‘WRU is not a brewery and must tackle crowd issue’
MP Kevin Brennan 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.
He has also urged the governing body to hold a thorough investigation into the problem and consider all possible actions, including potential changes in terms of when bars are open.
The call from the Cardiff West 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.
In yesterday’s Post, one Swansea dad warned rugby chiefs that they risked losing a generation of young supporters, as he detailed the antisocial behaviour his young son had been exposed to during the autumn international series.
Long-time rugby fan Brennan, who attended Saturday’s match against Australia, believes a tipping point has now been reached with urgent action required.
“I do think there is perhaps a complacency about this on the part of the WRU top brass,” he said.
“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.”
Brennan continued: “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.
“I really want to watch the game, but what happens is quite a number of people are so drunk by the time they get to the stadium and then they get even drunker inside the stadium.
“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.”
The Cwmbran-born Brennan is now calling on the WRU to tackle the situation head on.
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 MP Kevin Brennan
“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.”