adminfears for the future of rugby union in the sport’s south Wales heartland.
Everywhere you look in English football, Welsh clubs and players are making inroads.
Swansea are the League Cup champions. Cardiff are back in England’s top division after a 51-year absence. The Premier League’s most lauded individual player, Gareth Bale, is a Welshman.
Further down the English football pyramid, Welsh clubs Newport County and Wrexham are preparing to contest the Conference National play-off final for the right to join the ranks of England’s 92 professional Football League clubs.
Even the much maligned national team are on the up, having leapt 22 places to 49th in the latest Fifa ranking.
But while the nation’s football fans jubilate, Wales’ cash-strapped rugby clubs are feeling the pinch.
Cardiff are expected to quadruple their revenue to around £80 million (US$124 million) next season, as the Premier League clubs savour the first chunks of a new television deal worth more than £5 billion over three seasons. In stark contrast, the city’s professional rugby team, Cardiff Blues, must respect a £3.5 million salary cap.
With glamour teams like Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool due to visit the Cardiff City Stadium next season, the Bluebirds can also expect a spike in the number of fans attending their games, which could spell bad news for the Blues.
Rugby side the Ospreys reported a sharp decline in attendances when neighbours Swansea were promoted to the Premier League and the football teams’ gates already dwarf those of their rugby counterparts.
Cardiff City’s average home crowd this season is close to 22 500, while the Blues attract an average of only 7 880 fans to each game.
Meanwhile, at the Liberty Stadium that Swansea share with the Ospreys, attendances fluctuate by up to 10 000 depending on whether the footballers or the rugby players are in town. — AFP.
Online Reporter