Catalan Dragons want to Play at the Velodrome

[Tommygilf]

Sounds excellent, would love to go if Leeds could be involved.

[Scubby]

5 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

It has a reputation for being unsafe, is that deserved?

Gerard Depardieu is now Mayor of Marseilles according to Netflix

[corvusxiii]

Me and spouse are as dozy as they come but no hint of problems either in Marseille or the darkling back streets of Naples. Basically the main drags are fine though smoking weed seems to be compulsory between Gare St Charles and the Harbour. Ok there are lots of young black lads hanging around. Trouble? Non! Nothing. Really liked Marseille, even the family of local rats entertained us. Historically....drone... blab .... I could go on.....

[Leyther_Matt]

Hopefully the battery chuckers won’t turn up. 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

1 hour ago, corvusxiii said:

Me and spouse are as dozy as they come but no hint of problems either in Marseille or the darkling back streets of Naples. Basically the main drags are fine though smoking weed seems to be compulsory between Gare St Charles and the Harbour. Ok there are lots of young black lads hanging around. Trouble? Non! Nothing. Really liked Marseille, even the family of local rats entertained us. Historically....drone... blab .... I could go on.....

Marseille always seems to have a reputation as an unsafe city, France's toilet so to speak but I can't say I've found that myself, a great historical city with some lovely architecture and a real positive atmosphere. I haven't been to Naples but know someone who has and I remember them saying when they went to Vesuvius and Pompeii, their guide told them not to go into Naples itself due to the crime problems, especially against tourists, but they did anyway and said they absolutely loved it and didn't have any problems.

You've just gotta use your head in any city really. I tend to split my money on my body, some in a money belt, some in a zipped pocket, some in a small pouch that goes round my neck and under my shirt. I keep my wallet in my inside, breast pocket and my phone in the pouch under my shirt. Before the first time I went to Barcelona I saw a programme that called it the pickpocketing capital of Europe so when I went I did all of the cautious stuff above and in the end never felt unsafe at all. Barcelona in fact has one of the happiness and most positive atmospheres of any city I've been to.

I always say to people, if they want to believe all the spin about places the media creates then they're never liable to go anywhere. As someone said above, these cities are just as bad as any other city, you're just as likely to get pickpocketed in Leeds city centre as you are in Marseille. 

[audois]

Catalans v TO going to be big I think. Ernest Wallon you would think 17,000 possible. Guasch I would think want to see something bigger than that so Brutus would miss out.

[Blind side johnny]

16 hours ago, The Daddy said:

It has a reputation for being unsafe, is that deserved?

Try Huddersfield on a Saturday night.

[yipyee]

19 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

It would be good if more clubs showed this sort of ambition and took games on the road to get a bigger crowd than normal.

I say that whilst wondering where Hull would go though as they already have a very large stadium and there's nothing local that has a big enough capacity to warrant moving! Pointless taking games to Grimsby out Scunthorpe in their current grounds.

It would be worth it if a small handfull of new fans went to buy season tickets 

[newbe]

First went there over 40 yrs ago, the city has changed so much, the harbour area is really up market now, Catalans should have a terrific following, especially if they are flying in the league. 

[Sports Prophet]

18 hours ago, The Daddy said:

It has a reputation for being unsafe, is that deserved?

Fully deserved. As the sun slept, I was never far from a good mugging. My experience sounds different to others who have posted here, but I felt safety between night and day is as different as say… night and day.

[Eddie]

23 hours ago, doc said:

Yes, I remember a Widnes plan to play a game at Chester City's ground, to spread the faith as it were. Very similar...

Great post, but banter aside that wouldn’t be a bad idea, no RL in Chester (other than one amateur club) yet there are two pro teams in Cheshire who could target the area for new fans. Same with say Wigan could play the odd game in Morecambe / Preston etc. 

[Padge]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Great post, but banter aside that wouldn’t be a bad idea, no RL in Chester (other than one amateur club) yet there are two pro teams in Cheshire who could target the area for new fans. Same with say Wigan could play the odd game in Morecambe / Preston etc. 

Wigan are partnered with UCLAN in Preston and do a lot of promotion through them.

I believe Warrington do the same with Chester Uni.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

5 hours ago, yipyee said:

It would be worth it if a small handfull of new fans went to buy season tickets 

Not if there is a large drop in regular attendance in addition to venue charges. The new fans wouldn't make up the shortfall.

[yipyee]

5 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Not if there is a large drop in regular attendance in addition to venue charges. The new fans wouldn't make up the shortfall.

If its a one off loop fixture then taking a game on the road to broarden appeal is a good loss leadet. Saracens hiring wembley and selling tickets for a fiver worked out for them even though they had to sell 60k tickets to break even.

Sometimes you have to play the long game and stop looking at the short term

[Damien]

7 hours ago, yipyee said:

If its a one off loop fixture then taking a game on the road to broarden appeal is a good loss leadet. Saracens hiring wembley and selling tickets for a fiver worked out for them even though they had to sell 60k tickets to break even.

Sometimes you have to play the long game and stop looking at the short term

That is nothing like taking games to Grimsby and Scunthorpe and 9k stadiums which is what you replied to.

[Guest]

Seems like this topic is just going around in circles.

[Copa]

I’m feeling quite happy that I’ve never before heard about this stadium. I know so little about the world of soccer.

Looks like a great stadium though!

[Guest]

I would have thought for the first year or two you try and sell out the home stadia and really get a rivalry going and pull in some money.

Take it on the road when it is more established.

[Guest]

Anyone any idea if they made money on the Nou Camp game?

[Eddie]

8 minutes ago, Leonard said:

Anyone any idea if they made money on the Nou Camp game?

Must have done, it was the largest ever SL attendance. 

[The Daddy]

9 minutes ago, Leonard said:

I would have thought for the first year or two you try and sell out the home stadia and really get a rivalry going and pull in some money.

Take it on the road when it is more established.

That's my view on it. Give it to the locals first, establish it and then the season after take it on the road. This seems like too much too soon

[Scubby]

5 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

That's my view on it. Give it to the locals first, establish it and then the season after take it on the road. This seems like too much too soon

It depends if they have been offered money by the Marseilles local authority. It does need to be a loop fixture however and not a regular fixture as that would be silly and tap into the point you and others are making about getting things established etc.

[Guest]

I would prefer that, if they did, they took it somewhere more in the heartlands for now.

Any indications of any other French sides that might be interested to make a go of it over the channel?

[idrewthehaggis]

It is worth noting SRD and Leeds spoke about hosting a loop fixture in New York before Covid 19 et al struck.

Tremendous idea by Catalans. Aiming for the Velodrome is real ambition. Opens it up for the French loop game-if the draw allows it-to be hosted elsewhere in France/Catalonia. Which surely helps develop RL and the two clubs.

A potentially season long full Brutus and packed to capacity Velodrome would surely post Catalans up there with Leeds as having the best average attendance.

 

[Damien]

Obviously going some way back but international Rugby League has a proud history of being played at the Velodome with some great attendances. As a side note look at the crowds for the European Rugby League Championship - Talk about RL shooting itself in the foot :

Rugby League World Cup[edit]

Over three separate tournaments, the Vélodrome also hosted games of the Rugby League World Cup.

Date	Competition	Home team		Away team		Attendance
7 November 1954	1954 Rugby League World Cup group stage	Australia	34	New Zealand	15	20,000
28 October 1972	1972 Rugby League World Cup group stage	France	20	New Zealand	9	20,748
17 October 1975	1975 Rugby League World Cup group stage	France	12	New Zealand	12	10,000

Rugby League Test matches[edit]

List of rugby league test matches played at Stade Vélodrome.^[6]

Test#	Date	Result	Attendance	Notes
1	16 January 1938	Australia def.  France 16–11	23,100	1938 France vs Australia series
2	18 January 1947	France def.  Wales 14–5	24,500	1946–47 European Rugby League Championship
3	11 April 1948	England def.  France 25–10	32,000	1947–48 European Rugby League Championship
4	9 January 1949	Australia def.  France 29–10	15,796	1949 France vs Australia series
5	10 April 1949	France def.  Wales 11–0	30,000	1948–49 European Rugby League Championship
6	15 January 1950	France def. Other Nationalities 8–3	30,000	1949–50 European Rugby League Championship
7	15 April 1950	France def.  Wales 28–13	16,860	1950–51 European Rugby League Championship
8	25 November 1951	France def.  England 42–13	31,810	1951–52 European Rugby League Championship
9	23 November 1952	France def. Other Nationalities 29–10	17,611	1949–50 European Rugby League Championship
10	13 December 1953	France def.  Wales 23–22	25,000	1953–54 European Rugby League Championship
11	15 November 1965	France def.  New Zealand 14–3	30,431	1965 France vs New Zealand series
12	17 December 1967	France drew with  Australia 7–7	5,193	1967–68 France vs Australia series
13	20 December 1981	France def.  Great Britain 19–2	6,500
14	24 November 1985	New Zealand def.  France 22–0	1,492	1985 France vs New Zealand series