France pull out of hosting 2014 European finals.

Principal Skinner

Just saw an article about this on the score, does anyone know why this is happening?

Dave_The_Sheep

"due to the ongoing uncertainty regarding the availability of the Stade de France."

Apparently. Nothing else in that link though.

mightymonster

Could it have anything to do with Heineken branding ?

Boscoirl

C'mon Italy!!!

dubdamo

I thought it was due to be in Edinburgh originally , probably better off there, Paris and London eat up something like that, when its Edinburgh , Dublin or Cardiff its much better craic.

totallegend

Confirmed by ERC:
http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/news/21285.php#.UbJYquhOPIU

garbanzo

Methinks the FFR are hardballing with the Stade de France authorities in negotiations on their lease. Have seen reports in French media theat their 15 year lease (remember it was built in 1998 for the World Cup of Soccer as the yanks would call it) and the deal seems in hindsight to have been fairly poor from an FFR perspective. Deal is now up for re-negotiation.

Would be brilliant if they moved it to the Stade Velodrome in Marseille but the capacity may not be sufficient.

Great venue the Stade de France. One my life sporting highlights was seeing Drico get his 3 tries there back in the day. Halcyon days lads....

McCBrian

garbanzo wrote: »

Methinks the FFR are hardballing with the Stade de France authorities in negotiations on their lease. Have seen reports in French media theat their 15 year lease (remember it was built in 1998 for the World Cup of Soccer as the yanks would call it) and the deal seems in hindsight to have been fairly poor from an FFR perspective. Deal is now up for re-negotiation.

Would be brilliant if they moved it to the Stade Velodrome in Marseille but the capacity may not be sufficient.

Great venue the Stade de France. One my life sporting highlights was seeing Drico get his 3 tries there back in the day. Halcyon days lads....

Will not be ANYWHERE in France

Podge_irl

I'd like to see it go to Rome seeing as they've been awarded the year after which is unlikely to happen now.

Larbre34

It should be moved to the finest cathedral of rugby in Europe - the San Siro! no shortage of Amlin venues in Milan...

swiftman

cardiff! confirmed

dubdamo

swiftman wrote: »

cardiff! confirmed

Where is that confirmed, can't see it on the ERC website?

Madworld

I'd love it if they moved it to a city in a non-traditional rugby country like Berlin or Amsterdam.

swiftman

dubdamo wrote: »

Where is that confirmed, can't see it on the ERC website?

sorry ment ''cardiff BID confirmed'', oops

baker59

garbanzo wrote: »

Great venue the Stade de France. One my life sporting highlights was seeing Drico get his 3 tries there back in the day. Halcyon days lads....

Might be great for specific memories but as a stadium, it's terrible. Running track around the pitch is never a good start.
Been to it a good few times now. I hate it when Racing move their big games to the stade de france. Colombes is such a great little stadium. A dump but a cracking little stadium. One decent thing about the stadium is the walk from the train station to the stadium which gives you a taste of the atmosphere. That, and the fact it is easy to get to, are the only things I like about it.

pickarooney

The velodrome won't be ready until 2016 in any case. Should be a beauty when it's finished though.

Lelantos

Has to go to Murrayfield imo

Grandpa Hassan

Really hope it goes to Rome

totallegend

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

Really hope it goes to Rome

They're already slated for 2015 so might just stick with that.

Of course, there may not be a Heineken Cup in 2015...

CatFromHue

Only the French could do this lol

With a sterotypical shrug of the shoulders all they say is we don't want it!

BoarHunter

baker59 wrote: »

Might be great for specific memories but as a stadium, it's terrible. Running track around the pitch is never a good start.
Been to it a good few times now. I hate it when Racing move their big games to the stade de france. Colombes is such a great little stadium. A dump but a cracking little stadium. One decent thing about the stadium is the walk from the train station to the stadium which gives you a taste of the atmosphere. That, and the fact it is easy to get to, are the only things I like about it.

Soon there will be a right place :cool: I actually didn't know about the retractable pitch. I find it a bit too cubic but hey

http://www.archdaily.com/333175/grand-stade-ffr-french-rugby-federation-winning-proposal-populous-ateliers-234/

For those who want to see more :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pIJASBeuYg

Swiwi

BoarHunter wrote: »

Soon there will be a right place :cool:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the new stadium going to be somewhere in the Versailles area? Looks potentially a great stadium, but it will surely mean socialising in town, public transport out to the stadium, then public transport back into town ("town" being Paris). Would it have been possible to build a new stadium in Bois de Boulogne or some such green space more in the heart of Paris?

totallegend

Swiwi wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the new stadium going to be somewhere in the Versailles area? Looks potentially a great stadium, but it will surely mean socialising in town, public transport out to the stadium, then public transport back into town ("town" being Paris). Would it have been possible to build a new stadium in Bois de Boulogne or some such green space more in the heart of Paris?

It's in Evry and it is MILES AWAY from Paris. People who give out about having to trek to St Denis (me included) are in for a shock.

Swiwi

totallegend wrote: »

It's in Evry and it is MILES AWAY from Paris. People who give out about having to trek to St Denis (me included) are in for a shock.

Yeah, that's what I thought, you're a legend :P On the plus side (if you consider flying Ryanair a plus), I think Orly airport is in the area.

But the best stadia in the world are city centre-based: Cardiff is supposed to be fantastic, and from a NZ point of view the Wellington Caketin is right near the pubs & clubs, whereas Eden Park is in sedate suburbia.

totallegend

Swiwi wrote: »

Yeah, that's what I thought, you're a legend :P On the plus side (if you consider flying Ryanair a plus), I think Orly airport is in the area.

But the best stadia in the world are city centre-based: Cardiff is supposed to be fantastic, and from a NZ point of view the Wellington Caketin is right near the pubs & clubs, whereas Eden Park is in sedate suburbia.

Ryanair fly to Beauvais, not Orly, from Dublin. It's 124 km by road from Beauvais to Evry according to Google Maps, passing by Stade de France as you do so...

I presume the price of real estate in Paris is the driver here but still...

PS, yes, Cardiff is an awesome location. You're walking down the main street, you turn a corner and there it is. Lansdowne and Murrayfield are good too, in that it's a very manageable walk from the city with plenty of bars en route.

The worst I've been at are Stade de France and whatever the Olympic Stadium in Sydney is now called.

Swiwi

totallegend wrote: »

Ryanair fly to Beauvais, not Orly, from Dublin. It's 124 km by road from Beauvais to Evry according to Google Maps, passing by Stade de France as you do so...

I presume the price of real estate in Paris is the driver here but still...

PS, yes, Cardiff is an awesome location. You're walking down the main street, you turn a corner and there it is. Lansdowne and Murrayfield are good too, in that it's a very manageable walk from the city with plenty of bars en route.

The worst I've been at are Stade de France and whatever the Olympic Stadium in Sydney is now called.

Yeah, a good French mate landed me & him tickets to the '07 final at Stade de France. We were of course delighted with the way the tournament panned out, and through gritted teeth I cheered the Safas on. But it was a so-so atmosphere - mostly finding out which part of NZ the people around you came from...

Aviva is definitely better than Croke. I went to the ABs v Ire at Croke, and the atmosphere was dead. Only wish the Aviva didn't have the dip at one end to accommodate the locals, but it's otherwise pretty decent.

I guess if they put a super-duper high speed train from Paris to Evry, it might be OK, but Evry doesn't strike me as place to pass the after-match, when Paris is so nearby.

BoarHunter

Well in a place like Paris 30 minutes train is a short commute. I would have liked the football club PSG to be rellocated to the Stade de France and the FFR to renovate and boost the old Parc des Princes. It's right in the city centre and would have been a cracker !

I guess it will need a bit of time to settle but during match days I hope they will charter direct trains from the stadium to the city centre and you should be there in less than 20 minutes. Also Ryan air are no fools and by the time I'm sure they will have found a Paris south airport for the match week ends. Orly would be ideal.

totallegend

So Cardiff, Edinburgh and London are the candidate cities for 2014 final.

Edinburgh has to be favourite given that it hasn't hosted since 09 and the other two have both done so in the interim.

jamiedav2011

totallegend wrote: »

So Cardiff, Edinburgh and London are the candidate cities for 2014 final.

Edinburgh has to be favourite given that it hasn't hosted since 09 and the other two have both done so in the interim.

Stadium isn't great, but a crackin city for the final. Had an incredible time there in 2009, of course the result and weather helped.

vienne86

On the ERC web site it says they hope to confirm the city and venues for the 2014 finals by end June......anyone heard any rumours?

former legend

It's being reported that Cardiff will host the 2014 final...
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/millennium-stadium-set-unveiled-venue-5096503