Suddenly it is all happening in the Midlands. Birmingham has just been named on a list of the top 10 cities to visit anywhere in the world. Just down the road in Coventry there is now a professional rugby club with a bigger predicted turnover than any other in Britain. At this rate it will only be a matter of time before Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt relocate to Solihull.
For Andy Goode, Wasps’ arrival at the Ricoh Arena is surreal enough already. As a lad he used to attend the local King Henry VIII school and play colts rugby at Coundon Road, one of the country’s best-known venues in the halcyon days of David Duckham and Peter Jackson. He never imagined he would one day return to assist Wasps in forging a new identity in the heart of England.
As the former England fly-half, from his padded dugout seat, looks ahead to Sunday’s opening home game against London Irish before an anticipated 27,000 crowd, it really does feel as if the old map of English rugby is being redrawn. “There’ll be some players who say no to us because we’re in Coventry but there’ll be a lot more who say yes,” murmurs Goode, squinting into the rosy future created by the Irish businessman Derek Richardson, whose takeover has propelled Wasps from impoverished down-and-outs in High Wycombe to masters of their own destiny in a different postcode. “The sustainability of the club now has set us up for life pretty much.”
It is a far cry from the less cheerful Cov stories of recent decades: Coundon Road is now a housing estate, although Coventry RFC currently sit in a healthy third position in National League One. Goode, as a local, is convinced Wasps’ arrival will benefit all. “There’s a massive rugby community here. If we’re inspiring kids to want to be the next Christian Wade, Elliot Daly or Joe Launchbury that’s us doing our job.
“Growing up in Coventry the big thing for me was the Coventry schools cup.The final was at Coundon Road and that was always the big, exciting thing. Now you sit here at the Ricoh Arena and it’s just poles apart. It’s unbelievable.”
It is also Goode’s belief that Wasps’ relocation will encourage the cream of the city’s talent – Tom Wood, Jim Hamilton, Neil Back, Danny Grewcock, Richard Cockerill, Leon Lloyd, Shane Geraghty and Adam Balding were all either born or raised in the area – to stay put in future. “As a Coventry kid Leicester was the biggest club but I never went to watch them. I’d go and watch Coventry at Coundon Road because that’s where you’re from. We want to tap into the community and be a club that people in Coventry are proud of and want to be a part of.”
If only Goode were 24 rather than 34. These days he is on the downslope of an eventful career that earned him 17 caps and featured stints at Leicester, Saracens, Brive, the Sharks in Durban and Worcester. Along the way he has continually confounded those who have poked fun at his body shape and hairstyle choices. “No one’s ever going to look at me and go: ‘God, he’s an amazing running fly-half.’ But you see things that perhaps the younger kids don’t see. A lot of it comes from experience. I’ve seen way more skilful fly-halves who haven’t made it because they haven’t got the whole package.”
Playing alongside Pat Howard as a youngster at Leicester – “The tactical brain he had was phenomenal” – also helped and his game-management skills suit the modern game perfectly. “Defences are much tighter and a lot of it is about the tactical kicking battle. For me the best two fly-halves in this season’s Premiership have been Charlie Hodgson and George Ford. They’re very similar but Charlie just happens to be 10 years older.” He reckons Ford will be even better in a few years’ time. “I won the Heineken Cup at 21 with Leicester. It’s not until later that you think: ‘How the hell did I play in that game?’”
Goode’s self-confessed stubborn streak has also kept him going while many of his contemporaries have quit. “I look at the guys I’ve grown up with and there aren’t many of us old gits left.” He is pondering a career in coaching or the City and admits his playing days are finite.
“Retirement will come, whether it’s through injury, not being good enough or just the fact your time is up. It’s only going to take one knock and it could be game-over for me. But my desire to play the game has never been stronger. I love what I do and the challenge every week brings. My little girl, Ella-Grace, is also telling me I can’t pack in yet. She likes coming to watch and doesn’t want me to retire.”
Whenever he departs – and Leicester’s end-of-season visit to the Ricoh would not be a bad swansong – he will continue to advise younger colleagues to try and broaden their horizons. “As a rugby player you don’t make enough money not to have to work again. Becoming a more rounded individual is a massive thing. My advice to youngsters is to keep as many options open as they can. I find it really difficult seeing a lot of kids obsessed with computer games. They think getting away from rugby is going home and playing on their PlayStation. There’s a lot more to life than that.”
As Goode also points out, there is also rugby life beyond London. Five of the Premiership’s leading bunch – Northampton, Bath, Exeter, Leicester and Wasps – are based outside the capital and he predicts an increasing number of players will follow the money regardless of geography. “To compete at the top of European rugby and the Premiership it’s now a fact that the more money you spend on your squad the more chance you’ll have of winning.
“If players don’t want to come and play for Wasps because we’re in Coventry, we don’t need you. This club is going to grow, it’s going to be a success. It’s an exciting adventure we’re going on.” Goode will not be around for ever but Wasps’s future looks brighter than it has for years.
