You win the lottery and want to buy a rugby club...

First topic message reminder :

Due to a pretty hefty debate that has gone in many circles as many do, I thought it might be interesting to ask the question -

If you win 250 million on the lottery, and want to buy a club, which club would you buy and why?

I get some people would buy their clubs, regions, provinces for the love of it, and my heart would tell me to do the same, but considering the closest thing to a club I have is London Welsh i'm going to go another way.

I'd buy the Cardiff Blues, for the following reasons:

They have a potential fanbase, and are in a large city, so potential to take them into the elite competition and be confident of crowds would be there.

They would be at a low enough stock now to not have to overpay.

For the future I would resist the urge to buy top stars initially, focussing more on the group just beyond u20 age, identify the talented crop and then bring in half a dozen world class players to based the team around initially, with the hopes of replacing them in 3-5 seasons with more homegrown talent.

So what about you, who would you buy and what would you do?

Steffan wrote:The Cardiff lot I know spend all their time saying how Ponty supporters will not travel 12 miles to watch the Blues yet then moaned when they had to go a 15 minute walk down the road

Yes it was that 15 minute walk they were protesting about. Nothing else.

Jesus Christ, get a grip.

Sorry if I won £250m I would buy a stunning tropical island somewhere with great facilities, a hot female cheerleading team and forget the rest of the world existed.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Sorry if I won £250m I would buy a stunning tropical island somewhere with great facilities, a hot female cheerleading team and forget the rest of the world existed.

http://www.privateislandsonline.com/islands/sandy-cay-bahamas

http://www.dolphinscheerleaders.com/

Now your talking LT

I dislike Wasps, so I'd buy Coventry rugby club and follow a similar path as Exeter and make it a real rugby club. or I'd finally give Cornwall the team it deserves at the top level.

TightHEAD wrote: or I'd finally give Cornwall the team it deserves at the top level.

How much of your budget would be needed to bribe the council and second homers to allow planning permission?

Where would you put the stadium?

Cumbrian wrote:I would buy Newcastle and heavily invest in the squad, get them playing a really attractive brand of running rugby.  I would make improvements to the stadium, bring it up to a 12,000 capacity to begin with.  

I would also vastly reduce the price of tickets for a couple of seasons, take the financial hit and hope that the prices and attractive rugby will bring in new fans.  

[b]I would also purchase buses and base them in major populations centres in the North East and Cumbria so that we could bus in as many potential fans as possible (would make this free to all supporters who pre purchase tickets).[b]

That's an interesting one.

It is a bit of a faff getting to KP's sometimes. On a bad day from North Shields it can take me up to an hour and a half (due to changing metros etc) . And the same back.
So can you put on a bus for us at the coast please

TightHEAD wrote:I dislike Wasps, so I'd buy Coventry rugby club and follow a similar path as Exeter and make it a real rugby club. or I'd finally give Cornwall the team it deserves at the top level.

Why don't you move Coventry Rugby to London (real London, not the far suburbs)?  That would actually be funny.

Fanster wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

Fanster wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

Fanster wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:I would use it to buy out the WRU, I would then put a service in every club in each region to be able to sell tickets for the region that represents them, and I would run  free buses from the clubs and it would do a round of the clubs picking up fans who want to get to the ground the region is playing at, but you can only get on that bus if you have a ticket to watch the game, regional season ticket holders from the area of the clubs in the scheme would also be eligible for the free bus. If only the regions themselves could arrange something like this.

Cardiff bloos tried something very similar when out in the sticks at Leckwith. IIRC only one club on one occasion took up the offer. That was the end of that idea.

You mean noone took the option of a free bus to a place they actively avoided going?

Lets not call it Leckwith, call it by it's dirty name, the CCS debacle.

I wouldn't say "they actively avoided going". More like "they" just weren't interested.
I prefer the more subtle "rugby decision" rather than "CCS debacle".

How many were there for Martyn Williams testimonial? I'd say they actively stayed away.

You can't say people weren't interested in showing their respect for a legend of Welsh rugby.

You're a twisty turny thing.
As you've changed the subject somewhat, Nugget wanted his testimonial at CAP I do believe.

Theres not much twisting there though, fans avoided the CCS to make a statement, poor old nugget coped the rough end of that. Had it been promo'd correctly they probably couldve put 30'000 in the MS don't you think?

Yeah a few avoided CCS, but for a very good reason though and this unofficial boycott had been going for a while. The players were aware of it too, no doubt about that. If those running the show had listened (fat chance), they would have staged Nugget's game at CAP. But no, so it was them making the statement IMO.
No I don't reckon there would've been 30k at MS, not even for XV Gareth Edwards' either. He received a booing too over CCS. You see, no player is bigger or more important than the club however great they are.

Steffan wrote:The Cardiff lot I know spend all their time saying how Ponty supporters will not travel 12 miles to watch the Blues yet then moaned when they had to go a 15 minute walk down the road

I don't believe ewe Steff. I reckon you're fibbing and making it up.
And we didn't have to walk for 15min anyway due to the freebie shuttle buses, to and from CCS. Freebie match tickets too. In biblical quantities.