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#Post#: 127583--------------------------------------------------
RFU chiefs considered a move to Midlands
DIR By: DazzaS
Date: September 8, 2024, 10:34 am
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HTML https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/latest-news/429361/rfu-chiefs-considered-a-move-to-midlands/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFKogZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHVKEU4gj5PDRdZd2QL1jNtp2FtIz83c3fN6XtndPgpyt9Gx0_yjaKhVpFA_aem_oCIT3A-D18oDjkN_-IpZ2A
By Adam Hathaway
Twickenham chiefs considered moving the home of rugby to the
Midlands last year before deciding to stay put and revamp the
stadium.
The RFU had three proposals on the table last spring, one of
which was a shift to a greenfield site near Birmingham.
It recently came to light that another proposal was to sell
Twickenham and buy a 50 per cent stake in Wembley Stadium which
was part of a radical ‘leave’ option.
But RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney has revealed the union also
pondered moving from south-west London to the middle of England
before plumping to stay and renovate the current ground.
Work on improving facilities at HQ will not start until 2027
when there are no autumn internationals because of the World Cup
in Australia.
“We looked at a range of different options,” said Sweeney.
“There was the merger with Wembley option which was a
conversation and there was a move somewhere else to a green
field site which might have had better access for the whole of
the country. It was in the Birmingham area and they were quite
keen to work with us.
“All of the numbers at the end of the day led to remaining at
Twickenham and redeveloping the stadium here. That was partly to
do with the hospitality market in London, from a commercial
point of view, plus the traditional piece couldn’t be discounted
in terms of the home of rugby being based in Twickenham.”
Work at the stadium will involve upgrading all four stands and
the RFU offices being moved and England’s World Cup warm-up
games, and women’s internationals, will be played elsewhere.
Sweeney is also determined to stage more non-rugby events at the
ground.
Sweeney added: “Meetings are ramping up. It is very important we
get flexibility with local councils in terms of events. If you
look at the non-sporting events at places like Wembley and
Tottenham, it is important it is part of our future thinking.
Work would not be starting any time before 2027.”
At last week’s announcement of the new Male Professional Game
Partnership, at Twickenham, Premiership CEO Simon Massie-Taylor
appeared to blow hopes of an Anglo-Welsh league out of the
water.
And Sweeney gave hope to Wasps’ fans saying they would be very
welcome back in the Championship if their finances stack up
following their collapse in 2022.
There would seem to be an appetite for an Anglo-Welsh league as
witnessed by the full houses at Cardiff when they hosted Bath
and Harlequins in recent European games. But Massie-Taylor
insists that is pie in the sky.
He said: “There is lots of speculation about that.
“We have just gone through this process around establishing what
is best for the English Premiership and that is the absolute
focus. I think there is a ton of stuff we should be really proud
of with the Premiership.
“I think it is a great product and so if you were to change the
club system, in Europe or elsewhere, it would have to be
something that would massively trump that and give confidence to
the English system and the existing clubs. I am not sure what
that would be.”
The RFU are aiming to expand the Championship to 14 clubs by
2025-26 and Wasps, now owned by Chris Holland, and Worcester
plus London Irish could be in the running if they get their
houses in order.
Sweeney said: “We would welcome them back. We are in
conversations with Wasps. Chris Holland has spoken about the
plans around Swanley and developing a stadium there. It is a
great catchment area, it was the number one potential area when
an audit was done in terms of a likely catchment area.
“The idea of having Wasps, London Irish and Worcester back,
initially in tier two, is really appealing. If you want to talk
about a sustainable tier two, that gives, from a commercial, fan
and marketing the game point of view, three great clubs with
great histories.
“You talk about Wasps academy, London Irish had a fantastic
academy, look at some of the players that have come from there
so yes we would welcome them back in. Simon and myself and
people involved in those clubs have had those conversations."
#Post#: 127590--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU chiefs considered a move to Midlands
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: September 9, 2024, 2:18 am
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Interesting. Lot of words but actually says nothing really.
#Post#: 127605--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU chiefs considered a move to Midlands
DIR By: A222Quin
Date: September 9, 2024, 11:50 am
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As the FA supposedly did when Wembley needed replacing. It was
one of the potential
options, even if it was hugely unlikely.
#Post#: 127608--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU chiefs considered a move to Midlands
DIR By: Saintquin
Date: September 9, 2024, 1:25 pm
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Would have had an effect on Quins games if they moved.
Not that the RFU would need to take that into consideration!
#Post#: 127609--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU chiefs considered a move to Midlands
DIR By: Nico Wilson
Date: September 9, 2024, 3:37 pm
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Is there still 7s played at HQ?
If not, I think the rugby played there that's likely to bring in
a big crowd is:
3 x AI
2 or 3 x 6N (alternate years)
2 x Quins
1 x Army & Navy
1 x BaaBaas
So Quins is about 20% of their turnover.
#Post#: 127610--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU chiefs considered a move to Midlands
DIR By: Quinten Poulsen
Date: September 9, 2024, 3:42 pm
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--- Quote from: Nico Wilson link ---
>
> Is there still 7s played at HQ?
>
> If not, I think the rugby played there that's likely to bring
in a big crowd is:
>
> 3 x AI
> 2 or 3 x 6N (alternate years)
> 2 x Quins
> 1 x Army & Navy
> 1 x BaaBaas
>
> So Quins is about 20% of their turnover.
>
>
--- End Quote ---
Plus the Dorises.
#Post#: 127611--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU chiefs considered a move to Midlands
DIR By: Yareet
Date: September 10, 2024, 1:04 am
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--- Quote from: Nico Wilson link ---
>
> Is there still 7s played at HQ?
>
> If not, I think the rugby played there that's likely to bring
in a big crowd is:
>
> 3 x AI
> 2 or 3 x 6N (alternate years)
> 2 x Quins
> 1 x Army & Navy
> 1 x BaaBaas
>
> So Quins is about 20% of their turnover.
>
--- End Quote ---
Prem final?
#Post#: 127613--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU chiefs considered a move to Midlands
DIR By: Fearless Fred
Date: September 10, 2024, 2:25 am
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Interesting to see that Sweeney makes specific reference to
increasing the number of "non-rugby events" to make the most of
the assett that is the stadium. First thought would be more NFL
games, but that ship has sailed with the deal they now have with
Tottenham. Football? I can't see that happening, as we've
discussed on previous threads.
That leaves Entertainment events (mainly gigs). Coincidently I
saw a piece in the Irish Independent
HTML https://archive.ph/QQO94
saying how the cash-strapped GAA should
be doing exactly the same thing with Croke Park. Imagine that
Oasis were playing three nights at TW next year instead of
Wembley (assuming the Gallaghers can stick together that long!).
While it's not everyone's cup of Earl Grey, events like that are
a pure money-spinner for the venue. Granted, there's only a
certain number of acts capable of filling out stadia this large,
but there's enough to make it worth exploring, if the council
can be persuaded to increase the number of event days allowed.
The secondary increase in revenue at local businesses in
Richmond & Twickenham would surely be a welcome boost to the
local economy.
#Post#: 127614--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU chiefs considered a move to Midlands
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: September 10, 2024, 2:29 am
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I believe there is a very well organised lobby against any
additional events at Twickers.
I mean, its not like the Stadium was already there when they
bought their houses or anything..
#Post#: 127615--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU chiefs considered a move to Midlands
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: September 10, 2024, 2:36 am
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RFU to make more than 40 staff redundant weeks after new £100m
Twickenham deal
Exclusive: Jobs within ‘rugby development’ untouched but all
other areas at risk in third such restructure in last six years
Charles Richardson
;
Charlie Morgan
and
Gavin Mairs,
Chief Rugby Union Correspondent
9 September 2024 • 6:45pm
The Rugby Football Union will make more than 40 redundancies in
a mass restructure as chief executive Bill Sweeney defended the
£100 million deal for Twickenham to be renamed as Allianz
Stadium.
Just a month after the RFU unveiled the deal with the German
insurance giant, governing-body employees were gathered on a
call at 4pm on Monday and informed that between 40 and 45 roles
would be affected in a restructure, the third of its kind in six
years at the home of English rugby.
Sixty-four employees will be “at risk” with 22 new roles
created, with the RFU “anticipating” around 42 redundancies.
Those in peril will learn if they are at risk on Monday evening,
with the departures finalised by the end of October.
It is thought that the “rugby development” sector of the company
will not be affected, nor the senior men’s set-up, the Red Roses
or any of the age-grade teams - all other staff at Twickenham
are in jeopardy, with business operational roles the most in
danger. “The place is riddled with those,” said an inside
source.
This afternoon’s call, coming less than a week after the RFU and
Premiership Rugby announced a £264m Professional Game
Partnership for the next eight years, was led by Sweeney, as
well as Sue Day, the outgoing chief financial officer, and the
governing body’s head of Human Resources, Paula Grant. Sweeney
received a £16,000 pay-rise for the 2022-23 financial year, with
the chief executive’s salary increasing from £668k in the
2021-22 financial year to £684k. The RFU’s 2023-24 report is due
out later this year.
The RFU currently has 574 full-time staff members, split between
three sectors: Rugby Development, Stadium, Commercial and
Administration and Professional Rugby. The proposed changes
affect those in the latter two areas, around 300 employees. In
2018, the RFU made 60 employees redundant as it downsized
following the hosting of the 2015 men’s World Cup. In 2020, the
same number of people were let go at Twickenham with the Covid
pandemic causing short-term revenue losses of up to £107
million.
In a stormy financial period for English rugby’s governing body,
Telegraph Sport understands that Sarah Williams, finance
director, resigned last week, following Day out of the
Twickenham door. When the RFU last month revealed that
Twickenham would be changing its name to the Allianz Stadium, it
pledged to invest further in the sport’s grass-roots. That same
stadium is due to undergo a £663 million refurbishment,
provisionally slated for the 2027/28 season.
‘Twickenham name change right for rugby’
Twickenham will host its first match since the Allianz
rebranding this Saturday when the Red Roses face the Black
Ferns. Regarding the naming-rights deal, Sweeney admitted that
it would take time to adjust to the renaming of Twickenham, the
world’s most iconic rugby stadium, after 125 years.
“I think it’s really encouraging for the game when you have a
company like them investing in rugby union in England,” said
Sweeney.
“They have branding naming rights across seven other stadiums
around the world, they are passionate about rugby from the top
down, they’ve got experience in stadium redevelopment so that
helps us for our plans for Twickenham going forward from 2027
and they are providing a significant investment over a
multi-year period which is coming into the game.
“They’ve been very clear from the outset that they want to see a
certain amount of that activity targeted at the community game,
so they’re very interested in the continued health of the
community club network. There’s a danger of thinking that it’s a
silver bullet and it fixes everything. We did make certain
assumptions about that money coming in when we first started off
the negotiations. But it certainly helps us to fund the PGP but
also some of the other negotiations we have to do.”
The branding on the stadium has already been changed ahead of
Saturday’s game, and the name has been changed on online mapping
services such as Google as well as the stadium app.
The decision has faced criticism for not retaining “Twickenham”
in the new name – Allianz also own the naming rights for
stadiums in Munich, Sao Paulo and Sydney. But Sweeney said the
RFU had taken the decision for the “right reasons”.
“You wouldn’t want to walk away from a very significant
investment with a partner which shares similar values and
similar passions for the game,” he added. “Some of the
challenges we had previously were, why didn’t we do it earlier?
Why haven’t we had a naming-rights partner sooner? You can reel
them all off. You all know the stadiums that have naming-rights
partners.
“But it’s a good deal, a really good deal, good for the game.
They’re doing it for the right reasons - the vast majority of
the people we interact with understand it’s the right deal for
the game. You’ll get certain resistance for traditional reasons,
that’s wholly understandable, and there’ll be a period of time
where it takes time to adjust.”
Twickenham must remove 'Allianz Stadium' name for 2025 Rugby
World Cup
Regarding October’s planned redundancies, an RFU spokesperson
told Telegraph Sport: “The RFU has started a collective
consultation over proposals to reshape and resize the
organisation to maintain investment in rugby.
“The reorganisation comes as the RFU moves forward with
significant transformational projects including the Men’s
Professional Game Partnership, the Community Game Future
programme, Digital Transformation and investment in Women and
Girls and the Stadium Masterplan.
“The RFU will protect headcount and investment in community
rugby and the proposals will not have a direct impact on England
Men, Red Roses or pathway performance teams.
“It is anticipated that the number of roles in the RFU will be
reduced by 42, with 64 roles at risk, and 22 new roles created.
The proposals are expected to be finalised at the end of
October.”
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