Cool story. Newport get one man and his dog watching them. I know because I attend a few games. Newport RFC as they are the would struggle to pay for a phone box. It’s a shame yes but regional rugby had to be the future.
Newport needed the investment before the regionalisation as it was run at a loss for years.
If the WRU hadn’t have bought out and paid the debts Newport RFC would not exist

big baz wrote:Cool story. Newport get one man and his dog watching them. I know because I attend a few games. Newport RFC as they are the would struggle to pay for a phone box. It’s a shame yes but regional rugby had to be the future.
Newport needed the investment before the regionalisation as it was run at a loss for years.
If the WRU hadn’t have bought out and paid the debts Newport RFC would not exist

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Newport RFC was the third best supported club in the whole of the U.K. the year before the Dragons was forced on us and made a profit for the 2 years previous to 2003. Tony Brown provided the investment granted, but it created a self sufficient club with average gates of 8750.

The WRU paid back debt that was ran up on Newport’s asset despite Newport not wanting or needing it. The WRU also purchased the site for half its value.

They will shit on Newport County too, watch this space.

Really worried.

If the reason why the Board can't comment/or even acknowledge the issue, is down to what I think it is, then it is best than our fans back off and leave it to our Board to tesolve.

On another thread a rugby fan is trying to line David Buttress up as our enemy - I don't see it that way. He is local/ loves his rugby/worked hard to make his money and is now looking to put in place a sustainable business model for the Region. His Father loves the County - all sounds pretty good and normal to me.

I think he is caught in the crossfire and is frustrated that he can't clear up a few misconceptions as our Board can't even acknowledge the issue. However, I dont believe we should give him a platform at this stage even though the offer to meet with fans is I am sure both genuine and sincere. (An unofficial fans group that doesn't know all the details/implications and that has no accountibility nor authority isn't going anywhere). We also have fans who shoot from the hip and as much as I don't believe David Buttress is the enemy I certainly don't want us to have an opportunity of turning him into one.

This is one for the Board to manage from top to bottom and it was what they were elected to do.

.

big baz wrote:Cool story. Newport get one man and his dog watching them. I know because I attend a few games. Newport RFC as they are the would struggle to pay for a phone box. It’s a shame yes but regional rugby had to be the future.
Newport needed the investment before the regionalisation as it was run at a loss for years.
If the WRU hadn’t have bought out and paid the debts Newport RFC would not exist

Don't agree with you baz, Rugby in Wales was fine , good sized crowds when Cardiff, Ponty, Neath rolled into town,Wru to blame for ******* it up

We are now less than 3 weeks from the start of the new season and reportedly locked out of the ground, along with having no facilities for selling tickets or Club merchandise. This seems as serious a situation as I can possibly imagine, yet all we get from the Board is “no comment”, a position which is in stark contrast to the Dragon’s Chairman who is seemingly prepared to discuss all.

Taunton Iron Cider wrote:We are now less than 3 weeks from the start of the new season and reportedly locked out of the ground, along with having no facilities for selling tickets or Club merchandise. This seems as serious a situation as I can possibly imagine, yet all we get from the Board is “no comment”, a position which is in stark contrast to the Dragon’s Chairman who is seemingly prepared to discuss all.

There is a very good reason why the BOD are quiet on this. As Rob Sant mentioned earlier in the thread. A serious situation yes. Worth panicking over yet? No

lowandhard wrote:

George Street-Bridge wrote:I can see why the club would be wary of letting supporters into confidences about ground intentions before any changes are done and dusted after they were (predictably) gobbed off here the last time they did it.

But good on the Dragons guy if he'd like to share his take on things with the Argus rather than direct.with our supporters.

That’s a misrepresentation, nowhere has it been said that he would prefer one option or the other. He’d just respond to what was asked is what I said - and as far as I know nobody from the press has asked the question. He had good intentions but perhaps this is best left to come out in the wash, we’ll all know soon enough, the season starts soon and the clock is ticking.

It's not a misrepresentation. If he would like to share his take on things I'd welcome it but I'd see the Argus as the appropriate route. .

daftasfxxx wrote:

big baz wrote:Cool story. Newport get one man and his dog watching them. I know because I attend a few games. Newport RFC as they are the would struggle to pay for a phone box. It’s a shame yes but regional rugby had to be the future.
Newport needed the investment before the regionalisation as it was run at a loss for years.
If the WRU hadn’t have bought out and paid the debts Newport RFC would not exist

Don't agree with you baz, Rugby in Wales was fine , good sized crowds when Cardiff, Ponty, Neath rolled into town,Wru to blame for ******* it up

Crowds were very good, even when the above mentioned clubs didn’t roll into Newport, don’t forget Newport were in the Heineken Cup against the likes of Munster Leinster Bath & Toulouse - great times.

Taffweigan wrote:

Taunton Iron Cider wrote:We are now less than 3 weeks from the start of the new season and reportedly locked out of the ground, along with having no facilities for selling tickets or Club merchandise. This seems as serious a situation as I can possibly imagine, yet all we get from the Board is “no comment”, a position which is in stark contrast to the Dragon’s Chairman who is seemingly prepared to discuss all.

There is a very good reason why the BOD are quiet on this. As Rob Sant mentioned earlier in the thread. A serious situation yes. Worth panicking over yet? No

Clearly, whilst not being a member of the Board you are fully conversant with the issues, so why shouldn’t the difficulties be shared with everyone else? Trouble is that whilst our Board seemingly leaks like a sieve to their mates, possibly damaging rumours are allowed to run riot amongst the masses. A holding statement is long overdue.

I used to go NRFC regularly before County took over, remember a game in Cardiff at the old Arms Park in about 1969 watched by c 40,000. Why did the Dragons not immediately shoot to the top of the regional pile?

daftasfxxx wrote:

big baz wrote:Cool story. Newport get one man and his dog watching them. I know because I attend a few games. Newport RFC as they are the would struggle to pay for a phone box. It’s a shame yes but regional rugby had to be the future.
Newport needed the investment before the regionalisation as it was run at a loss for years.
If the WRU hadn’t have bought out and paid the debts Newport RFC would not exist

Don't agree with you baz, Rugby in Wales was fine , good sized crowds when Cardiff, Ponty, Neath rolled into town,Wru to blame for ******* it up

I know this is supposed to be a Newport County forum, but i do feel the WRU (our landlords) have been blamed for things outside of their control. Yes rugby was bouyant in the amatuer days when the top welsh international players were playing in front of large crowds for those clubs mentioned + LLanelli & Pontypool of course. What changed rugby was the game going professional, to which some countries adapted better than others, unfortunately the WRU, welsh clubs and a lot of their supporters were and still are unable to adapt to the inevitable changes. England and France with their relative massive resources compared to the Celtic nations are successfully running 20+ professional teams, often with squads of 50+. Wales can barely sustain 4 teams. Of course the WRU could have decided to try and remain amatuer and left the club scene as it was. My guess this would have led to a few clubs being financially supported by rich benefactors and 'buying' all the best players anyway? Once professionalism got the green light change was inevitable. Unfortunately some have been unable to grasp that inevitability.Having said all this I do think the WRU has been quite inept and still amatuerish in overseeing those changes. I'm sure the overwhelming majority of Welsh rugby supporters still want the national team to be competitive on the world stage. That relative success is the only thing that earns the money to pay the regions to employ professional players.

Lets get things into perspective however. Newport County must be very near the bottom of a very large pile of current concerns for
the WRU. Quite simply we are insignificant despite being a useful income stream at the moment. Barring a County fanatic winning multi millions on the lottery and paying for our own stadium we are stuck with them as our landlords. If the Dragons ever become self-sufficient via increased attendances and revenue from development of the 'cabbage patch' , obviously our rental income and presence would not be needed and we would be dropped as quickly as the 'celtic dragons'. The prospect of the council being involved seems extremely unlikely. After all, like it or not Dragons and County supporters are only a small percentage of the electorate and have little or no political influence. It's difficult at the moment for me to be positive for the future, but i have been wrong before. For a very long time i never believed we would return to the EFL. Hope still springs eternal. UTC

Interesting post, and thanks for the history lesson. Like many on here, I suspect, I knew little of this as I'm not a fan of the oval ball game. However, it is absolutely vital that fans of Newport County AFC, Newport RFC and the Newport Gwent Dragons stand together as one - any success we want to achieve is inextricably linked to securing a combined long-term future at Rodney Parade.

This is where I agree with Stan's posts elsewhere about the need for the local authority to consider getting involved. It is an absolute no-brainer that they should want to secure a sports village within walking distance of the city centre which can home professional sports, amateur / community sports and other events. Most cities would kill for that sort of facility.

The council already have the Newport Centre - but if they got involved with a long term plan for Rodney Parade, connected already by a footbridge to the Newport Centre and the city centre, they could have something really special. A ground capable of hosting rugby and football, plus events space, a redeveloped squash club, space on the cabbage patch for 3G/4G five-a-side pitches, room to redevelop the bar area as well. That must stack up as a viable proposition.

And to any doubters, look at what Barnet FC (and their local rugby club who ground-share with them) have done with The Hive. They're a side of similar size / stature to us, and their ground has oodles of training pitches, community facilities, events space etc etc.

George Street-Bridge wrote:I used to go NRFC regularly before County took over, remember a game in Cardiff at the old Arms Park in about 1969 watched by c 40,000. Why did the Dragons not immediately shoot to the top of the regional pile?

Quite simply because Tony Brown made a monumental error.

When it was apparent that it could only sustain 4 sides, instead of fighting to standalone, TB agreed to merge with Ebbw Vale who has nothing to contribute in the way of players, assets or cash.

EV quickly bailed out when asked to pay some bills and then it became Newport Gwent Dragons which was a plastic hybrid that pleased nobody, and worst still the WRU took EVs share so were influential from the start.

Instead of spring boarding off the brilliant work of pre 2003, it gradual diluting of the Newport influence meant that the team lost nearly all of its core support.

Bear in mind that that pre 2003 Newport were signing players like Gary Teichmann who was then probably the best rugby player in the world. They were selling out the ground most weeks and had huge commercial and community engagement.

It was all wasted to appease two men and their dogs from the valleys.

Kairdiff Exile wrote:
This is where I agree with Stan's posts elsewhere about the need for the local authority to consider getting involved. It is an absolute no-brainer that they should want to secure a sports village within walking distance of the city centre which can home professional sports, amateur / community sports and other events. Most cities would kill for that sort of facility.

The council already have the Newport Centre - but if they got involved with a long term plan for Rodney Parade, connected already by a footbridge to the Newport Centre and the city centre, they could have something really special. A ground capable of hosting rugby and football, plus events space, a redeveloped squash club, space on the cabbage patch for 3G/4G five-a-side pitches, room to redevelop the bar area as well. That must stack up as a viable proposition.

But you've missed the most important point - Newport Council, through Newport Live, already have a Sports Village at Spytty:

http://www.newportlive.co.uk/venues/new ... ts-village

We would all prefer to have the county play in the town centre, but think back to our spiritual home of Somerton Park - probably as far away from the town centre as Spytty Stadium, albeit with a few more pubs back then, but not now.

The area around Spytty has changed significantly since we left, far more development and facilities on offer and a stadium waiting to be used (again) by a club like ours.

The fan experience at Rodney Parade is shite, poor terracing, cramped seats in the Hazell stand, blinded by sun and soaked by rain in the Bisley - it really has very little going for it, save the hospitality provision.

Does anyone honestly think, or more importantly reasonably expect, the Council should pander to a few thousand football fans who want the convenience of being able to stumble out of town centre pubs as late as possible to get to the game, when they already have an undoubtedly expensive and money-hemorrhaging Sport Village at Spytty ?

Personally I'd prefer that money be spent on Social Care and housing for far more people with far greater, urgent needs.

Well, you can’t keep a good man down , ( or a bad one in some people’s estimation ) he’s now taken to you tube in Stan Einstein’s world