Twickenham Stoop

This article is about the British stadium. For the 2008 album by Little Jackie, see The Stoop (album).

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Twickenham Stoop
Full name	Twickenham Stoop Stadium
Location	Chertsey Road Twickenham London,TW2 7SX, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°27′1″N 0°20′39″W / 51.45028°N 0.34417°W / 51.45028; -0.34417Coordinates: 51°27′1″N 0°20′39″W / 51.45028°N 0.34417°W / 51.45028; -0.34417
Built	1963
Opened	1963
Capacity	14,816 [1]
Tenants
Harlequin F.C. (Aviva Premiership) (1963–present) London Scottish F.C. (Allied Dunbar Premiership) (1998–1999) London Broncos (Super League) (2006–present) London Broncos (Super League) (1997–1999)

Twickenham Stoop (informally referred to as The Stoop) is a sports stadium located in the western suburbs of London, England. The stadium is home to Harlequins rugby union team, who play in the Aviva Premiership, and London Broncos, who play in the Super League. The stadium has a capacity of 14,816. It is the venue for the 2011/2012 Amlin Challenge Cup Final to be played on Friday 18th May 2012.

History

The new South Stand pre-match at the Four Nations game between Australia and New Zealand

The LV Stand pre-match at the Four Nations game between the Kangaroos and the Kiwis

The North Stand pre-match at the Four Nations game between Australia and New Zealand

Harlequins RL vs St Helens in 2006

The Etihad Stand pre-game at the Four Nations game between Australia and New Zealand

View from the old South Stand at the first ever home game for the rebranded Harlequins Rugby League team

Harlequins before the Stoop

In 1906, Harlequins were invited by the Rugby Football Union to use the new national stadium in Twickenham. In those early days, only one or two internationals were played there during the season, and it wasn't long before the RFU ground became the headquarters of the Harlequin Football Club.

Early days

In 1963, the Quins acquired an athletics ground with 14 acres (57,000 m²) just across the road from the RFU ground, which became the Harlequin training pitch. The ground was named Stoop Memorial Ground after Adrian Stoop, a former England international and longtime Harlequins player and president but is generally known as "The Stoop" with even the Harlequins' official website frequently using the informal name.

The stadium today

LV= Stand

The main stand is the LV= Stand (West Stand). This stand has the changing rooms, a row of executive boxes across the top of the stand, a members bar, the club's offices, toilets and a club shop. The top of the stand under the roof there is also has a scoreboard and a gantry where the television cameras populate. The Stand was built for the start of the 2005-2006 season and has a capacity of approximately 4,000.

Etihad Stand

The Etihad Stand (East Stand) has a capacity of approximately 4,000 and has a row of corporate boxes across the top. A score board also hangs under the roof. The stand has toilets, the main public bar, debenture lounge and players bar which also house the Mighty Quins Village which is an area for children which consists of bouncy castle, face painting, a type of bucking bronco in the shape of a rugby ball and other various activities. The main public bar also has a stage where a live band performs after the match. There is also a reception area in the stand for visitors.

North Stand

The North Stand is a temporary structure with an estimated life of 10 years. It houses approximately 2,000 and is the only stand with supporting pillars. There is a time clock to the top left of the stand. If further expansion is going to happen then the speculation is that the North Stand would be the one to be redeveloped. There is a concern about Langhorn Drive which runs directly behind it and if it needs to be move before expansion could take place Both corners of the north stand house various drinks bars and food outlets which serves, burgers, chips, hot beverages such as coffee and a bar for alcohol.

The corner of the North and LV Stand has a memorial for Nick Duncombe who was a promising scrum half for Harlequins and won two caps for England. He also player for the England Sevens team in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. He sadly died of meningitis in 2003.

Outside the stadium behind the North Stand is a car park and also a stand called the Jolly Hog and Sausage Company which is owned by one of the Harlequins players, Ollie Kohn. They serve hog roast bap and sausages. For sponsorship reasons they are not allowed in the stadium itself due to contracts with established catering companies but it is a popular stop off point for something to eat before entering the ground. There is also a car park in use for home games down the road from the Stoop on theb A316 called the Rosebine Car Park.

South Stand

The South Stand has most recently been developed and was opened in the 2010-2011 season. It new toilets, a real ale bar which sells Green King IPA and guest ales and a new club shop. The back of the stand also has a clock for the match. There is a school room in the stand for the Try Learning Initiative [2]. The stand holds approximately 4,000 supporters but the top three rows is only available when the club puts in an application to use them per game to the council. There are plans to have permanent planning permission but this has not come into fruition yet. This lowers the capacity for the stadium from 14,816 to 14,282.

In the 2011-2012 season, food and drinks stalls were moved from the corner of the Etihad and South Stand to the corner of the South Stand and LV stand to reduce congestion with people getting to their seats and coming into the stadium through the turnstiles. New benches and tables has now been added to the corner of the South and LV stand to compliment the food and drinks stalls which has now been placed there. the corner of the LV and South Stand has a media centre and an ambulance on standby in case of serious injuries to the players of if a supporter is taken ill.

Redevelopment

The ground's official name changed in July 2005 to Twickenham Stoop Stadium from "Stoop Memorial Ground".

In an interview with the fans website on 23rd April 2012, the Chief Executive, Mark Ellis confirmed that an architect has visited the club and given ideas on possible improvement and further expansion of The Stoop which will be further considered if Harlequins can sell out nine or ten games a season in comparison with the six games sold out in the 2011/2012 season. Mark Ellis also said there are some immediate concerns for development such as increasing the size of the debenture lounge and the members bar. He also mentioned the ques for drinks at the bars are too long so that will be looked into as well [3]

Rugby league

In 2006, the rugby league club formerly known as London Broncos joined Harlequins at The Stoop, becoming Harlequins Rugby League. In 2006 the stadium held a Harlequins rugby union match and a Harlequins rugby league game on the same day. The rugby union match was played first, and in just a few hours the stadium was switched over for the Super League match. This involved changing field markings, advertising boardings and such.

Since 2006, The Stoop has also been home to the annual Rugby League Varsity Match between Oxford University and Cambridge University.

On 24 October 2009 the ground hosted the second match of the 2009 Rugby League Four Nations between world champions New Zealand and defending tournament champions (in Tri-Nations mode), Australia which resulted in a 20-all draw, 12,360 people attended the game making it the largest rugby league crowd at the venue beating the 1997 World Club Championship match between the London Broncos and Canberra Raiders where 7,819 people attended.

International rugby union

The ground played host to the final of the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Twickenham Stoop Stadium

• Twickenham Stoop Stadium at Google Maps.
• The Stoop on Worldstadia.com
• Harlequins Rugby League