In the opening paragraph of the first story in this series I wrote 'If there is one thing that screams out at me from these figures it is that (lack of) ground capacity is the biggest problem facing our sport today.” Those clubs which have steadily developed their grounds over the years have almost immediately seen that extra capacity swallowed up by latent demand. With the exception of Saracens and to a lesser extent Wasps those teams that have had room in which to grow have grown spectacularly.

Within the last five years alone Sale, Newcastle and London Irish have more than doubled their crowds. Would the same thing have happened at Leicester, Northampton, Harlequins and Gloucester had their grounds allowed them to do so? At a guess I would say yes. Had they not doubled their crowds then I believe that they would certainly have grown by far greater percentages that we have witnessed. At the very least this latent demand will ensure growth in the years to come, as existing grounds are expanded or clubs move to new, bigger stadia.

Overall crowds fell in the two seasons following 97/98 but there are reasons for this which do not apply to the current situation. In the mid-nineties a lot of speculative money was thrown at rugby. Sugar Daddies, seeing the apparent riches that soccer clubs were amassing, bought shares in rugby clubs. A huge amount of money was put into promoting these clubs, both through advertising and recruiting international stars to attract the crowds. In the latter part of the nineties this money simply ran out.

The sport focused on what it should have done in the first place, getting the package right, and getting the clubs profitable. A salary cap was introduced. The English clubs embraced European competition. It is inconceivable now that English clubs would ever again withdraw from the Heineken Cup as they did in 98/99. As recently as four years ago there were some who were forecasting the collapse of the Zurich Premiership as a competition. The reverse has happened. It has thrived and become arguably, Heineken Cup aside, the top club competition in the world.

The growth our sport is currently experiencing at club level seems to be based on solid foundations and appears set to continue. As the demand for international tickets shows, there is a huge potential still to be tapped. In many ways this journey is only just beginning.

The final article in this series will discuss how the clubs, and the competitions they play in, look set to develop in the years to come.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon