The decision's been made - the new regional stadium will be at Itahari. (above - pic copyright Ragu Dangal. Note the football!)
The Himalayan Times reports that
"At the celebrations rally today held at the call of the Regional Stadium Struggle Committee, political parties, social organisations, chamber of commerce and industries, various ethnic organizations, businessmen, athletes, civil society and the general public attended."
"The rally went round various parts of Itahari town. Later the local also illuminated their respective homes and exchanged greetings and happiness."
Sounds good. But I suspect that the Itahari stadium won't be built on the Bristol business model (private ownership, single club, public subsidy). Would there be a similar outpouring of spontaneous happiness here?
Other 'regional stadia' revealed by a cursory google search include Port Macquarie NSW, Wellington NZ, and South Bend Indiana - but none of them answered the question - What IS a regional stadium?
So far as I can see, the new, bigger stadium proposed at Long Ashton will be the Bristol City FC stadium, just the same as Ashton Gate (though it will probably have some sponsors name attached to it). There'll be commercial opportunities to attract conferences and guests at the linked hotel, and maybe other functions - but essentially it's simply a football ground.
The phrase 'regional stadium' seems to have come from the club itself, and the fans and the politicians and (of course) the BEP have picked it up and are using it at every opportunity.
But does anyone know what it means?
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