Bristol Rugby at the County Ground ....?

[janaage]

Surely we're too far outside of London to take one of those two on?

I assumed that we were talking Bath or Bristol.

[RedRedRobin]

Roll on the rugby, as well as some good matches to watch it will raise the profile of the county ground and therefore stfc. Everyone's a winner. and all those awfully nice middle class punters wont need policing (or stewarding thank god)! I would prefer Bath to Bristol.

[janaage]

Bath would be class to welcome to Swindon, Bristol would take a little longer to get used to.

[Luci]

Bath would be class to welcome to Swindon, Bristol would take a little longer to get used to.

Completely agree.

[Reg Smeeton]

I think Bristhole should go to Rodney Parade.   Bath to Twerton.

[Nemo]

If the pitch can take it I'd be keen. I'd probably go to a few matches as well.

[Ardiles]

It would be a clever move for Bristol Rugby if they were to come to Swindon.  I'm always struck by how many Bath rugby fans there are getting on the train at Swindon when we're getting off to come to the football.  In rugby terms, Swindon seems to be very much Bath territory, even though Bristol and Gloucester are not much further away.  But that could change.  There certainly seem to be quite a lot of London Irish shirts on show in Reading when I'm there.

[RobertT]

The pitch can be made to hold-up to the use provided the investment is right, which in turn means chargin a hefty rent.  Reading charge close to £500k from memory, but it costs a lot to keep the pitch maintained.

Rugby is much more open to franchising, so it would be no suprise for either Bath or Bristol to come.  Bath are still pushing for a new stand, so it might be a temp move for them, or Bristol who got a bit stuffed on the Memorial Ground.  They also fill-up Ashton Gate when they play Bath there so a bigger ground may appeal to them.

Watkins is ex Wasps so no doubt has a lot of contacts and experience from their move to QPR and then Wycombe.

[reeves4england]

I'd be well up for having rugby at the CG as long as the appropriate measures were taken to protect the pitch. I quite enjoy watching Bath, and as somebody mentioned they are pretty much the 'local team' in Swindon. It would be good for Bath aswell - at the moment they pack the ground out so are able to charge very high prices. Moving to the CG could increase their crowds by an extra 50% or so which would give them more of an 'outreach'.

As was mentioned the financial benefits for us would be huge, and it would be great to be able to go and watch without the hassle of getting the bus and then the train!

Incase you hadn't gathered, I'd definitely prefer Bath to Bristol!

[janaage]

I think the one person that will be dead against this idea would be my Mrs.  I bloody love live rugby, drinking in the stands, decent top class rugby on show, perfect.

[Simon Pieman]

I like rugby but no thanks

[Ralphy]

Um no.

[swindon-chap]

I like the idea. As Janaage said it will put Swindon on the map, also it will generate more revenue for the club. Im also a rugby fan so would attend a few games.

The only concern I have is the pitch, if it becomes crap it wouldn't help Malpas as he wants to play passing football, but I think Fitton will spend a lot of money on the pitch so then there's no reason why we can't have rugby here?

[Simon Pieman]

Problem is, you'd get people that would go to rugby at the CG rather than go away to cheer on the football team.

[janaage]

I reckon the Premiership rugby matches may attract more fans than STFC, as a lower league club.  

But I don't think many people would sacrifice football for rugby.