Yes what you say is correct, Leigh were in the same position until degsy came along - but do they own the stadium ?
if degsy walks they are in the same (actually worse) position
How can we afford to build a new stadium ?
we need to work with the council as partners for now
everton ladies no longer play there I see, so is it just us and the football ?
look at shuddersfield - they have now bought the shay, allowing them to play there next season until their new (very smaller) stadium is built
all about points with the grading system - which we would benefit from if we played in a smaller stadium - but where ?
West Bank ? Runcorn ?
I heard some news about widnes fc getting a stadium in motion, could be worthwhile considering partnering with them as I feel the halton stadium doesn’t serve us well. I would like to see the new stadium in widnes with maybe a 7500 capacity as we could fill that if we ever get back up to super league. If we look at the wire game over 7000 and we made £38000. That’s not good enough
The Widnes FC 'stadium' will be a pitch on Leigh Rec with a permiter fence added and the old corpy club renovated,hardly suitable even for the small crowds of 2500 at Vikings games.To all intents and purposes Widnes are playing in a 7000 capacity venue with both the East and West stands redundant for home league games.I think the club asked for this to be taken into consideration for their IMG grading.
Yes, even if we go with the football club we still are not masters of our own destiny as we are tied with them and the stadium.
the IMG gradings need to be revisited - but they won’t be !
@mckviking I'd love to know the thinking the council had when deciding to build a 13,000 seater stadium. Of course, Naughton Park wasn't fit for purpose and had to go, but honestly, how many times since it was built has it been close to being full for any sporting occasion ? Rugby fixtures will never come close and the football team certainly won't ever trouble the maximum capacity. A bit of a white elephant if you ask me. I doubt the club can do anything off it's own back without council say-so to generate revenue. For the Vikings to move forward, they will need a stadium of their own - however unlikely that is. It doesn't have to be a grand affair, but at least a large chunk of matchday revenue would come to the club itself. Even when the Chemics were in their heyday years ago, crowds weren't that fantastic. How do you get out of a situation of having no money and being stuck in a stadium that isn't yours ? It's a very difficult one and unless there's some moneybags sugar daddy on the horizon(which there isn't)I wonder how anything will change.
The requirements (then) for Super League was to have a 12,000+ capacity, so I would imagine that played a major part.
The problem isn't necessarily the size of the stadium, but the lack of community (and also commercial) involvement now as others have eluded to. Warrington, as an example, have local NHS services based at their stadium; they rent office/headquarter space to organisations, boxes are hired out for meetings etc, they hold conferences etc.
The Halton Stadium largely looks and feels like it's a burden, when it should be a huge asset to the town.
James is quite correct regarding the size of stadiums considered desirable. Plus memories were still filled with stadium tragedies, fire, crushing deaths etc plus we were still high performers on the RL stage when the design and funding was being considered.
The Council saw the advertising gained from TV showing etc was a big plus in getting the Widnes/Halton name in the scramble for industrial investment and jobs ( a high priority at the time).
The govt of the day was investing in sport and whatever was applied for had to fit the desired safety criteria. At that time 'all-seater' was seen as a protection against another Hillsborough!!!
Of course other clubs, latecomers looking for reducing govt finance had to cut their standards resulting in a return to standing areas!!!!( Hillsborough was soon forgotten!)
@berkeleyviking Leigh Sports Village, including the stadium, is wholly owned by Wigan Council. Leigh are totally dependent on Degsy's money albeit they get decent crowds etc.
I too recall the condition of the 12,000 capacity grounds for SL participation. It didn't seem that outlandish at the time tbh; does now.
That would mean Cas and Wakey are approaching 30 years of non-conformity with SL1 regs 😆.
I’m sat here listening to James’s latest podcast and he’s talking to the new board member who turns out to be a nephew of Tony Chambers, he seems to be a great addition to our current board. He is in Insurance and he isn’t from Widnes which could give a good perspective. He skirted around some questions but he is definitely invested in the club as a director and a fan. He didn’t say how we would make improvements specifically but will hopefully be a driving force behind the development of the club from maybe a business standpoint. He’s a keen fan and sits in the north stand
I’m sat here listening to James’s latest podcast and he’s talking to the new board member who turns out to be a nephew of Tony Chambers, he seems to be a great addition to our current board. He is in Insurance and he isn’t from Widnes which could give a good perspective. He skirted around some questions but he is definitely invested in the club as a director and a fan. He didn’t say how we would make improvements specifically but will hopefully be a driving force behind the development of the club from maybe a business standpoint. He’s a keen fan and sits in the north stand
Was a great episode McV (well done James and Mike as always) and v refreshing to hear the new director ls thoughts (esp as an ‘out of towner’ but still a massive fan.) Can only be good for the board and the club.