ALLOCATING PLAN OF RUGBY SEATING CAUSED HEADACHE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 27, 19 August 1949, Page 5

ALLOCATING PLAN OF RUGBY SEATING CAUSED HEADACHE

The allocation of seats .at Whakatane Field to the public for the Australia-Bay of Plenty rugby match tomorrow has been one of the biggest headaches the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union and the Whakatane Sub-Union have had to contend with in all the arrangements for the game so far. Because of the large area covered by the Bay Union seats had to be kept for supporters in other sub-unions and also for visiting officials. The responsibility of holding an international rugby match in the Bay of Plenty is of course, that of the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union. The sub-union where the game is to be played, in this case Whakatane, has to supply'the ground and seating but the allocation of the seating is decided on by the Bay Union. Bay Union Responsibility

The allocation of seats for tomorrow’s game was decided on by the Bay Union some time ago. Each Sub-Union was granted 60 seats available for reserving, except Apanui and Galatea who only received 30 each. For this purpose the stand on the southern side of the field, holding about 360 seats, was set aside. This was done because the game is a Bay fixture and at least a portion of the supporters in those Unions were entitled to some recognition. Along with the other unions Whakatane was allotted 60 seats but these were declined to make more available to country patrons. It was considered tfhat the union was on the “spot” and had an added advantage over other people in the Bay of Plenty. Of the remainder of the seats 100 were set aside for Whakatane supporters who had given financial assistance to the sub-union in providing seats in the first place. A further 64 were reserved by the Bay of Plenty Union for officials and the reserves of both teams. Several other seats were kept for older supporters of the game. The remaining 85 were opened to the public and these were the seats that lasted less than five minutes when the box plan opened at Whakatane last week.

There was obviously not adequate seating for the crowd expected so the Whakatane Sub-Union has made arrangements for other auxiliary seating to be placed around the field and these will seat about ”00 people. But these are not available for reserving and must be claimed on the day. It will be “first in first served.” Trucks For Standing Room In addition standing space is being made available and three Whakatane carrying firms have offered their trucks for standing room. These will be placed behind the tiered seating and will make good standing room for a limited number of people. Anyone using the trucks will only be allowed to stand on)the back tray and not clamber all over the vehicles. It is expected that there will be enough seating and standing room to cater for about 5,000 people.