Wasps update February 2024

[JF]

Kent would mean my continued absence, unfortunately.

For purely selfish reasons, ground share with Barnet at the Hive. Close to where we came from, on the Tube, not a million miles from the M1 and M25. Same colours.

Barnet are talking about a new stadium back in Barnet, too.

[Neils]

RugbyPass article  by the dubious Paul Smith also quoting the nasty Gilbert but worth a scan -


https://www.rugbypass.com/news/wasps-re-emergence-raises-more-questions-than-it-answers/

[Sliminator]

I'm keen to see Wasps resurrected. And the URC would be an interesting prospect.

It offers some interesting challenges for a new the new entity, new fans may be more difficult to engage in a non domestic league. Attracting away fans makes the location even more important, firstly good transport links and a nearby airport, second an away weekend to an industrial estate near a motorway is no where near as attractive as a weekend in Dublin, Cardiff, Edinburgh etc.

[Steve from Cov]

RugbyPass article  by the dubious Paul Smith also quoting the nasty Gilbert but worth a scan -


https://www.rugbypass.com/news/wasps-re-emergence-raises-more-questions-than-it-answers/

Paul Smith is an a*se with an axe to grind. Unpopular locally.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

RugbyPass article  by the dubious Paul Smith also quoting the nasty Gilbert but worth a scan -


https://www.rugbypass.com/news/wasps-re-emergence-raises-more-questions-than-it-answers/

Paul Smith is an a*se with an axe to grind. Unpopular locally.

Very much so.

Makes me wonder how Mr Holland will get himself out of the EPIC and Sixways. Maybe the deal he has with Birmingham City will become permanent.

Then he will have a nice farm house there to sell also. I wonder if the contractors who did all that work ever got paid? I know that they had not been when Wasps folded.

[Neils]

I see Coventry Rugby see Wasps future in the URC (Rugby Paper).

[NellyWellyWaspy]

I see Coventry Rugby see Wasps future in the URC (Rugby Paper).

Well, the would, wouldn't they? Not much love lost when it all went ####s up.

[Heathen]

TBH I reckon that URC would a good place for Wasps to rock up. Better option than the heap of dog poo that masquerades as the Premiership.

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Very much so.

Makes me wonder how Mr Holland will get himself out of the EPIC and Sixways. Maybe the deal he has with Birmingham City will become permanent.

Then he will have a nice farm house there to sell also. I wonder if the contractors who did all that work ever got paid? I know that they had not been when Wasps folded.

The house was separate from the EPIC. I believe Derek retained ownership of the house.

[Neils]

Coventry comments reported -

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/todays-rugby-news-fallen-english-28746693

[NellyWellyWaspy]

Coventry comments reported -

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/todays-rugby-news-fallen-english-28746693

And, just remember folks, Coventry never went bust and got demoted to the bottom most league. Oh, wait, they did go bust? Did they get kicked to the bottom? No. Short memories, people in glass houses.

Meritocracy my @r5e. Anywhere money is involved, there will be sharks and speakers of untruths.

[Mellie]

There's an interesting article in the Telegraph about rugby brand recognition, particularly regarding young people.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2024/03/04/northampton-change-crest-target-younger-fans/

Northampton Saints, currently top of the Premiership, are aiming to create a new badge for next season because very few people recognise it and even their own supporters cannot draw it from memory.

This got me thinking about other teams' brands. I recon if you showed a typical sample of people all the Premiership and Championship club badges (without give away wording) they would struggle to identify most of them, even if they were told they were rugby clubs.

If the clubs that went bust were included as well I am sure that the Wasps badge would be one of the most widely recognised, even today.

That sort of convinces me that the argument about the Wasps brand is actually cogent and relevant to growing the game, regardless of what the Championship clubs, or others, think.

[westwaleswasp]

Wasps are there with Bath and Tigers for recognition. It takes a special kind of moron to willingly avoid the fact that Wasps have that kind of status. Morons from Tigers abound, because they see gate attendance as equal to brand recognition, but that thinking avoids the fact that nobody outside of those with strong local connections supported Tigers. Not true for Bath, who have the advantage of being one of the most visited and adored cities in England, who often garner neutral support.
Here in Wales, they often refer to 'The Wasps'. Normally alongside the word 'giants'. Fallen giants nowadays. Giants is a word not applied to Sarries, but one reserved for Bath and Tigers. It might be 20 years out of date, but that is the way things are seen.

[Skippy]

I can think of a few ways the term giant could be applied to Sarries. It pairs nicely with cheats for example.

[Robson9]

Coventry comments reported -

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/todays-rugby-news-fallen-english-28746693

And, just remember folks, Coventry never went bust and got demoted to the bottom most league. Oh, wait, they did go bust? Did they get kicked to the bottom? No. Short memories, people in glass houses.

Meritocracy my @r5e. Anywhere money is involved, there will be sharks and speakers of untruths.

Coventry entered administration, and were rescued a month later, paid off their rugby debts, retained their squad and were hit with a points deduction that relegated them.

Wasps went into administration, were relegated and were given opportunities to find alternative funding. They failed to do that.  They made every employee unemployed and wrapped up.  They were then given a considerable period of time to find alternative funding with a place in the championship open and waiting for them. They failed again. The club that once was is completely dead and has been for several years.

The situations are completely different. If coventry had not found their funding and gone out of existence they would have been forced to start from the bottom. If Wasps had found buyers and funding on the two separate occasions they were given opportunity to do so they'd be playing one division down from where they were when they went into administration, which is the same punishment dished out to coventry.