Mp tells Wru bigwigs to sit with crowd to see problems
AN MP has called on the WRU top brass to come out of the committee box and experience at first hand the “obnoxious and boorish” behaviour at Wales matches in the Principality Stadium.
Cardiff West MP Kevin Brennan has also urged the governing body to hold a thorough investigation into the problem and consider all possible actions, including when bars are open.
The call from the Labour MP comes on the back of numerous people expressing concerns over the drunkenness and foul language they encountered during the autumn campaign, with angry parents speaking about what their young children were exposed to, including one six-year old boy being vomited on.
Mr Brennan, who attended Saturday’s match against Australia, said: “I do think there is perhaps a complacency about this on the part of the WRU top brass. They are saying this is isolated, it’s not really a problem and are just calling on people to behave better.
“They then look at the spreadsheet, see they have sold 70,000 pints and that’s great.
“I just wonder how many of the top brass, people like Steve Phillips, are actually aware of the very real issue and the unhappiness among quite a number of spectators.
“I don’t think it would do them any harm, particularly when there is a late kick-off, to take off the suit and tie, put on the scarf and bobble hat, and go out and sit in various parts of the stadium and experience what fans are experiencing having paid £65, £90, £100 for a ticket and see what it’s actually like.
“The WRU will have their lunch up in their suite and walk across the corridor into the committee box and see the game and from where they are sitting all looks fine.
“But, in the ground itself, the atmosphere has deteriorated in recent years, particularly with the later kick-off games. This autumn it seems to have reached a tipping point in terms of the number of complaints that are coming forward. I don’t think the WRU have grasped it at all.
“I seriously suggest the next time there is a late kick-off, they should go incognito and sit in the crowd and see what they think about it.”
Mr Brennan added: “I went on Saturday and it was not a nice experience. It got to a point where some people were so drunk they had genuinely forgotten there was a game going on.
“My brother was with me and, as we were leaving, he said ‘I don’t know if I really want to come any more’ and he’s even a more fanatical rugby fan than I am.
“I think it’s sad when you reach that stage, where people who really love the game don’t love watching the game in our national stadium.
“There’s been a change of what the attitude is within the ground in that it’s a boozing experience rather than a sporting experience...
“There are so many people who are drunk and displaying obnoxious and boorish behaviour, often with foul and abusive language, with families and children around. It’s not nice, it’s not a nice atmosphere for people who don’t want to participate in it just being a big booze up. I have witnessed it myself.
“It doesn’t matter that it’s a minority because a minority can make the experience dreadful for the majority.
“There are some great stewards in the ground trying to cope with it, but I feel they are being put in an almost impossible position.”
He is calling on the WRU to tackle the situation head on.
“I think they should take the issue seriously and consider all the options,” he said.
“They need to convene a proper look into this and consider what they can do. Listen to the evidence from people and come back with an action plan.
“It might be something to do with when and where the bars are open. It might be having some kind of fans code of conduct.
“When the stadium first opened, the bars weren’t open during the game, that came later. It’s a consideration.
“In football, you can have a pint at half-time, but you can’t bring it to your seat.
“That’s actually the law. Rugby was spared that law because the crowd behaved well and it didn’t have the problem with hooliganism.
“But unless something is done about it, we may well be going down a route where it spills over into trouble, with the drunken hostility and edgy atmosphere you feel in some parts of the stadium spilling over into fighting.
“Yes, fans have responsibility, but you set a culture, don’t you?
“At the end of the day, they are a rugby union, not a brewery.
“Yes, they are a business, but the reputation of your business matters too and the experience of your customers matters. If this continues, it is going to damage the reputation of Welsh rugby, if it isn’t doing so already.”
Responding to concerns raised by fans earlier this week, the WRU previously said: “In excess of 275,000 fans have attended the Autumn Nations Series games and the vast majority of fans enjoy themselves in a responsible and considerate way.
“We are very proud of this stadium; it’s regarded as one of the best by players and fans who come here from all over the world, and we implore anyone who visits this great stadium to enjoy themselves but do so responsibly and with respect for others.
“It is policy for our staff to intervene if people are visibly intoxicated – this happens in three main areas: the turnstiles where people can be denied entry, at the point of sale if they try and buy alcohol and in the stadium bowl.”