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#Post#: 122058--------------------------------------------------
Sale Away
DIR By: Salisbury Plain Drifter
Date: April 2, 2024, 2:05 am
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Anyone know where the Quins fans will be sitting?
#Post#: 122059--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sale Away
DIR By: mighty_quin
Date: April 2, 2024, 2:52 am
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Sofa.
Hope anyone going has a good time!
#Post#: 122061--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sale Away
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: April 2, 2024, 3:23 am
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The 12,000 capacity ground is located 8 miles from Manchester
City Centre, and 5 miles from the town of Sale. The main
all-seater stand is the West Stand, that in addition to 4,500
fully-covered seats is also home to the executive boxes, TV
gantry and disabled access.
Average attendances have grown to 8,500 I believe.
#Post#: 122062--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sale Away
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: April 2, 2024, 3:26 am
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from telegraph in may 2023...
Sale Sharks are growing rugby in a football heartland – and want
the RFU to do the same
A deal to take control of their home stadium is Sale's latest
move in a bid to win back supporters
Daniel Schofield,
DEPUTY RUGBY UNION CORRESPONDENT
10 May 2023 • 7:30am
Sale Sharks’ achievements this season in qualifying for their
first home semi-final in 17 years have been matched on it with
the club more than doubling their average attendance from 3,800
to 8,500. Neither development has happened by accident.
As much as Alex Sanderson’s side have had to scrape and claw to
get every point this season, so the club have had to fight to
get each bum on a seat at the AJ Bell Stadium in a region
dominated by football and rugby league. Sid Sutton, the Sale
chief executive, tells Telegraph Sport that the club are on the
brink of signing a deal that will give them operational control
of the AJ Bell Stadium that will further accelerate their
growth.
That momentous development is checked by Sutton’s concern over
the overall direction of the English game. Much of the focus in
the ongoing negotiations of a Professional Game Agreement
between the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and the
Rugby Players’ Association has been focused on the rights of
England internationals playing abroad or the clubs’
compensation.
For Sutton this is the equivalent of rearranging the deckchairs
on the Titanic at a time when the number of adult participants
in England collapsed from 259,600 in 2016 to 133,600 in 2021.
“The biggest issue, which we do not discuss enough, is how we
plan to grow this game?” Sutton tells Telegraph Sport. “The only
way we're going to grow is through grass-roots rugby and
engaging with local communities and speaking about our lives and
our brands. That is still missing in a bigger piece from World
Rugby down to the RFU to PRL and to us as clubs.
“There isn't a joined-up plan of how we're going to grow this
game from the grass roots. If we don't grow the grass roots then
there's going to be shortages of players and therefore this
could be a shortage of people interested and therefore revenues
are never going to increase.
“There are schools that have stopped playing rugby. So how do we
switch that around and get more schools to play rugby rather
than fewer schools? How do we compete with the likes of
football? How do we reach these areas where rugby does not have
a foothold? That's my biggest concern over the next five years;
that there isn't any collaboration or in-depth plan to grow the
game at grass roots.”
'We can't just tweet – we need boots on the ground'
In the North West, this means getting boots on the ground,
especially in the region’s schools. As much as clever hashtags
may go viral on social media, only direct human interaction can
create a tangible link with the next generation.
“We can't grow the club without the support of the community,
without the businesses supporting us and without schools being
interested in rugby,” Sutton says. “If we don't really get to
the grass roots then we're not going to grow our fan base and
that’s the reason why we've grown our average crowd. What we do
on the pitch is inextricably linked to what we do off it.
“We can't just do that by posting a few tweets on social media.
We have to do that by a hands-on approach, by investing into the
schools programme and getting out into the community. I am sure
lots of clubs are doing their own versions of this but how we
can accelerate it is by collaboration between the RFU and PRL."
Sale have grown their revenues 212 per cent match by match since
the end of the pandemic but under the terms of their leasehold
at the AJ Bell Stadium the club are entitled to none of the
profits from the stadium’s food and beverage stalls. That has
led to the club exploring the possibility of constructing their
own ground or even returning to Stockport’s Edgeley Park, but
now an agreement will give Sale long-term certainty as well as
the opportunity to dramatically increase their revenues by
having full control over the stadium, both on game days and
during the week.
Lancastrian Michelin star chef Paul Heathcote has already been
appointed to run the catering and there are advanced plans to
transform the match-day experience for supporters from next
season. “We have been working on this for three years and now we
can touch it and feel it,” Sutton says. “This can be
transformational for the club. We know this is going to be our
home, which allows us to focus on match-day experience.
“We will take a fully operational lease whereby we can drive
revenues back into Sale Sharks such as food and beverage. It's
now in our interest to ensure that we are maximising the
match-day experience for our supporters but we can also sweat
that asset outside of match day as well.
“Previously all the kickback from food and beverage was going
back to the stadium owner. Now we take full responsibility in
the stadium, we will be able to increase our revenue and focus
on improving the match-day experience.
“We've always said that it needs to be multigenerational
entertainment for all. Making sure that the children to
grandparents are cared for, the wholesome values of rugby gives
us a great platform to welcome all. We've got some very strong
plans, so that's really exciting.”
#Post#: 122063--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sale Away
DIR By: BedfordshireBoy
Date: April 2, 2024, 4:03 am
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--- Quote from: Salisbury Plain Drifter link ---
>
> Anyone know where the Quins fans will be sitting?
>
--- End Quote ---
No seats available but standing on the terraces.
#Post#: 122066--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sale Away
DIR By: Salisbury Plain Drifter
Date: April 2, 2024, 4:33 am
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--- Quote from: BedfordshireBoy link ---
>
> No seats available but standing on the terraces.
>
--- End Quote ---
Thanks, that'll do nicely.
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