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Page last updated at 11:21 GMT, Friday, 15 October 2010 12:21 UK

Saracens rule out Wembley and Olympic Stadium

Wembley Stadium
Saracens are set to play two fixtures at Wembley this season

Saracens chief executive Edward Griffiths has ruled out Wembley and the Olympic Stadium as potential new homes.

The north London side are assessing their options after Watford activated a break clause in their Vicarage Road ground share deal.

Griffiths told BBC Three Counties Radio: "Wembley is owned by the Football Association so I don't think we'd ever play every match at Wembley.

"The Olympic Stadium's not suitable as a 25,000 seat stadium in a team sport."

He added: "There's a permanent athletics track which means you're quite far from the action.

"We're looking for a stadium that's smaller to be our home stadium, where we can develop some kind of scarcity."

Last season Saracens became rugby's first club side to stage a game at Wembley and are set to host Leinster there in the Heineken Cup on Saturday.

A crowd of over 40,000 is expected for the pool two clash and Griffiths hopes the club's occasional relationship with Wembley will continue to grow.

"We'd certainly like a situation where we play two, three or four games a year at Wembley," he said.

"We enjoy the stadium, the stadium enjoys us. Our next objective is to break into the upper tier and start getting crowds of 60 to 70,000."

It is unlikely Sarries will be playing at Vicarage Road next season after Watford set a deadline of 3 September for a response regarding the ground's future, but Griffiths insists discussions are ongoing.

"Talks continue, we have a very good relationship with Watford and they understand that we're looking at our situation," he added.

"They understand that as a club a decision on a stadium is massively important, we make progress every day.

"I understand it's frustrating for supporters but we've always said we'd much rather make the right decision than a quick decision."



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see also
Watford in dark on Saracens deal
08 Sep 10 |  Saracens
Saracens line up Wembley fixtures
11 Aug 10 |  Saracens
Sarries chief exec wants 'impact'
01 Jun 10 |  Saracens
Saracens boss defends Wembley use
24 Mar 10 |  Saracens
Wembley debut delights Saracens
12 Sep 09 |  Rugby Union


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