London Irish to Groundshare with Brentford |
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NobbySosban
Veteran Joined: 30 June 2010 Location: Sir Berk Status: Offline Points: 6278 |
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Posted: 18 December 2018 at 12:23pm |
London Irish have confirmed that they will be tenants at the new Brentford FC Lionel Road ground from the 2020/21 season.
Having lodged with Reading FC at the Madejski Stadium for the past 20 years, the Exiles are moving closer to their historical base in south west London, the new ground will be a smaller venue, with a capacity of 17,250 (compared to the Madejski's 24,000). They'll also be much nearer their training base in Sunbury-on-Thames - having been to a Minis rugby festival there a few weeks ago, I have to say it's a superb facility, with great natural & AGP pitches. Following Wasps' move to Coventry, this will leave a gap in the Thames Valley* - Irish have struggled to build a support base around Reading, especially after being relegated to the Championship, but lots of families and local clubs from Berks & Hants who have supported the club through some fairly dire years. The trek to 'West Chiswick' (estate agent-speak for Brentford) won't be too bad for some, but the stadium in in the shadow of the elevated section of the M4, already notorious for its traffic congestion. (*the Valley is a core rugby region, of course ) |
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dyniol53
Veteran Joined: 08 April 2018 Location: Llundain Status: Offline Points: 1949 |
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Clearly trying to pull the crowds in with their investment in Sean O'Brien Lots of wealthy Irish exiles around Chiswick, Richmond and Kew so it's a smart move for Irish. Re-traffic - The new stadium is by a train station direct to Clapham Junction and Waterloo & it's a 15 mins taxi from Heathrow, 25 mins via tube. Easy away day! Think there could/should be a move for Pro14 to absorb the Exile teams, especially if English Prem goes ring-fenced. There's more of a 'market' for Rugby in SW London than there is in the USA... If London Welsh hadn't bankrupted themselves back in the day with a move to Oxford they should've nabbed this stadium deal. It's 10 mins from Old Deer Park
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LLANDRE
Veteran Joined: 31 July 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 17329 |
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Always enjoyed playing London Irish. Hopefully they can ge,the show back on the road There's talk of Paddy Jackson going there if Perpingnan get relegated.
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West is Best (Fin gwybod)
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dyniol53
Veteran Joined: 08 April 2018 Location: Llundain Status: Offline Points: 1949 |
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I’m sure Paddy Jackson would be good for PR 😂
All publicity is good publicity haha |
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Mrfwon
Veteran Joined: 17 January 2008 Location: Basingstoke Status: Offline Points: 17606 |
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Living and working in the area, London Irish have built up a superb fan base over the years from not just Reading, but many other places, especially Basingstoke.
The move back to London will be a good move for the Irish to be honest, they still have a large core support down there that used to travel up the M4 since they moved out of the Stoop. Back in the day, they used to draw bigger crowds to the Stoop than what Harlequins did. Will be a loss for Reading for sure, but the town is more football orientated. Yes, there are a sprinkling of pubs that promote the Irish and welcome home and away support, but they are just that, just a sprinkling. Have enjoyed many a trip over to the Mad Stad to watch us play the Irish, and thankfully, and never seen us lose there. Will be sad to see them move to be honest.
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Scarlets!!!
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Airdaa
Groupie Joined: 06 September 2014 Location: Bangor Status: Offline Points: 197 |
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With the signing of Sean O’Brien and rumoured signing of Paddy Jackson, will bring back the Irish element to the team which in turn should encourage the Irish diaspora to turn up to support them.
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