The AGM of the Scottish Rugby Union as I expected left more questions than answers, and we still don’t know what the ‘ten year plan’ will bring about, or what Ruth Davidson has brought to the game. I’ll put other questions later…
Still there was one moment of common decency when Scottish Rugby Ltd (SRL) chairman John McGuigan apologised to the family of Siobhan Cattigan who died two years ago after a history of head injuries sustained while playing for Scotland – she earned 19 caps – and Stirling County RFC.
McGuigan said on Saturday: “As new chairman of SRL, I wish to apologise wholeheartedly for any anguish we caused Siobhan during her time with Scottish Rugby and to her family and loved ones following her passing,”
He added: “Albeit Scottish Rugby did not intend to cause distress to the family through our actions it’s clear we should have managed this tragic situation better.”
Siobhan’s family yesterday issued an acknowledgment of McGuigan’s apology and detailed how he had approached them and discussed her tragic death and the aftermath that did not show the SRU in a good light.
The family will now meet the Crown Office with a view to discussing a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) which would probably have been automatic had Siobhan been a paid employee. I would urge Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain to set aside protocol and realise that with an independent judge-led FAI there are huge lessons that can be learned for all sport from Siobhan’s death.
Regular readers will know I suffer from Parkinson’s Disease, and having played rugby and suffered concussions as a youngster, I stand with the Cattigan family in wanting to ensure that no one ever suffers the same fate as Siobhan.
FAIs have often proven vital in bringing evidence to light and seeing safety recommendations made, so I think that is the way to go in this case.
The AGM’s aftermath saw criticism of the poor attendance by club representatives, to which I can only ask did anyone think that holding the AGM on a Saturday would fill a Murrayfield suite when most club people would rather be at their teams’ games?
We should also be rejoicing in the wake of our professional clubs’ victories at the weekend, and I have to say Edinburgh’s win over Bulls was a quite brilliant match. Yet I’m still thinking back to the AGM and wanting answers to what I am calling the Murrayfield Mystery.
It has been no secret for years that Murrayfield is no longer the stadium that it was. Remember that it was planned back in 1990, and the first phase of the redevelopment was completed in 1993. I remember the designers and builders boasted that when complete it would be the best rugby stadium in the world, and for a couple of years that was true until Twickenham was revamped, the Stade de France was built and the Millennium Stadium developed for Wales. Since the Aviva Stadium’s arrival I am no longer sure Murrayfield is even the third or fourth best rugby stadium in the Six Nations, but that’s not the mystery.
Here’s what chief executive Mark Dodson had to say on Saturday: “I need to bring people in who can spend more of their discretionary income not just on their ticket but on dwell time around the stadium, and that’s where we are focussed.
“I think if somebody asked what your preference would be between an 80,000-seater stadium or a 67,000-seater stadium with another 10 to 15 percent hospitality places, it would be the latter.
“We’re about to look at that, we’re about to look at the stadium, what’s going to be redundant in the stadium, what we have to do. There is a conditioning report being done and once that’s there we’ll have to review it with the Board about how we develop the stadium.”
It’s sad but true that with costs rising ever upwards, the SRU in common with other unions will have to keep raising ticket prices but Murrayfield needs modernising to justify such price hikes. There is a lack of basic facilities such as women’s toilets and access for disabled people, and why does the SRU have to rely on burger vans outside when there should be more bars and eating places inside?
As Dodson admitted: “The lack of hospitality here compared to, say, Twickenham or even the Millennium Stadium, reduces our ability to be able to charge more for not just a ticket but price points of a simple meal, a complicated meal, a designer meal, fine dining.”
If the Stadium capacity cannot be increased – and it can’t – then extra money will need to come from redevelopment of the hospitality areas to make them bigger and more able to host top-level events such as conferences, so I await with interest the ‘conditioning report’ as stated by Dodson which I presume will be made public.
Murrayfield is Scottish rugby’s biggest built asset. Its future should be no mystery.
