The Fragility of Trust Control in the Current Economic Climate

[Grecian1966]

Provided that the Trust heeds my warnings in the op, the saving grace of the Club in the next few years will be the 'new stadium effect.' It has been proven time and time again that any new or substantially redeveloped stadium will bring the punters in. If the redevelopment group doesn't balls it up, brings it into operation on time and on the 'no cost basis' that I originally planned for, then substantial income should be added to club coffers both in terms of additional gate income and additional income generating capacity.

No. The completed re-development isn't a financial panacea. Look at Colchester and indeed perhaps the novelty is wearing off at Sandy Park with last week's gate over 2,000 down on the corresponding match and 4,000 down on the opener last season. The benefit of the re-development is in ensuring we don't get a stand closed down and an aged terrace condemned. The re-development wouldn't take place unless necessity required it to. When the economy slashes all our available spending no amount of shiny new seats will help.

 

[southamptongrecian]

Provided that the Trust heeds my warnings in the op, the saving grace of the Club in the next few years will be the 'new stadium effect.' It has been proven time and time again that any new or substantially redeveloped stadium will bring the punters in. If the redevelopment group doesn't balls it up, brings it into operation on time and on the 'no cost basis' that I originally planned for, then substantial income should be added to club coffers both in terms of additional gate income and additional income generating capacity.

A little bit like putting all our eggs in one basket, My worry with this is there is not a strong fan base at Exeter, and where a new stand may bring in a few more through the gates, I would only expect about 1000 extra in the first year and then we will be down to gate similair to this year. On the plus sibe it should be easier to attract extra income outside of matchdays with the improvments.

 

[rightwing]

A little bit like putting all our eggs in one basket, My worry with this is there is not a strong fan base at Exeter, and where a new stand may bring in a few more through the gates, I would only expect about 1000 extra in the first year and then we will be down to gate similair to this year. On the plus sibe it should be easier to attract extra income outside of matchdays with the improvments.

These are the actual findings from clubs that were in a similar position to us

http://footballplc.weebly.com/the-new-stadium-effect.html

 

[Poultice]

These are the actual findings from clubs that were in a similar position to us

http://footballplc.weebly.com/the-new-stadium-effect.html

Not too impressed with that RW, simple increases in attendance don't tell the whole story, Southampton, a major factor in those figures, moved from the tiny Dell to a far larger stadium then were subject to massive external funding to get them out of the administration which they blamed on the building of St.Marys, Huddersfield and Milton Keynes both have relied heavily on external funding, I'm not sure that Colchester actually get bigger crowds but their owner is savagely cutting the budget, Coventry are a gnat's nudger from receivership, Chesterfield are too soon in the process, Forest Green have a wealthy benefactor, Dartford pay a pound a year rent.

I see us as having more in common with the likes of Shrewsbury and Burton except that both of them sold city centre sites for big money, so which clubs in city centre sites have had their grounds substantially re-developed and experienced a serious bump in attendance?

I can start you with a few, both the Sheffield clubs, one went into admin the other is bust in all but name, Exeter City who did half their ground and went bust, Walsall, their financial problems are a matter of record, Bournemouth and on and on.

Not trying to put a damper on things, just can't see where all this new money is going to come from.

 

[geoffwp]

Surely the most obvious being having to spend time in the company of TVR with no real means of escape?

Just found this gem. Moxers, you don't often crack em but this one did make me laugh (sorry Alistair, no disrespect intended).

 

[southamptongrecian]

These are the actual findings from clubs that were in a similar position to us

http://footballplc.weebly.com/the-new-stadium-effect.html

The report shows a 41% increase in attendances accross the board, if Southampton are included in those figures they saw a 100% increase in their first year. gates going from 15000 to over 30000 but that was because they were in the premiership. When they were near the bottom of the championship they had some gates as low as 7 and 8000, the four courner sections was closed off, and many game ticket prices was as low as £10 for adults and a fiver for consessions.
So as I said earlier Im all in favour of the development, but dont relie on it to be our saving grace. we could find ourselves with a basket of broken eggs.

 

[Northants Grecian]

Surely the most obvious being having to spend time in the company of TVR with no real means of escape?

Ouch Mox - tad harsh!

Al can be v good company at times - but post mortems in the car after a loss arent much fun!
Al is very much an "action this day" man and will often look to burn the village to save it. I do remember one trip after our win at Lincoln towards the end of the L2 promotion season. Due to a last minute win, L2 was very much in our grasp but Al was already talking about shedding anywhere from 6-10 of the team as not L1 worthy. He was right about some though ...

 

[bideford_green]

Right, we got ours 3/4 finished with a mixture of council funding and football league grants. This sort of money isn't available any more, I'm pretty sure Exeter developed the cowshed and big bank from FT money as well.

Unless I'm wrong, you dont own your ground do you? If so I don't see where the value for the trust lies in developing the ground. It's a dangerous road

 

[Poultice]

Right, we got ours 3/4 finished with a mixture of council funding and football league grants. This sort of money isn't available any more, I'm pretty sure Exeter developed the cowshed and big bank from FT money as well.

Unless I'm wrong, you dont own your ground do you? If so I don't see where the value for the trust lies in developing the ground. It's a dangerous road

The FT money was nice but it was the 4 million accrued debt in the process that nearly did for us.

The important part most people seem to miss is that RW's plan is revenue neutral for the Club, the student accommodation would pay the whole thing so our only on costs would be possibly higher maintenance costs, although losing the OG would probably offset that to a greater extent.

Not owning the ground is a plus, nothing to fear from asset strippers and the Council have always been very kind with the rent.

 

[LOG]

What's happening with the ground development plans? Has planning permission been granted? I have no idea how long these things take but given that it involves the council, i don't suppose it's a quick process.

My first thought, being the negative sh*tbag that i am, was that i'll believe it when i see it but would like to be proved wrong.