New boy wants to share his playground!

[bocadillo]

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132384&command=displayContent&sourceNode=132969&home=yes&contentPK=14385825

CITY BID TO REVIVE PLANS FOR SHARING AT WALKERS BY LEE MARLOW

10:30 - 26 April 2006 The new chairman of Leicester City Football Club wants to revive controversial plans to share the Walkers Stadium with the Leicester Tigers.

Andrew Taylor, who took over at City earlier this month, said the groundshare issue was dormant, but needed reviving.

This comes as Leicester City brace themselves for the loss of £7 million.

This money was being paid by the Premiership as compensation after City were relegated.

Mr Taylor said that while he was happy with the state of Leicester City's accounts, the club needed to look at ways of bringing in more money. I know it [the groundshare plan] was unpopular with some fans and it's a dormant issue at the moment. But we need to look at that again. It needs to be reactivated. It could generate some much needed revenue for the club."

The groundshare deal was first mooted in November 2004. After months of behind-the-scenes negotiations, the plan fell apart in July, last year, over the final stumbling block of "primacy of tenure".

This means if there was a fixture clash, Football League rules dictated that City's match must take priority.

There was only a minute chance of such a fixture clash, but it was enough to scupper the deal. With the plan in tatters, it left both clubs with an ongoing problem.

The Tigers have outgrown Welford Road and are losing money because they cannot accommodate everyone. Cash-strapped City, meanwhile, would have welcomed the £8 million the Tigers were offering to share the Walkers Stadium.

At the time, City's chief executive Tim Davies said: "We worked well together and we got close (to doing a deal) but primacy of tenure was an issue we just could not get over - no matter how small the chance of a fixture clash."

The Tigers have planning permission to redevelop Welford Road and create what they hope would be the "finest" rugby ground in the country. Work would cost somewhere between £20-£30 million.

A spokeswoman for Leicester City Council said that since the application was granted last year - to build a new stand - nothing has happened.

Today, David Clayton, managing director of the Tigers, seemed to leave the door open for further negotiation, despite the club's ambitions to redevelop Welford Road.

Mr Clayton said: "One thing I've learned in life is that you never say never, but clearly we have recently purchased the freehold to Welford Road and have plans in place to redevelop the stadium".

 

[Melton Fox]

Mixed emotions, mixed opinions on this for me.

 

[alex]

Looking to raise money for us I guess.....

 

[MHS]

I bet Duzza was excited by the title of the thread.

 

[highland fox]

It would ruin the pitch........

 

[alex]

It would ruin the pitch........

Wigan haven't let that affect them too much mind....

 

[Steven]

It would ruin the pitch........

Have you seen the state of the pitch recently. :icon_conf :icon_conf :icon_roll

 

[highland fox]

Have you seen the state of the pitch recently. :icon_conf :icon_conf :icon_roll

Can't see it from here

 

[Melton Fox]

Positives
- Money

Negatives
- Bad Pitch
- Lost Identity (LCFC memoribilia replaced with Tigers)

Anything else to add?

 

[Yorkshire Vixen]

i think its a good idea

 

[Yorkshire Vixen]

nope

 

[LS6_Fox]

i think its a good idea

I'm not against the idea either

 

[Melton Fox]

nope

 

[MHS]

i think its a good idea

So do I. :icon_roll

 

[Lboro fox]

So do I. :icon_roll

Me too.

 

[DesertFox]

And me. Makes commercial sense.

 

[Xantha]

It always did make commercial sense to me. The extra money it would bring in for the football is much needed

 

[Han]

good news imo.

even if we don't like them, enabling Tigers to make more money and get a bigger reputation will help the city as a whole.

 

[Leigh]

Well...I still don't like it....

 

[Yorkshire Vixen]

It always did make commercial sense to me. The extra money it would bring in for the football is much needed

definately we cant afford to be picky where extra revenues come from