PaarlBok
Rod McCall (65)
Best news for the year. Always have this fear of the rugby lot to scrap Newlands, seel the property and move to the brand new Poofbaal stadium in GreenPoint.
Rugby365
A bit of history on Newlands
Stormers site
The heart and HQ of SA Rugby
Rugby365
Western Province and the Stormers will continue to play their rugby at Newlands, says Western Province Rugby Union President Tobie Titus.
This is not merely a sentimental decison by the clubs which constitute the Western Province (WP) Union, based on emotion or tradition, but makes sound financial sense.
There has some been speculation amongst the public that WP may be tempted to move to the new Cape Town Stadium, but less discussion among the actual decision-makers.
"At the moment the clubs are quite happy for the rugby to stay at Newlands," said Titus.
Titus was supported in this view by the Union's Chairman of Finance, Zelt Marais, at a media briefing on Monday to release and discuss the Union's annual financial statements. Marais said it would not make commercial sense for the Union to move to the new stadium.
There would be more seating for the public at the new Cape Town Stadium, but WP and the Stormers would have to pay rent for use of the stadium and there would be a major problem with suites if major rugby matches were to be played there. There are 343 suites at Newlands but only 78 at the Cape Town Stadium and all the Newlands suite-holders have contracts with the Union.
Marais reported that the Union's finances had come a long way since the R16m loss in 2006. This had been reduced to a loss of just over R8m in 2007, and the profit of R8m in 2008 was largely a result of the part-sale of the Brookside property owned by the Union.
This year the loss for the Group had been "a book loss of R88,000" but this was after depreciation and the cash profit had been about R3m.
Marais said WP finances had been stabilised, there were "positive cash flows for the first time in four years [of R1.8m]" and the guaranteed income augured well for the future. The figures for 2009 were better than the Union had forecast at the end of the last financial year.
The WP and Emerging Springbok games against the British and Irish Lions had yielded a profit of R10m. The terms imposed on Unions holding a Lions Test match "were not acceptable to us", said Titus, and when approached to host a Test on these terms, he had told them that "Newlands is not prepared to sell their soul for a one-off thing".
Marais said the organisers of the Lions tour wanted the "prime seats" plus the use of suites and "we wouldn't compromise our loyal suite-holders and our public".
He said WP had made more money from the two Lions games at Newlands than the profit yielded by other Unions which had accepted the terms and hosted a Test match.
"We did better [financially] than the other Unions that staged a Test," said Titus.
He was proud that "Newlands is still one of the best-supported stadiums, not only in South Africa, but in the world."
Titus said statistics showed that in terms of both the Super 14 and the Currie Cup, Newlands was the best attended stadium.
If the Stormers host a Super 14 final this year and WP host a Currie Cup final, the projected profit for the two games would be a total of R20m-R25m. Losing the semi-final of the Currie Cup last October had cost the Union about R10m - the projected profit from hosting the final.
The Union would not consider moving a Super 14 or Currie Cup final to the Cape Town Stadium to accommodate a few thousand more spectators because of contractual obligations to suite-holders and to season-ticket holders. Moving the game away from Newlands could lead to suite-holders suing the Union for breach of contract.
"Short-term greed is a recipe for disaster," said Marais.
A bit of history on Newlands
Stormers site
The first official matches were played at Newlands on Saturday 31 May 1890 when Villager and Stellenbosch met in such muddy conditions that the curtain-raiser between Bishops and Hamiltons had to be cancelled. The records show that the university side won by a ‘goal to a try’ - the ‘goal’ was described by the legendary Fairy Heatlle as ‘the most remarkable dropped kick I have seen´. The famous ground was to see many more such unforgettable moments.
Newlands as we see it today was purchased, constructed, demolished and finally re-developed at huge cost and commitment over the past century entirely by the efforts of dedicated members of the Western Province Rugby Football Union and its administrators - to whom this magnificent stadium is a fitting monument. And we must never forget those faithful supporters, who have followed the fortunes of their teams week in, week out in spite of often inclement weather.
Newlands is a fitting testament to those men and women who have supported and believed in not only the WPFRU but in the game of Rugby Football. The stadium, and the ground the stadium is built on, is owned by the WPRFU.
Featured in its history is the honour of hosting the opening match of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, where host nation South Africa upset the reigning world champions Australia 27-18, in what would be the beginning of a fairytale story that saw Springbok Captain Francois Piennaar lift the Webb Ellis trophy at Ellis Park at the end of the tournament. Coach Jake White and Captain John Smit returned to Newlands in 2007, in the final leg of the country-wide World Cup victory parade following the Boks’ triumphant Rugby World Cup tournament in France, to show off the Webb Ellis trophy to a near capacity Newlands Faithful, who had pitched at the ground to welcome the Boks back home.
In 2009 Newlands also hosted the British and Irish Lions in two non-test matches, when the Northern Hemisphere giants played Vodacom WP on 13 June and an Emerging Springbok outfit on 23 June. Both matches were well supported by both local and international fans, despite a typical wet and wintery Cape climate. The British and Irish Lions claimed victory a tightly contested match against the Blue and White Hoops of WP (23-26). A massive effort by the Emerging Springboks in the final quarter and a decisive conversion from the touchline in the 80th minute by Province’s Willem de Waal drew the scorers equal at 13-all in the stormy mid-week match.
Newlands has taken on various names over the years as the Western Province Rugby side took on different sponsors, such as Norwich and Fedsure, but today the name stands proudly alone thanks to the discretion of their previous two sponsors, Investec and Vodacom.
"We elected to change the name of the stadium to reflect its popular name rather than calling it Investec Newlands", Raymond van Niekerk, global head of group marketing at Investec said shortly after announcing the sponsorship.
"We've tried to adopt a unique approach to stadium naming and branding, " Van Niekerk said. "While the rich history, heritage and tradition of Newlands is retained, the commercial value inherent in the modern trend of selling stadium naming rights is preserved through the use of the Investec logo and typeface."
Rob Wagner, MD of WP Rugby commented: "Stadium naming rights sales have become lucrative and important elements of any sporting body's income streams. We are very happy with the way both Investec and Vodacom have opted to utilise their naming rights."
Newlands, home of Province and Stormers Rugby, has become world renowned for being the most supported teams in the modern game, regardless of log position – with its spectators now commonly known as “The Newlands Faithful”. In 2002, Newlands welcomed its millionth spectator, to watch a Stormers match, through the gates, with more than 2 million fans having come out to support the popular Super Rugby franchise over the past 12 years. In both 2008 and 2009, Newlands recorded a total annual attendance of more than 500 000 spectators, with an average of 17 rugby fixtures a year.
The heart and HQ of SA Rugby
