How things might have been

Sudbury C21
By James Gurney
April 1 2004

Along with the talk of how things got to how they are now, there is always the consideration of how they could have been. Repton Avenue, Sudbury, was Wasps' home for many many years. It could still be if things had been a little different. Plans were a-foot......

What if we never were associated with Loftus Road in the first place?

Before Wasps came to Wycombe, the professional side played at Loftus Road. Life under the Loftus Road plc umbrella was not a happy one with the club's main asset - the Sudbury ground - seemingly disappearing into the black hole that was QPR / LR debt.

There was much relief when we were free of the QPR millstone, and the amateur side of the club had a decent home at Twyford Avenue. But it was tinged with a certain amount of regret. Older members may remember that the club was a long way down the road of planning for a new stadium at Repton Avenue when the Loftus Road link up happened. Those plans were scrapped.




Have a look at the basic details below.
Wasps FC acquires 4.5 acres of the extra land to allow development of more pitches & facilities
Access from the main road rather than through the residential back streets.
Main pitch turned 90°, playing areas relayed out to give four pitches and a grass training area.
First XV dressing room with medical centre & gymnasium.
In addition to what existed, two self contained dressing rooms and showers (male and female on the same day, shock horror!).
Players lounge
Stand capacity of 7500 with expansion possible on big days
500 parking spaces
Improved disabled access
32 corporate boxes
Corporate lounge (the largest publicly hireable function room in the local area)
Members’ bar increase in size by 250%
A new downstairs match-day bar to be the longest in any rugby club in the country.

And the investment required? Well, coming out of the amateur era it looked huge. With hindsight, perhaps not so.

£3 Million!