hope widnes have done a deal for a pre season friendly against saints in the new saints stadium in 2012 as a a warm up for our superleague season

If the stadium is owned by the local council, surely Widnes aren't getting a penny?

are st helens still gonna be playing on a friday nights

More than likely as Widnes play either Thursday or Saturday/Sunday
The pitch may be quite poor next season, i hope the groundsman is getting a raise

I thought the same thing. But with having Wigan host Bradford here in the play-offs, and two or three Challenge Cup semi-finals, I'm sure the RFL are very much aware that the stadium can deliver top level rugby.

I don't think that Widnes will benefit in any other way however. We potentially stand to risk losing some support that are quite not converted to true Vikings, but I hope not. Financially, as far as I'm aware, the council STILL own the stadium. I'm not sure if any agreements are in place between our chairman and Halton Borough though that may change this.

I assume Everton Reserves will also be using the ground next season too, AFAIK, they still play their home matches at Widnes. The pitch is going to take some battering.

With Mick Potter gone Saints will once again be back to feather light brushes of the turf in a one way precession to the line. No damage to the pitch.

All us Saints fans know it's not an ideal situation,but in the long run it will be well worth it.

and dont everton youth squad also play there

From what ive been told Saints reserves and academy will also be playing there as well.

Even then i expect the pitch to look better than Headinglys disgracefull pitch for much of this season.

Not directly, but it won't do the finances any harm, either. The council is a minority shareholder in the Vikings and has a director on the club board (currently the council chief executive David Parr.) The stadium holding company is supposed to break even, so with largely fixed operating costs, it's clearly beneficial to all parties to have three tenants to share the costs rather than one. It was the club rather than the council who spent nearly half a million pounds on refurbishments in 2008, for example - the council isn't supposed to be subsidizing a private company out of local taxpayers money.

Very much doubt Saints reserves & academy will play there. Widnes reserves & academy don't - and there's no shortage of suitable places in st.helens for them.

Really hope Saints use the opportunity to take the Wigan game to a bigger ground as a one-off.

I have heard they are playing at Moss Lane,LSH.

cant see everton hanging around with so much rugby being played on it.

on a slightly different tack should saints have gone for a bigger capacity than 18000 for the new stadium given the crowd potential of games vs warrington, wigan and possibly widnes?

Widnes just need to become St's feeder club and the move is complete! Save your money on a new stadium St's and change your name to something encompassing the whole area (well it is what folks are suggesting Wakey and Cas should do!)

Well, it aint so long ago that St Helens were our bitches. If all goes well early next year, it wont be long before they might get to be our bitches again, and then Mr O'Connor can drive up the linkway and suggest to their board about becoming OUR feeder...

When the applications are processed, Saints will have a brand new stadium that they can call there own. Also, Widnes won't get anything, the Halton Stadium is owned by the Widnes council.

quality post!

Wakey and Cas are in the same district. Widnes and Saints are not. They aren't even in the same county.

No, they wont

The actual stadium will be up, it may not be ready to use but the stadium will be up, when the applications are processed. It'll also be ready to play in, when the new franchises are ready to start, so yes they will.

so are saints gonna be playing all there cup, league and play off games at widnes nxt season then and move into the new ground in 2012 ??

Saints will only move into the new stadium next year if Its ready for the last few regular games. The first game at the new stadium wont be a playoff game.

Unlike the pies.
They played Cas in the playoffs and got beat.

The Sun reckons Saints v Wire may be taken to Goodison, which would be great if it happens. www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sp ... witch.html Saints should start talking to Tim Cahill to help promote this, if they get the go-ahead from Everton. He was pretty obliging signing a Vikings jersey when he was at Widnes a few months back and with his Samoa & Balmain background and RL playing cousins he is very familiar with our game.

The Sun reckons Saints v Wire may be taken to Goodison, which would be great if it happens. www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sp ... witch.html Saints should start talking to Tim Cahill to help promote this, if they get the go-ahead from Everton. He was pretty obliging signing a Vikings jersey when he was at Widnes a few months back and with his Samoa & Balmain background and RL playing cousins he is very familiar with our game.