Bid to save pro rugby in Glasgow

David Mackay is working to keep pro rugby in Glasgow
Today's Herald reports that David Mackay, the former SRU chairman, and Brian Simmers, the driving force behind the creation of Scotland's leading club, have teamed up in a bid to keep professional rugby in Glasgow.
Previously bound by a confidentiality agreement with the SRU, they were given clearance to break their silence yesterday after it emerged that the latest consequence of Murrayfield's financial problems is a withdrawal from proposed involvement in the redevelopment of Scotstoun Stadium.

Simmers told The Herald that, if successful in taking over the running of Glasgow Warriors, he and Mackay would immediately seek to revive talks with the council.

"We are urgently seeking the backing we need to keep professional rugby in Glasgow and we believe Scotstoun is critical to our plans," he said.

"There are proposals to tak ethe team to Stirling but I think that would be crazy because of the opportunities within Glasgow to generate support from the corporate sector."

He added that they would be seeking to ensure that the project is very much in line with social inclusion and community involvement agendas, so maximising the capacity to attract public sector support at both local council and national government level.

"We are also looking beyond the city itself since, as well as the whole side of this country, the North and Midlands (all areas north and east of Stirling) looks towards this (Glasgow) as their team," he noted.

The SRU board confirmed thsi week that, without private investmet, they still cannot guarentee the future of three professional teams even into next season.

Confidence is growing within the game that all three will survive as long as there is a realistic prospect of new money being found, but Gordon McKie, the SRU's chief executive, has given himself a timescale for achieving a deal with one of three prospective investors of July 10, when pre-season training starts.

The plan to move Warriors to Stirling has been well publicised, while a Borders consortium is trying to put together a package to buy into the Reivers.

Simmers and Mackay though, present a powerful combination as individuals closely linked with the sport who also have strong business backgrounds. Simmers was among the key players in bringing together Glasgow Accies and GHK in 1997 to form the Hawks club that has dominated the domestic game.

It is a measure of Mackay's standing that his reputation survived his ousting as SRU chairman last year. Based in Fife, he bacame closely involved with Glasgow's sporting community when running the feasibility study investigating the city's bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"I approached David about this some time ago and was unsure how he would respond since I know he was very upset at what happened last year," Simmers said. "I was delighted he was so positive not only about professional rugby, but about a team being based in Glasgow."

Both would be on the pro team franchise's management board, along with an SRU official and representative(s) of anyone making major investments.

Simmers decided to go public to reassure supporters of rugby in Glasgow and potential backers that the SRU's stance on Scotstoun was not interpreted as fatal to the future of professional rugby in the city.

Making that announcement, McKie, the SRU chief executive explained: "We were asked by Glasgow City Council to commit to a stadium which wouldn't be available until around 2009 when the redevelopment of the ground would be complete. We cannot provide this length of commitment until the future shape of Scottish professional rugby is clearer."

Council officials subsequently admitted that the SRU's stance cast doubts over their plans for Scotstoun, since talks had been on-going for several years on the basis that it would provide the Warriors with a much-needed base while giving the council anchor tenant.

The SRU also denied reports that they are close to signing a new deal with Hillhead-Jordanhill to return to Hughenden for next season.

A long-term arrangement with the West End club ended abruptly during last season amid bitter recriminations and a legal dispute between the two remains unresolved, while the condition of the pitch and floodlights is not up to the required standard.

Simmers said that, whatever happens, facilities for the team will not be ideal until Scotstoun is available.

"We have to accept that over the next three years we would be working with lesser facilities than we would like before we could use what we would see as an ideal venue for professional rugby at Scotstoun," he said.

This article was posted on 24-Jun-2006, 13:21 by Hugh Barrow.