Welford Road misses out on WC venues list

Leicester Tigers are unhappy with the decision to omit their Welford Road ground from the list of potential 2015 World Cup venues.

Tigers chairman Peter Tom believes the country's biggest club stadium should have made the shortlist of 17 potential venues under consideration for the tournament in three years' time. Just three of the 17 stadiums are rugby venues - Gloucester's Kingsholm, the Millennium Stadium and Twickenham - while the Olympic Stadium in London and five Premier League football grounds have all made the shortlist. In a statement, Tom said: "Welford Road has hosted many, many major occasions over the years, including visits from South Africa, Australia and Argentina national teams in recent seasons. "It is home to the best-supported and most successful club in the history of the professional game in this country and, as such, we believe is worthy of Rugby World Cup status. "That the organisers of RWC2015 do not think this an appropriate venue for its fixtures is disappointing and confusing both for the professional club game in this country and for its supporters." The other stadiums under consideration at this time are Manchester United's Old Trafford home, Newcastle's St James' Park, the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, Aston Villa's Villa Park home and Southampton's St Mary's. The Amex Stadium in Brighton, Bristol City's Ashton Gate, Pride Park in Derby, Coventry's Ricoh Arena, Elland Road in Leeds and Stadium MK in Milton Keynes are also included, as well as Wembley. Leicester is still represented by Leicester City's King Power Stadium, which was deemed to have better off-field facilities than Welford Road. The final list of 10 to 12 venues will be finalised early next year.