The plans will come as no surprise to fans, who are now used to the idea being touted through the media, but comments from Peter Thomas today would imply the move is most definitely on.

Thomas told the South Wales Echo today;

“Cardiff Blues have been in discussions with the council, management of Cardiff Athletic Club and Cardiff City Football Club concerning the prospects of sharing the playing facilities at Leckwith. Without question this has a huge appeal to supporters and players. We have seen the facilities at the Ospreys and Swansea City with the Liberty Stadium.”

It’s commonly known information that the Blues held talks with City representatives during the Sam Hamman era about a proposed ground share, and have continued for months. However, with Hamman now out of the picture, talks hold a lot more eight, and are now entering their latter stages.

Those are the facts. The rest of this article is opinion. I would like to make that clear.

Idiots.

Anybody who believes that Cardiff Blues and Cardiff City sharing a ground is a good idea can only be described using the above word.

The Leckwith based stadium is set to seat around 30,000 fans, a figure that both parties are currently failing to get. While City have the potential to sell out such a number, the Blues will struggle greatly to even half fill it.

This weekend’s Millennium Stadium clash against Leicester is perhaps the second highest profile fixture of this season (To Munster in the HC), and even now, have only sold 17,000 tickets. While that number is expected to rise sharply between now and kick off, it is unlikely to double, an amount that would still not fill the proposed new ground.

So that’s the first of many issues skimmed over, there would be a lack of atmosphere and noise, something that is evident in the Liberty Stadium, just 20,000 full house.

There have been many critics of that ground, while it is a stunning venue, it’s clearly too big even for the high flying Ospreys, and many of the regions fans have even called to move back to the Gnoll.

At the moment, the Blues have it all at the Arms Park. A fabulous city-centre location, with easy access by public transport and the added ability of easy parking make it a brilliant place to call home.

Moving to Leckwith goes completely against all these pro’s.

Then there are the traditional values. Not only is a move away from the Arms park the final nail in the Cardiff Rugby Football Club coffin, but it will alienate hundreds of fans , not to mention something close to my heart, no clubhouse.

Another issue worth taking into contention is the pitches quality given so much playing time over the course of the season. With that in mind, more unconventional kick off times and dates are necessary to accommodate City’s Saturday midday matches.

Then there are the financial implications. This is where it gets complicated, but also the No.1 thing on both parties minds. Clearly, both stand to win financially, or else it wouldn’t be given a second look.

The basic details would be that Cardiff City owned the stadium, and Cardiff Blues rented it of them. This is of course is an unstable future for the Blues, and not something they should want to get involved with.

Looking deeper, there probably are benefits in the long run. Begrudged as I am to say so, there are ways to secure the future of the region for the next 10 years, with enough cash to bring in a global super star every year.

If, and it is a big if, the Cardiff Athletic Club and Cardiff RFC Ltd. (Owner of the Cardiff Blues) can arrange a sale of the Arms Park land, then there is a lot of money to be gained. That land is the most expensive in Wales; however there are stumbling blocks in selling given the deeds of the land given to them by Lord Bute.

It’s an issue that will rage from now until the likely move.

But I think there is an easy answer. Yes, the Arms Park is unstable and probably unsafe. It will cost a lot of money to repair, and may not really be worth it; hence the move.

In my own mind, a move away from the Arms Park is a bad thing, but not the worst, a 30,000+ stadium is.

We need a new stadium at some point in the next 5 years, but they must not just jump at the first chance to move when it’s clearly the wrong answer.

The Scarlets have the right plan, but obviously they weren’t in a position to take up such a venture.

Ideally in my mind, we would knock down the current Arms Park and rebuild on the same ground, but the stadium running the opposite way, with the touchline to the Taff like the Stadium next to it. Cardiff don’t need any more than 20,000, and even that at a push. If the option was there to share an 18,500 ground with City, half the problems would be solved.

Well that’s my view very much in a nutshell. Admittedly, we need changes. The Arms Park will not last 10 years, and in the quest for true regionalism, we need to make a step toward the future, and being able to differentiate between the region and the club.

Update:

It’s a controversial issue, so what do you think? Make your opinions heard on the topic ‘Moving’ on the message board.

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