Wasps
We Came, We Saw, We Conquered
A Record Attendance
By Heathen
December 30 2014
Venimus, vidimus, vicimus Or in other words, we came, we saw, we conquered. Who would have imagined 12 months ago that Wasps would be playing in their own stadium in from of 28,000 people? And an Aviva Premiership record attendance for a home stadium? Certainly not me. And that Wasps would be pocketing somewhere between £500K and £600K in the process.
Much has been discussed on this site and elsewhere about the positives and negatives of the move. Enough said.
What is fact that the day was a huge success and that the City of Coventry welcomed us with open arms.
Leaving a small but homely stadium, sandwiched between Green Belt land and a less than inviting industrial estate in the leafy outskirts of High Wycombe, and the not infrequent covey of partridge that used to descend at dusk, one wondered whether the intimacy and atmosphere that could be generated at Adams Park, might not happen at the Ricoh.
Well, Sunday proved what it could be like. The wall of Black and Gold that was evident all around the stadium, certainly made a very clear statement.
I also felt that the stadium did not have a cavernous feel to it – perhaps that was due in some part to the number of attendees.
Getting there was relatively straight forward for most. My coach left High Wycombe at just after 11.00 and we were at the Ricoh by 13.00. Time to sample the feeding stations and get some suitable refreshment on board.
No first day is without it’s teething problems. Signs around the stadium were sometimes difficult to find. The queues to get through the turnstiles, certainly in the East Stand were around 40 deep in places and the turnstiles were rather slow. Quite a few people missed the KO as a consequence.
And so to the match. Wasps appeared a bit nervy in the first half and Irish certainly gave a good account of themselves. Sadly for them, their infringement count was high allowing our local lad to kick a perfect 6 from 6 and give Wasps a slender 18-16 lead.
The second half was a transformation. 30 unanswered points including another Premiership record in the 33 points scored by Andy Goode, including a try. The others from Simmo, Elliot and Andrea at the death, gave us 5 pointer and 6th place in the table.
Time for another beer before the coach left at 17.00 for an uneventful trip back.
Overall a very enjoyable day from my perspective and it would appear that many others feel the same way.
Huge credit has to go to the Wasps management for making it happen and to the players for fronting up and delivering on the pitch.
The future is bright, the future is Black and Gold.
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Steve
Steve
Twitter @charliewasp & @allezwasps
& Wasps Supporters Panel
..... nice article ! Thanks 