St Helens’ Totally Wicked Stadium failed in its bid to win the Visiting Rugby Directors Award award category in the Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2022.
The awards, sponsored by Carlsberg UK, took place at Anfield Stadium last night, home to Liverpool FC on Thursday 26th May 2022.
Around 400 guests from 40+ clubs experienced a fine dining three course menu, awards ceremony, followed by an exclusive onsite after party until the very early hours. 2022 was the 15th annual awards event and marked the 20th Anniversary of Stadium Experience.
The prestigious event aims to recognise the efforts and dedication shown by the catering, conference and events teams at every football and rugby stadium across the UK. There were a total of 13 different award categories presented on the evening with Saints nominated under the “Visiting Directors Awards – Football & Rugby – Sponsored by FC Business & Conference News”.
The Visiting Directors Award categories are voted for by Directors at each club. They are asked to nominate the club where they had the best away experience when travelling with their team. They are specifically asked to consider the welcome, service and catering when casting their votes. There will be an award for both rugby and football venues.
Though it lost, it’s perhaps no surprise that the Totally Wicked Stadium was given such a nomination after it was ranked third in the world’s best rugby stadiums last September.
That was according to a survey conducted by liverugbytickets.co.uk, which analysed all rugby league and union venues in a painstaking project.
The website assessed over 15,000 Trip Advisor reviews which were then ranked after working out their average score from the stadium’s atmosphere, cleanliness, affordability and food.
Bath Rugby Union’s Recreation Ground ranked at the top, scoring 9.5 out of 10, with the highest score (9.7/10) for ‘cleanliness’ and ‘affordability’.
Welford Road, home of Leicester Tigers Rugby Union Club, finished second with a score of nine out of 10. The stadium ranked the highest for ‘cleanliness’ (9.5/10) and ‘food’ (9.3/10).
Saints’ Totally Wicked Stadium – which was built in 2012 – ranked third with a fan satisfaction score of 8.5 out of 10. The stadium, which can seat 18,000 spectators, was awarded 9.1 out of 10 for cleanliness and affordability, however, the venue scored low on atmosphere with a score of 7.2 out of 10 which could explain why it missed out on a top two place.
The top 15 best football stadiums also included: Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli and Sandy Park, Exeter as well Twickenham Stoop, the home of Harlequins Rugby Union, in sixth, and AAMI Park, Melbourne, Australia, whose users include NRL champions Melbourne Storm and rugby union’s Melbourne Rebels in ninth.