Toulouse stadium situation

[The Daddy]

It doesn't look like Toulouse's historical ground Stade Arnaune will be developed at least until they reach SL. 

So what is the short-medium term solution? 

Stade Toulousain's ground Stade Ernest Wallon is too big at 19,000, the soccer ground is too big and definitely not an option.

That just leaves the Colomiers and Blagnac stadia. 

Blagnac works at Championship level, but if you compare it to say Catalans ground it really lacks atmosphere and from what I've been told it's a bit away from the centre of Toulouse. 

Which leaves my favourite and the ground TO should play at if they reach SL, Stade Michel Bendichou.

It has a good atmosphere when it has a decent sized crowd, it looks modern, has a big screen already and comfort levels are good. It might also be as far away as Blagnac but this is definitely a SL standard ground. 11,000 capacity is the right capacity for SL. 

Now TO just need to make sure they reach SL which is the important part. 

[GUBRATS]

5 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

It doesn't look like Toulouse's historical ground Stade Arnaune will be developed at least until they reach SL.

So what is the short-medium term solution?

Stade Toulousain's ground Stade Ernest Wallon is too big at 19,000, the soccer ground is too big and definitely not an option.

That just leaves the Colomiers and Blagnac stadia.

Blagnac works at Championship level, but if you compare it to say Catalans ground it really lacks atmosphere and from what I've been told it's a bit away from the centre of Toulouse.

Which leaves my favourite and the ground TO should play at if they reach SL, Stade Michel Bendichou.

It has a good atmosphere when it has a decent sized crowd, it looks modern, has a big screen already and comfort levels are good. It might also be as far away as Blagnac but this is definitely a SL standard ground. 11,000 capacity is the right capacity for SL.

Now TO just need to make sure they reach SL which is the important part.

Yep , probably by beating London this weekend

[Gambass]

The brut capacity is misleading. half of it would be people standing around the ground. It does have a new small stand for sponsors since last year though.

 

Colomier's stadium is probably the least worst possibility, yes, but it doesn't make for a long term solution.

[David Shepherd]

From an away supporter's view, Blagnac is fine.  There was a fantastic atmosphere when I was there earlier this year.  It's in very pleasant surroundings and is far superior to a couple of current Super League stadiums and also has the benefit of there not being a smell of processed excrement in the air like one stadium close to the M60.

It's less than 10 minutes bus journey from the Capitol/Matabiau area where most away fans seemed to congregate.  The bus is free if you've already purchased the public transport pass.

I would think it will be more than adequate for their first few seasons in Super League, although I'm not sure how convenient it is for locals, except that the few I spoke to seemed to like it.

[The 4 of Us]

Is 19,000 too big?

I could imagine that possibly being tested on an opening fixture against a name SL team.

For ongoing fixtures it may not exactly test capacity but I can’t see why it can’t be tried. A bigger more well appointed ground may even attract a few.

May Be Wigan should be looking next door to the running track for the first team now that they’re getting up 10,000 in a 25,000 seater? 

[hunsletgreenandgold]

1 minute ago, The 4 of Us said:

Is 19,000 too big?

I could imagine that possibly being tested on an opening fixture against a name SL team.

For ongoing fixtures it may not exactly test capacity but I can’t see why it can’t be tried. A bigger more well appointed ground may even attract a few.

May Be Wigan should be looking next door to the running track for the first team now that they’re getting up 10,000 in a 25,000 seater? 

Was just typing similar, with reference to Huddersfield. 

[GUBRATS]

6 minutes ago, The 4 of Us said:

Is 19,000 too big?

I could imagine that possibly being tested on an opening fixture against a name SL team.

For ongoing fixtures it may not exactly test capacity but I can’t see why it can’t be tried. A bigger more well appointed ground may even attract a few.

May Be Wigan should be looking next door to the running track for the first team now that they’re getting up 10,000 in a 25,000 seater?

And its all the 8 s fault

[Fabou]

I hope the club is fighting to get arnauné back... this is our true house

[Leyther_Matt]

Blagnac would be perfectly adequate for most SL games I would suspect, the two stands are of a very decent size with plenty of standing room besides. The transport links are much better than they were when they first played there in the Championship 9 years ago with the city centre-airport tram link running nearby and plenty of buses from close to the centre of the Earth aka The Melting Pot.

Obviously the Catalans game would be one to host at Wallon although as above there’s no reason why 19,000 should really be considered too big if they were to have any ambition about things, and there’s no reason to think it would be a problem given the number of RL games hosted there in the recent past. 

[Pigeon Lofter]

8 hours ago, The Daddy said:

It doesn't look like Toulouse's historical ground Stade Arnaune will be developed at least until they reach SL. 

What's the story regarding this ground currently being out of service?

Is it a municipal facility or privately owned by TO?

If a rebuild or reconstruction is called for,who is expected to foot the bill?

Thanks.

[winnyason]

so what happens with what been demolished ? So there considering not even rebuilding 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

i'm confused?

[Lobbygobbler]

Use Stade Toulousian for the bigger games and Stade Arnaune for smaller games - e.g. v Huddersfield

Toulouse should be aiming to top 15k for big games against Wigan etc

[audois]

11 hours ago, winnyason said:

so what happens with what been demolished ? So there considering not even rebuilding 

Everything I think bar the Jean Galia stand has been raised to the ground. It's  City Council facility and they wanted to up-grade it so as to complement overall sports stadia provision in the city. Particulaly having a range of stadia of different sizes. TFC Ligue1 play at the largest  city owned ground - Stadium Municipal 33,300 cap. The re-building work should have commenced in April but was prevented by in injunction initiated by some local residents. A bit surprised that the club/city council haven't made a statement on whats going on.

[Evil Homer]

Hopefully they realised that building a 4k capacity stadium serves no purpose for anyone.