And yet you find union interesting Barry.

Yes it is , but if there had been a chance of a win , even the smallest , it would have been packed

So you don't leave it unused.

I've said this before. The RFL have missed a trick with Salford's new ground. Oh, it's great news for Salford and that's good - 12,000, allegedly growing to 20,000 seater stadium with corporate facilities and retail outlets...just another unremarkable HJ or LSV.

A little bit of ambition could have seen a 40/50,000 seater stadium hailed not only as Salford's new home, but the home of Rugby League in the UK. Our very own 'Twickers'. Salford use it throughout the SL season, but we make sure it gets utilised and makes money. We play internationals, Challenge Cup semi-finals, amateur finals, youth and reserve finals, etc. We use it as a centre of youth and amateur excellence with sports science and development facilities. The RFL relocate there. We invite Sale to play there in the winter and charge them for the pleasure. We use it for concerts and other events. Boxing, Monster Trucks, NFL, etc, etc - we might not get them all, but we put the stadium forward as a venue. The massive focus on this stadium not only ensures a cash income but exposure for Salford, and hopefully a crowd boost.

Bang on the M60 and adjoining motorway network, easy for the heartlands fans to get to, excellent transport links - the potential could have been huge.

Got to say that is an absolutley cracking idea

I posted a couple of years ago that the RFL were desperate for the ' iconic ' original design for the Salford stadium , as it would become the prime RL venue apart from the SL GF and Wembley

But your idea takes it all the way to its logical conclusion

Why didn't you suggest this earlier

like starbug says,brilliant idea.
personally speaking i would use your ideas to transform odsal.
lancashire has got two 50,thou+ stadia in manchester and a new one in liverpool coming soon 'hopefully'. yorkshire has nothing like this,and as most RL teams are based in yorkshire it seem to make more sense to me.

yes,have to agree with the Salford idea - seems logical but the Odsal idea is equally as logical - pity the RFL can't take heed of such brilliant suggestions !

Which part of "we have a national stadium" did you not understand?

Which part of ' it's too big and we dont make any money out of it ' do you not understand ?

Don't the RFL have a share in Wembley?

So, to go back the OP and the subject of this thread: "How have we lost this?" where "this" is being able to fill Wembley for an international – we've lost it by decided that Wembley is "too big"?

Like I said earlier, too many people in the game have lost all ambition and have accepted that rugby league is and should remain a small regional sport of interest to no-one - while still moaning at the national media for regarding it as a small regional sport of interest to no-one.

To be honest tb, I agree that we should have more ambition and use Wembley for internationals, but I also like the idea of having a purely RL Stadium. Maybe it's not the worst idea in the world to build a 40000 seater in Bradford.

I think it's ambitious rather than small mindedness to want a national RL stadium as well as wanting to use Wembley to it's potential.

Which part of the statement "Rugby League NEEDS a national stadium", did YOU not understand?

RL does not have a national stadium. The FA do. They simply let us use it from time to time. That, for a sport spouting 'expansion' and 'development', is not good enough. Wembley, as good as it is, is 200 miles from the heartlands of RL. It's a showpiece stadium - perfect for the CC final, but we've also got the rest of the game to think about.

I suggest you remove that chip from your shoulder - everyone else understands we're talking about a RL Stadium. A true home of RL in the UK.

Care to answer any of the points I made? Or happier making cheap little one-liners?

It's not the FA's national stadium. It's [ithe[/i national stadium. And it's been host to rugby league, as the national stadium, for over 80 years.

rlsee hererl

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or to quote another rlsourcerl



But no, let's throw all that history away and build a small regional stadium for a small regional sport.

So where does the money for this come from?

The build cost on a brand new 40-50,000 all seater stadium is going to run into tens of millions of pounds, wherever you locate it.

You can't take it from the money the RFL receives in TV deals, as this is the primary source of funding for clubs and a fair few would be bankrupt if you diverted these funds elsewhere.

You can't borrow it, as any commercial lender will want to see evidence that the stadium is going to viable - half a dozen big games a year for which it might or might not be full isn't going to persuade them in the current climate.

The RFL (as far as I'm aware) isn't sitting on the sort of funds needed to pay for this kind of project.

The FA has multiple revenue streams it can use to pay the running costs of a facility like Wembley. Where is the RFL going to get that funding from, other than out of existing budgets?

It's a great idea in principle, but it's not realistic IMO.