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The seasonal message: catch up with Tigers

Leicester's plans to move onwards and upwards present the rest with huge strategic challenge

Tim Glover
Sunday 26 December 2004 01:00 GMT
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Leicester go into the new year wearing an old hat, that of leaders of the Premiership. As they are also up to their necks in the Heineken Cup, the Tigers can be caught, but you wouldn't bet on it. However, it is what they are threatening to do next season that could tilt the balance of power even more in their favour.

If Leicester buy a 50 per cent share of the Walkers Stadium they will be in a position to double the attendances of Welford Road, which at around 16,000 are already more than can be mustered by any other club in England. It is a scary prospect for their would-be challengers.

Apart from last season, Leicester had set the standard, with seven trophies in four years, including two Heineken Cups. A move to a stadium built for Premiership football, which they would co-own with Leicester City, should consolidate their advantage in finance and commerce, which in turn will help to make them irresistible to any player they care to sign. In short, they can become the Manchester United of the Premiership, and in this league there are no Chelseas or Arsenals.

By comparison Bath, who used to rule the roost, remain cooped up at a ground they should have left years ago. they lack either the nerve, ambition or planning permission to build for the future. For artistic impression the Rec, by the banks of the River Avon and Bath Abbey, scores 10 out of 10. In most other respects it is a wonder they have a certificate from the Health and Safety Executive. Whereas Leicester have outgrown their home and intend to do something about it, Bath seem to be stuck in a time warp. The club have a lease for another 65 years, but the ground is in receivership under the auspices of the Charity Commission and Bath can't cough without first setting up a meeting with the trustees. They had permission to extend the East Stand, but would like to develop a horseshoe-shaped arena. For this century?

Andrew Brownsword, the Bath chief executive, says (always in the match programme) that they have to increase capacity but that they are committed to staying at the Rec. "Bath need to be financially viable to sustain top-flight rugby in the city," Brownsword writes. "Our door is always open." Except that it isn't. It is easier to get an interview with Howard Hughes. Meanwhile, their West Country rivals Gloucester are developing Kingsholm and increasing its capacity to 17,000.

Crowds at Premiership matches this season have increased by almost 30 per cent, and the games over the new year weekend are sell-outs. "Already many clubs can't meet demand because of restricted capacities," Howard Thomas, chief executive of Premier Rugby, says. "Average capacity needs to rise to 15,000, at a cost of £100m." Thomas accuses his partners, English Rugby Ltd, of failing to act on the "key strategic challenge for the professional game in England".

So, who can run with the Tigers? Sale and Wasps seem to be the best equipped, although Warren Gatland has a major salvage operation on his hands. To lose once to Leicester in the Heineken was unfortunate; to lose twice could leave Wasps with an inferiority complex. If Europe is lost, their only consolation would be to deprive Leicester of the Premiership.

The other end of the table in the second half of the season promises entertainment of the bloodbath variety. To most in the Premiership, relegation equals termination, and there are already contenders fingering the knife edge.

Harlequins, out of the Heineken and Powergen Cups, have been fitted with blinkers to focus on one task - survival. Quins, one of the bluebloods of the game, are in the privileged position of being the only club to play in London on a Saturday. There were signs of decline in the latter half of last season; they will need the opposite this time if plans for a new stand at the Stoop are not to appear hopelessly optimistic.

Worcester, despite considerable investment, still find themselves close to the trapdoor, although victories over Quins and Northampton may yet prove decisive. The nature of the dogfight suggests a verdict might not be reached until the last round of matches, on 30 April. On that date Worcester meet Northampton at Sixways. When Worcester were in National League One Cecil Duckworth, their owner, was all in favour of automatic promotion and relegation, but it is now a concept that stalks him.

What Saints and Saracens, another endangered club, have in common is that both got rid of their coaches even though the campaign had yet to reach half-time. The expensive lesson that Keith Barwell and Nigel Wray, the investors-in-chief of Northampton and Saracens respectively, should have learnt is that overseas coaches are not necessarily the answer to their prayers.

A chairman's loss of patience at a bad run of results is the stuff of the other Premiership, which brings us back to Leicester. If the Tigers form a joint company with Leicester City - and this is by far the preferred option - they will take professional club rugby a step closer to Old Trafford.

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