And this is where it becomes a problem for me, the "I hate Wasps but I see why the Council sold to them". argument. I don't. I genuinely don't see why they did it.
SISU aren't going to be here forever. One day they will leave and the Council should have waited for that day. The most important things in this sorry saga are the football club - you know the team that have been here for 133 years - and the Ricoh, the stadium that was built FOR the club.
The Ricoh was apparently a success and was doing fine. The Club were moving back from Sixfields and the Council said we had to build bridges before ownership of the stadium was discussed. Despite saying this publicly they'd already agreed a deal with the Franchise, but hey I digress. Now, they didn't want to sell to SISU, fair enough, that's up to them, so agree a long term deal with a rent that sustains the football club and the stadium. Once, SISU fuck off then start talks with the new owners.
But no, they give Wasps a whopping 250 year lease - that is effectively forever, hamstringing the club and the shafting the fans in one swift movement. Not the fans fault who owns the club and not the clubs fault either, but out of petty spite, 130 years of history was flushed down the toilet.
And because of those ridiculous decisions the club is still owned by SISU with ZERO prospect of being taken over by another owner. What is there to sell? What assets are there to attract a potential investor who knows that Wasps effectively own everything until 2264. There are loads of clubs more attractive already.
What did genuinely make me laugh was all the hysterical cries of "don't sell to SISU they just mortgage the stadium" and what did Wasps do within months? Brilliant.
Anyway, hopefully we'll leave the Ricoh one day to Wasps and we can have our own purpose built stadium somewhere in the city. Fantasy? Maybe, but better than a slow death at the Ricoh.