Sarries agree five-year stadium partnership with Spurs

[mawspurs]

Saracens Rugby Club and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club are delighted to announce an exciting five-year partnership that will see Saracens play its annual showpiece fixture at the new, state-of-the-art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Source: Sarecens OS

 

[Japhet]

Blimey! Might actually be able to afford to go to a match.

 

[John48]

Not good news for me, too often Rugby damages the pitch.

 

[Japhet]

Not good news for me, too often Rugby damages the pitch.

We've got 2 pitches.

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

Not good news for me, too often Rugby damages the pitch.

Won't be on the grass pitch.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

It doesn't matter what pitch it's on, as I understand it, it's one game a year. Saracens v Harlequins I think

 

[John48]

Won't be on the grass pitch.

Not sure Rugby Union can play on astro & anyway I think it's marked up NFL. As for one game a year, I though on Sat the pitch looked a bit lively, although it's been down for a good while & even after one game it's likely to take 3 or so weeks to recover, so I just hope they get the timing of the game right.

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

Not sure Rugby Union can play on astro & anyway I think it's marked up NFL. As for one game a year, I though on Sat the pitch looked a bit lively, although it's been down for a good while & even after one game it's likely to take 3 or so weeks to recover, so I just hope they get the timing of the game right.

Honestly, there's nothing to worry about. The whole "rugby on astro" thing was discussed last week. Saracens have played on a 4G pitch for years. And I believe people (on here) have also stated that the markings for NFL are pretty easily removed & re-painted.

 

[Shadydan]

Who else read this as Sarri?

 

[chinaman]

Who else read this as Sarri?

Me.

 

[pedrodelawasp]

the markings for NFL are pretty easily removed & re-painted.

That's true - the end zones can be painted with the names and crests of the teams competing, graphics to represent the competition and so forth then washed off and re-done in pretty short order.

 

[cider spurs]

Damned if you do...Damned if you don't.

I thought people were hoping this new stadium was going to help us generate more funds, hopefully allowing for squad improvement.

Talk of one rugby match later. Grass meltdown.

I'm sure the club will be aware of timescales to fix pitch if needed, and the rigours the grass may endure as a result of hosting such event.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Damned if you do...Damned if you don't.

I thought people were hoping this new stadium was going to help us generate more funds, hopefully allowing for squad improvement.

Talk of one rugby match later. Grass meltdown.

I'm sure the club will be aware of timescales to fix pitch if needed, and the rigours the grass may endure as a result of hosting such event.

Its also worth noting that the game has been played at the London Stadium for the past two years, most recently ten days or so ago, or a week before West Ham played Everton on it and the pitch was perfectly fine.

 

[WalkerboyUK]

Not good news for me, too often Rugby damages the pitch.

One game per season...

 

[shelfboy68]

Its also worth noting that the game has been played at the London Stadium for the past two years, most recently ten days or so ago, or a week before West Ham played Everton on it and the pitch was perfectly fine.

Yes it's also worth noting that RFU actually complained that the standard of shit that had previously been on the pitch had made it hard for the rugby players.

 

[tonester]

Saracens play on an artificial pitch at Allianz Park - is it not the same surface as the Spurs one?

 

[whitesocks]

That's true - the end zones can be painted with the names and crests of the teams competing, graphics to represent the competition and so forth then washed off and re-done in pretty short order.

Those thick white NFL lines will need to be cut out of the artificial pitch as they would not be easily painted over for a rugby game. But as the whole pitch is a patch work anyway, this might well be the plan.

My worry is those rugby boys really like to get caked in mud - given the choice I think they'd prefer to play on grass.

 

[pedrodelawasp]

Those thick white NFL lines will need to be cut out of the artificial pitch as they would not be easily painted over for a rugby game. But as the whole pitch is a patch work anyway, this might well be the plan.

My worry is those rugby boys really like to get caked in mud - given the choice I think they'd prefer to play on grass.

I really doubt that would be done. If the white lines were part of the fabric of the field perhaps so, but my understanding is that all field markings on artificial surfaces are painted in the same, conventional way as they are on grass, though they can be removed from the artificial material more easily than grass. I'd be pretty confident that the broad white outline could be removed even more readily than the large blocks of coloured graphic used in the end zones - and those are changed regularly at NFL stadiums in the States.

As mentioned by other posters above, Saracens are well accustomed to playing on an artificial surface, so I would imagine they'll be content to do the same here.

 

[Col_M]

I’m not a rugby fan so genuine question. Will this mean Standing will be allowed in the “stands”?

 

[Dunc2610]

I really doubt that would be done. If the white lines were part of the fabric of the field perhaps so, but my understanding is that all field markings on artificial surfaces are painted in the same, conventional way as they are on grass, though they can be removed from the artificial material more easily than grass. I'd be pretty confident that the broad white outline could be removed even more readily than the large blocks of coloured graphic used in the end zones - and those are changed regularly at NFL stadiums in the States.

As mentioned by other posters above, Saracens are well accustomed to playing on an artificial surface, so I would imagine they'll be content to do the same here.

The thick white sidelines are strips of white turf, they're not painted. But they are strips, and were laid seperately than the green turf.

There are several clubs that play on 4G, Saracens, Newcastle and Worcester already have them and Gloucester are apparently looking to install one so playing on 4G isn't anything new to these guys.