The Feral Goat wrote:Both big Murrayfield and Myreside have proved to be divisive and largely unsuitable to Edinburghs needs one way or the other so we need to try something else. I have said it before but personally I think we have to get away from moving every “big” game to the main pitch at Murrayfield, so long as there is always capacity a significant number of fans will only come to the big games.
If we want the fan base to grow sustainably we need to sell more STs. To do that firstly we have to be winning and playing rugby people want to see, which we appear to be progressing towards, but it would also help if the only way to guarantee a ticket for the big games was to have an ST. Now I appreciate that not everyone can afford an ST be it financially or the regular time commitment etc but we need to increase demand and if there is only 7.5k tickets available to see Hamish run over Racing 92s Finn Russell next season that is good thing in my opinion.
Given our current crowd numbers we are a bit away from worrying about filling a 7.5k seater but we need to start somewhere, commit to the temp stands on the back pitches for the length of Cockerills contract and see where we end up, if we are selling out every home game within 2 seasons and need more capacity great, I don’t see any other more viable options at present there just isn't a suitable venue now or on the cards anywhere in the city I can see for the foreseeable future.
Agree almost wholly with TFG's seminal post. My one point of departure is that I thought Myreside was a distinct improvement on the Library. At BTM, the wee quiet crowd in a cavernous empty stadium always felt a bit odd to me. When I took a party there, the lady members were shuffling their feet at half-time and wondering if we couldn't leave and go somewhere else please? I only got up from London for two Myreside games this season and only took one party of family and chums, but that went pretty well and they all seemed to like the clubhouse, the new outside caterers were a big improvement and everyone seemed to think it was a good night out. I appreciate that others have different experiences and views.
The only reason we are leaving Myreside I think is because of the pitch becoming unplayable, everything else came together eventually. If we had stayed, the SRU/school would have needed to invest in an artificial pitch for next term and, at something like £800K, I can well understand that the school were not able/willing to go halves and that the SRU accordingly prioritised replacing the 3G pitch at BTM.
All that said, very happy to be going to a new temp stadium on the Murrayfield back pitches. The big advantage there, unlike Myreside, Raeburn Place and all the other oft-debated contenders, is that there is enough space there to develop a suitable stadium, with room to spare. Myreside was one restricted pitch, Accies use their small ground for cricket in summer, which rules out more stands and an artificial pitch surface, etc. At BTM, with 4 near-enough international-size pitches on the back pitches, there is the space to get the right stadium configuration, with the flexibilty to expand.
As the SRU owns the land, there is no rent payment involved, which is a definite plus. Nearly all the facilities are already on site, parking, access roads, security, changing rooms, medical facilities, Presidents Suite etc, etc. If the SRU can stretch resources to provide a 7,500 temp stand and an artificial pitch surface, I'd say we are very lucky bunnies indeed and should (a) thank Mark Dodson and the SRU profusely and (b) ALL get behind the plan and make it work now, it is the very best option in town.
The dyed-in-the-wool rugby afficionados who think stadium facilities and atmosphere are a minor consideration next to winning rugby are welcome to take my picky group of casual attenders any time and see how that one plays!