Steve Lansdown discussed the future of Bristol’s recruitment, involvement of the women and current financial state of Rugby Union during Bristol Bears’ bid to boost fan interaction with a Q&A.
Lansdown explained the importance of the younger players that have come through the Bristol Bears academy: “We’ve had some serious conversations over the years and really put a lot of effort into getting our recruitment right and I think you’re seeing it in the academy side of things with the young players coming through and Bristolians playing for Bristol.
“It has led to things like Fitz-Harding being captain of the club which is a great achievement for him, its also a great achievement for the club. The academy has helped to find those players, the likes of Harry Randall, who’ve come in from nowhere and become star players for us, it’s a tribute to how we go about doing our business.”
Lansdown praised the recruitment skills behind the club and described Pat Lam as someone who has “always been really good at looking five years down the road”. As a result of this, he made his confidence in the current squad really clear:
“I think what we have is a group of players who are very together, they’re strong and i’m really looking forward to seeing them start performing, and to see how they begin to click, we’ve got a bit of stardust amongst them.”
As well as discussing his excitement for the men’s season he also shared his confidence in the women’s side and explains how he intends to play them at Ashton Gate more.
Embed from Getty Images“It is their home too, we would like to put on as many games as possible, obviously there’s a limit as to how many games can be played but when there’s a big match and we can make it happen we will.
“In general I think we can all be very proud of the club as a whole and Bristol Bears women have been a major contribution to that, they’ve been the most successful part for the last season so the men have got a bit of catching up to do.”
His intention to maintain the growth and success of Bristol Bears evidently does not come without it’s struggles as he discussed the current financial state of Rugby Union. Lansdown explained that taking a break during international fixtures is something he feels will benefit the game:
“My view of the RFU is not very complimentary, I think its been quite amateur-ish for a long time, club rugby gets a short thrift in the calendar, you pay for a season ticket and you don’t get to see our star players all year round so that is something I am really pushing for.”
When discussing the likes of Wasps, Worcester and other clubs who have gone bankrupt he said, “The reality is that they’ve spent above their means, the cap isn’t the problem it’s what people spend. The fact that we have had clubs go out of bushiness is almost good for rugby because it’s told us we can’t keep spending, spending, spending, you’ve gotta get your books sorted out, that’s a lesson we have all learned.
“I am actively looking for people to invest in Bristol Bears, in order to be able to take it forward because the last thing I want to see happen is for the Bears who have come so far to go back down again, as that is not the aim, the aim is to keep it going, to keep us at the top of the English game and keep us progressing.”
Bristol Bears now look to face Harlequins at home on Saturday the 28th of October.
