Jurassic Park!
Ninian needs re-development
Welsh Football has sufferred
In fact, all the Welsh Football League clubs have been hampered
by their poor grounds. When Newport County were a league side,
Somerton Park was widely regarded as one of the worst venues in
the professional game. The Welsh team has also suffered. They
were forced to play at Anfield in 1978 because of the decrepit
condition of Ninian Park.
Twenty years later the situation
had hardly improved, Wales were back in Liverpool for important
Internationals against Italy and Denmark after the Arms Park was
demolished. None of our league clubs could stage those games and
both were lost.
Wrexham have done the most in recent seasons to improve the Racecourse
which is now trim, modern and has good facilities. But the capacity
is still only 15,500 which suggests that neither they or Wales
(if they ever return to Wrexham for an International) can profit
from playing games there.
Swansea City's move to a 25,000 all-seater ground at the Morfa Stadium should be viewed jealously. If Swansea had moved to that ground this season they would be difficult to catch. The momentum of a promotion and a move to a new stadium could have sent Swansea to new heights. They'd be looking to fill the place. They would also be looking to stage Internationals that wouldn't fill the Millenium Stadium.
Millenium Stadium
The Millenium Stadium
is a case in point. 66,500 people showed up for a friendly against
Finland. It was astonishing. People were there, just to be there.
Such support led to Sam Hamman taking control at Cardiff City.
With that game the people of Cardiff an beyond were matching the
support of Manchester United, and exceeding it against Brazil.
In theory, the potential for support for Cardiff City could easily
support a Premiership team.
I can't picture a time when Cardiff City are playing Premiership matches at the Millenium Stadium in front of 72,000 crowds. It's beyond my comprehension. I've watched them play at home in front of crowds under 2,000 and despaired. But who's to say what will happen to football in Cardiff after the FA Cup is staged here. The opportunties are awesome. The Rugby World Cup was largely a wasted opportunity - more matches should have been played in Wales - but at least it did establish the stadium as a leading venue in Europe.
The Millenium Stadium is an obviously successful venue, it has exceeded all expectations - especially where football is concerened. Surely the temptation to Sam Hamman must be for Cardiff City to move there at some stage. To be frank, I've no real idea of his intentions. But the fact remains a comparison between Ninian Park and the Millenium Stadium can't be made.
Ninian Park Redevelopment?
It's nearly eight years
since Ninian Park had a major facelift during the Rick Wright
era and it's in as much need of improvement now as it was back
then. Wright's improvements were superficial and unconvincing.
Indeed, one suspects that they weren't all that was promised.
The iron work that supports the roof extension on the grandstand
was surely designed to carry the weight of a more substantial
roof. This roof extension drew derision from football ground expert,
Simon Inglis, in his "Football Grounds of Great Britain".
And rightly so. But Inglis correctly maintains that Ninian Park
has great potential.
Ninian Park was a truly wretched place during the late 80s and early 90s. The Canton Stand and The Grange End were closed, the Bob Bank was visibly rotting with huge expanses of corrogated cladding missing. The toilets were barely legal with hundreds in danger of being arrested for indecent exposure. Rick Wright improved the place considerably, in the short term at least.
If Ninian Park is to survive for another decade major improvements will have to be made and quickly. The Canton Stand should be rebuilt entirely. The Grandstand should finally get the new roof that all the steelwork seemed to promise. It remains to be seen what happens to the Bob Bank, at the moment there are far too many seats with a restricted view.
Of course, with the Millenium Stadium only a few miles away and desperately in need of revenue, it's not inconceivable that City could use the stadium for big games with a revamped, smaller Ninian handling normal matches.
All of this conjecture is pointless
unless the team improves and progresses. If the club is content
to yo-yo endlessly between the bottom two divisions they might
as well stay at Ninian park until it falls apart around there
ears.