Time Blues quit Arms Park?

Jun 22 2007 by Simon Thomas, Western Mail

Yes says Simon Thomas - HISTORY is all well and good, but we spend far too much time living in the past in Welsh rugby when we should be looking to move on.

And it’s time for the Blues to move on to pastures new.

Yes, there have been some great days at the Arms Park down the years, with Cardiff’s rain-sodden Heineken Cup victory over Bath in 1996 standing out as a personal favourite.

But the old place is starting to show its age and is a bit frayed around the edges, not to mention leaky when the heavens open.

People expect more from their stadia these days and the chance to switch to a new all-seater ground is one the Blues bosses simply cannot turn down.

Sharing a purpose-built facility with Cardiff City makes absolute sporting sense. It’s the way forward and it’s a template that has worked well elsewhere.

Just look at how London Irish have been transformed by basing themselves at the Madejski Stadium, home of Reading FC.

They used to play in front of just a couple of thousand people at their dilapidated old home at Sunbury.

Now they regularly attract some of the biggest crowds in British rugby, with a Guinness Premiership record attendance of 22,648 seeing them beat Wasps in March.

The Ospreys’ following has also gone through the roof since they have moved to the 20,500-capacity Liberty Stadium to share with Swansea City.

And there’s every reason to believe the Blues would reap similar rewards if they headed to Leckwith. As it stands, they are limited by their current home.

The days when you could fit 16,500 people into the Arms Park are long gone now, with the official capacity down to 13,000 and the practical week-to-week capacity lower than that again.

Twice in recent times, the Blues have shown what’s possible when they are able to utilise a bigger facility.

They attracted a then-record Celtic League crowd of 15,327 to the Millennium Stadium for a game against Leinster just over a year ago. And last October, some 26,000 fans rolled up at the same ground for the Heineken Cup showdown with Leicester.

Now the Blues are looking to move a further Euro encounter to the Millennium, with their meeting with Bristol set to attract another bumper crowd.

So the latent support is out there and the goal should be to attract attendances of 15,000-plus on a regular basis.

At the moment, they can’t accommodate such numbers, but with a new 25,000-capacity home, they could.

Moving would help the Blues establish a new regional identity and might attract people from outside the capital who have been put off by the close connection with the old Cardiff club.

Some 10 years ago, a proposal to relocate the Blue and Blacks at a brand new ground in Cardiff Bay was turned down and a golden opportunity was lost.

Don’t let history repeat itself.

No says Andy Howell - I’M not one for standing in the way of progress, but the Blues’ planned move to Cardiff City’s new stadium makes no sense to me... economically or rugby-wise.

As the great Barry John once said, just walking down the ramp at the Arms Park from Westgate Street brings a tingle down your spine.

Cardiff City need to get out of antiquated old Ninian Park a lot more urgently than the Blues need to leave their great, historic home.

I know the arguments about the so-called extra marketing revenue sports teams can get in the modern era from moving to new state-of-the-art homes. A case can be made for that. However, the Blues board have spent a small fortune in recent years on revamping the Arms Park.

They’ve built hospitality boxes at either end of the ground and brought it more in tune with the demands of modern-day rugby.

What’s the point of letting that well-spent money go to waste by suddenly upping sticks and moving?

Let’s not belittle what we have got here in the Welsh capital.

The Blues possess a stadium which is the envy of many English clubs, in terms of what it offers in facilities, tradition, history and aura.

The Arms Park – the very name evokes memories of Barry, Gareth, Gerald and Holmesy.

Need I say more?

Legendary names, one and all.

Of course, having 25,000 seats available at a spanking new stadium is a much more attractive proposition than the rarely filled 13,000 capacity the Blues can currently boast.

But what’s the point of having so many seats if more than half of them are going to be empty? Yes, the new stadium would give the Blues an initial fan boost, with people wanting to see rugby at the new ground.

But how long would that last? If the Blues have any really big matches, like Leicester in the Heineken Cup last season, or Bristol next term, they can just take them next-door to the Millennium Stadium.

It works at the moment and it could continue working well in the future.

The other thing I am uneasy about is that the Blues, who as our capital city club should be Wales’ European super-power, would not be in control of their destiny in the planned ground-share.

I know they are tenants at the Arms Park, but that is historical and they are very much the kingpins.

Most of the revenue generated goes to them.

The new stadium would be owned by Cardiff City.

Understandably, the Bluebirds would hold sway on any issues such as fixture clashes, changes of kick-off times, training access.

And, of course, they would be charging the Blues rent.