Watford 'disappointed' there is still no decision on whether Saracens are staying at Vicarage Road (From Watford Observer)
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Watford 'disappointed' there is still no decision on whether Saracens are staying at Vicarage Road
5:01pm Wednesday 8th September 2010 in
Watford have released a statement saying they are “disappointed” Saracens have yet to confirm whether the rugby club are remaining at Vicarage Road beyond this season.
Sarries had a board meeting last Friday and chief executive Edward Griffiths had previously indicated a decision would be made that day.
Griffiths’ opposite number Julian Winter also said he expected to find out by the September 3 deadline but Saracens are yet to inform Watford whether they plan to leave Vicarage Road in June.
Saracens will stop playing at the stadium next summer unless a new lease can be agreed after Watford activated a break clause in May.
Had the Hornets not done so, the rugby club could have remained at the stadium until 2017 on the same agreement, which sees Watford receive just £489,000 a year from Sarries.
The Hornets have made two separate proposals to the Men in Black’s board and the development of the East Stand and South West corner have been part of discussions.
“There’s no doubt that a working partnership with Saracens at Vicarage Road can only be to the benefit of the long-term aims of both our club and the stadium,” Winter said.
“But given the clear guidelines which were set out as part of our discussions, and the fact the partnership principle has been on the table for over a year, the board of Watford FC is disappointed that this matter still remains unresolved.
“We are, however, still in positive dialogue with Saracens’ officials, so at this moment there is a possibility of the rugby club remaining at Vicarage Road beyond June 2011,” Winter added..
“As our fans I’m sure would expect of us, we are working on plans which deal with both possible outcomes.”
Yesterday, Griffiths said he hoped to decide whether Saracens will be staying at Vicarage Road by the end of this week.
Griffiths said: "Discussions are continuing with Watford. We have always had an excellent relationship with them. We hope to be in a position to reach a final decision by the weekend but these things take time.
"Watford have been open and constructive throughout and I couldn't speak too highly of Julian Winter and Watford in what is a challenging situation.
"We share a desire to see the stadium upgraded and we are trying to see how we can ensure this works."
Comments(15)
hogweed
says...
6:09pm Wed 8 Sep 10
Hog out
V-o-R
says...
6:41pm Wed 8 Sep 10
hogweed wrote:Don't be a pilchard all your life!
Could'nt care a less. The ground is a dump. Why would they want to stay?
Hog out
Johnny Ryden
says...
7:22pm Wed 8 Sep 10
pfwhornets wrote:Good point pfw; surely a foorball club unfettered by another entity such as a rugby club, will be more attractive to a new investor?
I assume we are still looking hard for a buyer/investor? Wouldn't we look more attractive to a buyer if we weren't stuck with a rugby club for the NEXT 10 years? I'm still wondering what is going to happen if we haven't found an investor by the end of the rights issue year. This is what we should be concentrating on.
Sy
says...
7:39pm Wed 8 Sep 10
Johnny Ryden wrote:Depends what the deal is. If they strike a deal that will develop the east side of the ground etc... and bring in a certain amount of rent money then I'd think that would be quite appealing to an investor.
pfwhornets wrote: I assume we are still looking hard for a buyer/investor? Wouldn't we look more attractive to a buyer if we weren't stuck with a rugby club for the NEXT 10 years? I'm still wondering what is going to happen if we haven't found an investor by the end of the rights issue year. This is what we should be concentrating on.Good point pfw; surely a foorball club unfettered by another entity such as a rugby club, will be more attractive to a new investor?
What's more appealing, a club losing money with a three sided ground or a club losing less money with a four sided ground (or at least concrete and partially funded plans in place for a four sided ground)?
a1derek
says...
9:01pm Wed 8 Sep 10
Regardless of what WFC want / need they are trying to get better value for an increased investment than they would by staying.
I never thought I'd say this, but I guess you can see their point of view. However they have had a year to sort it out and should be in a more concrete position than this given the lease situation and time they've had to sort themselves out.
Clearly the current lease is just not a goer for WFC so this may rumble on for a while yet, wich as has ben pointed out is not good from the point of view of attracting new investment or a buyer. Investors do not like uncertainty.
Let's hope it is sorted one way or the other very soon.
Robhornet
says...
9:57pm Wed 8 Sep 10
Time to show them the door and go it alone......
HornetJJ
says...
10:26pm Wed 8 Sep 10
a1derek
says...
11:54pm Wed 8 Sep 10
BigDaveH
says...
7:46am Thu 9 Sep 10
Firstly, any investor who sees extra income coming into the club from a long term agreement that makes better use of the stadium would surely look at this positively.
Secondly, HornetJJ, their average attendance at the Vic is between 7-8000, and have also sold out.
Thirdly, (and I hate to say it), In terms of the standing in their sport, Saracens play at the top level and were runners up last year, whereas we (WFC) are likely to struggle to remain in footballs second tier. Should the worse happen and relegation occurs, then we would have been pretty stupid to turn them out, with other income diminishing.
Garston Tony
says...
7:47am Thu 9 Sep 10
herts hornet
says...
9:05am Thu 9 Sep 10
BigDaveH wrote:on your third point maybe if wfc only had to find 490k a year to play in a fully functional stadium they would have more money to invest in building the football club ,Saracens play at the top level now and spend thousands on recruiting the best players they can ,maybe now they have to find REAL money to find there own identity will give them a wake up call to realise how lucky they are to have a stadium, to play in ,they say they have looked at Fulham,Qpr e.t. c but don't see them dying to welcome RUGBY to there stadiums ,can just see warnocks face if he was presented with this proposal ! Yes WFC need investment but do we need the rugby wrecking our pitch in the winter without them helping to put this situation right with investment on the pitch with WFC and other areas ,MR WINTER do not be walked all over you have up until now handled this well and Saracens Mr Grifiths would do well to respect this and stop messing you around the deadline has passed give them until end of week and hopefully move forward together OR END this saga and give them notice and let them spend ther money elsewhere THEY WILL NEED TO FIND ALOT MORE MONEY ELSEWHERE and maybe there top tier team will suffer for this
Some of you guys really have the blinkers on when it comes to this discussion (and this comes from a WFC supporter of over 40 years now). Firstly, any investor who sees extra income coming into the club from a long term agreement that makes better use of the stadium would surely look at this positively. Secondly, HornetJJ, their average attendance at the Vic is between 7-8000, and have also sold out. Thirdly, (and I hate to say it), In terms of the standing in their sport, Saracens play at the top level and were runners up last year, whereas we (WFC) are likely to struggle to remain in footballs second tier. Should the worse happen and relegation occurs, then we would have been pretty stupid to turn them out, with other income diminishing.
fairwater
says...
10:44am Thu 9 Sep 10
a1derek wrote:Fully agree Derek. As I have stated before, Nigel Wray is a very shrewd businessman and knows a good deal when he sees one. He will keep Sarries at the Vic, but he wants it on HIS terms, and he is not a man to be bullied.
Remember we are dealing with Nigel Wray here. This is typical "drip" negotiating and if he thinks he has WFC over the proverbial barrel, which he may well do, then he will go for the jugular. I just hope we are strong enough to resist and do what is right for WFC and not roll over and allow Wray to rodger us. Sadly that is what I can see happening!
As for a couple of other comments, the egg chasers average approx 8000 at the Vic, and not the silly 4000 mentioned by someone. Their actual average for last season was better than WFC, because they played four matches at Wembley with 40,000+ attendances.
They might need 14,000 to "break-even" but this is arguable. With the Wembley income they cover this figure comfortably, and if not, the multi-millionaire Wray is more than willing to cover any shortfall. I believe he also has more illustrious plans for the Vic in the long term.
And finally, the ground is not a "dump" as someone posted. Three sides are very good, and it is just the East Stand that needs replacing.
HornetJJ
says...
12:37pm Thu 9 Sep 10
WFC4ever
says...
5:48pm Thu 9 Sep 10
ork.net/boards/read/
s104.htm?107,1183868
2,page=2
We don't seem that popular here!
Appears that Sarries are still looking for the best deal from THEIR point of view whilst our club want them to stay and hekp pay for the new stand/pitch our own board failed to provide.
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Watford 'disappointed' there is still no decision on whether Saracens are staying at Vicarage Road. Picture: Action Images
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pfwhornets says...
5:56pm Wed 8 Sep 10
I'm still wondering what is going to happen if we haven't found an investor by the end of the rights issue year. This is what we should be concentrating on.