RFU abandon plan to sell Twickenham

[Puja]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/ ... on-england

Good? I'd like to hope that this never got much further than someone suggesting and then getting ejected from the room for it being a fucking stupid idea.

Puja

[Oakboy]

Upgrade the existing stadium or sell and buy a 50% stake in Wembley? The 2nd option sounds scandalous but is there the money to do the 1st properly? I hate the thought of compromise with another sport but other countries do it successfully.

[loudnconfident]

A lot of the reporting was clickbait IMO. It wasn't unreasonable to make the suggestion as part of a comprehensive review of options. As long as it was rejected early!

Some reports said the Twickenham Station work cost £60million. I hope that wasn't the RFU...

[Stom]

A lot of the reporting was clickbait IMO. It wasn't unreasonable to make the suggestion as part of a comprehensive review of options. As long as it was rejected early!

Some reports said the Twickenham Station work cost £60million. I hope that wasn't the RFU...

RFU supported the work on Twickenham station, wasn't too much, though. That I do remember, as the consultation on that work was 15!!! years ago, when I still lived there. Can't remember the quoted figures, though.

This 600odd million figure, though...what the hell are they doing to the stadium for that? Have they let it get into such a state of disrepair?

Also, talk of a riverboat service...to where? The Thames is a lot further than Twickenham station, can't imagine people walking that.

They could put buses on from Hounslow, as an example. Get people off the Piccadilly line at Hounslow Central and bus them in.

And there's always the potential for expanding Whitton station, though the nimbys (like my parents, for some) will push back on that.

[Mellsblue]

More info from The Times:

The total cost is stated as £663 million, which consists of a £385 million total construction cost, £58million in design fees, £19 million in fixtures and fittings, a £90 million contingency and £111 million to allow for inflation.

The masterplan includes:

• Increasing the space in front of seats “providing comfort from spectator knees impacting the seat in front”. The capacity would be a minimum of 80,000 seats – it is 82,500 at the moment

• The lower tier of the bowl would be “fully reprofiled” and seats replaced with a “modern rail system where seat width and spacing can be increased to suit seating bays”. The front of the lower tier would be closer to the pitch

• Replacing parts of the stadium roof

• Increasing the number of women’s toilets from 10 per cent of the total at Twickenham to 35 per cent

• Renovating concourses and car parks