UPTHEPORT wrote:

whoareya wrote:

UPTHEPORT wrote:

flat4 wrote:For Newport RFC to play there games at Spytty Mr Buttress must have done some sort of deal with the council, could this mean some one in the depths of the council`s inner sanctum is looking into there crystal ball at what could be in the future for the City of Newport.
I would like to wish Newport RFC all the best in there new home and hope they are allowed to open there own club house to keep there history alive for the generation`s to come.

The council don't own SP

Yes they do.

https://www.newportlive.co.uk/en/venues ... t-stadium/

Newport Live is a charitable trust operating the city leisure facilities, governed by a board of trustees and are operated on behalf of Newport City Council. Newport Live is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales; Company Number 9323582 and is a registered charity; Charity Number 1162220.

Kevin Ward is still a Company Officer of Newport Live, according to Companies House.

Apologies my mistake

Apology accepted.

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

allontheamber wrote:

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote:

allontheamber wrote:Hope they don't mess up the pitch too much before we move back.

Presuming of course we would be allowed back?

We will be.

I hope that was a slip and you meant to say, 'we would be'.

No slip

faerun exile wrote:Buttress needs to bite the bullet and follow Cardiff's lead. Knock the Dragons on the head and re-brand the franchise to Newport Rugby. Play in black and amber. Inherit the long and fine history of Newport RFC. The current Newport RFC then continue to play at Spytty and effectively become Newport United or reserves like back in the good old days. Job done.

Agree with that

Not quite a done deal then..

https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/ ... park-home/

faerun exile wrote:Buttress needs to bite the bullet and follow Cardiff's lead. Knock the Dragons on the head and re-brand the franchise to Newport Rugby. Play in black and amber. Inherit the long and fine history of Newport RFC. The current Newport RFC then continue to play at Spytty and effectively become Newport United or reserves like back in the good old days. Job done.

I’m not an expert but I can’t see that happening. I thought the Dragons were 50% owned by the WRU. They would never allow it.

UPTHEPORT wrote:If you read Newport live website it says sp is up to football league standard is that factually correct

No.
From memory the following were a problem: Running track, far side stand unfit for purpose, lack of turn styles, corporate hospitality, away directors hospitality, segregation, all the communication & IT stuff needed, probably lack of covered seating for away supporters. That was then, by now the FL have probably added another 20 things! Other than that it's ready to go

It's ready to be developed into a fit for purpose league standard ground at a fraction of the cost were we to build a new stadium from scratch.
I love Stan's continued optimism and he is right that we should have started on the new stadium journey 20 years ago. The longer we go on the less likely it is, I believe, that the dream will come to fruition.

It's ready to be developed into a fit for purpose league standard ground at a fraction of the cost were we to build a new stadium from scratch.
I love Stan's continued optimism and he is right that we should have started on the new stadium journey 20 years ago. The longer we go on the less likely it is, I believe, that the dream will come to fruition.

Newport Stadium was just about up to Football League standard when we left it, but it is not now. The demountable stands which provided the necessary minimum capacity of 5,000 have been removed and the shed condemned. The stadium is nowhere near FL standard now. It could be improved to that standard. There is plenty of room but the big problem has always been that the athletics need a view of the whole running track from the stand. That means that no permanent structure could be built inside of the running track because it would obscure the view. Building outside of the running track is too far from the pitch.

What about the old Sainsbury's site

faerun exile wrote:Buttress needs to bite the bullet and follow Cardiff's lead. Knock the Dragons on the head and re-brand the franchise to Newport Rugby. Play in black and amber. Inherit the long and fine history of Newport RFC. The current Newport RFC then continue to play at Spytty and effectively become Newport United or reserves like back in the good old days. Job done.

Exactly this. Cardiff Blues have been much more successful than the Dragons but still saw the sense in changing their name.

But it would be perverse if NRFC were eventually unable to move to Spytty permanently to protect the pitch for the benefit of Newport City, playing parks football. Surely a stadium with OK spectator facilities should prioritise a team which will attract spectators, even just a few hundred?

Maybe diehards will snub Spytty and NRFC will die. But if it does, it will be too late for the Dragons to appropriate its history.

pembsexile wrote:

faerun exile wrote:Buttress needs to bite the bullet and follow Cardiff's lead. Knock the Dragons on the head and re-brand the franchise to Newport Rugby. Play in black and amber. Inherit the long and fine history of Newport RFC. The current Newport RFC then continue to play at Spytty and effectively become Newport United or reserves like back in the good old days. Job done.

I’m not an expert but I can’t see that happening. I thought the Dragons were 50% owned by the WRU. They would never allow it.

The Dragons are 100% owned by the WRU, but the stated aspiration is to return to private ownership (a consortium including the County?), and then consider a change of name. Whether or not that happens is a matter of conjecture.

Not sure what Buttress has been doing for the past 4+ years. Other than overseeing the further decline of 1st class rugby in Newport, not a lot. Not sure he is the right man for the job based on decisions like inviting Cardiff Blues to play at RP. A small child could have anticipated the repercussions of that for County and the Dragons. Rugby administration is clearly far more tricky for him than delivering pizza.
He tells us a "consortium" is poised to take over the Dragons from the WRU - I really hope this happens but surely he has to re-brand the outfit to Newport Rugby to make it work. Otherwise the decline in attendances and performances will drop even further and will a "game-changer" consortium buy into that? Its obvious from the financial losses and ever dwindling support that in its current guise the Dragons are dead in the water. Gwent rugby fans don't support the Dragons in sufficient numbers and neither do most of those from Newport. The "region" has half a chance of success if a team based in Newport is actually called Newport for locals to support. Even then the regional rugby structure is so crap it will unlikely succeed. Can't see how a professional team can attract a long-term fan base when only 11 home games are played over the course of a 9 month season! Even then they lose their best players to Wales international duty. Contrast this with the English Gallagher Premiership - regular meaningful games spread across the season at regular days / times of the week. It ain't rocket science.
I suppose Buttress is doing the WRU's dirty work for them and creating a scenario where 1st class rugby in Wales will be further distilled down to 2 teams - Llanelli and Cardiff. If less and less people give a damn then its easier to kick the Dragons and Ospreys into touch. Regional rugby in Wales is dying on its arse - has been for years as the regions conflicted with the WRU from day one. Ever since Roger Lewis was CEO of the WRU, the WRU's raison d'etre has been to grow its financial might at the expense of professional club rugby. WRU has been expedient in picking up the pieces and created a fifth region (Wales) for all those disenchanted fans, primarily living north of the M4. With the reduced number of games in the new league that the Dragons now play in, the Wales national team will play a similar number of games over the course of 12 months. Gives fans with no one local to support their rugby fix.

faerun exile wrote:
......regional rugby structure is so crap it will unlikely succeed.

This I agree with.

I think that the WRU made a catastrophic error. Rugby was ingrained in south Wales culture. A Welsh League of 16 too flight clubs with promotion to and relegation from in my view would have worked well. Nobody from Pontypool was ever going to support a home team playing at Rodney Parade.

What works in one country doesn't necessarily transfer to another. Regional rugby works in Ireland because Ireland is made up of four provinces. Rugby fans in Sligo have no problem travelling to Galway to support Connacht.

But let's all sell our heritage and bow down to the great god money.

Whether you agree with them or not the overarching goal of the WRU is for the national team to be as successful as possible, and to that end they have been very successful. Since the creation of the 4 regional teams Wales has been the most successful team in the 6 nations. Those are the facts.
Of course this has come at at a cost to the club game, as indeed it has for the club game in Ireland and Scotland because along with Wales they do not have the resources (money or player depth) to operate with 20+ full time professional club teams like England and France.
Neither incidentally do SA, Australia or New Zealand.
Not very familiar with the structure in Ireland but it is plain to see that their historic regional identity has been a major positive for their well attended successful regions.

Having said this it does sadden me to see the demise of top level rugby in Newport, for so long one the worlds leading clubs.
It's difficult to be anything less than pessimistic for the future when I see the dwindling crowds and little or no sign of their results improving.