Would London Irish stay at Madejski if they get relegated?

[Green]

Presumably it would make absolutely no difference, if something you don't go to and aren't interested in, stopped happening ?
There's a fair few Royals fans go to Irish games though, and I'd have thought any decent sports fan would be fairly pleased to have as much top class sport in their area as possible.
Bear in mind Irish play at a higher level than Reading....

Get out

[Z175]

I think the rent is only about 500k p.a. I'd imagine after a period of relative success LI have enough reserves to stay for a couple of seasons until they come back up.

After our first relegation from the PL, I was appalled at how little rent we got, given the state of the pitch was a contributing factor to our narrow relegation.

The new hybrid fake grass they have now seems to have fixed it though, so I'm not bothered either way.

It would be intriguing if London Welsh came up again in their place though. I suppose in the stupidly franchised world of Rugby we could see London Welsh move to Reading and LI to Oxf**d. Both not particularly London, Irish or Welsh so what would it matter. Maybe the financial incentive of another London Irish- London Welsh merger would see a merged London-Thames Valley Celts and a new purpose built rugby stadium in Didcot...Who knows or cares!

[tidus_mi2]

Well LI have consistently finished above Newcastle Falcons in recent seasons and have yet to play them, so perhaps that's all they need.

[Nameless]

Think the rent is rather less than the, although we get other benefits ( like contributions to the pitch maintenance)
irish's successful period is quite a while ago now and they are probably the least well off club in the top level. They got a good amount when they sold off their land in London but can't see them wanting to blow that on subsidising staying in the Mad Stad. If they got relegated I could see them going back to the Stoop for a season, maybe with the option of coming back here if they came straight back up.

Odd how names lose their meaning. Irish are still London based, have Irish players and a significant Irish following. Sheffield Wednsday rarely play midweek though and no guns are stored or manufactured at the Emirates, none of the teams called Rovers lack home grounds and Manchester no longer seem very United....or even play in Manchester.

[Winston Smith]

Where did it all go wrong for London Irish?

Has the manager been sacked yet?

Charles Watts says the rugby coach Brian McDermott will be their new manager

[Will95]

Get rid of them, get down and support one of the actual Reading rugby teams if you want to.

[West Stand Man]

Being int the he second tier of rugby hasn't stopped Bristol from ground sharing with City.


Of course, both clubs are owned by the same person so that probably helps.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Get rid of them, get down and support one of the actual Reading rugby teams if you want to.

probably couldn't agree more, however, LI were (and possibly still are) having to give over a small percentage of their gate receipts to our local clubs as a sweetener for any potential lost revenue. They certainly still do provide a fair bit of coaching and sponsorship in the local youth game.

[Will95]

Get rid of them, get down and support one of the actual Reading rugby teams if you want to.

probably couldn't agree more, however, LI were (and possibly still are) having to give over a small percentage of their gate receipts to our local clubs as a sweetener for any potential lost revenue. They certainly still do provide a fair bit of coaching and sponsorship in the local youth game.

True, but I'm sticking with my point

[AthleticoSpizz]

I do.....my lad plays for one of them.....that's why (as per my aforementioned post) I hope that they (LI) can afford to stay (despite my dislike of everything London and Irish ).

I personally have no interest in, nor attend any LI games, however, there is room and time enough at the Madejski for both sports....cannot understand the whinging and lack of reasoning from those that want it otherwise.

Despite my own lack of interest in them, LI are a good thing for the local sporting community.

The end.

[Will95]

You are right, it's just a little frustrating to pop down to Reading RFC occasionally and see a tiny crowd watching a struggling local team whereas most rugby fans are up at LI watching a team with nothing to do with the town. It was fun going to watch them and Newbury a couple of weeks ago and being the only two cheering them on though

[AthleticoSpizz]

The same could be said of Reading Town etc in the footballing world I guess.....it is what it is.


'Ensians are the place to be (locally) right now......just three down from the Premier and have probably hi-jacked a few fans from accross the road?

[Will95]

The same could be said of Reading Town etc in the footballing world I guess.....it is what it is.


'Ensians are the place to be (locally) right now......just three down from the Premier and have probably hi-jacked a few fans from accross the road?

Am I right in saying they play in Oxfordshire now? Or is that Abbey? I know one of them is in Sonning with Reading RFC but can't remember which!

[AthleticoSpizz]

(Reading) Abbey play just the other side of Emmer Green......just on the borderline of Oxfordshire
Reading play in the league above them and are firmly ensconced in Berkshire

There is the OBB ( Oxford, Berks and Bucks ) leagues tho'p

Ensians are a world apart in the pecking order and play teams in many far flung counties.........although not sustainable to be paid on a professional basis, they are paid expenses and have transport....just another ( unlikely) promotion or two...and they are in the Big League

The likes of RFC and Abbey still pay to play

[Will95]

Yeah I watch RFC when I go (very rarely I admit), they've had a real dive in the last 10 years or so.

[Will95]

Related to the post above, Newbury's ground really shows their fall from grace, ground is fantastic for a sixth tier rugby ground.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Pretty shameful really for a "city" the size of Reading that we have to import a team from London for any kind of mainstream rugby.

Richmond came to town 15 years ago and gave the highbrow rugger buggers a taste of watching international celebrities playing at the Madstad.....their crowds were sometimes good...but more often not....they went bust

LI have have had (and sometimes still have) crowds in excess of 10k here....however, it all seems to be tiring a bit, admittedly.

Having seen my lad go through the age groups...and seen at least one of his Abbey team mates represent England...I am pleasantly surprised at the amount of "take-up" of kids from the age of 7 to 17 who bust a gut every Sunday morning in our non-recognised rugby community. I am sure some of the lure of the LI has helped this.

[Will95]

Youngsters seem to do well for RFC as well. I just like supporting the Reading sides tbh, tempted to do a bit less football and try out the basketball/more rugby/hockey/any other sport teams.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Fair play

To me football was always a 3 pm Saturday game.....when Reading were away, I would check out the likes of RTFC/RRFC a little bit

$ky TV have changed the 3 pm Saturday routine to Thursday nights etc...I am yet to deal with that...I hate it.

Now I check out the alternatives to RFC quite a lot

Anyways...back to which.....

We are better off with them, than without them

[LWJ]

Related to the post above, Newbury's ground really shows their fall from grace, ground is fantastic for a sixth tier rugby ground.

Outdated and struggling to keep afloat some years.