STADIUM DEVELOPMENT: WITH A Uefa Cup final already pencilled into the schedule, IRFU chief executive Philip Browne has expressed confidence that the newly redeveloped Lansdowne Road will also stage the Heineken Cup final in 2011.
Speaking at yesterday’s confirmation of a 10-year, €44-million deal with insurance multinational Aviva which will result in the venue being officially named as the Aviva Stadium, Browne said that the union will be submitting a bid to stage what would be the third final of the competition to be held in Dublin and that he is confident the European Rugby Cup board will consider the matter favourably.
“At the end of the day,” he said, “it is up to the board of the ERC but we have not had a final here since 2003. I think our time is due and 2011 seems to be a bloody good time to have it.”
Pressed about prospect of the new stadium hosting two major European finals as little as a week or two apart, he simply replied: “Why not?” The stadium will open the previous August when the FAI intends to stage a high profile international friendly, with Argentina almost certain to be the opposition. The IRFU has yet to confirm how it will mark the reopening of the ground a week or so earlier but Browne suggested yesterday that it will probably involve a game with an interprovincial dimension to it with a match, it is believed, between two composite sides of two provinces each one possibility being considered.
“We are planning a rugby event and one that hopefully represents what Irish rugby is about,” said Browne. “It’s interesting that the first rugby match held at Lansdowne Road was between Leinster and Ulster and it’s interesting that the last fixture was Leinster versus Ulster.
“Having said that, I’m sure my colleagues in Munster and Connacht will have something to say about that. We are actively considering the right sort of fixture and it will be around the start of August next year.”
Beyond that, he said, the stadium’s management will be in the market for a variety of major events. “The old Lansdowne Road used to have two or three concerts a year and we would anticipate doing something similar. There is also the possibility of one off-matches and joint bids for the (rugby) World Cup. All sorts of possibilities open up to us.”
On the deal with Aviva, Browne claimed that the issue of naming rights was not merely about raising money but also one of prestige. “From the outset of this project naming rights were always going to be an important element of the deal and we’re delighted that we have achieved what we wanted to in this regard. But a deal like this is also important from a credibility point of view. It is important for a stadium,” he said, “to have a major brand name attached to it.”
The value of the deal, the terms of which offer the possibility of a five-year extension when the initial 10-year period expires, is broadly in line with what was anticipated and therefore has no overall major impact on projections by the two associations with regard to how their share of the €411 million redevelopment costs will be funded.
Nevertheless, FAI chief executive John Delaney, who revealed that a small number of League of Ireland games are likely to be staged at the venue before it hosts its first full international as a way of helping to gear it up for the larger events to come, said that the revenue from the Aviva deal was “crucial” to the funding of the project.
In relation to the opposition that has been expressed from some quarters to the renaming of the ground for commercial purposes, he said that such deals were now widely accepted as being part and parcel of stadium developments. “But,” he added, “it’s probably a bit more of an issue for the IRFU than for ourselves.
Browne, however, insists that the benefits of the new development provide an overwhelming case for breaking with tradition. “Lansdowne Road,” he says, “was a stadium that was there for more than 100 years and was well past its sell by date.
“There is no way that we could be doing some things in it that we will be doing in the Aviva Stadium such as Europa (the name for the revamped Uefa Cup) and Heineken Cup finals.
“Lansdowne Road did not fit the ball in terms of modern requirements for spectators or indeed players. So the reality is that we can look back with nostalgia at Lansdowne Road – it was a fantastic stadium and a fantastic place to watch a rugby or soccer match.
“But equally, the Aviva Stadium is going to have its own character and it will be a fantastic place to watch a rugby or soccer match.
As part of the deal, meanwhile, Hibernian Aviva will receive a 50-seat corporate box at the new stadium as well as a significant number of seats for major events. The company’s chief executive, Stuart Purdy, also stressed that the company would be following up on the agreement with a number of smaller investments in grassroots projects the nature of which will be confirmed during the coming months.
