Now hosting a Cardiff Blues fixture on August 30th , the day after the Dragons play a game on the pitch.
Lets hope the weather is good for that weekend and the early Autumn or the pitch could get wrecked even before the season ( if it does ) even kicks off.
If the Dragons Heart Hospital is still in operation , which by some rumours and stories I have seen heard / read that it could still be on operational standby even up to Christmas and maybe beyond at the Cardiff ground it seems as though it could be the first of many Cardiff games played at RP .
God help the state of the pitch by December if it happens

Reading the wording in the story in the Argus or have I missed something ???? Its worded along the lines of the ''Dragons are happy to help out a fellow Pro 14 club by staging the game''...I though the WRU owned the ground not the Dragons ???

Not sure why they can't play it at Merthyr or Ponty (in their region) or even up at the Dragons training base, all have plastic pitches. There isn't going to be supporters there...???

Willthiswork wrote:Not sure why they can't play it at Merthyr or Ponty (in their region) or even up at the Dragons training base, all have plastic pitches. There isn't going to be supporters there...???

If I were of a cynical mind I might begin to think that a not overly subtle message was being sent.

If we're forced to play behind closed doors they might as well shunt us up Cwmbran Stadium or over Spytty at this rate

Update on RP

The Welsh government have announced that they hope to sign the deal to keep the Dragons Heart Hospital as a standby for the rest of 2020 and maybe as long as February 2021.
If Cardiff Blues do continue to play at RP then our already 'buggered pitch' will be worse than its ever been.
I can see the FA stepping in with sanctions for the club playing on a pitch not fit for purpose before we reach the start of 2021 at this rate.
They weren't happy about the pitch at RP with three sides playing on it , now we could have 5 ( Us , Newport RFC , Dragons , Cardiff Blues and the Welsh Ladies team )as the WRU will lend it out to anyone with a quid in their pockets irrelevant of the damage it does to the pitch

The Blues should clearly play at Pontypridd and/or Merthyr. Both are in their 'region', and last I checked both had synthetic pitches so can be used as often as they like.

halfmoon wrote:The Blues should clearly play at Pontypridd and/or Merthyr. Both are in their 'region', and last I checked both had synthetic pitches so can be used as often as they like.

I don't disagree with your sentiment but this is the problem. As Corkie as pointed out this could well bugger our pitch. And as I will continue to point out there's f@ck all we can do about.

Next meeting of the stadium group is Monday. Please join.

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

halfmoon wrote:The Blues should clearly play at Pontypridd and/or Merthyr. Both are in their 'region', and last I checked both had synthetic pitches so can be used as often as they like.

I don't disagree with your sentiment but this is the problem. As Corkie as pointed out this could well bugger our pitch. And as I will continue to point out there's f@ck all we can do about.

Next meeting of the stadium group is Monday. Please join.

I cant make the meetings as I am at work when they happen but I will watch from the side lines and help as much as I can with ideas and anything I can do for it.
We somehow need our own ground ASAP as the WRU dont give two F's about us and I am worried that there seems no progress or news about whether our contract / agreement will be renewed or where we will stand if they boot us out of RP.
Yes I am as guilty as many of sitting on my hands and letting the BOD get on with things but IMO its getting to the stage where we could be fecked and left homeless or playing on a mud heap if we continue at RP.
Look around the UK, many teams in villages of two men and their dogs have their own pitch / stadium . We as a Professional club have never had this since we reformed. We have had to rent Somerton Park off the Council , Spytty was rented off the Council now we are tenants at RP .
Why have we never tried to get our own ground in the Newport district ???

We more than once owned our own ground, and we had to sell it back to the council to meet unpaid bills, which we still couldn't afford, and so we went bankrupt... in a nutshell.

The aim to find a plot and build our own ground within the Newport boundary is a laudable one, to be sure. Here's to success.

But in those deliberations the prime movers of that venture need a business plan to at least cover the cost of running and maintaining that ground once it is built.

This will not be easy on just L2 or L1 attendances and income (as ancient club history has shown). Absent the EFL relenting on plastic pitches (which still have ongoing maintenance costs), which I hope never see the light of day, the costs of relaying a Desso-type pitch on a 3 or 4 year cycle is a case in point. You have to set aside £250k to £330k p.a. (at today's prices) to meet at least some of that recurring cost, or face a hefty "one-off" bill every few years.

What will happen if such things are not factored in at the outset is a likely repeat of the history of Newport County and Somerton Park.

Ideas? Well, multi-occupancy is a must. Speedway anyone? Rugby League? Union? Cricket (perhaps not, as ground likely too small, but could be investigated)?

A modular, removable pitch would be the ideal: you only pay for worn parts of the pitch, and you can remove parts to accommodate other events or team sports (speedway track, cricket/rugby team's own pitches?). Removable terracing around the outside to accommodate/cover that speedway track but bring the crowd to pitch side for football, ...

NearlyDead wrote:We more than once owned our own ground, and we had to sell it back to the council to meet unpaid bills, which we still couldn't afford, and so we went bankrupt... in a nutshell.

The aim to find a plot and build our own ground within the Newport boundary is a laudable one, to be sure. Here's to success.

But in those deliberations the prime movers of that venture need a business plan to at least cover the cost of running and maintaining that ground once it is built.

This will not be easy on just L2 or L1 attendances and income (as ancient club history has shown). Absent the EFL relenting on plastic pitches (which still have ongoing maintenance costs), which I hope never see the light of day, the costs of relaying a Desso-type pitch on a 3 or 4 year cycle is a case in point. You have to set aside £250k to £330k p.a. (at today's prices) to meet at least some of that recurring cost, or face a hefty "one-off" bill every few years.

What will happen if such things are not factored in at the outset is a likely repeat of the history of Newport County and Somerton Park.

Ideas? Well, multi-occupancy is a must. Speedway anyone? Rugby League? Union? Cricket (perhaps not, as ground likely too small, but could be investigated)?

A modular, removable pitch would be the ideal: you only pay for worn parts of the pitch, and you can remove parts to accommodate other events or team sports (speedway track, cricket/rugby team's own pitches?). Removable terracing around the outside to accommodate/cover that speedway track but bring the crowd to pitch side for football, ...

Some great ideas there regarding ground development and upkeep. However, speedway, hmmm. Remember Somerton Park. The speedway was fabulous but it wrecked the pitch and the stadium wasn’t really fit for speedway, the corners were too tight. I remember a few top class riders in the 60’s 70’s refused to ride there. Peter Collins from Belle Vue anyone. When they introduced the team he was always ill. Also remember the coconut mats on the corners?

I wonder if there are still any football grounds with a speedway track around it. I think the Shay at Halifax used to have one.

Re speedway. The difference at this point is you can design it in.

NearlyDead wrote:Re speedway. The difference at this point is you can design it in.

I agree with your sentiment but for a new stadium multi purpose function it would probably be far too expensive. My own preference would be to explore the ownership/development of RP and speedway there would be a non starter. I do love my speedway though.

We use an asset that is in an absolutely superb location. However, it is not ours. We don’t even know if we will be able to play there in a few years. I just hope we are moving heaven and earth to explore options there. If we aren’t then someone needs to do some explaining.

pembsexile wrote: I remember a few top class riders in the 60’s 70’s refused to ride there. Peter Collins from Belle Vue anyone. When they introduced the team he was always ill. Also remember the coconut mats on the corners?

Never seemed to bother the likes of Reidar Eide or Phil Crump, nor visiting riders like Mauger (imperious wherever he raced), Briggs, Simmons, Ashby or Olsen though.

NearlyDead wrote:

pembsexile wrote: I remember a few top class riders in the 60’s 70’s refused to ride there. Peter Collins from Belle Vue anyone. When they introduced the team he was always ill. Also remember the coconut mats on the corners?

Never seemed to bother the likes of Reidar Eide or Phil Crump, nor visiting riders like Mauger (imperious wherever he raced), Briggs, Simmons, Ashby or Olsen though.

You forgot to mention the greatest of them all at Somerton Park - my boyhood hero, Toby, Torbjorn Harrison. He never had any problems at all with the track.

Briggo and Mauger were the two greatest riders I ever saw, both Kiwis as well. Briggo just tops the lot. In ‘66 when I think he was World Champ there was no-one to touch him. I remember in the speedway news that year (or maybe ‘67) he had an average of nearly 12 for a long time. He didn’t end the season on 12 though. Fabulous rider.

NearlyDead wrote:

Ideas? Well, multi-occupancy is a must. Speedway anyone? Rugby League? Union? Cricket (perhaps not, as ground likely too small, but could be investigated)?

A modular, removable pitch would be the ideal: you only pay for worn parts of the pitch, and you can remove parts to accommodate other events or team sports (speedway track, cricket/rugby team's own pitches?). Removable terracing around the outside to accommodate/cover that speedway track but bring the crowd to pitch side for football, ...

The description you paint is definitely not that of a Football League ground. Removable terracing reminds me of Chelmsford City. Isn't the idea to get away from the current issues of multi-occupancy with rugby teams. Plus, at present, I don't believe there is any speedway team in Newport, so it's not likely that one will miraculously appear to share facilities.