According to a report in the Times, any Wasps move to the Ricoh will be sanctioned by the game's governing bodies.
Alex Lowe Last updated at 9:00PM, October 3 2014
The RFU and Premiership Rugby would rubber-stamp any request from London Wasps to play home games at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, providing the club did not also seek to relocate their regional academy to the Midlands.
Wasps hold one of the 14 RFU academy licences, covering the Middlesex, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire area, with Worcester Warriors responsible for the region that includes Coventry. The boundaries, technically, could be redrawn as part of the next heads of agreement between the RFU and Premiership Rugby, but any request from Wasps is unlikely to be treated favourably.
Providing Wasps’ academy remains in situ, the Professional Game Board — the body comprised of representatives from the RFU and Premiership Rugby — would agree to a proposal for home games to be moved to the Ricoh Arena, as they did for London Welsh to play at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford.
A £30 million deal for Wasps to take control of the stadium’s operating company, Arena Coventry Limited (ACL), could be given the green light on Tuesday, when Coventry city council votes on the proposed takeover. The deal would give Wasps a 90 per cent stake with the council, which at present owns ACL jointly with the Alan Higgs Trust, to retain a 10 per cent interest.
When Derek Richardson completed his takeover of Wasps last year, he identified the need for the club to own or co-own a stadium, but the indications were that Wasps were looking to move back towards London. The majority of supporters are furious about the proposed move to Coventry. Wasps are using the line “every fan counts” as part of their marketing campaign, but that line is now being thrown back at them. An online petition has been launched with the hope of keeping the club in or near London and there is talk of a protest at the next home game.
“They say that every fan counts but it doesn’t feel like it at the moment,” James Dickinson, owner of The Wasps Blog, said. “We are realistic that the club have got to find a ground, but to put £30 million into a stadium that is 100 miles away is a shift from what little we had heard from the club. They don’t seem to care about the support.”
Wasps attracted 6,374 to their home game against Northampton Saints at Adams Park, Wycombe last month. The Ricoh Arena has a capacity of 32,000. “You are competing against Northampton, Leicester and Worcester,” Fitzgerald said. “It seems completely bonkers.”
Alex Lowe Last updated at 9:00PM, October 3 2014
The RFU and Premiership Rugby would rubber-stamp any request from London Wasps to play home games at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, providing the club did not also seek to relocate their regional academy to the Midlands.
Wasps hold one of the 14 RFU academy licences, covering the Middlesex, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire area, with Worcester Warriors responsible for the region that includes Coventry. The boundaries, technically, could be redrawn as part of the next heads of agreement between the RFU and Premiership Rugby, but any request from Wasps is unlikely to be treated favourably.
Providing Wasps’ academy remains in situ, the Professional Game Board — the body comprised of representatives from the RFU and Premiership Rugby — would agree to a proposal for home games to be moved to the Ricoh Arena, as they did for London Welsh to play at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford.
A £30 million deal for Wasps to take control of the stadium’s operating company, Arena Coventry Limited (ACL), could be given the green light on Tuesday, when Coventry city council votes on the proposed takeover. The deal would give Wasps a 90 per cent stake with the council, which at present owns ACL jointly with the Alan Higgs Trust, to retain a 10 per cent interest.
When Derek Richardson completed his takeover of Wasps last year, he identified the need for the club to own or co-own a stadium, but the indications were that Wasps were looking to move back towards London. The majority of supporters are furious about the proposed move to Coventry. Wasps are using the line “every fan counts” as part of their marketing campaign, but that line is now being thrown back at them. An online petition has been launched with the hope of keeping the club in or near London and there is talk of a protest at the next home game.
“They say that every fan counts but it doesn’t feel like it at the moment,” James Dickinson, owner of The Wasps Blog, said. “We are realistic that the club have got to find a ground, but to put £30 million into a stadium that is 100 miles away is a shift from what little we had heard from the club. They don’t seem to care about the support.”
Wasps attracted 6,374 to their home game against Northampton Saints at Adams Park, Wycombe last month. The Ricoh Arena has a capacity of 32,000. “You are competing against Northampton, Leicester and Worcester,” Fitzgerald said. “It seems completely bonkers.”
