RECORD "GATE" EXCEEDS COST OF WHOLE TOUR
(9 a.m.) JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 14. The gross taking for Saturday's second test match at Ellis Park were reported to be £29,500, the greatest cash receipts in the history of the game in South Africa.
Of this amount £19,500 was taken in bookings before the match and £IO,OOO at the gates.
This figure exceeds the total cost of the tour to the South African Rugby Board.
The huge crowd of 70,000 created no problems for the traffic authorities. Roads converge on Ellis Park from all angles and though there were cars parked for miles it took only half an hour to clear the ground of its multitude.
The referee for the match, Mr. Ralph Burmeister, of Cape Town, travelled to the game in a private car which was parked some distance from the ground. He then hailed a traffic policeman on a motor cycle and was given a pillion ride with the siren sounding and taken speedily to Ellis Park. "Except for my somewhat undifinified position on the back of a motorcycle, I felt like the Governor-General arriving for a big function,” he said, when relating the incident at the official dinner to the teams.
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Bibliographic details
Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23024, 15 August 1949, Page 5
Word Count
201RECORD "GATE" EXCEEDS COST OF WHOLE TOUR Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23024, 15 August 1949, Page 5
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