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2020 Netball Superleague opener sees record crowd despite discontent among clubs over extra round

Adean Thomas of The London Pulse jumps for the ball during the Vitality Netball Superleague Season Opener game between London Pulse and Strathclyde Sirens at Arena Birmingham on February 22, 2020 in Birmingham, England - Getty Images
Adean Thomas of The London Pulse jumps for the ball during the Vitality Netball Superleague Season Opener game between London Pulse and Strathclyde Sirens at Arena Birmingham on February 22, 2020 in Birmingham, England - Getty Images
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Despite defeated Loughborough Lightning head coach Sara Bayman claiming the majority of clubs were opposed to the introduction of an extra round of fixtures to the 2020 Superleague, a record crowd for yesterday's Season Opener demonstrated the booming appetite for the sport.

Only time will tell whether the addition of a 19th round for the campaign curtain-raiser - all 10 sides playing on the same day, ties determined by teams' final 2019 season placings, with first playing second, third versus fourth and so on, and points going towards the overall season tally - will have a pivotal impact come the end of the regular season in mid June.

Bayman, who watched her side fall to a heavy 72-58 loss to Team Bath, is firmly of the belief it will: "It doesn't make any sense, the teams that benefit from it will obviously be the teams who win today," she said. "I hate the format, I think it's stupid. For us to basically know we've got an uphill struggle because we've lost this game is tough."

But for Superleague organisers, at least, that will be a matter for another day given Saturday's success in Birmingham with a sold out crowd of 9,250 flocking to watch the action - the largest ever for a one day event in British netball history. To put that into context, 7,233 attended last year's Netball World Cup final day in Liverpool, when England beat SOuth Africa to Bronze and New Zealand ended Australia's reign.

London Pulse and Strathclyde Sirens play in the Superleague - Getty Images
London Pulse and Strathclyde Sirens play in the Superleague - Getty Images

"Netball has put itself on the map," said London Pulse defender Lindsay Keable. "I’ve been in this league for 13 years, I’ve watched it go from my mum and eight other mums watching us. It’s how netball should be."

Keable was speaking following the first of five matches, with her London Pulse side, who finished bottom last season, narrowly triumphing 53-51 over second-bottom Strathclyde Sirens.

Given the schedule of matches, there could have been fears that the crowd would only swell gradually before the evening game in which defending champions Manchester Thunder beat last year’s runners up Wasps Netball 62-55.

But there were only slight pockets of empty seats for the first match, with the majority opting to enjoy the full eight-hour spectacle. Surrey Storm and Celtic Dragons maintained the high-quality entertainment levels with a 44-43 victory for the former before Saracens Mavericks beat Severn Stars 70-49.

Bayman was among those who initially criticised the additional round of fixtures, which replaces the traditional Super Saturday format, where all 10 teams competed on a single day as part of the fixed season, labelling it 'senseless' last August and also suggesting that for teams, such as Lightning, who tend to start slowly, it could be disadvantageous.

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Unfortunately for her, Lightning stuck to their early-season habits and, while conceding the packed crowd was something that 'we could only have dreamt about five years ago', she suggested most clubs were against the changes.

"It's easy to say I would have stood by it had we won," she said. "No one really wanted this. We will play Bath three times this season and they were the only team we didn't beat last season. We're kind of punished for finishing top four by getting an extra round this year.

"We could have had it as one of the rounds of this season, we could have had it as a pre-season game. We didn't have a say before it was decided. We were then asked about it and seven out of 10 teams didn't want it. For me, in a democracy, seven out of ten wins."