BB Breaking - Announcements

[Andywasp50]

NWW, I was thinking somewhere like Oxford could be a good location. Roughly 1 hour drive from Henley and Lemington Spa, 45 min train from Cov, 1 Hour trains from London, and ~1h30 drive from Surrey/Kent. Location ticks a lot of boxes.

Closer to Wycombe then Maidenhead could have been a shout, but much earlier in the redevelopment plans so too late now.  It's also too far from EPIC and where most players are currently based.

I think Oxford will struggle for land and they already have the Kassam, which could play at but as tenants only, could work as a temporary fix.  An area with lots of development and pretty good transport links for a potential new stadium closer to EPIC could be Bicester.  Further South, nearer a train station could be Thame - but there'd need to be much more infrastructure development and no idea on land close to Haddenham/Thame Parkway.

Maidenhead council are planning to move the Football club to Braywick park (a large area with a hotel, leisure centre and Maidenhead rugby club plus training pitches) and work with them to build a new stadium. Maybe that’s an opening - excellent road and rail links already in place and a decent catchment area for Berks, Bucks, Oxon and Chiltern areas.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

Maidenhead sounds good, but it is not a rugby heartland. Any club, unless it has a sugar daddy, like Saracens, needs fans to turn up. Irish found that Reading, just down the road, did not attract many locals.

[WonkyWasp]

The Majetski  (*? spelling!)  Stadium was too big and I thought it really soulless.  But the supporters were great, and welcoming too and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  2 Wasps in the middle of a solid block of STH Not Nots.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

The Majetski  (*? spelling!)  Stadium was too big and I thought it really soulless.  But the supporters were great, and welcoming too and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  2 Wasps in the middle of a solid block of STH Not Nots.

Yes, I went once too, nice folks, but it felt more empty that the Ricoh (as was). Irish could not wait to exit that place. Football stadia just don't have the right feeling to me. I have little doubt that Brentford doesn't feel quite right either.

[InBetweenWasp]

Maidenhead council are planning to move the Football club to Braywick park (a large area with a hotel, leisure centre and Maidenhead rugby club plus training pitches) and work with them to build a new stadium. Maybe that’s an opening - excellent road and rail links already in place and a decent catchment area for Berks, Bucks, Oxon and Chiltern areas.

Didn’t realise the plan was to move the Football Club there.  Would be a nightmare getting in/out - Perhaps marginally better than Adams Park though

[Bloke in North Dorset]

I never understood why Wycombe Council were so reluctant to allow a development near Handy Cross. A bit of a pain from the railway station but an ideal place for everything else. And its not like Adams Park was easy from the railway station.

[WonkyWasp]

I'm probably getting this muddled but I seem to remember the reason it was refused was down to one woman (who might or might not have had Biased Backers) influencing the outcome. It was a small margin I think in the final voting  and when it was decided the  female counsellor  disappeared from the Council.  Never returned.  I stand ready to be corrected but that was the version of events that I heard.  Could be apocryphal.

[wasps]

What happened to Steve Hayes after that?
Didn't he get arrested in relation to some form of corruption or something?

[MarleyWasp]

The Majetski  (*? spelling!)  Stadium was too big and I thought it really soulless.  But the supporters were great, and welcoming too and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  2 Wasps in the middle of a solid block of STH Not Nots.

Yes, I went once too, nice folks, but it felt more empty that the Ricoh (as was). Irish could not wait to exit that place. Football stadia just don't have the right feeling to me. I have little doubt that Brentford doesn't feel quite right either.

Irish's deal at the Madejski was really bad, in the region of £10 per person coming in through the turnstile. Apparently they enquired about Adams Park when Wasps moved but Wycombe didn't want another Rugby club tenant.

[hookender]

The Majetski  (*? spelling!)  Stadium was too big and I thought it really soulless.  But the supporters were great, and welcoming too and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  2 Wasps in the middle of a solid block of STH Not Nots.

Yes, I went once too, nice folks, but it felt more empty that the Ricoh (as was). Irish could not wait to exit that place. Football stadia just don't have the right feeling to me. I have little doubt that Brentford doesn't feel quite right either.

Actually like the Brentford stadium .has an old school feel, being in the centre of things , anticipation building in the pubs around, and the walk to get in. Also a a feel of being close to play. Whereas the Madjeski , CBS, Sale and Sixways have that feel of being edge of town ,put there so as not to disturb others, just watch the match and go home.

 It’s why a lot of Coventry fans still hanker for their old ground, and West Ham fans.

[WonkyWasp]

Steve Hayes . . . it's on Google. Accused, arrested, bailed; nearly 4 years later - never charged.  Accused originally of hacking. 

[InBetweenWasp]

Actually like the Brentford stadium .has an old school feel, being in the centre of things , anticipation building in the pubs around, and the walk to get in. Also a a feel of being close to play. Whereas the Madjeski , CBS, Sale and Sixways have that feel of being edge of town ,put there so as not to disturb others, just watch the match and go home.

 It’s why a lot of Coventry fans still hanker for their old ground, and West Ham fans.

+1 on Brentford.  Selfishly convenient for our tribe.  Been impressed with it as a stadium.

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Actually like the Brentford stadium .has an old school feel, being in the centre of things , anticipation building in the pubs around, and the walk to get in. Also a a feel of being close to play. Whereas the Madjeski , CBS, Sale and Sixways have that feel of being edge of town ,put there so as not to disturb others, just watch the match and go home.

 It’s why a lot of Coventry fans still hanker for their old ground, and West Ham fans.

+1 on Brentford.  Selfishly convenient for our tribe.  Been impressed with it as a stadium.

+2 I've been a few times as a Wasp and as a neutral and enjoyed it every time.

[wasps]

I've said it on here, but am I right in remembering that we enquired 8 years ago about using that newly built stadium and were told that they didn't want rugby there?


If so, do we know why they policy changed?

[DGP Wasp]

NWW, I was thinking somewhere like Oxford could be a good location. Roughly 1 hour drive from Henley and Lemington Spa, 45 min train from Cov, 1 Hour trains from London, and ~1h30 drive from Surrey/Kent. Location ticks a lot of boxes.

Closer to Wycombe then Maidenhead could have been a shout, but much earlier in the redevelopment plans so too late now.  It's also too far from EPIC and where most players are currently based.

I think Oxford will struggle for land and they already have the Kassam, which could play at but as tenants only, could work as a temporary fix.  An area with lots of development and pretty good transport links for a potential new stadium closer to EPIC could be Bicester.  Further South, nearer a train station could be Thame - but there'd need to be much more infrastructure development and no idea on land close to Haddenham/Thame Parkway.

Maidenhead council are planning to move the Football club to Braywick park (a large area with a hotel, leisure centre and Maidenhead rugby club plus training pitches) and work with them to build a new stadium. Maybe that’s an opening - excellent road and rail links already in place and a decent catchment area for Berks, Bucks, Oxon and Chiltern areas.

Not the full story. Maidenhead RFC have a 1st XV playing in Regional Premier and thriving minis and juniors sections which covers much of Braywick Park on a Sunday morning. The land is council owned and they want to dump a football stadium for Maidenhead Utd FC on land that is currently used by the minis, with no real answer to the question of where they will go once the stadium appears. The rugby club has excellent facilities and a 4G pitch, which while not universally popular, means that the facility can get a lot of use from county games, age group matches, women's and all levels of senior men's rugby. Needless to say, the stadium proposal does not sit well with the rugby club, and if Wasps rocked up in partnership with Maidenhead Utd, then they would seriously alienate the local rugby club literally on their doorstep, a club whose members they would be heavily reliant on for support.

And as for Maidenhead not being "not a rugby heartland", please see above. No shortage of interest, but tread very carefully.

(All academic anyway!)