Murrayfield - You Have A Problem

I NOTICED this morning, an online petition against Glasgow Warriors playing at Scotstoun has, in jig time, attracted 1000 signatures - mainly from supporters of the Victoria Park-Glasgow Atheltics Club, whose activities have been hampered more than a little by the need to incorporate additional grandstands at Scotstoun - to meet the additional crowds which Warriors' success has attracted.

 

These new stands, behind each goal, impinge on the running track at Scotstoun, which means VPG's athletes who run further than 110 metres, find their training opportunities limited.

 

In Scotland, "sport", more than more means football. Athletics is seen as a "minority" sport, so, it struggles to get proper funding and support. Scotstoun, before Warriors moved there, was Scotland's leading athletics arena, but, the rugby team's success has seen it become the stronger entity in the fight for time in the facilities.

 

To Glasgow Life, who run the facility, it really is a no-brainer. Warriors drag far-more spectators through the doors than athletics does, so, Warriors' needs are paramount.

 

Of course, in an ideal world, we would have adequate facilities for multi-sports, but, this is easier said than done. Just look at the trouble you have playing professional rugby in football grounds such as Firhill - for so-long Warriors' home - and Rugby Park, to which they decamped for the recent European game against Racing 92, after Scotstoun was flooded.

 

Neither football ground had adequate in-goal areas, while, in an associated point, plans to install a state-of-the-art G4 surface at Scotstoun have been criticised by the athletics lobby. Apparently, G4 surfaces don't work well when it comes to field events such as the shot, hammer and discus.

 

The petitioners against Warriors are also unhappy at the lack of car parking around the ground on match nights. This is a problem which really needs addressing, you buy a nice house in a nice area like Scotstoun, then, every second Friday or so, you cannot get in or out of your drive for parked rugby fans.

 

In an ideal world, the SRU would have made sure there was a purpose-built 10,000-seat rugby ground in the Glasgow area, with adjacent training facilities and adequate car parking, as a home for Warriors and a central hub for Glasgow District Rugby. And, while they were at it, they ought to have built a similar facility in the East for Edinburgh.

 

Just a thought - these facilities would be ideal bases for the Rugby Academies. But, building them would be an expensive undertaking for the SRU, and, let's be honest - they don't have the money.

 

But, hey, that's North Britain - too wee, too poor and too lacking in ambition and invention.