With woeful attendance numbers and growing safety concerns, is it time for the Lions to relocate from Ellis Park?
Despite opening their 2023-24 European Challenge Cup campaign with a victory over Perpignan, the Lions returned home to host Newcastle Falcons in front of an almost empty Ellis Park, reigniting calls for the team to move to a smaller stadium in a safer neighbourhood, and SARugbymag.co.za columnist Simon Borchardt argues a move couldn’t come soon enough.
Borchardt pointed out the reasons fans skipped the rugby, including the stadium’s location in Doornfontein – “a dirty, crumbling, crime-ridden suburb of downtown Joburg right next to Hillbrow.”
Tweeters echoed these sentiments when Borchardt took to X during the Challenge Cup match, posting: “These Ellis Park ‘crowds’ are beyond embarrassing. Surely time for the Lions to move to a smaller stadium in a safer area.”
More than 50 replies agreed that the reason so few are willing to attend matches is because they fear for their safety, with some even arguing the Lions should have left Ellis Park behind long ago.
However, matches at the venue were well attended when the Lions emerged as perennial Super Rugby contenders under Johan Ackermann.
Is it time for the Lions to move on, or will a winning Lions team bring the crowds back to Ellis Park?
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