Bath Chronicle – 28 July 2005
Bath facing Rec dilemma
by Mike Tremlett
Bath Rugby could be forced into a develop-or-move dilemma if Premier Rugby insists that the minimum spectator capacity for Guinness Premiership grounds must rise to 12,500 by the start of the 2008/09 season.
Bath are keen to push ahead with a sympathetic development of the Rec to improve facilities and increase spectator capacity which would not expand the club’s footprint or impinge on other activities.
But ongoing disputes over the stewardship of the Rec, repeated challenges to the validity of the club’s lease, which has 68 years to run, and to the local authority’s right to entertain a planning application mean the club has little or no chance of meeting a two-year Premier Rugby expansion deadline.
Premiership clubs have already made it clear that they want to open the game up to bigger crowds at a time when interest in the domestic club game is at an all time high.
A spokesman for Premier Rugby confirmed yesterday that an agreement on increased stadium capacities is definitely on the cards.
He said: “Premier Rugby’s talks have been driven by the fact sell-outs were common place on Premiership weekends last season. And all 12 Premiership clubs have reported significantly increased demand for season tickets this summer.”
Bath’s spectator capacity at the Rec was increased to 10,500 for the 2004/05 season – a mark widely regarded as saturation point for the undeveloped site – by shoehorning more seats into an extended East Stand and enlarging the standing terrace areas.
West country rivals Gloucester, meanwhile, increased capacity to 12,500 with the completion of a new stand at Kingsholm.
Bristol and Worcester both have space to increase capacity at the 10,000-capacity Memorial Stadium and at Sixways, where a new stand currently under construction will push capacity well into five figures for the coming season.
Newcastle Falcons are steadily developing 10,000-cpacity Kingston Park and would have few problems accelerating their building programme to meet the 12,500 requirement.
Only three other Premiership clubs – Northampton (12,000), Sale (10,541) and Wasps (10,000) – currently fail to meet the 12,500 capacity figure.
But none face the problems Bath would have to surmount to expand at the Rec.
Elsewhere, Leeds Tykes (21,000), Leicester Tigers (16,500), London Irish ((24,100) and Saracens (19,800) all have capacity to spare.
Premier Rugby insist they are keen to work alongside clubs in order to maximise potential income through the turnstiles.
A spokesman added: “Premier Rugby has set a number of targets for our clubs in terms of increasing stadia capacity. These targets exist as guidelines rather than regulations, however there is a commitment from all the clubs to work towards these goals in line with our plans to grow the business and elite club rugby over the short to medium term. To help that process, Premier Rugby is looking at a number of options with government and financial institutions that would give clubs access to finance to increase their capacities and manage updated health and safety legislation on stadia. It is important that we grasp the opportunities afforded by the massive interest in the Guinness Premiership, which has seen average attendances nearly double in six years.”
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