Tagg's Trust AGM speech - 3 option

[Legohead]

Parking would be a big issue. We want to reduce our carbon footprint but also attract more fans. All out of town stadiums usually have a large car park built for which the clubs charge a handsome amount so they will want to fill that and make money and attract fans but this will increase the carbon footprint.

You could use a park and ride like Shrewsbury do but that's not ideal for all fans and could put some off attending.

As with all out of town new builds, location and transport links are vital.

Rotherham for example have sited their ground pretty much near the town centre so it's within walking distance of the bus and railway station. They don't actually have any parking at the ground for non disabled supporters and they are encouraged to either use the town centre car parks or public transport into Rotherham and walk.

 

[Grecian2K]

Always wondered why "Exeter Arena" has never really figured - especially as it's well within the City boundaries, reasonably well connected and on reasonably high ground (well above the flood plain, unlike the once postulated space on the MARSH Barton swamp lands). Looks to be (at least from the trains on the Waterloo line) bags of space there too.

Who owns it? Exeter City Council?? If so, why not a "land swap" for City Centre prime estate for not-too-far-out-of-town replacement?

Perhaps those involved in all those talks (for the past 40 years at least) might be able to clarify?

 

[LOG]

Always wondered why "Exeter Arena" has never really figured - especially as it's well within the City boundaries, reasonably well connected and on reasonably high ground (well above the flood plain, unlike the once postulated space on the MARSH Barton swamp lands). Looks to be (at least from the trains on the Waterloo line) bags of space there too.

Who owns it? Exeter City Council?? If so, why not a "land swap" for City Centre prime estate for not-too-far-out-of-town replacement?

Perhaps those involved in all those talks (for the past 40 years at least) might be able to clarify?

"This centre is managed by Legacy Leisure on behalf of Exeter City Council."

Our leisure facilities - Exeter Arena - Exeter City Council

Our leisure facilities - Exeter Arena offers impressive track and field facilities, a 20 station gym, and a sauna as well as physiotherapy and sports therapist treatment rooms.

exeter.gov.uk

The transport links to it aren't great with the only access being off Summer Lane and then access to Summer Lane isn't very good either.

Plus, there's a dreaded railway line down one side

 

[Grecian2K]

Good point Lionel.
But there still looks to be acres of space generally around "Exhibition Fields". For example, looking on Google Earth even the Exeter Saracens ground appears to have a larger footprint than SJP, and access from Beacon Lane looks to be relatively easy to put in? And it's well away from the "Waterloo Branch Line" too!!
Not that I would ever wish our precious club to leave our spiritual home but, it extremis, might it not still be a viable option for consideration?

 

[Rosencrantz]

Good point Lionel.
But there still looks to be acres of space generally around "Exhibition Fields". For example, looking on Google Earth even the Exeter Saracens ground appears to have a larger footprint than SJP, and access from Beacon Lane looks to be relatively easy to put in? And it's well away from the "Waterloo Branch Line" too!!
Not that I would ever wish our precious club to leave our spiritual home but, it extremis, might it not still be a viable option for consideration?

I used to live in Beacon Heath and the access would be a major problem. You have a low, narrow railway bridge from Whipton Village, a very narrow (only pedestrian really) bridge from Exhibition Way and a narrow pinch point going towards Harrington Lane and Pinhoe.

When the county show was up there you had visitors coming and going all day rather than the same time such as a matchday.

 

[Andy_H]

As surprising as it may seem to some, there are a fairly regular number of events and meetings held at SJP during the week.
DCC have at least a couple of events a week, mainly staff training, often more. Also Bidvest & Rational Cooking often use the kitchen facilities for training & demonstrations of their products.
Among other one -off events to take place at SJP are the CAMRA festival weekend in January, as well as hosting the NCS students during the close season.

This is not a complete list but a sample of the things that go on at SJP away from match days.

Points in SJPs favour regarding non match day events; close to City centre and transport links, sufficient parking for those travelling an distance or from areas with poor or no transport links. Reasonably priced, god quality buffet/hot meal options for all day events and a variety of different sized rooms ranging from the boxes [10] to The Heritage Lounge [50], all reasonably priced, which i would doubt was/is the case at Sandy Park.

 

[iscalad]

Senior Reds have problems booking rooms at times.

 

[WXF]

Always wondered why "Exeter Arena" has never really figured - especially as it's well within the City boundaries, reasonably well connected and on reasonably high ground (well above the flood plain, unlike the once postulated space on the MARSH Barton swamp lands). Looks to be (at least from the trains on the Waterloo line) bags of space there too.

Who owns it? Exeter City Council?? If so, why not a "land swap" for City Centre prime estate for not-too-far-out-of-town replacement?

Perhaps those involved in all those talks (for the past 40 years at least) might be able to clarify?

In the 90's it was touted in some desperation as a location for ECFC to play at had the club been evicted from SJP, but it isn't suited for large crowds. I also don't think most fans would want to watch a match with a running track between the pitch and stands, and I doubt ECFC wants to surrender the athletics track, esp when it wants to bulldoze Clifton Hill. Given that we hardly ever fill SJP and can't afford a new stadium, and the Council bought SJP for ECFC to use, leaving SJP makes no bussiness sense.

 

[Colesman Ballz]

The Eastern Fields site next to Exeter Arena was one of the contenders analysed in the Drivers Jonas report, a dozen or so years ago.

 

[Matt Phillips]

I feel like Tagg says something to this effect every single year at the AGM. It's clear he wants to drive the club forwards, but I question at what cost. Does he want to do something that leaves a legacy he get's to see, or a legacy that goes beyond his years...

Fundamentally, option 3 will only happen if it's funded by a local council, and if the situation arises where a local council does decide to fund it, then it will happen. Should this situation arise though, the club needs to ensure that it's strong enough to ensure that the facility meets a number of requirements of the club, notably that there are sufficient transport links into the ground, to allay fears of it being on the outskirts, and also that the commercial agreement behind the revenue generation of the facility in some way benefits the club. What we can't allow to happen is a situation like at Sale Sharks, where pretty much all commercial revenue, including things like matchday revenue from bar/food, is retained by the stadium owners rather than the club.

If the club is to progress, it needs to find a way to generate additional revenue. At the minute, this is driven by the academy, but there's the obvious risk that this could not be sustainable. Clubs are trying to develop 24/7, 365 days a year, facilities. We need to do that, but the options to do it vary. A new ground is one option, and I think it's fairly clear that it's the only option Tagg see's as viable. I question that logic and think that there's lots more that could be done at SJP, but the board seem to be blind in trying to drive... Maybe if we do get a new ground it could be called Tagg's & [Insert relevant local council]'s Vanity Project.