Football ready to kick out Super League clubs

James Gordon

Premier League football clubs could soon be prevented from ground sharing with rugby league clubs, according to West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady.

Currently, there Wigan are the only Super League side that shares with a Premier League football team – at least since Hull City were relegated from the Premier League – while Huddersfield also groundshare with League One side Huddersfield Town.

Writing in her regular column in The Sun, Brady was talking about the possibility of a rugby club rivalling her own club’s bid to use the Olympic Stadium post-London 2012.

She said: “While all of us at West Ham would be happy to share with athletics at the Olympic stadium, there is no way we would go into a ground-sharing agreement with a rugby club.

“It is a complete non-starter for us.

“Impossible, actually, as soon it will be a breach of Premier League rules to share your ground with rugby.”

There has been much attention in recent years on the condition of the pitch at the DW Stadium, of which much blame has been attributed to the rugby league club by those in the football industry.

Wigan Athletic have averaged higher crowds than their rugby league counterparts every season since they were promoted to the top flight in 2005.