The Season Limps to a Close

 

The Championship season has limped to a conclusion amidst a flurry of cancelled fixtures. The WRU has decided that no points will be awarded if fixtures are not fulfilled as is normal practice. This means that Bargoed are crowned champions and congratulations to them. What should have been a closely fought battle at the end of the season has turned into a damp squib. I think that the defeat that Pontypool suffered at the hands of Bargoed makes them deserved champions. It is just a real shame that we could not have rounded off the season with the matches against Ystalyfera (original match abandoned due to a serious injury) and Beddau ( not prepared to play).

 

 

Bargoed                                  13        12        0          1          56

Neath                                      13        11        0          2          53

Pontypool                                11        9          0          2          46

Bedwas                                   12        9          0          3          41

Narberth                                  12        7          0          5          35

Cardiff Met                               13        7          0          6          34

Cross Keys                              11        5          0          6          26

Maesteg Quins                        12        5          0          7          25

Ystrad Rhondda                      10        4          0          6          19

Glamorgan Wanderers            12        4          0          8          18

Trebanos                                 10        3          0          7          13

Tata Steel                                12        1          0          11        8

Ystalyfera                                 8          1          0          7          7

Beddau                                     9          1          0          8          5  

 

There is much turmoil in Welsh rugby with the suggestion that the number of regions should be reduced from four to three. Having worked in the steel industry and watched the decline of it in Wales, it seems to me that if we are not careful rugby will follow in its footsteps. I know rugby is not exactly an industry but we seem to be treating it as such. Rugby is much more about emotion as it is actually a game. Professionalism has done it few favours.

.I wrote this piece almost exactly ten years ago. I reread it to check what I had written and what had changed since. Sadly it seems not a lot has changed!

 

So the WRU are worried about falling attendances at Rugby matches. It should come as no surprise to them because no thought has been given to the person who braves the elements and actually wants to watch a game in the flesh.

At the international level, admission prices have soared and the average rugby fan does not think it is a bargain to have to travel on overcrowded trains or pay exorbitant car parking fees to mix with the drunken hordes that gather in Cardiff. As a debenture holder, I still attend every home match but, rugby apart, the enjoyment is waning. It is evident to me that the people who actually watch rugby at club level and have attempted to understand the ever more complicated laws of the game are in the minority. This is evidenced by the shouting and bawling of absurd comments often using foul language. On top of this a large proportion of the match is taken up either letting people pass with trays of drink or inevitably making a trip to empty overflowing bladders. The WRU would argue that they still manage to fill the ground for most matches so why worry.

            At the regional level, attendances are generally lower than English Premiership and in Irish Provinces and the majority of games take place in cavernous stadia with little atmosphere. It is a wonder that the TV companies do not feel the need to dub on canned crowd noise. We have ended up with four regional franchises that are divided into two pairs with stadia that are only separated by about ten miles. The games are played on an ever-changing mixture of days and kick off times to suit the TV and of course virtually all are televised live. Most fans I talk to would prefer to plan their lives around attending a rugby match on a Saturday afternoon. The concentrated nature of the locations of the regional teams and their reluctance to travel to play in other parts of their region means that the regional teams are restricting their fan-base. With games televised, high admission prices, rising fuel costs and limited parking it is no wonder that fans are quite content to watch at home or in the local pub. If this was not bad enough, two of the regions are based in soccer dominated cities where they will always come a poor second in terms of attendances. One of the joys of attending rugby matches was the chance to mingle with opposition fans but away attendance has also dwindled with the RaboDirect Pro League.