BG has done loads for french RL - that cannot be taken away from him tho' his selfishness or caution (whichever way you want to look at it !) regarding denying Goulding the french national team players is frustrating
My good lady and I sat near him at a recent UTC game and he was obnoxious,probably because BOTH his teams were beaten - he was rude to my wife (she is handicapped) which is a sign of bad manners
He has given RL in france five good years but that's no excuse for acting like a self-appointed oligarchy

SPOT ON however BG is BG and wont change i just hope that the Dragons are able to sort out all the problems that they have off the field as it seems that they are mounting.

how do you mean 'they are mounting' ? they can't be much worse than last season ?

BG will always BG well,he is the president so probably has the right to act as the little dictator but he needs to give the new regime a fair chance IMO

No problem with a dictator most latin sporting organisations have them however the best ones put loads of dosh in which is not the case with the Dragons board without the SKY monies Maire/Department would be in a bad way nothing against BG he has taken a small village team to SL which is fantastic however the real catalan money men (Barcelona) will never get involved witn the current regime a sad fact but true why was USAP so successful it wasnt just local money the Pujol family in Barcelona became involved i know because the only person who ever put any large personal money into the Dragons (Same person who found all the sponsors for SL Engage/Gillette etc) took them to the SL final a couple of years ago and they loved it.
Again nothing against BG but the club will never compete with the big boys until things change.

see your points canagoo - it's a common fact the Cats are under financial pressure,now I understand better why this is.Most clubs seem dependant on SKY money to keep them afloat - a handful could probably survive but probably not that many...

did i miss something?

There's a press release on the Catalans website today saying that 500 000 Euro has been made available by various govt bodies to fund works, including a new stand as well as club offices and a shop.

yes JonM but read on,the total cost will be 6.8 million euros split between three separate government offices with almost half of it being financed by the city of Perpignan.The state is financing the rest.This is unusual for the state to finance a rugby ground though the reason given is that it will improve the area around the stadium and improve living conditionsgenerally ie improvement in local infrastructure etc
All this to add 2560 more places for fans plus space for reception & administrative areas.

Let's just hope the team justifies this investment in 2011 on the pitch...

seems a shame that there'll still be that one end without a grandstand. Oh well, better than nothing.

11,000? Ready by April? Sounds like the perfect venue to host the mid year international with England I think.

yes,seems strange to me they built a swimming pool at one end !!! mind you,it's facing due west so a real pain to be sat there in the hot months,in fact probably unbearable from mid-june to mid-september - maybe it was for that reason ?

I believe the Stade Toulousain is perfect for internationals as in the past with it's easy access etc

The swimming-pool was built in front of the stadium because the ex-mayor of Perpignan hates rugby league and the catalans dragons. He's a rugby union fan, particularly for the local club, USAP.

Although, this is official, the new mayor wants to build a new stadium of 25'000-30'000 seats at the periphery of Perpignan because USAP needs more money to survive in French Top 14. But the problem is financial, the city haven't got the money to built a new stadium.

thanks or the insight - the ex-mayor sounds a nasty piece of work !

I don't suppose Aimée Giral can be extended any more following the previous work over recent years ?

I think the debate about Dragons generally should bear in mind how tough Usap are having it this season.
Tenth in the league and until yesterday struggling in the Euro cup.
Lots of moaning on their forum and a coach and owner under pressure.
Will that put more pressure on the local administration to help them out?

what's the difference in USAP being 10th in a 17500 seater or 30000 seater stadium ? would they really be able to fill a 30000 seater ?

If the top14 is more widely known in France, it is important for Perpignan the town to have a strong team in that competition... I think.

For Dragons it could be an opportunity if they are struggling. Or the council or whomever might want to offer Dragons less support and USAP more.