Crown Jewels
I have been a regular attendee at the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens ever since the inaugural event in 1976. Last month’s tournament in the Kaitak Sports Park was therefore my 40-th something involvement, and in the fourth different venue.
I still remember that afternoon almost a half century ago walking down from my Happy Valley flat to the old Football Club stadium in Sports Road at the suggestion of a neighbour to watch the matches then being played. I was immediately hooked and have attended every year since, pandemics permitting. Not surprisingly as it grew in popularity the tournament outgrew the Club ground and was moved to the old government stadium in So Kon Po with a capacity of over 20,000. Even that proved insufficient after a few years and a completely new one had to be built in situ. The French company Dragages designed and built a fine 40,000-seater. That did us proud for many years, but the world moved on and so – eventually – did we.
The first thing to strike you about the new facility is the sheer beauty of the structure in engineering terms. Walking in for the first time on the opening Friday night I gasped out loud – it is literally breath-taking. It makes a bold statement: Welcome to Hong Kong, a world class city equipped with a world class venue to stage world class events. During the long weekend, I tried out different locations to check the experience from a spectator’s perspective. From every angle I tested there is an excellent unobstructed view of action on the pitch.
The grass looked pristine and held up well over the many matches. The atmosphere inside the ground was electric, the crowd knowledgeable and vocal. There were sufficient food outlets and toilets, so from a physical perspective the hardware was fine.
As has been documented elsewhere, the problem was with the software. Having enough washbasins is fine, but soap dispensers need refilling (Yes, rugby fans do wash their hands). Having enough cubicles is fine, but toilet rolls need replacing when empty. Wet floors need to be constantly mopped.
Food outlets ran out and had to be restocked which took time. The drink outlets periodically ran dry and had to be replenished. Incredible as it may sound, a sporting event famous worldwide for alcohol consumption and sponsored by a famous brewery from time to time temporarily ran out of beer. The speed of service was glacial.
People will forgive shortcomings when a new venue is used for the first time, similar problems occurred each time we moved in the past. But not if we fail to learn our lessons. All these management issues can and must be sorted out before the next big events.
In the run-up to the opening we kept being regaled by ministers coming out and telling us about stress tests. In fairness movement to and from the stadium on foot was well handled. The MTR coped as well as could be expected given the numbers involved. But the internal service issues were obviously not sufficiently stretched.
The next big tests will be the Coldplay, Nicholas Tse and Jay Chou concerts and once the standard is set these will no doubt be followed by others. In the summer four big European football teams (Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and AC Milan) will play against each other. That is good but the format could be even better in future years. Two traditional English rivals (the two Manchester clubs say, or Liverpool/Everton) and two from another European league (the two Milan clubs perhaps, or Real Madrid/Barcelona). First day English rivals play, second day European rivals, third day rest, fourth day losers play off, fifth day winners. That would be four world class matches in five days, better put the brewery on double shift.
We know rugby sevens works as a big draw, but how about the traditional fifteen-a-side game? The idea of a New Zealand – Australia match has already been floated. That would be great, but could we also add a Hong Kong fixture every time the British Lions are en route to the southern hemisphere? I am sure Japan or South Korea would be delighted to field a team, maybe both.
Someone has suggested Hong Kong could stage a US type NFL game with two top teams crossing the Pacific to play American Football here. A novelty fixture like that should draw a decent crowd. If one of the sides was the Kansas City Chiefs, maybe the tight end Travis Kelce would bring his girlfriend (Taylor Swift, for the benefit of the ignorami). She could even sing a song at half time – just a suggestion.
Are there enough Australians in the region to support an Aussie Rules game? Perhaps we should find out. By the way, the title of the format is a complete misnomer – from what I’ve seen on the television, there are no rules.
Once we put our collective thinking caps on, there are no limits and ideas will start pouring in. Others will have suggestions too and ideas about how to improve mine. I have deliberately stayed focused on the new stadium at Kai Tak because it is such a wonderful addition to our armoury.
One final comment is to repeat a plea about dropping our hyperbole and restraining our terminology. Spurs play Arsenal twice every season and the UK has 10 top matches every weekend. I have yet to hear a single British sporting Minister use the term “mega event”. Let’s just stage incredible sporting fixtures, which we know how to do, and let the results speak for themselves.