The Avenue was a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

stadium and training pitches in

Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury-on-Thames (or commonly Sunbury) is a suburban town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, centred southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, in 1965 Sunbury and other ...

that belonged to the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

club

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

since 1931 when the team bought its . The team moved one season to the

Stoop Memorial Ground Twickenham Stoop Stadium (informally referred to as The Stoop) is a sports stadium located in south-west London, England. The stadium is home to Harlequins rugby union team, who play in the Gallagher Premiership. The stadium has a capacity ...

thereafter to

Madjeski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the ...

, from 2000. For 14 more years the club kept The Avenue as its training and pre-season friendlies ground as well as

Aviva A League The Premiership Rugby Shield was launched in 2003 as the Premiership Rugby A League. It runs parallel to the Premiership Rugby seasons. Split into north and south pools, it comprises twelve sides. The clubs select players from their academy and ...

matches. In 2014 the club began to train at its replacement, larger Hazlewood facility in the same town, including its Academy and hosting international training when

Twickenham stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team plays ...

hosts such tournaments and the grounds were converted to landscaped suburban housing, a sports/leisure club and care home.

History

The land was purchased in 1931 for £1,280 () to be the home stadium for London Irish, before they left in 1999 to play at the

. The ground then began to be used by the

London Irish Amateur London Irish Amateur Rugby Football Club, also known as London Irish Wild Geese, is an amateur English rugby union club based in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, who play their rugby in Regional 2 Thames – a league at tier 6 of the English rugby ...

side. It was also used as a training venue for London Irish and venue for London Irish England Rugby Academy. At its peak, The Avenue could hold up to 6,600 spectators. London Irish played their last senior league game at The Avenue on 1 May 1999 against

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

. The ground lay at 51°24′52″ north, 0°24′45″ west.

Redevelopment

London Irish published in 2009 its plans to demolish its training facility to replace it with 400 homes while relocating the club offices and training to redevelop nearby Hazelwood Golf Centre. At the planning authority's

planning committee A planning committee in the United Kingdom is a committee of local authority councillors that sit as the local planning authority to determine planning applications. Advice is usually given to the committee by planning officers who provide a reco ...

meeting, councillors of all parties opposed redevelopment, citing various grounds, including limited public transport, increasing existing peak-hour congestion, too few bedrooms per dwelling and initially a highly urban density as well as some character shortcomings. Local residents set up protest groups against such a plans such as Sunbury Opposes London Irish Development (SOLID) which shared some resources with Lower Sunbury Residents Association. On 15 April 2010, around 500 local people attended a protest march, seeking same-ground retention or community concessions over a maximised balance sheet for the club. The plans did however have the support of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

, Premier Rugby,

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

and the Rugby Player's Association. In 2010 the club applied to demolish the grandstand and replace it with houses; an application rejected by Spelthorne Council. The plans were rejected because the development would have resulted in an unacceptable loss of an outdoor sports facility. The council duly stated it had 857 letters opposing the plans (versus 250 letters in support of which 206 from outside the borough). The same month the club took advice and announced its wish to appeal. This led to a Local Planning Inquiry on 7 June 2011 and lasting 12 days to discuss the future of the ground. The club's Chief Executive, Andy Martin, said that the move and some such sale was needed as the ground had too few rugby pitches and that they had the senior team sharing facilities with the amateur and junior teams. To alleviate many infrastructure concerns of residents and councillors, the club downsized their plans from 400 to 194 homes. as well as making room for a health/sports club and care home.Sunbury in Touch - Spelthorne Conservatives
These final proposals were built.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avenue Rugby union stadiums in England Sports venues completed in 1931 Sports venues in Surrey London Irish Sunbury-on-Thames