Saders set to switch home game to Wrexham's Racecourse
Home venue?!
By Chris O'Brien
July 7 2009
The Celtic Crusaders are close to agreeing a highly controversial deal that will see the club play a Super League home game at the Racecourse Stadium in Wrexham next season.
The Saders have always represented South Wales in Rugby League - but club officials are clearly hoping to attract support from across the Principality by taking a game north next season.
Reports from the Press Association and the Guardian suggest that the club are close to sealing a deal that will see John Dixon's men make the journey to North Wales to play a league encounter at Wrexham Football Club's Mold Road home.
The move would be a controversial one, to say the least. The club caused a hullabaloo when they announced that August's SL clash against the Leeds Rhinos would be moved to Newport's Rodney Parade home. The two grounds are 32 miles apart.
By contrast, Wrexham's Racecourse is a 312-mile round trip away from Bridgend. Season ticket holders will certainly need to be compensated as loyal followers cannot be expected to make that sort of journey for a home fixture.
The cynic in me argues that this fixture will almost certainly be against a Super League club based in the North West, like St.Helens or Warrington. That'll ensure a huge away following for fans whom are unlikely to have set foot in the Racecourse Ground before - thus making up for the loyal home regulars who won't travel.
Any support or interest from the North would be a bonus - but it's again unlikely that fans from the Gogledd would continue to watch games with the sheer distance involved in travelling south; whether it be to the Brewery Field or, according to reports, Rodney Parade.
The club are perhaps trying to walk before they can run. Crowds, in the elite division thus far, have been okay - though are usually below the 4,500 break-even figure despite some high away followings. Every effort should first be made to attract potential fans from Bridgend, Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and so on before the club makes any ambitious and potentially contentious trips to North Wales.
Others may argue that this kind of thing used to work for Glamorgan County Cricket Club. What's your view? Leave a comment below and join the debate on the messageboard.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
I also have my reservations about how many new supporters one jaunt north will bring the club. They are not going to start travelling to anywhere south – whether it be Bridgend, Newport or Cardiff – even if they enjoy the one-off game at the Racecourse.
Obviously there’d be loads more away fans if this game was against St. Helens or so on as it’s another new ground and a relatively short trip; but we’d almost certainly be outnumbered.
I’m worried. I’m in favour of taking a maximum of one or two games around South Wales. My preference would be one at the Arms Park and one at Rodney Parade – but am open to other ideas. However, this idea could really split the fans and pee off regulars.
Scarlets had a decent crowd for their game up there in what is more league than union country.
If we end up with 50/50 split with say Warrington it will mean big £ for Crusaders and also possibly generate some fans that might show their support for a club that cares about them at away games.
I don’t think one fixture in North Wales will be enough to attract any significant number of new supporters. I see the argument that we could have a North Wales fanbase who’d go to Warrington, St.Helens and Wigan every year but it just seems to improbable to me.
I think this is going to annoy a lot of loyal supporters; especially if the club doesn’t refund season ticket holders.
Any Rugby League fans in North Wales probably already follow a North-West club anyway. There’s no guarantee that Welshmen will always choose a Welsh club; and that is why you’ll see more Liverpool and Everton shirts on the streets of Wrexham than Robins’ jerseys.
Any new fans would probably see it as a novelty – and I can’t see eighty minutes getting them hooked and suddenly prepared to travel to places like Knowley Road and the JD Stadium.
This is, perhaps, something for the future.
However, I don't think the club have done enough to tap into the South Walian market yet before making such an ambitious venture.
Support from Cardiff, for example, is very low on the ground at the moment. Surely a game at the Cardiff Arms Park – and the marketing opportunities that having a professional club back at the CAP could bring – is surely more likely to be beneficial than a one-off game which is 170-odd miles away from our traditional home.