Leicester Tigers may opt for home comforts

LEICESTER TIGERS’ board of directors will sit down at Welford Road today to discuss switching their Heineken Cup quarter-final across the city to the bigger Walker’s Stadium.

The signs are, however, that the Tigers, led by chief executive Peter Wheeler, will opt to stage the game at their fortress of a home ground, foregoing the greater revenue opportunity of filling Leicester City’s 28,000 seats and keeping Munster’s travelling contingent down to around 2,000 fans.

The maths boil down to this: of the 11,000 extra seats that would become available by switching grounds on April 13, almost 7,000 would go to Munster’s passionate following, and a Leicester source told the Irish Examiner:

“The board are meeting to discuss whether to investigate the option of switching venues away from Welford Road. If they decide not to and opt there and then to play at Welford Road, there will probably be an announcement made quickly.

If they decide to look into moving the game, then they’ll get to work on that before any announcement is made. But I suspect they’ll opt to stay at Welford Road and play Munster there.”

Leicester’s mercurial England star Austin Healey is certainly hoping for that decision from his employers. “We’ve always been a club that’s taken pride in the amateur ethos.

We’re a very professionally run club but there’s still a genuine club feeling about the place and so I hope the game will stay at Welford Road. The Walker’s Stadium is a very attractive option but, equally, so are 17,000-odd fans squeezed into Welford Road.

They’ll be sitting on the roof of the clubhouse for that one.

I hope it’s possible but then again it’s up to the administrators. I play where I’m told.”

The same conundrum is facing Leinster’s officials: retain their home ground at Donnybrook for the visit of French champions Biarritz or relinquish the advantageous atmosphere for a bigger crowd at Lansdowne Road.

Wily Biarritz president Marcel Martin was yesterday only to happy to give the Irish province a word or two of advice.

“We played Leinster last year in Donnybrook and we know the atmosphere they can create there. But Leinster should go beyond that. It is their duty and ours to maximise the audience for this match.

“Donnybrook is too small for such an occasion. Leinster, the in-form side in Europe, and Biarritz are the reigning French champions and now there is the added opportunity of playing for a home semi-final.

"So we have to forget about the atmosphere and think sensibly.” Asked whether his club had been consulted on the selection of venue, Martin replied: “Not yet, but we’re expecting to be asked.”