LET'S IGNORE NEW NAME

24 October 2005

Well, well, so we now have a name for our new stadium - and what a boring, insipid, uninspiring, weak offering it has turned out to be.

Messrs Holley and Clement may be crowing about it from the comfort of County Hall but the sad reality is that yet again a local authority in Swansea has taken little notice of what a great many of its rate-paying, vote-casting residents want. It has taken the first (and most probably the only) offer that has come its way in relation to the stadium naming rights. The stadium is already a massive hit with Swans fans and most certainly will play a huge part in helping the club move up the divisions.

However, the process of seeking a main sponsor has been as farcical as a Brian Rix production where, unfortunately, the perennially funny trouser-dropping part has been replaced with a most embarrassing clanger-dropping scene.

It has taken the council a year since declaring the stadium clean, to accept a paltry offer from a local company of no renown and has left supporters of both codes, and not least the people of Swansea, with a five-year legacy of blandness.

The sponsorship deal says nothing good about Swansea and clearly illustrates that the council was so desperate to finalise the deal - any deal - that it has sold the rights to the city's flagship stadium down the Tawe.

I cannot comment on the financial effect that the deal will have on the Ospreys or indeed on council coffers, but as a Swans fan I certainly believe that it will make little difference at all to that club and will likely be swallowed up in any event within that inefficient, non fan-friendly entity that is StadCo.

I sincerely hope that wherever and whenever possible, media organisations refrain from using the name and that the people of Swansea show their disdain by ignoring it too.

I am sure that the vast majority of Swans fans will continue to refer to the stadium by its well-liked, strong name of White Rock.As for the council, it may yet rue the day when it chose (yet again) to ignore public opinion. Registered voters have long memories.

Paul Morris, Parcgwernfadog, Ynysforgan, Swansea