Will Wembley ever be the permanent home of the England national RL team?

[Highway1]

Just like how the soccer team/football team has wembley as a permanent home, is it a good idea to have wembley as home of England RL Internationals, even though England's RL heartland is in the north?

Just wondering...

 

[PacificCoastRL]

I think it would do nothing but add lustre to the program. London is a world class city, and, no offense intended, the league heartland cities are not. The movers and the shakers of big business live in London, wouldn't you want to be near all that money. It makes it easier for some of it to come your way if your in the same place. Schmoozing never hurts when it comes to support for your program.

 

[deluded pom?]

I sincerely hope not. Would the ARL consider making Melbourne the permanent home for Kangaroo matches? I don't have a problem with regular international matches at Wembley but I'd never want it to be a permanent home for the England team. London may well be a world class city but it also has world class prices. The vast majority of people who support RL are based in the north and would soon tire of the travelling and expense involved. When Wembley was being rebuilt the football team had to take the game to the people playing games in Manchester, Newcastle etc. Why should people from the north ALWAYS have to go to London to see THEIR team? The FA even toyed with playing games on a Friday evening when anyone not from the southeast had to take time off work and pay for accomodation to see the games. More expense on top of an already costly exercise. Either that or travel through the night to get home. The 2012 Olympics are nearly upon us. An event that is now almost four times over budget at nearly £10 billion. All taxpayers will have to pay this money but only London will benefit from the improved or new facilities. London is not the centre of the universe.

 

[Mr_Ugly]

Not having a go, but for all the fuss around Wembley, it looks like a pretty ordinary design for watching footy.

To me, it's a bit like Homebush vs Suncorp or SFS - too low and flat, with spectators way back from the action (at Homebush, I find myself watching half the game on the big screen rather than the field).

I've never been there myself, so only going off photos I've seen, but would be curious to know what those that have been there think.

 

[biggestbroncosfan]

It's nowhere near ready to be the home of England RL. Sure it's a great stadium to play and great atmosphere and would be the highlight of any player to play at a such a world class venue. At this point in time it's best they stick to Elland Road, maybe in the future the London Broncos could attract a bigger following and then we could see matches taken to Wembley more often.

 

[deluded pom?]

It's nowhere near ready to be the home of England RL. Sure it's a great stadium to play and great atmosphere and would be the highlight of any player to play at a such a world class venue. At this point in time it's best they stick to Elland Road, maybe in the future the London Broncos could attract a bigger following and then we could see matches taken to Wembley more often.

It's time to ditch Elland Road which is past it's sell by date. I think it's time they looked at Newcastle United's St James's Park or Bramall Lane Sheffield. Unfortunately there aren't that many stadia in the RL heartlands that can hold around 40,000. The majority are smaller or outside the main RL fanbase.

 

[deluded pom?]

Not having a go, but for all the fuss around Wembley, it looks like a pretty ordinary design for watching footy.

To me, it's a bit like Homebush vs Suncorp or SFS - too low and flat, with spectators way back from the action (at Homebush, I find myself watching half the game on the big screen rather than the field).

I've never been there myself, so only going off photos I've seen, but would be curious to know what those that have been there think.

The old WS was due for a revamp and since the rebuild I've only been the once. I was actually disappointed with the stadium. I was about two thirds the way up and it was too steep for me with the seats at the very back being ridiculously high. Again, like you, I'd imagine people sat there watching the screen rather than the match.

 

[WireMan]

It's time to ditch Elland Road which is past it's sell by date. I think it's time they looked at Newcastle United's St James's Park or Bramall Lane Sheffield. Unfortunately there aren't that many stadia in the RL heartlands that can hold around 40,000. The majority are smaller or outside the main RL fanbase.

City of Manc stadium is an alright size. Their is nowhere other than Elland road that is big enough in Yorkshire though, maybe Hull? Newcastle is good, but it would be at the expense of a Yorkshire game.

I don't like the football team being based at Wembley, they should play games around the country, its the national team afterall. I would not Rugby to go down that route. Its already the national stadium and the home of the cup final. Throw in a few internationals and you are set.

I think it would do nothing but add lustre to the program. London is a world class city, and, no offense intended, the league heartland cities are not. The movers and the shakers of big business live in London, wouldn't you want to be near all that money. It makes it easier for some of it to come your way if your in the same place. Schmoozing never hurts when it comes to support for your program.

Nah, the North is getting its act together now. Its just the square mile in London that inflates London figures. Most of London, especially around Wembley is not that rich.

The old WS was due for a revamp and since the rebuild I've only been the once. I was actually disappointed with the stadium. I was about two thirds the way up and it was too steep for me with the seats at the very back being ridiculously high. Again, like you, I'd imagine people sat there watching the screen rather than the match.

I wasn't that impressed either. Problem is though, if you want a stadium to hold that many people some of them are going to be far away. Its all undercover, and is comfy.

The middle corporate tier is a killer though, it just stops any atmosphere speading around the ground. If your above it, you feel a bit sperate from the game. I prefered the olympic gallery at the old one. Stick the corporate peeps out the way.

 

[deluded pom?]

The middle corporate tier is a killer though, it just stops any atmosphere speading around the ground. If your above it, you feel a bit sperate from the game. I prefered the olympic gallery at the old one. Stick the corporate peeps out the way.

It was a ridiculous decision to sell all of the corporate areas as a job lot. Not that many holders are interested in RL and it just looks terrible when they don't take their seats. This isn't just a problem for RL though as the same happens at some of the less glamorous games the football team play.

 

[PacificCoastRL]

I sincerely hope not. Would the ARL consider making Melbourne the permanent home for Kangaroo matches? I don't have a problem with regular international matches at Wembley but I'd never want it to be a permanent home for the England team. London may well be a world class city but it also has world class prices. The vast majority of people who support RL are based in the north and would soon tire of the travelling and expense involved. When Wembley was being rebuilt the football team had to take the game to the people playing games in Manchester, Newcastle etc. Why should people from the north ALWAYS have to go to London to see THEIR team? The FA even toyed with playing games on a Friday evening when anyone not from the southeast had to take time off work and pay for accomodation to see the games. More expense on top of an already costly exercise. Either that or travel through the night to get home. The 2012 Olympics are nearly upon us. An event that is now almost four times over budget at nearly £10 billion. All taxpayers will have to pay this money but only London will benefit from the improved or new facilities. London is not the centre of the universe.

My vision for moving the team to London would be to attract NEW fans to the game of rugby league. I think that has been part of rugby league's problem. It is too regionalized. It's as if the sport is Northern England's or NSW and Queensland's dirty little secret. People - rugby league is the greatest game there is. I have no qualms in saying that. I have covered hockey, baseball, football, basketball, soccer and myriad other sports for newspapers. None of them compare to rugby league. For the game to spread it needs to be on the world stage as much as possible.
The game needs to go to London and Paris and New York and Vancouver, world class cities, where the money is, where the media heads are.

 

[PacificCoastRL]

I agree with you on your view of the London Olympics though DP. But that is for another thread. The same situation occurred in Vancouver, and, I am sure, in other host cities. I remember watching the announcement of Vancouver being awarded the OG. To me it was a sad day. There are so many other uses for the money that is being wasted on the Olympics. Housing, education, health, etc...

 

[Evil Homer]

My vision for moving the team to London would be to attract NEW fans to the game of rugby league. I think that has been part of rugby league's problem. It is too regionalized. It's as if the sport is Northern England's or NSW and Queensland's dirty little secret. People - rugby league is the greatest game there is. I have no qualms in saying that. I have covered hockey, baseball, football, basketball, soccer and myriad other sports for newspapers. None of them compare to rugby league. For the game to spread it needs to be on the world stage as much as possible.
The game needs to go to London and Paris and New York and Vancouver, world class cities, where the money is, where the media heads are.

I understand what you are saying, but logically it wouldn't make any sense to play every match at Wembley. Wembley is a 90,000 capacity stadium with high costs to rent out, and for the less high-profile matches you might be looking at attracting as few as 10,000 fans, simply because the level of interest isn't as high as it is in the North. For a sport like RL, we need to make as much money as possible from the international game. Playing every match at Wembley wouldn't be cost effective, and playing internationals in an empty stadium wouldn't be a good look for the sport at all. I'd be happy with one international match a year at Wembley, any more and we risk diluting the interest too thinly.

 

[juro]

So are all England home games in the soccer played at Wembley? You'd think they would move them about the country a bit, maybe using 3 or 4 different locations. I guess distance is not so much of an issue compared to in Australia...

 

[deluded pom?]

So are all England home games in the soccer played at Wembley? You'd think they would move them about the country a bit, maybe using 3 or 4 different locations. I guess distance is not so much of an issue compared to in Australia...

The FA paid for the new Wembley so ALL England football games are played there whether it's Andorra or Spain. Even before the rebuild all games were at the old Wembley. They only took the games to the people when they had to. If you live in the further most northerly point in England then if you want to see YOUR country play at home you have to travel to London to do it.

 

[roughyedspud]

the FA actually has a 25 year contract with 'wembley national stadium limited' to play all senior england games at wembley........WNSL is a subsidury of the FA

 

[deluded pom?]

the FA actually has a 25 year contract with 'wembley national stadium limited' to play all senior england games at wembley........WNSL is a subsidury of the FA

So they own the company they have a 25 year contract with :?

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

So they own the company they have a 25 year contract with :?

Much like News Ltd and the NRL.

 

[franklin2323]

Is Old trafford or St James park travelling distance to the league centres?? Elland is great now but into the future bigger stadium's need to be considered.

 

[WireMan]

Is Old trafford or St James park travelling distance to the league centres?? Elland is great now but into the future bigger stadium's need to be considered.

You can drive from outside Warringtons stadium to outside Old Trafford in about 25 mins if the traffic is kind.

Wigan, Saints and Widnes not much further away.

Salford is right next door.

Or you can get the train into manc from these places plus Leeds, Hudds etc. Train to Oxford Road, then the metro (or walk, about 15 mins stroll) out to the ground.

Easy.

 

[deluded pom?]

St James' Park is a different prospect being about 140 miles from Hull and about 145 miles to Manchester