Old Trafford is not fit for purpose

[Bearman]

On the plus side.....Now has "tradition" on its side

On both the plus AND negative side.....It's in the North.

On the negative side..... pretty much everything but ESPECIALLY the playing surface is too small and is downright dangerous.

[Wigan Riversider]

The in goal areas have always been too small IMHO.

[Barley Mow]

At our club grounds, when the playing area is too small we reduce the space between the 20m and 40m lines and keep the in goal areas 6m.

This could be done at OT, why don't they? 

[Tattersfieldtreiziste]

hi Ron,

i agree with you. I used to love the feeling of space at Coventry Bears matches.

We were in the non-Wigan end quite high up and those steps were really big, i'd say twice normal height.  And to then sit with your knees up to your chin with barely a wafer between you and the next person!

But really scarey was the [lack of] space behind the try line. No chance of a cheeky grubber or the drama of tackling the defender behind the line. And even sprinting over for a try could easily see an encounter with a brick wall.

The stadium is a tired old lady, basking in its former glories while being milked for revenue by the Glaziers.

Elland Road is no better, nor Hillsborough, both well past their sell-by dates. And St James Park is now in an area from where semi-pro game has sadly retreated.

My choice going forward is to imagine the M62 went as far as originally intended, and where Everton are having their new place built in the former Liverpool Docks.

 

I did enjoy yesterday despite Catalans losing, a definite sense of occasion, and a good sized and good natured crowd.

[Gerrumonside ref]

1 minute ago, Tattersfieldtreiziste said:

hi Ron,

i agree with you. I used to love the feeling of space at Coventry Bears matches.

We were in the non-Wigan end quite high up and those steps were really big, i'd say twice normal height.  And to then sit with your knees up to your chin with barely a wafer between you and the next person!

But really scarey was the [lack of] space behind the try line. No chance of a cheeky grubber or the drama of tackling the defender behind the line. And even sprinting over for a try could easily see an encounter with a brick wall.

The stadium is a tired old lady, basking in its former glories while being milked for revenue by the Glaziers.

Elland Road is no better, nor Hillsborough, both well past their sell-by dates. And St James Park is now in an area from where semi-pro game has sadly retreated.

My choice going forward is to imagine the M62 went as far as originally intended, and where Everton are having their new place built in the former Liverpool Docks.

 

I did enjoy yesterday despite Catalans losing, a definite sense of occasion, and a good sized and good natured crowd.

Glad you enjoyed it and Catalans had a great season - unlucky at the end.

[Damien]

This has been discussed quite a bit the last few days on numerous threads.

When we have only had 3 Grand Finals in the games history, the first two and one featuring Catalans, that would fit into another stadium in the North its not like the game has plenty of options. Old Trafford is still 20k more than the next closest and perfectly situated for such a match for practically any club. It also creates a pretty special atmosphere for a Grand Final and it is pretty easy to configure it to look fairly full even on an attendance of 58k like yesterday.

I also don't think we can overlook the fantastic relationship the sport has had with Old Trafford since the 1980s that has always seen it made available, even when they have declined other sports. This is even more so when other northern football clubs, like Man City, have said no. There is a lot to be said about having a stable ground and place in the calendar as we have been accustomed to with the Grand Final.

I understand concerns about the age of Old Trafford and safety concerns around the in goals. They've existed for decades but I have never heard anything but praise from players about playing at Old Trafford. Consult the players if needed to get their views and input on if change is needed then assess what they would like to do.

At the moment I think that until a better contender comes to the fore that there is little debate.

[Griff]

29 minutes ago, Bearman said:

On the negative side..... pretty much everything but ESPECIALLY the playing surface is too small and is downright dangerous.

We've managed OK for the last 37 years.

[sam4731]

4 minutes ago, Griff said:

We've managed OK for the last 37 years.

Rugby League.

[Gerrumonside ref]

The answer to all this is for the owners of Old Trafford to redevelop it into a modern fan friendly facility.

Hopefully this includes further development of the surrounding area and transport links too.

Obviously the well publicised takeover battles taking place at Manchester United probably aren’t helping the timescales.

[Leyther_Matt]

37 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

The answer to all this is for the owners of Old Trafford to redevelop it into a modern fan friendly facility.

Hopefully this includes further development of the surrounding area and transport links too.

Obviously the well publicised takeover battles taking place at Manchester United probably aren’t helping the timescales.

I genuinely can’t think of another stadium with transport links as good as Old Trafford. We travelled by bus & tram and were back in Leigh town centre an hour after the hooter, even allowing from getting down from East Upper. For context, I work very close to OT and consider it a win if my commute home is driving in less than an hour!

We commented yesterday that the in goals actually seemed larger than previous years, but that’s completely by eye so may not even by slightly accurate.

Some sort of padded in-fill feels like a must now. Players smacking in to the advert boards is the one annual tradition that I don’t like about Old Trafford!

[GUBRATS]

1 hour ago, Barley Mow said:

At our club grounds, when the playing area is too small we reduce the space between the 20m and 40m lines and keep the in goal areas 6m.

This could be done at OT, why don't they? 

Exactly what they should do 

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

2 hours ago, Barley Mow said:

At our club grounds, when the playing area is too small we reduce the space between the 20m and 40m lines and keep the in goal areas 6m.

This could be done at OT, why don't they? 

My guess is the sockets for the posts can't be moved.

[Barley Mow]

3 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

My guess is the sockets for the posts can't be moved.

They can't be using the same post sockets that are used for association football because of the difference in dimensions. The sockets must be specific for rugby league matches, so if you're correct then there must be scope for convincing them to replace and relocate them.

[Chris22]

The stadium is in need of renovation now and is nowhere near as good as more modern stadiums and the length of the playing surface is dangerous. That being said, we should be cautious about changing for the risk of making things worse. If we pull out of Old Trafford, there will be no going back. Say, we decide to host the Grand Final at the Etihad (and Man City wanted that). The danger is in three years time, they end the agreement and where would we go from there?

The sport has an excellent relationship with Old Trafford and, despite its limitations, I think we should stay.

[Red Willow]

2 hours ago, Chris22 said:

The stadium is in need of renovation now and is nowhere near as good as more modern stadiums and the length of the playing surface is dangerous. That being said, we should be cautious about changing for the risk of making things worse. If we pull out of Old Trafford, there will be no going back. Say, we decide to host the Grand Final at the Etihad (and Man City wanted that). The danger is in three years time, they end the agreement and where would we go from there?

The sport has an excellent relationship with Old Trafford and, despite its limitations, I think we should stay.

Won't be able to when they redevelop it. Did you notice Old Trafford wasn't included in the recent grounds for the football?

[Damien]

21 minutes ago, Red Willow said:

Won't be able to when they redevelop it. Did you notice Old Trafford wasn't included in the recent grounds for the football?

It's completely different moving elsewhere while a redevelopment takes place then going back compared to just moving because you want to start playing the final elsewhere.

[Agbrigg]

In these times of litigation for just about everything, it just needs one player to suffer a very serious injury and the RFL could be in serious trouble. There have been so many warning signs regarding the danger of the dip behind the posts and yet year after year, nothing gets done. RFL negligence would be very easy to prove.

[Ullman]

3 hours ago, Barley Mow said:

They can't be using the same post sockets that are used for association football because of the difference in dimensions. The sockets must be specific for rugby league matches, so if you're correct then there must be scope for convincing them to replace and relocate them.

Might be wrong but wouldn't that mean moving the rugby post sockets from the dead ball line into the six yard box? Couldn't see that happening.

[Barley Mow]

7 minutes ago, Ullman said:

Might be wrong but wouldn't that mean moving the rugby post sockets from the dead ball line into the six yard box? Couldn't see that happening.

They are already located within the six yard box - you could see the football markings painted over in green yesterday.

[Big Picture]

6 minutes ago, Ullman said:

Might be wrong but wouldn't that mean moving the rugby post sockets from the dead ball line into the six yard box? Couldn't see that happening.

They're already in the six yard box, that's clearly evident becausethey rarely get the soccer lines completely removed.  The soccer field is 105 metres long because that's the FIFA standard now for all top level matches, therefore having a full 100 metre field of play puts the RL goal lones 2.5 metres into the soccer field of play.

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

5 hours ago, Barley Mow said:

They can't be using the same post sockets that are used for association football because of the difference in dimensions. The sockets must be specific for rugby league matches, so if you're correct then there must be scope for convincing them to replace and relocate them.

I get the dimensions are different, but my thinking is that they want the pitch to be 100m long for football, and therefore can't have socket holes (albeit temporarily blocked up) for the rugby posts in what would be the field of play for the football pitch. So rugby has to therefore have the sockets on the same line as the goal line. That's my guess anyway.

Edit: just seen the other replies that are probably better informed than me

Edited October 15, 2023 by RugbyLeagueGeek

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

3 hours ago, Agbrigg said:

In these times of litigation for just about everything, it just needs one player to suffer a very serious injury and the RFL could be in serious trouble. There have been so many warning signs regarding the danger of the dip behind the posts and yet year after year, nothing gets done. RFL negligence would be very easy to prove.

Didn't one of the Morris twins suffer an injury banging into the hoardings in the World Cup final a few years back?

[Big Picture]

1 minute ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

Didn't one of the Morris twins suffer an injury banging into the hoardings in the World Cup final a few years back?

If memory serves, in 2013 two players had narrow escapes, one from each team.

[Liverpool Rover]

Yes it is the biggest stadium and moving the game to another stadium will mean taking a hit on the maximum attendance but for me that is outweighed by the playing area at OT being as dangerous as it is. The Grand Final is our showpiece game so players need to be able to go out and perform without holding back because it's in the back of their minds that there is always that chance that they could end up flying into front row of the stands whenever they are trying to score a try or leaping into the air to catch a high ball.

[Agbrigg]

Does the players union still have a voice. Surely they ought to be onto to this .