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Cream in, Cavern out in board game shuffle

It is the most famous music club in the world, but The Cavern has been dropped from the latest Liverpool edition of Monopoly.

 

The Mathew Street venue, the home of The Beatles and countless other ‘60s Merseybeat bands, has been replaced on the board game with the ultra-trendy super-club Cream. The Cavern is one of several well-known Merseyside names not to make it on to the 2000 version of the game.

 

Winning Moves, the publisher of Monopoly regional editions, says its absence from the updated edition is down to corporate sponsorship - most companies have to pay to have their names included on the board. Management at Cavern City Tours, which operates the club, say they have not been snubbed and are not ruling out a return on future Monopoly editions.

 

They revealed it was their own decision not to repeat the club’s 1999 appearance on the square traditionally occupied by Piccadilly Circus. They are instead concentrating their financial resources on developing a Beatles-themed hotel in the city centre. The £10m venture, to be called "A Hard Day’s Night" will be sited on the corner of Mathew Street.

 

Bill Heckle, director of Cavern City Tours, said: "We made a commercial decision not to go on the second edition. With the hotel coming up, we are concentrating our cash on that. The Monopoly board is something we may support again in the future. It is good that Liverpool venues receive this kind of recognition and we are pleased that Cream is to be featured in our place. After all, it is the second most famous club in the world."

 

Royal Liver Insurance and Riverside Housing Association also no longer feature on the 2000 version of the massively popular Liverpool edition, which broke sales records when it was originally released 12 months ago.

 

But management at Cream are delighted that the Wolstenholme Square club has been included. Cathy Bell, of Cream, said: "To be considered more relevant to Liverpool than The Cavern is pretty amazing. To be included on the Monopoly board is a true recognition of what we have achieved during the last eight years."

By Rob Brady

 

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