Northampton Saints: Move to Milton Keynes was not about money
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Saints chief executive Alan Robson insists moving the Heineken Cup clash with Munster to Milton Keynes was not about cash.
Saints lost their final pool game at stadiummk on Saturday to end their European hopes for another season.
Some fans have complained since that Saints lost their home advantage moving the game to Milton Keynes with plenty of Munster fans managing to get tickets for the clash.
The Irish province’s supporters follow the Red Army in their hordes and that, insists Robson, was one of the reasons for moving the game from Franklin’s Gardens.
Robson said the club wanted to get as many Saints fans to the game as possible. That was the club’s primary motive, not to make more money.
“It was not driven by finances,” said Robson. “The whole decision to play the game in Milton Keynes was driven by the draw with Munster and being the last game in the pool, which was likely to be a deciding match.
“We get a nice full house at Franklin’s Gardens of 13,500, but by the time we give opposition tickets to Munster and the organisers, ERC, it would have meant we would have less Saints fans here at the Gardens than we ordinarily have for a Saturday match.
“The demand was going to be high and where is the sense in obstructing people’s desire to come along and enjoy the experience?
“We had two wonderful games at Milton Keynes last season in the quarters and semis of the Heineken Cup. We had great results, they were very successful and it made absolute sense to replicate that this season. We could have sold even more tickets for the game.”
Meanwhile, Robson has been able to announce a new sponsorship deal with local builders merchants Travis Perkins. They became Saints’ shirt sponsor in 2002 and will now carry on until at least 2016.
According to the club it is now the longest the longest relationship between a sports club and its main sponsor in UK elite sport.
Robson said: “It is fantastic, Travis Perkins have been our main sponsor since 2002 when we entered a one-year deal.
“We have entered a further four years from the end of this season, so that takes us through to the summer of 2016. That is the longest club sponsorship in UK elite sport. It says oceans about the relationship between the two organisations, and how important it is to Saints.
“They have got faith and are part of that Saints brand. Travis Perkins have their head offices here in Northampton and a lot of people who work for them support Saints on Saturday and it is a wonderful relationship.”
Soane Tonga’uiha is holding a bowling night as part of his testimonial.
It is being organised by Saints fans group comeonyousaints.com and will take place at Tenpin in Sixfields tomorrow night.
It starts at 6pm and costs a suggested donation of £10 to pit yourself against Tonga’uiha and other Saints players. It is a family event and there will be competitions and ‘Tiny’ testimonial merchandise available as well as Tonga’uiha himself for pictures and signing autographs.
Tickets are still available or you can just turn up on the night for a game of bowling and a chat with the big man.
There will also be raffles, proceeds from which will go to Soane’s chosen charities, including The Vaini Primary School and village in Tonga, the Kislingbury Primary School, Northamptonshire and Cancer Research. See the www.soanetongauiha.com for more details on the event and Tonga’uiha’s testimonial.
Three more Saints games have been moved because of TV demands. They all remain on their original dates but the kick-off times have moved.
They game against Wasps at Franklin’s Gardens on March 23 now kicks off at 5.45pm, the match at Bath (March 31), kicks off at 5.30pm and the home game with Leicester (April 14) now kicks off at 2.15pm.
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Comments
There are 11 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Chrispy1
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 02:28 PMPending Moderation
Damocles
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 09:39 AMI fear the soul is being taken out of The Saints for money. MK is a football stadium. The pitch is too short and too narrow for Rugby. Its catering facilities have shown themselves incapable of handing rugby supporters' needs fast enough. A great many empty seats at MK spoke volumes about the many season ticket holders with tickets who chose not to go to MK. And Munster were able to get a much bigger and noisier contingent there because of where it was. And we lost home advantage and lost the game. We might well have lost anyway but giving away home advantage was huge error. To say it wasn't about money is not convincing at all.
helmsdale
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 09:08 AMThree matches, Wasps, Bath (away) and Leicester, all with changed kick off times. How can fans plan if there are constant changes after the fixture list is produced. What does the word 'fixture' mean?
Tabasco kid
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 10:14 PMSteve Rodhouse, nice to see that im not alone in having a deep suspicion about where next seasons "home" game against the Tigers will take place.
SteveRiches
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 08:32 PMOoo look, Alan - there's a flying pig making its way from MK to N'ton!
OiRodders
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 08:15 PMSteve, fair point about the change of plan however as I understand it this was done because it was Munster knowing the massive away following they have. Truth is there would be no point for any prem games as we are one of the few teams with travelling support. I just feel that on a game like this one it was justifiable to accomodate a greater number of attendees and despite what this article suggests enjoy a one off financial bonus for the club.
steve rodhouse
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 06:51 PMOiRodders. You state "MK was a fair way to accomodate all of us" which totally ignores most of my comments regarding REGULAR supporters that could not attend the game. You also state that the Saints make more revenue from you than regular season ticket holders - you've obviously never seen me in the beer tent ! Serious question, as I do not know the answer but how many tickets are we committed to give Leicester for the Premiership fixture? I honestly don't know if your argument could also be used for that game and will it be used for next season's fixture against the Tigers?
helmsdale
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 05:09 PMThe whole point is not the fact that the game was at MK, but that it was moved there AFTER people had paid out good money thinking that it would be at Franklins. The fixture list and venues ought to be fixed before people buy their tickets
OiRodders
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 03:24 PMI'm not a season ticket holder but attend every home game and some away. Had it not been played at MK I wouldnt have been able to go as the 9000 season ticket holders would get their allocation, 3000 to Munster and any left for corporate and those ingenious Munster fans. I choose not to buy a season ticket as I attend games with different people each time. Am I any less of a supporter??? The answer should be no and indeed the club reaps more revenue from me than season ticket holders. MK was a fair way to accomodate all of us, is doing this once a season really such a pain for people?
steve rodhouse
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 02:22 PMMr Robson. How do you sleep at night ? This was purely money driven otherwise you would have listened to the fans. Many older, disabled and young supporters were probably unable to make this trip. Then take into account the moral stance taken by many others that the game should not have been moved. Where were you when the fans were stuck in the "car park " after the game? Having a G and T by any chance? Joker!
Tabasco kid
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 01:26 PMAnd i suppose that the new shirt sponsorship deal is not about money either.
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