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Call for help from fans of Rapid bBucharest

julien popescu <julien_popescu@yahoo.com>
Sent: 27 November 2019 09:49
 

I am writing to you on behalf of a community of supporters of a very beloved football team from Romania - Rapid Bucuresti, a historical club that will soon turn 100 years old.

We thought of writing to you, the supporters of a club as respected as Charlton Athletic, because we are in a situation similar to the one you went through 30 years ago. And you did a sensational job with the “Valley”.

Trying to summarize, the Romanian authorities want to rebuild our stadium (built 80 years ago), but there have been some problems. They presented us with a project of a arena that looks good, then demolished the stadium and then showed us a completely different project, of a stadium that is ugly and much smaller than the one originally proposed and the stadium.

Obviously this situation has sparked a wave of dissatisfaction and protests among the fans. We sent dozens of public letters, petitions, taking positions in media and TV broadcasts, had discussions with ministers and the country's prime minister.

Assuming that they did not communicate well enough with the club and the supporters of the Rapid, the authorities agreed to open discussions and listen to the proposals for improvement of the new stadium.

But even so, the conditions they impose are extremely restrictive, and about the drastic reduction of capacity (from 19,000 seats to 14,000) that they have proposed they do not want to negotiate.

That is why we ask you to help us, any word, any advice or letter of encouragement and solidarity from the supporters of a club so respected in a country so advanced towards ours will be highly appreciated by Rapid fans and will be considered by the authorities.

 

Thank you very much for your understanding and cooperation and hoping for your support,

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Julien Popescu

@Airman Brown


@PragueAddick


Comments

  • I just got a mail about this from @Pico a little earlier, and said I would be happy to reply to him. I assume that @Airman Brown will be a bit busy fighting the good fight, so I'll take this on unless I hear from him to the contrary. 

    But any comments here about their situation would be very helpful. On first glance their situation is a bit different. On the one hand, they seem already to have made a big impact. For some reason, we never got  Margaret Thatcher to sit down and talk with the Valley Party :-) At the same time, as I understand that post, they are not being physically moved to a different location; and I think (doubtless Julien will clarify) that Romanian stadia will be municipally owned. 

    Nice to know they even know about our efforts though. Makes a change for me from tiresome mails from my neighbour about how much "bigger" Sparta Prague is than Charlton. (even if I am still waiting for his stats. to compare attendance figures this season) :-)
  • Couple of sites giving some context and background info. The old stadium has actually been demolished already. Previously only the south stand was open since 2006 with the other stand condemned as it posed risk of collapse.
    From March 2019- an atmospheric read - https://balkaninsight.com/2019/03/11/a-heartfelt-farewell-to-bucharests-iconic-stadium/

    Then there's this, also from March, giving some details of the new ground, which is intended to host EUFA training games for the Euros apparently- to seat 14,000, in the footprint of the demolished stadium- Giuleşti. This was thought to be well behind schedule at the time of the report;
    http://stadiumdb.com/news/2019/03/bucharest_goodbye_giulesti

    Incidentally (and presumably of no relevance here, but maybe worth clarifying), there's also a reference to a second stadium in the city- Ghencea, which, they report, is at a more advanced stage. This second stadium does not match up to the original designs they say.

  • sure this letter wasn't sent by a Nigerian prince ?
  • Perhaps send them a copy of this? https://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/comment/3711729/#Comment_3711729 
    As if we were not already aware of the issues, this once again highlights the dangers of a club being under different ownership from its ground - something I fear RD would do in a heartbeat if he thought it would benefit him financially.
  • Wondering if their attendance regularly exceeds 14000 ?
  • I have notified Rolands office. That'll cheer them up!
  • sure this letter wasn't sent by a Nigerian prince ?

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