Now I know why so much Money was spent on the Valley pitch. Playing rugby ruins a pitch. We have the men and women's team playing on it, plus the rugby and the occasional U21 game. It is too much.
I'm not liking this idea. Too much use will mean the pitch will be as bald as @Hawtrey’s Beverages head.
Having just read the article, there are a few stumbling blocks, but this is a really stupid idea. The only positive is that the churned up condition of the pitch may not be too much of an issue, as under Nathan Jones we don’t play a lot of football on it.
Stand by for a long post on ITTV beginning “ladies and gentlemen, please permit me to enlighten you …” This may rake in a few extra quid but my suspicion is that Methven has leaked it to the Times to gauge the reaction of our fans …which won’t be positive.
I wonder if the terms of SE7’s lease with the Duchatelet Trust permits tenants to sub-let ? Local Authorities have very strict rules on this sort of thing.
Having read up, Wasps are seeking new investment & then want to re-establish a base in London. London is a big place, and the Valley is a long way from their catchment area. I note with wry amusement “Brains” Mundell thinks the concept of sharing with a rugby union club is an interesting concept from a financial perspective, but as usual with Mundell there is no understanding of the impact on the footballing side. A professional rugby club hammering the Valley pitch every fortnight is surely not a sensible thing from a footballing perspective. There’s a reason why this sort of model is not widely adopted.
JESUS H. CHRIST!! Apologies folks, no offence intended. I cannot believe this. Who's behind this, the Landlord? Effing old Scrote Imagine the Valley turf covered in Rugby field markings and ripped to pieces. Charming.
Quite a few have pointed out the absurdity of Charlie Methven trying to sublet something he can’t afford to buy.
Another thing this will lead to is match-day disruption for local residents every Saturday instead of every other Saturday. Though I suppose those extra fans coming to the area would be welcome in local shops, cafe's etc. I'm still very opposed to the idea though. Would rather see the women's football team play at the Valley every other Sunday. That might eventually draw in more than a few hundred extra fans for local shops to serve (those that open on Sundays).
This is a good point @lardiman The demographic changes to Charlton in recent years lead me to think that not many of the local residents these days are Charlton fans. You can bet they will be beating a path to Greenwich Council’s door if this plan goes much further. Charles Hawtrey is full of wind about Wasps plans, but no club rugby or football can just magic 20,000 new fans out of thin air.
If you buy a house near a train station expect to hear trains and if you buy a house near a stadium expect crowds
A fair point. My family were the first tenants in their home straight after it was built nearly 100 years ago. No other family has ever lived there. It's a two minute walk from the Gates of the Valley. Even back then (around 1930) there were crowds coming to games around the same size as those of today. A few years later in the mid-late 1930's massive crowds used to attend 1st Division home games. 40,000+ was not unusual. Not many of them came by car though. The crush around Charlton Station must have been a sight to see. The nuisance began back in the 1970's I guess, when hooliganism was on the rise and property was getting damaged. Fortunately that's a thing of the past in the immediate area of the Valley, as far as I'm aware.
You must be worth a fortune Lardi ? Have you considered buying the Valley back for us fans when the time comes ?
This is true. I used to work for a PLC that owned line side property - you would be amazed at the number of people who don’t realise that living next to a railway line is both noisy & disruptive (tracks have to be maintained in a narrow window between 1-5am). Line side property is always at least 10% cheaper than comparable property away from the railway for that reason.
Apparently good news on this matter; https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/articles/cq6l0rd7yqgo A new ground in Kent (Swanley) for Wasps so it seems. Don't know how long that will take to build though.
