finances to allow this type of project to come to fruition. In the meantime, there is still plenty of room for the Tigers membership to grow, although this gives fewer opposition supporters the chance to see their team play at Welford Road.

For a move: Leicester Tigers has grown year on year, more so since the advent of professionalism. With the odd exception, Tigers can bank on filling the ground to capacity, but clearly if the trends of the last few years are to continue, the club will soon out-grow the ground; some would say that has happened already!

Moving to the Walkers Stadium gives the Tigers the opportunity to continue to grow. The capacity is almost double that of Welford Road.

In 2001, 20,000 went to Paris for the HEC Final; four years later, and on the back of success in the Rubgy World Cup, interest in the sport is continuing to increase and it seems likely that within a few years the membership at Leicester, already boasting the best attended home games in the premiership, may outstrip its nearest rival by 2:1. This alone would put Leicester at the forefront of English rugby; setting the standard for others the to match off the field as much as the team does on it!

‘Atmosphere’

Against a move: when you go to see a match at Welford Road, you feel part of the action. Supporters are close to the pitch, players and officials. You can almost feel the hits as scrums collide and players are crashed to the ground in bone-shaking tackles. The crowd’s noise is concentrated by their proximity to the pitch. This is a rugby ground atmosphere, a characteristic that you only get at the likes of Kingsholm, Franklins Gardens, The Gnoll, Strady Park, Ravenshead; traditional rugby venues! Leave Welford Road, and you lose this for ever.

For the move: opposition to playing rugby at a football ground is based on experiences gained, mostly, in the premiership.

London Irish play to crowds of 8,000 or so when Leicester visit; the Madejski Stadium swallowing up the supporters. At Saracens’ home, Vicarage Road, the ground feels empty with only 10,000 in attendance.

With only one third to half capacity, these rugby-hosting football stadia are seemingly devoid of life, soulless places to be.

The argument is based on experience of playing away games at joint football and rugby grounds, but it can be made to work: Tigers v Llanelli at the City Ground in Nottingham for example.

The additional capacity at the Walkers gives Leicester the opportunity to let their membership to flourish. The typical home game could well see gates in excess of 20,000 in the early years. The atmosphere would be created by those who attend and the more Tigers you get into the ground, the better the atmosphere!

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The list topics that could be covered is virtually endless: the handling of the announcement by the board, match kick-off times, the cost implications of financing such a venture, supporter travel arrangements, bars and stewards {strange how they came out together!}, seating versus standing, season ticket renewal and shareholder rights, football versus rugby………

If this 50/50 – Foxes / Tigers venture takes off, and remember that at the moment there is only an agreement in principle, all of these will have to be addressed by the board and management of the both parties.

My opinion has changed since the news was originally broken. After the initial shock and after some thought, I struggle to find any real reason why this move would be a bad thing for the club.

It may turn out to be a bad move for the travelling supporters; those like Ali and me, who do not live in Leicester and who drive 35 miles{or more in many cases} each way for a home game; those of use who would not be able to get to Leicester for a 7:00 or even 7:30 kick-off on a Friday. If this turned out be the norm as it has for Sale Sharks (who share a ground with Stockport FC) it would not be a viable option to renew our season tickets, but after all of this, would we still support the club? Yes, very likely.

Opposition to the suggestion has taken various forms from:

‘I will not renew my season ticket if Tigers move’ (even though travel is not an issue),

to

‘I want to sit / stand on the Crumbie/ Next / Members / A&L, where I’ve been for the past umpteen years. I do not want to move!’

and even,

‘Let’s cut off the club’s revenue – stop drinking in the ground, cut off their money and make them listen to us!’

If this tack is taken, what will the discussion be like if the club does sit down with the supporters? What are the viable options open to the club, sorry, our club?

‘Ha! We have stopped you (the board of Tigers) from moving the Tigers to the Walkers Stadium, but……’

What? What is the alternative strategy that ‘we’ want to put in front of the Tigers board?

What is the solution to Leicester Tigers problem – the problem of Welford Road?

Fact: the ground is too small for the current fan base and leaves no room for expansion; this is where we have to start from

Schemes to develop the capacity of Welford Road are only half solutions: the room for expansion is limited on all sides, and all of the grounds’ facilities need bringing up to date.

Suggestions to extend or even rebuild a ground somewhere else are pie-in-the-sky; the cost is prohibitive and the returns in terms of increased capacity for the outlay would be a millstone around the club’s neck for years to come, and that is even if you could find a prime site to locate a new ground in Leicester!

There have been lots of reasons why people do not want to leave Welford Road to move in with LCFC over the past few days, but precious little in the way of alternatives and answers.

There have been lots of what ‘What I don’t want is…’, but no ‘What I think we need to do is…’ to follow up.

There has been lots of criticism - but no one is offering solutions or even viable alternatives.

Logically, rationally and economically, this venture would make sense for the club. It breaks new ground and sets the Tigers up as the leading light in the premiership.

Leicester Tigers Football Club was there before you and me, and will probably be there when we have ‘shuffled off this mortal coil’, but in order to outlive us all the club must first survive, grow, expand and succeed.

You may not like the way things have been handled so far, you may not even like the people who make these decisions or even agree with their reasons for making them, but with such limited options available, I believe that this option would best serve the club for years to come.

What it needs most of all is time and our support.

The first step on this journey is to leave Welford Road.