There will be a definate lack of interest in St Helens - jeez its hard enough getting the public off their ar5e to watch Saints when they have been top of the tree. I know I for one wouldnt be remotely interested. Not sure that masses will follow over from Sale if they make a move - are their current crowds particularly big ?

7 - 8,000

They are averaging about 6,000 I think and I went on the Sale forum and a lot of them said they would not go to watch them if they came to St.Helens so what would their average crowds be like then,4,000 tops if that.

So you reckon that Liverpool playing the likes of Utd,City,Everton,Chelsea,Arsenal etc would only attract 300 football fans,don't think so mate more like probably 3-4 thousand.

What good would that coverage do us? None. If Sale RU fans wanted to come and watch RL more would have done so following the cross code games we have played against them.

We'd benefit from rent charged but that would be it. And they'd destroy the pitch.

They didn't get 3-4,000 when they played at KR. What's different now?

Even if they did, that's two games a season Utd and Everton. The rest would have 300-400 like they did last tiime they played at St Helens. They don't play Arsenal and Chelsea IIRC at that level.

It depends on whether you look for the potential opportunity, or the negetive.

If you don't seek the opportunity, it will not seek you.

I don't see opportunity bar rental income.

I can't see them being tied into a deal where we receive a ldecent amount of their hospitality income, which it would need to be to be worthwhile.

You are probably right but to get back to the point I just don't want anything to do with union at our new stadium.
Like you have said if they did play union at the new stadium it would rip the pitch to pieces so no thanks.

Have you seen the state of football pitches mid season?

To be honest I don't want any team but Saints playing on the pitch.

Good idea. We'll win every game 80-0

You know what I mean and if we do win 80-0 every home game I would be happy with that.
It would be a mixture of Ian Millward/Daniel Anderson era combined,best of both worlds.

football is much harder on pitches than either code of rugby because it is concentrated around the penalty areas, with pathetic sliding tackles, both codes of rugby use all of the pitch, so it would be in better condition.

Putting any dislike I have for Rugby Union aside surely having a Premiership Union side rent our stadium would be great for business. The fact that the advertising on the Stadium alone would generate more income because of the increased TV coverage would be a welcome boost. The pitch may be a slight issue but could be managed.

The only way Saints can compete in the long term is through generating more money and if allowing a RU team to squat does that then it's gotta be good for the club

Alright guys,

Sale fan here.

I've been trying to reply to this for about a week but my account has just been activated.
Amongst all the debating I can confirm that it's pretty unlikely that this will happen. Dave Swanton confirmed last week that it's all a load of rubbish. Geographically it would have made no sense but I don't think it would have affected the crowds too much. We'd still be looking at around 7k a week I reckon and a lot more against the big teams. You see, ever since we won the Premiership in 2006 we have attracted fans from all over the show and so it doesn't really matter to them where we play. We'd definitely bring a fair few more fans than any reserve football team would anyway, regardless of the fixture.

A few points though:

I can't be d finding the quotes but somebody said something along the lines of "it seems that they are just trying to share with anybody" - that's not true. It's all just rumours. In the last 10 years there has been rumours of us ground sharing with Manchester City, Bury, Leigh RL, Salford RL and now St Helens RL. The only one of those that I actually know we looked at was Leigh. But that was just Brian Kennedy looking at the facilities and nothing came of it.

Onto your fans - if we did groundshare with a League club then distance aside you are one of the clubs I would rather share with. Your fans don't seem to be as bitter as other teams and from what I can gather there's a section that like Union, Northampton particular I believe? I don't know what that's all about but I'm guessing the "saints" thing.

And as for the "Altrincham stockbroker belt" comment - well that's a load of b*llocks. I can't deny that in recent years, as I have said we have attracted a lot of fans from all over the show. There is a fair few toffs amongst these but I can assure you that the majority at Sale aren't. I don't know how many of you have been to Sale or Stockport but they're hardly middle class havens. You don't get many toffs sitting in an open air stand at a 4th division football ground in minus 5 conditions put it that way. I'm from Wythenshawe, formerly the biggest council estate in Europe so where I come from makes even St Helens look posh! Only joking guys.

Oh, and whilst I am here - cjhatesunion. Is this guy for real? My guess is no, but if he is then he is probably the biggest bell end on the planet. I often browse here because I have a soft spot for the more local RL teams and like to see them do well. All I see is him making an of himself and somebody agrees with him maybe 1 in 100 times. He's either a really lonely man or a kid messing around on his dinner hour. My actual guess would be that the P.E teacher that taught him to play Union in school used to touch him up when he climbed the rope and so now he has such bitterness. I'm not here to open up a debate about codes or class but this guy is a complete and utter kn*b head. I don't think I've ever seen him say anything good about his beloved League? It seems he spends too much time hating Union that he probably doesn't even know what's going on in Super League. Anyway, I expect a really badly written reply along the lines of "go and watch your yawnion you posh get" - to which I will say revert back to the previous paragraph.

Anyway, good luck with the play-offs and I'm hoping to make it to Knowsley Road before it goes, even if it's just to watch St Helens Town. Cheers.

Oh, and whilst I am here - cjhatesunion. Is this guy for real? My guess is no, but if he is then he is probably the biggest bell end on the planet. I often browse here because I have a soft spot for the more local RL teams and like to see them do well. All I see is him making an booty of himself and somebody agrees with him maybe 1 in 100 times. He's either a really lonely man or a kid messing around on his dinner hour. My actual guess would be that the P.E teacher that taught him to play Union in school used to touch him up when he climbed the rope and so now he has such bitterness. I'm not here to open up a debate about codes or class but this guy is a complete and utter kn*b head. I don't think I've ever seen him say anything good about his beloved League? It seems he spends too much time hating Union that he probably doesn't even know what's going on in Super League. Anyway, I expect a really badly written reply along the lines of "go and watch your yawnion you posh get" - to which I will say revert back to the previous paragraph.

In reply to shark j I am A married man in my mid 40s with one child and at school I played RL whilst also playing for my local amateur RL side.
In reply to being touched up I was'nt so don't worry about it.
You say beloved League that has just shown your true colours about what you think about RL so tot off back to Stockport County with the rest of your union mates and leave RL to the true fans of rugby,ok.

Thats an interesting reply from Shark J.I have friends who watch Sale regularly,they travel from Nantwich so St.helens wouldnt take them that much longer.They echo his thoughts that the move is a non starter and think that Salfords new ground is a more realistic possibility.
I have been to Sale a few times,even to the old ground,and have been made very welcome.I would hope Shark J gets the same welcome if he came to Saints.We are not all like CJ.Sport should unite people,not create hostility.

Not sure if you are trying to be ironic with the final statement but in a RU / RL context its a bit laughable given what has gone on for the vast majority of the last century and a bit !!!

That's a good, balanced post from Shark J. cjhatesunion is a bit of a clown.

Why am I though,because I have my opinion on something which obviously means a lot to me.
As I have said before on this forum I have my reasons why I hate union and if other people want to have a go at me for this that is their perogative.

Because you hate rugby union as if they're the Nazi's, that's why.

So what! Leave him be.

There have been a lot of conflicts in the last century much bigger and more important than RL/RU.These have been resolved and its about time this petty argument was resolved.You shouldnt hold a grudge for a lifetime.

Good analogy that,you talking about "The forbidden Game"?