PRO14 trips to Paradise could become par for course
RUGBY matches at Celtic Park could become a regular feature on the Glasgow sporting calendar if Glasgow Warriors can compete consistently at the highest level, according to the team’s owners.
Currently bidding to turn BT Murrayfield into the home of Scottish football as well as rugby, Dominic McKay, the chief operating officer of Scottish Rugby, indicated that the ambitions of his organisation have grown ever greater as he suggested that a successful Grand Final could be the first of many rugby matches at Glasgow’s biggest sporting arena.
“The first thing to do is have an outstanding success of the Pro14 final and a great showpiece that will be for the city and for Scotland,” he said, when asked whether Celtic Park could be used for future rugby internationals.
“Where we might see potential is Glasgow Warriors. They are selling out their games in Scotstoun just now and 8000 people packed in creates an amazing atmosphere and we’ve got ambitious plans to extend that.
“We’d like to get to 12,000, so we’re in detailed discussions just now with the City [of Glasgow council] who are our landlords to expand it further, but there comes an opportunity if the success of the PRO14 is what we believe it will be, that a Warriors game could be played at Celtic Park for the right quarter or semi-final of a cup, so we’re open-minded about that.”
Ahead of their annual awards dinner last night it was certainly clear that organisers of the competition contested among teams from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, South Africa and Italy believe they have achieved a major coup in persuading Scotland’s football champions to let them stage the PRO14’s Grand Final at Celtic’s home ground on the same day that the club could potentially be seeking to complete a tripleTreble across the city.
“We had really fantastic bid process and we received some really, really in-depth bids from different parties and the one that stood out to us was from the Scottish Rugby Union, Glasgow Warriors and the city of Glasgow,” said Martin Anayi, the PRO14’s chief executive.
“When there was an opportunity to take it into Celtic Park we felt that was far too good an opportunity to turn down, so we’re thrilled we managed to get it away.”
The clash with football’s Scottish Cup final on May 25 next year carries obvious logistical implications for policing and transport, particularly if supporters of both sporting codes are travelling at similar times, but Anayi expressed confidence