WSC Article about sharing with rugby team

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

East stand tickets for Sale are quoted as £28 on the official site.

And highest quality of rugby in Europe? How many countries even play the game seriously? How many casual spectators would even know the difference between top level and lower level rugby anyway?

[Big Foot]

East stand tickets for Sale are quoted as £28 on the official site.

And highest quality of rugby in Europe? How many countries even play the game seriously? How many casual spectators would even know the difference between top level and lower level rugby anyway?

Look, I don't care much for rugby and know the square root of f all about it

However, SSN commentators are always saying about how there's a tiny margin between the Heneiken Cup and International Rugby

[Elmer Park]

The normal cost of a London Irish Premiership match is £28 although they may do the occasional special deal.

Basically London Irish are one of the best sides in the Premiership and are playing in the rugby equivalent of the Champions League so the standard of rugby is as high as it is ever going to be. They get decent crowds most of whom have an irrational hatred of football although of course there are some Royals fans who go along when Reading are not playing.

Because of tradition I don't see them as a threat to the Club apart from damage to the pitch and I doubt whether they will ever steal too many fans away from RFC. As has been said it is not as if it is a cheaper option at the moment anyway although I suppose if they maintain their current level and, heaven forbid, we slipped down to League Two for a number of years. they might take a very small number of fans away.

Although I know a few non egg chasing fans who like to see London Irish do well I don't think the Town particularly associates with them and I think that if they ever wanted to try and set themselves up as a team RFC fans might like to follow instead of the Royals they would need to start with a name change to include Reading which isn't going to happen because they have a far greater catchment of fans by purporting to represent Ireland. Little did the Club founders know that as well as the original reason for the Club's name it would act as a superb marketing tool for them which a Club would pay hundreds of thousands of pounds for someone to come up with now.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Can someone tell me what is the difference between London Irish upping sticks at their traditional location and setting up home somewhere else for purely commercial reasons .... and Mk Dons?

Didn't Reading have a couple of rugby teams before London Irish came along?

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Can someone tell me what is the difference between London Irish upping sticks at their traditional location and setting up home somewhere else for purely commercial reasons .... and Mk Dons?

Didn't Reading have a couple of rugby teams before London Irish came along?

Possibly because Irish are always an Exiled team, as are London Welsh, and London Scottish.

There are still Rugby clubs in Reading, TBF most were not of a high standard when Irish came along, tho i believe that Newbury RFc had a few good seasons.

[Hoop Blah]

Can someone tell me what is the difference between London Irish upping sticks at their traditional location and setting up home somewhere else for purely commercial reasons .... and Mk Dons?

It's Rugby for starters so it doesn't matter anywhere near so much!

If London Irish changed their name to Reading Irish it might be closer to the MK Dons scenario, but I guess it is essentially the same. What's your point though Dirk?

Didn't Reading have a couple of rugby teams before London Irish came along?

Do you mean Richmond?

[Svlad Cjelli]

It's a fairly esoteric and academic point, really....

Just that any hops reading RFC had of growing and going up through the leagues has been as firmly squashed as any hopes of Milton Keynes City FC had of doing the same.

Any local people who enjoy the sport will naturally gravitate to the biggrr club, at the expense of the smaller one which was here before, and which now won't develop naturally. It might not have done anyway, but that's not the point - parachuting in a club from elsewhere takes away its opportunity.

I guess I just have a natural aversion to franchising in sport.

[Sarah Star]

It's a fairly esoteric and academic point, really....

Just that any hops reading RFC had of growing and going up through the leagues has been as firmly squashed as any hopes of Milton Keynes City FC had of doing the same.

Any local people who enjoy the sport will naturally gravitate to the biggrr club, at the expense of the smaller one which was here before, and which now won't develop naturally. It might not have done anyway, but that's not the point - parachuting in a club from elsewhere takes away its opportunity.

I guess I just have a natural aversion to franchising in sport.

We're brewing our own beer now are we?



(I'll get my coat)

[Svlad Cjelli]

No, I was just speculating that Heather Mills had joined LI!

[Hoop Blah]

It's a fairly esoteric and academic point, really....

Just that any hops reading RFC had of growing and going up through the leagues has been as firmly squashed as any hopes of Milton Keynes City FC had of doing the same.

Any local people who enjoy the sport will naturally gravitate to the biggrr club, at the expense of the smaller one which was here before, and which now won't develop naturally. It might not have done anyway, but that's not the point - parachuting in a club from elsewhere takes away its opportunity.

I guess I just have a natural aversion to franchising in sport.

Sorry, mine was a tongue in check response really.

I agree with your dislike of the franchising, although I can't get too worried about it where rugby is concerned.

[SHORT AND CURLY]

Bit of Friday night Trivia for you
Did you know London Irish are affectionately known as the "Not Nots"






















Not in London
Not in Ireland

[Stranded]

It's a fairly esoteric and academic point, really....

Just that any hops reading RFC had of growing and going up through the leagues has been as firmly squashed as any hopes of Milton Keynes City FC had of doing the same.

Any local people who enjoy the sport will naturally gravitate to the biggrr club, at the expense of the smaller one which was here before, and which now won't develop naturally. It might not have done anyway, but that's not the point - parachuting in a club from elsewhere takes away its opportunity.

I guess I just have a natural aversion to franchising in sport.

Reading RFC did grow as big as it could, probably bigger - it was one of the top 30 clubs in the country in the early 90s. Poor management (some of the stories I know beggar belief) has led the club to where it is now and due to that they have lost a lot of people who cared about the club along the way. Some do now go to Irish as a result. Reading would never get back to that level even without Irish in town.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

It's a fairly esoteric and academic point, really....

Just that any hops reading RFC had of growing and going up through the leagues has been as firmly squashed as any hopes of Milton Keynes City FC had of doing the same.

Any local people who enjoy the sport will naturally gravitate to the biggrr club, at the expense of the smaller one which was here before, and which now won't develop naturally. It might not have done anyway, but that's not the point - parachuting in a club from elsewhere takes away its opportunity.

I guess I just have a natural aversion to franchising in sport.

Reading RFC did grow as big as it could, probably bigger - it was one of the top 30 clubs in the country in the early 90s. Poor management (some of the stories I know beggar belief) has led the club to where it is now and due to that they have lost a lot of people who cared about the club along the way. Some do now go to Irish as a result. Reading would never get back to that level even without Irish in town.

What sort of crowds did they get though? Being in the top 30 (in playing terms) doesn't mean a great deal as the game is still very weak once you drop below the top division, and would have been far more so in the early 90s. Bracknell RFC reached the equivalent of the championship a few years back, and crowds were still pretty much Blue Square Southern level. Their "stadium" doesn't even have a fence round it.

Sometimes you'll see brief rugby highlights on Meridian news from somewhere like Henley, and if you put a round ball in there, you'd think they were covering a Sunday League match.

[RoyalBlue]

Can someone tell me what is the difference between London Irish upping sticks at their traditional location and setting up home somewhere else for purely commercial reasons .... and Mk Dons?

Can you really not see the massive difference?

The owner of MK Dons bought another club and relocated it, then changed its name in order to buy a place in league football for Milton Keynes. That should never have been allowed by the spineless football authorities. London Irish remained the same club playing at the same level and merely relocated their base.

Had Reading Rugby Club had an extremely wealthy backer, they could perhaps have done the same to London Irish!

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Can someone tell me what is the difference between London Irish upping sticks at their traditional location and setting up home somewhere else for purely commercial reasons .... and Mk Dons?

Can you really not see the massive difference?

The owner of MK Dons bought another club and relocated it, then changed its name in order to buy a place in league football for Milton Keynes. That should never have been allowed by the spineless football authorities. London Irish remained the same club playing at the same level and merely relocated their base.

Had Reading Rugby Club had an extremely wealthy backer, they could perhaps have done the same to London Irish!

So if Wimbledon's owners had just moved the club to Milton Keynes or Dublin (as was mooted a one point) that would have been OK?

No, the real difference is that it's rugby, and crowds were so crap back then that nobody gave a shit.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Can someone tell me what is the difference between London Irish upping sticks at their traditional location and setting up home somewhere else for purely commercial reasons .... and Mk Dons?

Can you really not see the massive difference?

The owner of MK Dons bought another club and relocated it, then changed its name in order to buy a place in league football for Milton Keynes. That should never have been allowed by the spineless football authorities. London Irish remained the same club playing at the same level and merely relocated their base.

Had Reading Rugby Club had an extremely wealthy backer, they could perhaps have done the same to London Irish!

Surely the ownership is irrelevant. It's taking a club away from it's base and supporters and parachuting it somewhere else.

Are you really saying that Wimbledon being taken to Mk by its owners (without selling it to someone else) would have been acceptable?

[Stranded]

London Irish is still based in Sudbury though. All levels of the club bar the first XV still play there. The reason they moved is simply they cannot develop their ground/clubhouse as it is in a royal park. Reading was the nearest available place for them to move their first XV games so they did - the game has only been professional for 15 years so it's unsurprising that clubs have moved around a bit to take advantage of new markets.

It happened in football many moons ago too (not including the recent MK Dons issue) Arsenal moved to ensure they got bigger crowds. I'm sure there are other examples too.

[RoyalBlue]

Can someone tell me what is the difference between London Irish upping sticks at their traditional location and setting up home somewhere else for purely commercial reasons .... and Mk Dons?

Can you really not see the massive difference?

The owner of MK Dons bought another club and relocated it, then changed its name in order to buy a place in league football for Milton Keynes. That should never have been allowed by the spineless football authorities. London Irish remained the same club playing at the same level and merely relocated their base.

Had Reading Rugby Club had an extremely wealthy backer, they could perhaps have done the same to London Irish!

Surely the ownership is irrelevant. It's taking a club away from it's base and supporters and parachuting it somewhere else.

Are you really saying that Wimbledon being taken to Mk by its owners (without selling it to someone else) would have been acceptable?

Wimbledon had been nomads for some time prior to the sale of the club to Winkelman but at least they'd maintained their name/identity. I don't believe Winkelman intended anything other than to use the club to buy a league presence for Milton Keynes.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Wimbledon had been nomads for some time prior to the sale of the club to Winkelman but at least they'd maintained their name/identity. I don't believe Winkelman intended anything other than to use the club to buy a league presence for Milton Keynes.

Correct on both counts, but they'd been nomads within easy travelling distance for their supporters.

[rabidbee]

Wimbledon had been nomads for some time prior to the sale of the club to Winkelman but at least they'd maintained their name/identity. I don't believe Winkelman intended anything other than to use the club to buy a league presence for Milton Keynes.

Correct on both counts, but they'd been nomads within easy travelling distance for their supporters.

I remember an article at the time that the move to MK was mooted, which quoted several Dons fans saying that they and a number of others were travelling into Selhurst from north of London, so actually MK would be as easy, if not easier, for them anyway.

I've always thought that the real "villains" of the piece were/are Merton council. They were the ones who wouldn't allow a ground back in Wimbledon.