The grand old home of English rugby is no longer fit for purpose. As the spotlight falls on Twickenham – or the Allianz Stadium as it is known these days – for this run of Nations Championship matches, it is clear that it needs to move out of the 1990s if it wants to survive.

The brutalist architecture is showing its age. Bar the redeveloped East Stand, it looks like a concrete relic – especially when compared to modern football venues like Tottenham’s shiny, new billion-pound venue on the other side of town.

The nine-to-one ratio of men’s to women’s toilets is archaic, and tackling the transport chaos, particularly around Twickenham's paltry train station, can be more painful than a hit from Ellis Genge.

Three years ago, the RFU board got together and posed the question: ‘If we had a blank cheque, what would we do to the stadium and how much would it cost?’ Their proposals came out at £660million – a figure that has since been subjected to 36 months of inflation.

Some of the longer-term, headline-grabbing plans include Tunnel Club hospitality, a roof garden on the West Stand and a 65-metre bar that would challenge Tottenham’s claim to boasting the longest stadium bar in the world.

There are proposals for a ‘sporting line’ train service that links nearby Hounslow and the rest of the UK – converting the West London Orbital freight train line that runs towards Wembley into a passenger service.

But the more immediate plans would could come into play next summer. Among other things, they intend to improve the toilet ratio to seven-to-three and to introduce bathroom mirrors to the stadium. 

Creating a more environmentally friendly arena is another target. There are plans to replace the generators which guzzle 70,000 litres of diesel per year with a cleaner form of energy. There is also an ambition for the pitch irrigation system, which uses 1.4million litres of water, to use no mains water at all, just rain water from the stadium's underground reservoir.

Populous, the architecture giants behind Tottenham’s stadium, are already engaged. But unlike the Premier League side, the RFU are not propped up by the deep pockets of billionaire owners. They are a not-for-profit organisation whose money goes back into the sport. The stadium sits empty for 340 days a year and does not generate enough revenue to secure a bank loan to fund its modernisation masterplan. 

But finding a solution that keeps England’s beloved home of rugby in Twickenham is essential.

Hosting other sports is one way of generating extra income. The RFU have a licence to host as many sporting events as they desire. The NFL already have a tie-up with Wembley and Tottenham, but there is a possibility of staging popular college football games, as Wembley did for the first time in September when the Kansas Jayhawks played the Arizona State Sun Devils. 

There is not enough floorspace to install a running track for athletics and there would be objections from residents to a groundshare with local football clubs such as Chelsea, should they need somewhere else to play while redevelopment of their own stadium takes place.

Around 85 per cent of the RFU’s revenue comes through Twickenham ticket sales, hospitality and sponsorship, making the stadium its most valuable asset. Events are the biggest driver of revenue but the licence currently limits them to hosting just three major non-sporting events per year. In comparison, Wembley and Tottenham have permission to stage 54 and 30 respectively.

An upcoming council vote holds the key to Twickenham’s future. The RFU have asked for their licence to be increased to 15 non-sporting events per year. The licence would be phased over a three-year period, increasing from six to 12 to 15, and contingent on stringent reviews.

Major acts could generate up to £500,000 per show for the RFU, through stadium hire fees and food and drinks sales. Music promoters Live Nation, who represent Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, are already engaged with the RFU and would have the pick of the market in 2028, when most of London’s football stadiums will be in use for the European Football Championship.

Naturally, there has been some resistance from local residents. Richmond councillor Alexander Ehmann, of the Liberal Democrats, has been the most vocal critic of the proposals.

‘There are very real ways this will affect residents’ lives,’ Ehmann tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘The act selection will be important. We had Eminem in 2018 and there was drug-taking and all sorts. If you have Metallica, you get a different crowd to Taylor Swift.

‘People plan their lives around matchday activity. They know what’s coming. They hunker down and accept it. When you have midweek concerts, that’s different. They set up and then you have the deconstruction the next day. Twickenham Stadium is the home of rugby. It’s not Twickenham Mega Bowl. It's not the home of Beyonce.

‘Do the residents want to see the RFU successful and vibrant? Yes. Do they want the stadium successful and vibrant? Yes. This isn't born of a “we want them out” narrative. 

'There is a really strong recognition of the contribution that rugby plays to Twickenham's identity and its economic activity. There’s also a recognition that Twickenham Stadium almost certainly needs to modernise and provide a better matchday experience to be able to compete.

‘But the RFU have been asleep. They’ve woken up and decided they need to intensify use, but for years they've not been studiously and diligently working away to ensure they have the infrastructure. 

'We have a commuter station being used as the major artery for matchday activity. It just about holds water. It just about works but when something goes wrong, the whole thing is chaos. It's kaput.

‘This is chickens coming home to roost. I've been a councillor since 2014 and the RFU have been a pretty slow-paced, not very ambitious, not very deeply ingrained participant in the community. 

'What you need is capacity-enhancing transport infrastructure. Something like fighting the case for an extension of the Underground line from Richmond to Twickenham. I know that's highly ambitious but that stance would tell residents that the RFU get the challenge. 

'The RFU want to generate multi-millions through intensification of their stadium, but they want to do it without effectively committing a bean to underlying infrastructure. They want everybody else to pay for their payday, which I think is quite a challenging proposition.’

Extending the Underground's District Line to Twickenham would, however, be almost impossible. Instead, the RFU believe they can make better use of the other surrounding stations. They want Hounslow East station to become a de facto Twickenham Parkway to help ease the flow after events.

‘There’s very little signage to take you to the stations other than Twickenham,’ says one source. ‘Richmond is under-utilised. The big prize is Hounslow East. It’s on the Piccadilly Line and it runs 24-7. 

'It’s a 20-minute walk away but less than one per cent of supporters use it. The RFU needs planning permission to put signs up, such as near the exits saying, “30-minute queue at Twickenham, good service on the Piccadilly Line”. Everyone knows Twickenham station is maxed out. Sending alerts midway through the second half of games or towards the end of concerts about transport options could be a step forward.

‘On top of that, proposals for the West London Orbital would be a game-changer. It’s been approved for funding. It’s scheduled to go from Hounslow to north of Wembley. It would link up to an interchange at Old Oak Common, which would connect to the Elizabeth Line, rail services out to the West Country and eventually HS2. The timing for that is early 2030s. It’s a really easy project because there’s a freight line that can be turned into a passenger line without too much investment.’

Ehmann also made an argument for the RFU working more closely with PREM club Harlequins, who have their own smaller stadium, The Stoop, a few hundred metres away.

‘If you look at this holistically, is there not merit for a single sporting stadium that had enough flexibility to host smaller capacity Harlequins games?' he says. 'It’s strange to have a significant rugby stadium next to a gigantic international rugby stadium, completely independent, pursuing their own growth and investment sort of strategies. Harlequins need to be brought to the table.’

The RFU would be open to discussions, although Harlequins would not be able to fill out Twickenham on a fortnightly basis. Given the value of the club’s real estate footprint, however, it is an interesting idea.

In the business of sports stadiums, Twickenham is regarded as one of the better-staffed venues. There were zero community complaints after England’s thumping victory over Australia last Sunday – although that may be a different story on a Friday or Saturday night. 

They close roads on matchdays and employ 160 stewards for each event. The RFU proudly claim to provide more operations outside its stadium footprint on matchdays than any other stadium in the UK. It is understood they have also offered to provide stewards for a pathway to provide a counterflow for residents.

The shape of Twickenham’s future will be tabled for a debate later this year. An RFU spokesperson said: ‘Additional concerts at the Allianz Stadium will generate vital funding to improve the stadium and strengthen community rugby clubs nationwide.

‘The proposals submitted to Richmond Council would bring more world-class entertainment to Twickenham, as well as providing significant employment and economic opportunities for our local community.

‘Any increase in the number of events would take place through a careful, phased approach, with progression dependent on demonstrating to local stakeholders that the impacts are being effectively managed.

‘Hundreds of local residents and a large number of local businesses have already written to Richmond Council in support of the proposals, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the council, residents and other stakeholders throughout the planning process.’

As RFU chief executive, Bill Sweeney, revealed last year, the doomsday scenario would be relocating to a shared stadium in Birmingham or Milton Keynes.

‘Plan A, B, C, D and all the way to Y is to stay in Twickenham,’ says one source. ‘There is no plan to move elsewhere. But it’s a common-sense business approach to have a back-up plan if the numbers just don’t add up. It’s not pie in the sky but it’s also not an immediate plan. It’s somewhere in the middle. That’s not even a conversation if we get the right answers.’

Twickenham remains the undisputable home of English rugby. Since 1909, its global reputation has been forged by the likes of Bill Beaumont, Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson. Moving elsewhere would be an assault on the sport’s history and culture.