From a pitch quality standpoint, no, but from an income standpoint and continued stadium banter (going from three sides to our renters) it would be nice.
They have zero chance of having a stadium ready for August 2026, it’s not even fully approved yet and will no doubt end up in court at some stage.
They will end up outside of Oxford for at least two years. We are the obvious choice or Northampton.
They currently pay about £1.2M to rent the Kassam a season and get no or little matchday income from anything other than ticket sales. An extra £1.2M a season for a couple of years would be most welcome.
Something we might need to consider with this plan is the road and/or expansion of the terrace / main stand (if that ever happens). The grounds capacity will be reduced if anything is done with the stadium AND the storage area for the materials will prob affect the income that we could get from ground-sharing.
Having a look on the map, we are 29 miles away from their ground (roughly), Swindon Town is 33 miles away, Reading 25 miles. While MK & Northampton are 40 miles plus. So we aren't the closest but might be cheapest option when considering the other options.
Reading would prob charge more with their current financial situation & it seems like Oxford have more "beef" with Swindon than with us but all of these ground have roughly the same travel time to get to which is 40-50minutes. I doubt Oxford will make much money from matchdays as not many of their fans will drink as they will need to drive home AND pay for parking (but could get the train / public transport if they wanted to).
While its not such a bad idea, there are a lot of variables that could also play its role.
For the same reason their game with Reading at the weekend had to kick off early, and that there was such fervent opposition to the proposed Oxford-Reading merger. They hate each other almost as much as Oxford and Swindon.
What would worry me is that if it was to happen and the new Oxford ground was to fall through and we were to get a new owner with more money than sense, I’m sure the idea of a joint ground new build somewhere around Thame would appear on the horizon
Just as an illustration of a level competitiveness between Oxford and Reading I have a story.
My uncle was a character who lived in the small town of Watlington most of his life. Watlington is 15 miles from Oxford, Reading and Wycombe by car according to Google. My uncle was born at the end of the First World War and supported Headington United and its later manifestations from when he was a lad. He lived at one end of the High Street in Watlington and his favourite pub was at the other end. He had a hand bell specifically for occasions when Oxford won and Reading lost and at those times he would take the bell with him to the pub to ring it along the High Street, particuarly vigourously outside the front doors of the Reading supporters.
A possibly as long as any games we play with them at AP are considered home games for us. I’m not going in the away stand to look up at some numpty from across the border sitting in my seat.
What would worry me is that if it was to happen and the new Oxford ground was to fall through and we were to get a new owner with more money than sense, I’m sure the idea of a joint ground new build somewhere around Thame would appear on the horizon
I wonder if any of our "fans" would repeat their Wasps trick. Moving their support over to them then saying following 2 teams is therefore too expensive.
So you say. I say having a 4 sided ground should more than make up for having to always be the away team when playing their gracious hosts. Pete n Bobby C, work that southern charm.
Comments
From a pitch quality standpoint, no, but from an income standpoint and continued stadium banter (going from three sides to our renters) it would be nice.
Ground-sharing shouldn't be a thing
Can't they ground share with Wasps? A perfect pairing.
Reading would need the money (or maybe the stadium will be vacant by then...)
Are Wasps still a thing though ?
They have zero chance of having a stadium ready for August 2026, it’s not even fully approved yet and will no doubt end up in court at some stage.
They will end up outside of Oxford for at least two years. We are the obvious choice or Northampton.
They currently pay about £1.2M to rent the Kassam a season and get no or little matchday income from anything other than ticket sales. An extra £1.2M a season for a couple of years would be most welcome.
Wasps, Worcester and London Irish don’t exist this season or maybe for ever.
If we hypothetically earned £1.2m from Oxford per season would it be the club’s or the trust’s money?
No.
HAHAHA!
No.
The club rent the stadium, not sure if they can sublet.
Either way the money would end up going towards the running of the club or improvements to the ground.
A win, win.
Anything that takes money from Oxford & benefits WWFC in whatever form would be a delight for me.
No
£1.2m for three sides of a stadium - I make that £1.6m for a proper stadium.
Excellent!!
Something we might need to consider with this plan is the road and/or expansion of the terrace / main stand (if that ever happens). The grounds capacity will be reduced if anything is done with the stadium AND the storage area for the materials will prob affect the income that we could get from ground-sharing.
Having a look on the map, we are 29 miles away from their ground (roughly), Swindon Town is 33 miles away, Reading 25 miles. While MK & Northampton are 40 miles plus. So we aren't the closest but might be cheapest option when considering the other options.
Reading would prob charge more with their current financial situation & it seems like Oxford have more "beef" with Swindon than with us but all of these ground have roughly the same travel time to get to which is 40-50minutes. I doubt Oxford will make much money from matchdays as not many of their fans will drink as they will need to drive home AND pay for parking (but could get the train / public transport if they wanted to).
While its not such a bad idea, there are a lot of variables that could also play its role.
TVP would never permit Oxford groundsharing with Swindon or Reading.
Suggesting Oxford have more beef with Swindon than us is the understatement of the day.
Why would they not allow it to happen at Reading?
For the same reason their game with Reading at the weekend had to kick off early, and that there was such fervent opposition to the proposed Oxford-Reading merger. They hate each other almost as much as Oxford and Swindon.
What would worry me is that if it was to happen and the new Oxford ground was to fall through and we were to get a new owner with more money than sense, I’m sure the idea of a joint ground new build somewhere around Thame would appear on the horizon
Just as an illustration of a level competitiveness between Oxford and Reading I have a story.
My uncle was a character who lived in the small town of Watlington most of his life. Watlington is 15 miles from Oxford, Reading and Wycombe by car according to Google. My uncle was born at the end of the First World War and supported Headington United and its later manifestations from when he was a lad. He lived at one end of the High Street in Watlington and his favourite pub was at the other end. He had a hand bell specifically for occasions when Oxford won and Reading lost and at those times he would take the bell with him to the pub to ring it along the High Street, particuarly vigourously outside the front doors of the Reading supporters.
A possibly as long as any games we play with them at AP are considered home games for us. I’m not going in the away stand to look up at some numpty from across the border sitting in my seat.
What would worry me is that if it was to happen and the new Oxford ground was to fall through and we were to get a new owner with more money than sense, I’m sure the idea of a joint ground new build somewhere around Thame would appear on the horizon
Suits me as I live in Thame🤣
It would have to work as their home game. Meaning a weird scrabble to get into that away end of 1,800.
I wonder if any of our "fans" would repeat their Wasps trick. Moving their support over to them then saying following 2 teams is therefore too expensive.
No.
Just merge the teams into a Thames Valley Rovers 2.0
Oxcombe United. There's a place in Lincolnshire called Oxcombe so we could move there to fulfill my deranged idea.
So you say. I say having a 4 sided ground should more than make up for having to always be the away team when playing their gracious hosts. Pete n Bobby C, work that southern charm.
Let’s focus on staying in the same division as them, then we can worry about that.