With the news that Glasgow City Council will continue with the development of Scotstoun it will allow time for the rugby-athletics synergy to evolve.
Historically the two sports have benefited from each other going back to the days of Eric Liddell and before.and more recently that Hillhead flyer Ming Campbell who started his athletics career at Scotstoun
The rugby and athletic clubs of Glasgow have complimented each other over the years to their mutual benefit
Two of the main athletics clubs that currently use Scotstoun -Glasgow Athletic Club and Victoria Park AAC have provided rugby not only with fitter players but also coaches who have assisted with fitness and conditioning work.such as Tom Lucas(although he was Shettleston Harriers) and Bob Tomlinson who have both worked at the Hawks over the years
Many of the modern fitness methods adopted by pro and club rugby today were tried and tested by the great athletics coaches such as Stamphl,Cerutty and Lydiard.many years ago.
There is great potential for not only Glasgow Rugby to be talking to the Glasgow Athletic Association but also for the amateur rugby clubs to be doing the same


The Herald reports
Glasgow Council pledge £8m to Scotstoun Stadium upgrade
Glasgow City Council will honour the Scotstoun investment despite the withdrawal of the SRU
Today's Herald reports that Glasgow City Council remains committed to making a near £8m contribution towards the redevelopment of Scotstoun Stadium, despite the withdrawal of its key partner in the project.

Following the SRU's announcement that it could not afford to be involved, council officials are also welcoming the prospect of businessmen Brian Simmers and David Mackay using their venue to keep professional rugby in the city.

"The council remains wholly committed to the development of Scotstoun Stadium," said a spokesman. "If people like Mr Mackay and Mr Simmers want to talk to us about their hopes and aspirations, we'd be delighted to meet with them."

The SRU's announcement last week that its financial plight meant the body could not support the plan, which would have resulted in Glasgow Warriors becoming anchor tenants at the complex, seemed to cast doubt over the viability of the council's plan.

The timing seemd to be a particular blow as it was only a few months after the council's policy and resources committee had agreed to provide £7.9m in capital funding to upgrade Scotstoun, which, with the aid of a £4.5m award from sportscotland two years ago, added up to an £11.5m project.

The proposal was passed on the basis that the SRU-owned professional rugby team would be based there with up to 20 Celtic League, European Cup and representative matches played at the venue each year.

Any revision of the plan, which would also provide a home for the recently formed Glasgow Athletics Association, would also have implications for the city's 2014 Commonwealth Games bid.

Even more important longer term is the provision of the sort of sports facilities needed to support the council's health, community and social policies.

The artist's impressions released to The Herald yesterday show a 50000-seat capacity venue very much in line with the sort of municipal stadia seen on the continent.

They also show the room available at either end of the pitch, and the running track would be constructed in a way to accomodate temporary grandstands behind the goals, bringing the capacity to at least 7500.

When the plan was agreed it wason the basis of work getting under way next February with a completion target of summer 2008. That would mean Glasgow's professional players only having to put up with their current multi-base arragement for a further two years. Council officials confirmed that they intend to stick to that schedule.

The project's most controversial aspect was the proposed upgrade of nearby Victoria Park to improve its recreational quality while also providing additional parking for major events, but that met with objections from residents and has consequently been withdrawn.

Revealing his collaboration with the former SRU chairman Mackay to The Herald last week, Simmers, president of the country's leading amateur club Glasgow Hawks, made it clear that he sees Scotstoun as key to the future of the professional game in the country's biggest city.

They are both ready to invest in the project from their private funds, but are looking for heavyweight corporate investment. A role as tenants of the council facility would let them focus their efforts on raising the funds necessary to support the team itself.

While the complex would be very much a municipal facility on the continental model there are also marketing lessons to be learned from abroad.

On Scotland's recent tour to South Africa, for example, they played matches at two grounds that have demonstrated the opportunity sport provides for the corporate world.

King's Park, the area of Durban which also houses a cricket ground and will have a multi-million-rand football stadium built on it ahead of the 2010 World Cup, has been rugby's traditional home, yet the ground which staged the first Test between the Springboks and Scotland is now known as ABSA Stadium.

The venue for the second Test in Port Elizabeth played host to countless international matches, including Lions Tests, and carried the resonant name of Boet Erasmus Stadium for many years but was called Telekom Park, after its sponsors, when a Scotland development team played there in 1997 and has now reverted to being called Eastern Province Stadium.

In an era of public/private partnerships, the mutual benefits are clear and, while the highest-profile investment proposal put to the SRU so far has been to do something similar in Stirling, the economies of scale are obviously to Glasgow's advantage.

That is not to say that, if the Mackay/Simmers plan is successful, the alternative championed by former Stirling County, Glasgow Warriors and Scotland winger Kenny Logan must fail. Indeed, in terms of size of population and business community, the very same argument would work in its favour should his consortium turn its attentions to bringing the team currently based in the Borders to the central belt.

Article by Kevin Ferrie from The Herald - Saturday July 1, 2006


Comments

This article was originally posted on 1-Jul-2006, 13:35 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 1-Jul-2006, 13:51.