London Welsh in bid for Kassam Stadium

London Welsh say they want to base themselves in Oxford permanently and are in talks to buy the Kassam Stadium.

Managing director John Taylor says they are in discussions with investors to help fund the move, which it is understood will be without Oxford United with whom they share the ground... Taylor says they are looking for funding and have spoken to some major investors in Wales that are keen to help finance the purchase of the stadium, which opened in 2001.
Source BBC

Sounds like they're really looking at becoming a fixture in the top flight of English rugby. Would be nice to know who these heavy weight investors in Wales are and why they don't feel like investing in rugby in Wales. Good business for them if it comes off.

Would be nice to know who these heavy weight investors in Wales are and why they don't feel like investing in rugby in Wales.

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what is the size of Kassam Stadium and where is it in relation to their base or oxford

Reading over it again I thought that the WRU could be a potential partner as they are focusing their resources much like a business and owning part of LW/Kassam Stadium would be a healthy addition to their portfolio. If so what is the end game? More Welsh players playing outside of Wales? A 6th region based in the heart of England. All speculation of course.

...being involved in proper club rugby which isn't controlled from blydi Dublin...

Brendan wrote:what is the size of Kassam Stadium and where is it in relation to their base or oxford

It has a capacity of 12,500 and meets all of the criteria for the RFU premiership stadium regulation. In the article it states that LW have been making a lot of effort in the community and have people working with schools and clubs in the area. Also I saw on Sky's The Rugby Club one of the club officials said that Welsh people were the largest minority in Oxford. I think it might have been tongue in cheek though.

Coleman wrote:Reading over it again I thought that the WRU could be a potential partner as they are focusing their resources much like a business and owning part of LW/Kassam Stadium would be a healthy addition to their portfolio. If so what is the end game? More Welsh players playing outside of Wales? A 6th region based in the heart of England. All speculation of course.

I'm sure I read somewhere that all English league clubs have to sign up to a charter that states that their focus is on producing players for England, not for other countries. And rightly so. Therefore, while we here in Wales would probably like it if we had another place to nurture our young talent, as part of the English league LW couldn't fill their squad with players aspiring to pay for wales and use the AP as a development arena for the Wales national side. A few 'foreign' players is fine obviously, but the overall aim has to be a focus on England national team development pathways or else they'll be in trouble.

Everything developing at such a pace it was Brentford last week Kassam this.

A bit off for their fans in London isnt it. Couldnt they simply refurb Deer Park?
Dare say they'd attract more people being in London than ...Oxford.

So, if they're not Welsh and they're not from London I think a name change is in order.

I agree Cyril, but lets be consistent across the board. London Wasps do not play in London and are not yellow and black stinging creatures, they are humans. A name change sorely needed. So too London Irish, playing in Reading with not many Irish players. It's a trade descriptions problem, no doubt.

seem to be averaging about 4500 per game, which isn't bad for just moving to Oxford.

I think London Welsh are afflicated to both RFU and WRU, but since they play in Prem, their aim is to produce players for the English national team.

Think the WRU link is just symoblic, and they were olny ever considering leaving the RFU leagues, if the Prem was ring fenced without them. Which makes sense, as it would be thier only option of being a top flight team.

London Wasps have never really been a London club. I believe their 'spiritual' home is in Sudbury and is now a Hindi Community Centre. They would have been founding members of the RFU but their representative went to the wrong pub and got pi$$ed.
Don't really see an issue with LW keeping their monika, there certainly aren't many native Americans down in Devon either!

Griff wrote:I agree Cyril, but lets be consistent across the board. London Wasps do not play in London and are not yellow and black stinging creatures, they are humans. A name change sorely needed. So too London Irish, playing in Reading with not many Irish players. It's a trade descriptions problem, no doubt.

Yep, a root and branch investigation needs to take place.

Can you "compel" clubs to produce players for England ? Seems a bit "restraint of trade" to me.
Wouldn't it be up to the individual player to decide who they want to play for, I'm sure at the amateur development levels there are lots of players at London Welsh and the other "exile" clubs who may be England qualifed by birth but would also consider playing for their ancestral country. Can the clubs really say we can't take you on unless you agree to play for England?

What I meant was that turning London Welsh into a 5th welsh region by sending welsh players there with the aim of them playing for Wales. That's not the development pathway charter that the clubs have signed up to in England. It's not really restraint of trade. Sometimes sport can have rules that sit outside of business and employment laws, that serve to protect sport in its own right. e.g. Teams can impose foreign player quotas, international teams can only play players deemed to be from one country, females are not allowed to play pro rugby with men, etc!

Irish Londoner wrote:Can you "compel" clubs to produce players for England ? Seems a bit "restraint of trade" to me.
Wouldn't it be up to the individual player to decide who they want to play for, I'm sure at the amateur development levels there are lots of players at London Welsh and the other "exile" clubs who may be England qualifed by birth but would also consider playing for their ancestral country. Can the clubs really say we can't take you on unless you agree to play for England?

Not compelled as such, rather they are rewarded for having (please correct me if i'm wrong?) 14 of the matchday 23 as EQ. I believe the going rate is £400,000.With fines attributable for each time the total is not reached. I may be confusing two different pots of cash but i think the general gist is correct.

I am not a fan of LW but I grew up in Oxford and its great to have top level rugby there. Relatives still living in the area were going to watch Wasps as the closest AP team but now have LW on the doorstep. If they can turn themselves into a sustainable team with a proper academy and ground from the bunch of mercenaries and journeymen they are now then good luck to them. (Its also good to see what you can do when you get a set of guys like that to play as an actual team.)

The Kassam stadium is to the south east of the city, in amongst the science parks. I have no idea as to how well served it is by public transport but by road its just off the ring road and easy to find/ not liable to the traffic problems of Oxford proper.

GeordieFalcon wrote:A bit off for their fans in London isnt it. Couldnt they simply refurb Deer Park?
Dare say they'd attract more people being in London than ...Oxford.

Because of its location in a historic park major development would be as problematic as bath doing the rec up.
They also have local competition from quins just over the bridge and Richmond plus Scottish in the same park.
It's not like they were a massively well supported club in London anyway.

seem to be averaging about 4500 per game, which isn't bad for just moving to Oxford.

I think London Welsh are afflicated to both RFU and WRU, but since they play in Prem, their aim is to produce players for the English national team.

Think the WRU link is just symoblic, and they were olny ever considering leaving the RFU leagues, if the Prem was ring fenced without them. Which makes sense, as it would be thier only option of being a top flight team.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:A bit off for their fans in London isnt it. Couldnt they simply refurb Deer Park?
Dare say they'd attract more people being in London than ...Oxford.

Because of its location in a historic park major development would be as problematic as bath doing the rec up.
They also have local competition from quins just over the bridge and Richmond plus Scottish in the same park.
It's not like they were a massively well supported club in London anyway.

This. I've lived stones throw from this area on & off for most of my life and trying to cut through the red-tape to develop anything in that part of west London would require a blow torch. The nimbyism around there is legendary, some would say for good reason.

Its a far cry from the London Welsh that I believe was bordering on administration only 2 seasons back!
It appears that the foundation for long term club success is to have a venue that is owned/controled by the club - gate revenues can be pumped back in for future development etc and there arent large sums being spent on ground rents.

Look at -
Tigers
Gloucester
Saints
Exeter
Quins (not sure if they own their ground or have a long lease)

On the road to being there -
Sarries

Clubs with the facilities -
Worcester
Sale (whats the deal there? is it ground share?)

Suggar Daddy clubs like Bath are exempt from this.

Strugglers -
Wasps
Lon Irish
Newcastle

Good on Lon Welsh if they succeed in buying the Kassam, I'm going there this weekend hopefully to check out the facilities.

Apparently this is not true...


London Welsh chief executive Tony Copsey has denied that the club are in discussions to buy the Kassam Stadium.

The Premiership side, who share the 12,500 capacity ground with League Two football club Oxford United, were first linked with a possible purchase back in July having secured promotion to English rugy's top flight. And on Friday, Exiles managing director John Taylor was quoted as saying that "conversations had been had" with stadium owner Firoz Kassam.

But London Welsh have since released a statement claiming that "this information is incorrect" and that any suggestoin that the Exiles were looking to purchase the stadium is premature.

"There is no doubt that we as a club have enjoyed a very successful start to playing our home matches at the Kassam Stadium," Copsey said. "We have worked hard to begin bedding into the local community in Oxfordshire.

"Achieving an over 10,000 crowd at the recent Wasps match, supports our belief that there is a good appetite for rugby in the Oxfordshire area. However any talk of us as a club buying the Kassam, is premature at best. Our immediate focus is on Premiership survival and developing our club as a business to compete within the top echelons of English rugby.

"Certainly any purchase of the Kassam in the future, if we remain in the Premiership, would be something we would consider, but not without consultation with many stake holders including Oxford United Football Club."

These views were echoed by the Kassm himself who told BBC Radio Oxford: "They have made no approach. We have a rental agreement for the one term, with an option for a second - there have been no discussions about a purchase."

© ESPN EMEA Ltd

GeordieFalcon wrote:A bit off for their fans in London isnt it. Couldnt they simply refurb Deer Park?
Dare say they'd attract more people being in London than ...Oxford.

Can't do that.

From what I've heard it's either something to do with the council or something to do with it being old Queeny's land, and as such we commoners may not use it for our own ends.

Old bitch has enough land already she can spare some

This has popped back up on the BBC news website, but now its that they wan't to buy the ground with Oxford United.

If we are to sustain our future in Oxford and Oxfordshire it means working with a lot of stakeholders and partners, and that includes Oxford United football club, the local council and the local community," Copsey told BBC Oxford. We really want to do that.

A permanent move to Oxfordshire for Premiership strugglers Welsh could depend on whether they avoid relegation this season, as they lie five points ahead of bottom club Sale in the table. BBC

Looks like a lot is happening behind the scenes at London Welsh. Bad pieces of journalism by the BBC, i thought LW were 10 points clear of Sale. :-x