UK Stadia

[Burgs]

Came across this on Wiki looking for something else but thought it may bring another aspect into all the debates.

Guinness Premiership

Team Stadium Capacity City/Area

Bath Recreation Ground 10,600 Bath, Somerset

Bristol Memorial Stadium 11,750 Bristol

Gloucester Kingsholm Stadium 16,500 Gloucester, Gloucestershire

Harlequins Twickenham Stoop 12,700 Twickenham, Middlesex/London

Leicester Tigers Welford Road 17,498 Leicester, Leicestershire

London Irish Madejski Stadium 24,161 Reading, Berkshire

London Wasps Adams Park 10,000 High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

Newcastle Falcons Kingston Park 10,200 Newcastle, Tyne and Wear

Northampton Saints Franklin's Gardens 13,600 Northampton, Northamptonshire

Sale Sharks Edgeley Park 10,852 Stockport, Greater Manchester

Saracens Vicarage Road 19,920 Watford, Hertfordshire

Worcester Warriors Sixways Stadium 13,200 Worcester, Worcestershire

Total Capacity: 170,981
Average Capacity: 14,248

Magners League

Team Stadium (& Capacity) City/Area

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Arms Park (13,500) & Millennium Stadium (74,500) Cardiff, Wales

Connacht (Ireland) Galway Sportsgrounds (7,000) Galway, Connacht, Ireland

Edinburgh Murrayfield Stadium (67,800, limited to 12,464 seats in the lower tier of the West Stand for Magners League games) Edinburgh, Scotland

Glasgow Warriors Firhill (10,887) Glasgow, Scotland

Leinster (Ireland) RDS Arena (18,500) & Donnybrook (12,500) Dublin, Leinster, Ireland

Munster (Ireland) Thomond Park (26,000) & Musgrave Park (8,300) Limerick / Cork, Munster, Ireland

Newport Gwent Dragons Rodney Parade (12,000) Newport, Wales

Ospreys Liberty Stadium (20,500) Swansea, Wales

Scarlets Stradey Park (to Nov 2008), Parc y Scarlets (14,870)[14] & Racecourse Ground (15,500) Llanelli, Wales

Ulster (Ireland) Ravenhill Stadium (12,800) Belfast, Ulster, Northern Ireland

Total Capacity: 195, 951 * Not including the Millemium Stadium
Average Capacity: 16,329

[Thequeerone]

Average temp at most of those games is 2C - 8C if you include windchill

[Burgs]

Certainly vouch for that at Sixways :versad: Brass monkeys and they reckon it was normal!

[LarryNJ]

Average temp at most of those games is 2C - 8C if you include windchill

What does that have to do with the capacity of the stadium?

[robyn <3]

What does that have to do with the capacity of the stadium?

If it's cold people won't go... I think. I would go though. But when I was in London for a team-beginning-with-W-who's-name-escapes-me's game and it was 1 Degree so we decided not to go. Technically, DAD decided not to go while I protested bitterly and was ignored. Turns out Dad was right coz the pitch was frozen and they didn't play anyway! But still, we should have gone to see the stadium regardless!!

[LarryNJ]

But you live where it's warm Robyn, they live in the cold and are very used to it. The weather is no excuse. I'm sure many of them wouldn't go to a game when it's 40.

[slomo]

if you support your team you turn up even if its freezing....we've had a few cold nights at murrayfield, on the plus side the tomato soup and the hip flask keep you nice and warm......

[jono]

scotch does warm the blood.

[Elf1]

Hip Flask Tomato Soup now thats what I call supporting your team

[Burgs]

I don't think the first and second posts were meant as any form of cause and effect, purely a statement from TQ1.

More of interest to me are the relatively small grounds that support these premier competitions.
These are the same grounds that are often cited as where you can really "experience" the match and are up close
I know Sixways (Worcester) has 3-4 season waiting list for members and are currently laying the foundations to a brand new facilities next door which I recall to going to be still only around 20k.
Can't remember what the Memberships there worked out to per match but you would have to assume that most of these clubs would have to have a far greater sponsorship component to their income stream to stay alive.

[shasta]

I know Sixways (Worcester) has 3-4 season waiting list for members

That's the clincher. But it's probably not such a worry over there where the game is well established.

From memory that, and it's repercussions on development, were your main gripes with the MES option? I agree but I didn't, and still don't, see any other choice.

[AndyS]

Temperatures like that and cancelled games is why I've always thought Union should be a summer sport in the NH, aligning the seasons and creating probably the only truely international sport (in that everyone plays the game at the same time worldwide).

But the capacities are interesting, in competitions that are seen as capable of decimating the SH player ranks. The money obviously doesn't come from the supporters, so they must be doing something else right. I wouldn't like to see the SH comps fall into the same traps as they have in the North (club v country, excessive imports, etc), but you'd think there would have to be some lessons that the ARU and SANZAR could learn about promotion, sponsorship and the like.

[Thequeerone]

Very Good Point Andy - the NH should move to summer games - more supporters would/could follow their team around etc..

Playing on thermofrost (ground frozen solid) can't be good for the players (lots more scraps and bruises) - but I do remember the joy found from the Hip Flask btw sotch good for warming the blood but the Irish Stuff got straight to the toes).

But it does begger the question of how these outfits survive and thrive - doubt it is all to do with Setanta

[Burgs]

Yeah, Andy's second para and TQ1's points are more the reason for me raising it Shasta, the MES mess has already been resolved, for better or worse.

I'm more interested in how so many teams can stay viable in 1st div comp with such small crowds andsuch high wages.

I have seen on their respective websites individual players sponsors listed, maybe ordinary players get much bigger third party than here.

Leasons must be learnt and more money has to beinjected into the SH scene to remain competitive in the long term.

[Sheikh]

The clubs get much more money from sponorship, television and prize money, and they get compensated for the loss of international players.

Also, the NH teams play more games; the Guinness Premiership has a minimum of 22 league games -11 home and 11 away (18 for the Magners and 26(?) for the French), plus national cup competitions and most of the top teams are in one of the two european cups. A top side could play over 30 competitive games a year.