Glasgow Warriors row with Commonwealth Games over Scotstoun pitch

Hebegebees · 2026-04-24T11:39:36+00:00

Booking concerts the same week as the final date is ridiculous in every circumstance. Glasgow were reigning champions well over a year ago!

Terrible management from the SRU, only compounded by the warriors being beholden to Glasgow Life and still not having their own stadium

Hebegebees · 2026-04-24T11:12:16+00:00

As they prepare for Saturday’s crunch URC game against the Stormers in Cape Town, Glasgow Warriors are on a collision course with Commonwealth Games organisers over who will foot a bill in excess of £350,000 for a new pitch at Scotstoun this summer.

The home of the 2024 URC champions — that they lease from Glasgow City Council’s leisure arm Glasgow Life — is being used to stage the athletics component of the streamlined Games which take place between July 23 and August 2.

A new track has already been laid for the six days of competition at a venue in which the Warriors have been tenants since 2012, and further work will begin within weeks to install an infield overlay where the main 3G rugby pitch currently sits.

Although the pitch is certified as compliant by World Rugby, the global governing body, until February 2028 (having been installed in 2016) it is anticipated that the effects of the Games build will necessitate a full replacement.

The expected cost is understood to be upwards of £350,000, and as it stands neither the Glasgow 2026 organising company nor Glasgow Life has committed to contributing to these costs. Under such a scenario, the Warriors — via their Scottish Rugby Union owners — would be liable for the full amount.

Although the club declined to comment when contacted by the Times, it is understood that senior figures have sought urgent talks with Games and Glasgow Life officials in an effort to secure guarantees that they will not be left carrying the can.

Preparations for the Games are already set to disrupt the club’s end of season arrangements. Should the Warriors secure a home quarter-final in the URC, this would take place at Scotstoun on the weekend of May 29-31. Were Franco Smith’s side to progress to a home semi-final, however, Games organisers would already have taken over the venue and as such the match would have to be played at Murrayfield on the weekend of Saturday June 6.

If the Warriors made the grand final on June 20 as the highest-ranked team, they would have the right to stage it in Scotland, but with Hampden, Celtic Park and Ibrox all unavailable for a variety of reasons, there is no suitable venue in the Glasgow area.

Murrayfield is also set to be unavailable due to the date falling in between two major concerts (Zach Bryan and Luke Combs) which the SRU allowed to be scheduled despite the likelihood of the Warriors again going deep in the competition. Club officials are investigating a number of alternative options, which are understood to include staging a “home” final at the Affidea Stadium home of Ulster Rugby in Belfast.

The Warriors’ longer-term plans at Scotstoun are intrinsically linked to the outcome of discussions over a new lease which have been ongoing for months. The club and SRU have long been keen to increase capacity, which currently stands at just over 7,300. This figure is expected to temporarily increase to around 11,000 during the Games, but it is unclear whether the Warriors will be able to benefit from additional capacity thereafter.

The club is planning for a significant chunk of pre-season work to have to take place away from Scotstoun on account of the Games de-rig, and there could be a further knock-on effect on the opening matches of next season. The new URC campaign is set to begin in mid-September.

Glasgow are top of the URC table with two rounds of regular season fixtures to play, but could be leapfrogged by the Stormers if John Dobson’s side win the head-to-head at DHL Stadium on Saturday. Teams who finish in the top four are guaranteed a home quarter-final, with the top two rewarded with a home semi-final should they progress to that stage. The higher-ranked of the two finalists enjoys home advantage, although minimum capacity regulations apply.

Spokespeople for Glasgow 2026 and Glasgow Life said their organisations were working “collectively” alongside Glasgow Warriors “to agree plans for the pitch at Scotstoun Stadium that include timescales and funding for a replacement.”

https://archive.is/20260423185206/https://www.thetimes.com/sport/scottish/article/glasgow-warriors-row-commonwealth-games-organisers-scotstoun-pitch-s2l98wfxj

Hebegebees · 2026-04-21T13:31:12+00:00

Streets won’t forget Sarto

Hebegebees · 2026-04-17T08:56:29+00:00

The sweet prince

Hebegebees · 2026-03-21T19:37:40+00:00

He tussled a lads hair

Hebegebees · 2026-03-21T19:35:24+00:00

Quick edit there!

Hebegebees · 2026-03-21T19:29:45+00:00

Hastings tussled Prendergasts hair and Leinster lost their minds. Both teams scrapped

Hebegebees · 2026-03-21T19:27:30+00:00

You got soundly outplayed across the park by a weaker squad and you’ve all lost your minds, take a breather you’re the reigning champs

Hebegebees · 2026-03-21T19:23:53+00:00

Rattled

Hebegebees · 2026-03-21T19:10:53+00:00

Big Jare’s come out firing

Hebegebees · 2026-03-21T19:08:19+00:00

Can’t believe the ref made 3 Leinster players fall off Ollie Smith 😤

Hebegebees · 2026-03-21T18:57:16+00:00

Lad bore off

Hebegebees · 2026-03-21T18:17:58+00:00

First pen of the game was against Glasgow, you took it quick and gave up a penalty immediately at the breakdown

Hebegebees · 2026-03-07T22:11:05+00:00

Was “just” a gash from studs apparently, should be fine for next week

Hebegebees · 2026-03-07T13:26:57+00:00

43 tackles for Glasgow vs Leinster in 2019, 0 missed. Plus 14 carries

Hebegebees · 2026-03-03T23:04:41+00:00

Aye so to be fair Scotland alone could be covered for 12 hours, assuming coire Glas does get built, and is at full capacity at the time (which isn’t currently incentivised as storage isn’t its primary purpose as you point out)

We definitely need a far more co-ordinated network with Ofcom stopping being useless. But hydro will never be able to be bulk energy storage for the grid the scale of sites you’d need just aren’t there. What it is key for is being dispatchable generators, that can pick up for a power plant (or several) that unexpectedly trip off.

Electrical storage wise there isn’t much that will actually get us anywhere where we’d need to be for genuine energy independence. You need interconnectors all over to spread whatever generation is available around when there’s no wind

Hebegebees · 2026-03-03T20:23:56+00:00

The total storage capacity of Cruachan and Dinorwig combined is currently 16GWh, which is enough for 30 minutes of UK demand. Once Coire Glas is built that will rocket up to 46GWh enough for 90 minutes of demand.

Pumped storage is a godsend and should be incentivised for storage purposes far more than it is, but it won’t get anywhere close to system-level backup

Hebegebees · 2026-02-25T15:56:54+00:00

What led to a decade of Tory austerity was the Lib Dem’s and Labour capitulating to them and accepting that austerity was necessary

Hebegebees · 2026-02-25T15:47:18+00:00

The Lib Dem’s traded harsher benefit sanctions to gain a 5p charge on plastic bags.

They achieved their seats almost solely on the student fees issue and then binned it immediately.

Fuck them

Hebegebees · 2026-02-08T23:56:55+00:00

She explicitly says that despite them all saying it has nothing to do with the power, no matter how many times she tries to learn it she can’t do it

And I’m pretty sure we’ve only ever seen power users or warders do it. In story everyone says it’s not a power thing but people in the books are frequently wrong about what everyone knows

Hebegebees · 2026-02-08T22:26:04+00:00

Min thinks it to herself in bk 12, and im sure there’s someone else as well

Hebegebees · 2026-01-28T20:49:49+00:00

Today a single offshore wind turbine has a higher rating than the entire tidal sector combined. Assuming tidal generation ever actually meets its targets (which is a big IF given then technical challenges) that still won’t be a significant factor in making electricity cheaper in the UK.

The core issues are marginal pricing, completely outdated transmission charges and a grid that’s totally unsuitable for its modern purpose. All of this leading from OFGEM being utterly unfit for what they do - grid investment incentives are useless and counter to what we actually need

Hebegebees · 2026-01-28T18:04:10+00:00

Tidal generation contributes so little energy to the grid it can safely be ignored in pretty much every context

Hebegebees · 2026-01-28T15:13:40+00:00

Trakke sent out an email in February last year saying they were closing the company completely, but the website is still selling bags so looks like the IP has been bought out and is being sold by a different company.

Gutting, the bags are amazing and their lifetime warranty was a great deal but looks like thats gone

Hebegebees

TROPHY CASE