Calista
Well-Known Member
I’ve made this argument before and got crucified for it, and no doubt will again.
A lot of the things on this thread would make perfect sense if Wasps were not already a franchise before the Coventry move. They went a long way out of London to Wycombe (which already had, and still has, a rugby club) and largely flipped their supporter base. So any protests about moving to the Ricoh were barely more than a whimper. I mean, how could people say “this is High Wycombe’s club, you can’t move it”? FFS if a rugby club HAD been torn from its roots, and its supporters HAD waged a proper protest, CCFC fans would have marched with them.
So as far as I am concerned, Wasps moving on to Coventry sets no precedent for (say) Worcester Rugby Club to move to Swindon*, or indeed for Coventry City Football Club to move even as far as Bedworth*. Both of those things would be completely unacceptable, just like the MK Dons thing.
Basically, a top sporting franchise was up for grabs, and Coventry City Council had every incentive to grab it because the only alternative was to capitulate to an organisation that had (in the words of Les Reid himself) made an “aggressive attempt to distress and acquire the Ricoh Arena”. The move to Sixfields was an integral part of that – before that I wasn’t even anti-SISU.
I say all the above as someone who for years was convinced that the Ricoh was the passport to the Sky Blues’ place at the top table of English football, and I’m fucking pissed off that we never took that opportunity, and that we’ve descended to such lows.
I respect all the passionately anti-franchise views. I just can’t go along with this (supposedly self-evident) argument that if you opposed Sixfields you’re a hypocrite if you don’t take a moral stance against Wasps. Look elsewhere for the cause of our shitty problems.
* I have no reason to suppose that either will happen, but one would surprise me a lot more than the other
A lot of the things on this thread would make perfect sense if Wasps were not already a franchise before the Coventry move. They went a long way out of London to Wycombe (which already had, and still has, a rugby club) and largely flipped their supporter base. So any protests about moving to the Ricoh were barely more than a whimper. I mean, how could people say “this is High Wycombe’s club, you can’t move it”? FFS if a rugby club HAD been torn from its roots, and its supporters HAD waged a proper protest, CCFC fans would have marched with them.
So as far as I am concerned, Wasps moving on to Coventry sets no precedent for (say) Worcester Rugby Club to move to Swindon*, or indeed for Coventry City Football Club to move even as far as Bedworth*. Both of those things would be completely unacceptable, just like the MK Dons thing.
Basically, a top sporting franchise was up for grabs, and Coventry City Council had every incentive to grab it because the only alternative was to capitulate to an organisation that had (in the words of Les Reid himself) made an “aggressive attempt to distress and acquire the Ricoh Arena”. The move to Sixfields was an integral part of that – before that I wasn’t even anti-SISU.
I say all the above as someone who for years was convinced that the Ricoh was the passport to the Sky Blues’ place at the top table of English football, and I’m fucking pissed off that we never took that opportunity, and that we’ve descended to such lows.
I respect all the passionately anti-franchise views. I just can’t go along with this (supposedly self-evident) argument that if you opposed Sixfields you’re a hypocrite if you don’t take a moral stance against Wasps. Look elsewhere for the cause of our shitty problems.
* I have no reason to suppose that either will happen, but one would surprise me a lot more than the other