Twickers – great stadium, pity about the RFU! (Twickenham Rugby Stadium)

Name: libertybell

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Product:	Twickenham Rugby Stadium
Date:	31/10/00 (4472 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Modern stadium, great view, fantastic tour and museum trip

Disadvantages: Elitist, cold, quite a trek from the station and expensive to park

I’ve been wanting to write an opinion on Twickenham for a long time, but have never been to see a game there. On Saturday 28 October 2000, history was made. Twickenham, home of the plummy accent, tweed jacket, public school tie and all the other irritations that get up my noise – did something really radical. They allowed the first game of Rugby League to be played on the hallowed turf. Yes – Rugby League – cloth caps, funny northern accents etc. After 105 years of persecuting/ignoring the professional code – Twickenham finally accepted it and allowed the first game to be played there – England versus Australia.

And what a load of old of baloney it was too. England splashed about for 80 minutes and were beaten 22-2. What a great start to the Rugby League World Cup!

With my visit to Twickers and recollections of a tour around the ground 3 years previously – I think I have enough stuff for my opinion.

Twickenham is the home of the Rugby Football Union (or RFU for short). It was formed on 26 January 1871 in London to agree upon a ‘standard’ set of rules. Scottish members of the RFU challenged their English counterparts to a match in 1871 and as a result of this the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) was formed in 1873, followed by the Irish (IRU) in 1879 and the Welsh in 1880 (WRU). There is no such thing as the English Rugby Union – the RFU claim the name, as they were the first.

The next momentous occasion was the ‘great schism’ of 1895. Rugby Union was started as a public school sport but as time went on, it was paid by northern working class men who wanted compensation because they had to give up some of their pay to travel to and play in matches. They wanted ‘broken time’ payments. This caused a great deal of consternation in the RFU as they believed in amateurism plus they didn’t like these northern types who did manual jobs. The RFU instigated a
‘witch hunt’ and persecuted (through fines and expulsion) anyone who dared to be paid in money or kind. The northern clubs tried to get the rules changed but in August 1895, a decision was made by 22 clubs to breakaway from the RFU and form the Northern Union. The NU in 1922 became the Rugby League.

Rugby Union kept up its amateur ethos (called ‘shamateurism’) despite turning a blind eye to money stuck in boots and all those other practices it attacked the northern clubs over. If you ever played Rugby League – you were expelled. Hence the number of pariahs created when men from Union when ‘north’ e.g. Jonathan Davies, Martin Offiah, Scott Gibbs and Scott Quinnell. In 1996, there was so much shamateurism in the southern hemisphere that Union went professional. The barriers between Union have come down and now Union seems to want to emulate League by buying up its players and coaches.

Can you see why League fans get upset? In terms of turning professional, Rugby League was 101 years ahead of Union!

Back to Twickers. The first ground was built between 1907-9 on 10 acres of market garden near the town of Twickenham. The idea was instigated by a chap called William Williams and was known locally as Billy Williams’ cabbage patch. The first match was played there on 1910 between England and Wales.

The best way to see Twickers is on its excellent Stadium and Museum Tour. A ticket will cost you £5 per adult and there are cheaper tickets for families and children. Details can be found on the RFU web-site www.rfu.com/twickenham/tours. I went around in December 1997 in a party of about 8 along with our own tour guide – some retired General-chappy who knew his stuff. The tour lasted 1.5 hours and we saw everything including the changing rooms, hospitality suites, executive meeting room, bars etc. We even stood on the ground – but not the hallowed turf. Admission even gets you into the
museum where there are loads of artefacts. They even keep the Calcutta Cup there. Finally there is the Shop. Here you can buy your Lawrence Dallaglio Rugger kit, 6 nations stuff and the video of the last game they won against decent Southern Hemisphere opposition (the video is pretty old).

As a league man, you’ve got to be impressed and I found it excellent value for money.

Lets get back to the match. To get to Twickers, you take a train from Waterloo running via Richmond. The station was packed when we got there and you squeeze up the staircases and out of the ground. It is quite a trek to the ground – further than from Wembley tube to the twin towers. Near to the ground, the Police direct those wanting the north and east stands up 1 street and those for the south and west up another. Having navigated the A316 (the Police luckily stop the traffic), you spot the ground rising amongst all the houses. It is really impressive.

My friend had exchanged out tickets for something less wet and I struggled to find Block 242. In fact I wandered around the whole of the ground until I found it ten minutes into the game. Climbing up 3 sets of stairs, I arrived. Behind the goal posts on the south side. Superb view – but bloody cold. I imagine supporters of the 6 nations in January wrap up very warm. What was great was the lack of obstructions and the ample legroom (see my Wembley opinion). The seats were okay – but were uncomfortable by the second half.

Come the final whistle, we were frozen and we staggered down the steps – disillusioned and cold. We had parked the car at the Stoop – home of the Harlequins Rugby Union Club. The cost of this privilege - £10! Car parking around Twickenham is at a premium. It is after all a residential area and most streets are barracked off. There is a huge area on the north side of the ground where you see spectators eating and drinking champagne and smoked salmon before 6
nations games. However this was a League match and any car venturing out there that night would have got stuck in the muck (that sounds like a familiar opinion!)

As a ground, it beats the existing Wembley stadium hands down. Getting to the ground isn’t bad – but it’s quite a walk. This is the last time I will visit Twickers for a long time because it’s next to impossible to get a ticket for a decent Union match unless you belong to a Rugby Union club – through whom tickets are distributed. At least you can buy a League ticket through the Box Office. But that’s another reason why I prefer League !!!!

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