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New Ground Feasibility Study

Andy Holloway

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I thought Irish still played at Reading. Didn’t realise that Irish now share with Brentford.
They've shared with Quin's since Rugby resumed.
Bristol City & Bristol Bears share because both are owned by the same person, who also happens to own Ashton Gate!
 

WXF

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We didn't spend any money on the AS stand.
We surrendered land at SJP for the stands, which has limited the potential for expansion. Raises questions marks over the ambitions of some of those who supported that decision
 

Spoonz Red E

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We surrendered land at SJP for the stands, which has limited the potential for expansion. Raises questions marks over the ambitions of some of those who supported that decision
I'd love to see a larger capacity SJP but I'm not sure how much expansion would be possible using that lost strip of land.
The further back you build at that end the more of the stand width you would lose on the railway side.

To mitigate you could shift the pitch towards the IP office side but then the capacity there is compromised.

So the funding would need to be found for ...

Pitch move.
Total rebuild of the Big Bank end.
Likely rebuild of the IP Office side.
Stand to replace the Old Granstand.
New away end.

Add to that the very real possibility that if nothing had been done the Old Grandstand was closer to losing its safety certificate year on year.

 
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denzel

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People who talk about significant non match day income in this mythical new stadium: so why were corporate facilities not incorporated into the AS stand? I asked this question at the time and was told the demand was not there.
And ask yourself how being miles out of town has benefited Colchester or Walsall.
Our city centre location is our biggest strength and the size of the stadium is adequate for our needs. Realistically we will never have the fan base of the likes of Reading or Brighton who suited a move out of town.
It looks like this is an exercise in reinforcing our intentions to remain at SJP. We have shown we do not stand still, we can build new facilities and keep what makes going there special, and being at the heart of the City is vital to that.
 

Snakebite

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Just looking at that image above there is a surprising amount of space behind the away end to expand into.

Also don’t mention it... but the gap... an engineering challenge (and mental challenge for some) but if the need and want was really there has scope for expansion.

But realistically, I think it would have to be a sustained Championship stay before we needed to worry about any of that, and there’s more chance of pigs flying than that happening in my lifetime.
 

Red Devon

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People who talk about significant non match day income in this mythical new stadium: so why were corporate facilities not incorporated into the AS stand? I asked this question at the time and was told the demand was not there.
And ask yourself how being miles out of town has benefited Colchester or Walsall.
Our city centre location is our biggest strength and the size of the stadium is adequate for our needs. Realistically we will never have the fan base of the likes of Reading or Brighton who suited a move out of town.
It looks like this is an exercise in reinforcing our intentions to remain at SJP. We have shown we do not stand still, we can build new facilities and keep what makes going there special, and being at the heart of the City is vital to that.
Never say never, just look at how the Lincoln support has almost trebled over the last ten years off the back of some success....I believe it’s possible for us to realise our ambition and to get to the Championship but a stadium more than double the capacity what we have now would be needed to try and at least sustain it.
 

manc grecian

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Can people seriously see 18000 people turning up to watch us in the championship? Argyle, with a much bigger catchment area struggled for those numbers when they were in the championship.

Also does Exeter and the surrounding area have that much hospitality business to go round considering the setup already at the chiefs.

A new soulless ground even with increased conferencing facilities isn't going to propel us into the championship, especially under our current ownership structure.
 

Pete Martin (CTID)

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We surrendered land at SJP for the stands, which has limited the potential for expansion. Raises questions marks over the ambitions of some of those who supported that decision
I don't think so. The shape and size of the adjacent site wouldn't allow for any expansion of the stadium. A bigger car park, perhaps, but with the emphasis now on sustainable transport, would that even be acceptable? Then there's the railway. Always a limiting factor.

Maybe if the houses fronting onto Old Tiverton Road could have been CPOd it would have helped, but what would have been the reaction to that, the cost, and the timescale?

The OG had to be replaced as it was constantly being patched up in order to pass safety inspections and it was getting close to being unrepairable without very significant costs.

Do you forge a deal and get a new stand for nowt, spend over a £1million on another short term repair, or close the OG and leave SJP with reduced capacity and a fast decaying wreck? Difficult choice??
 

Arthur Davey

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Never say never, just look at how the Lincoln support has almost trebled over the last ten years off the back of some success....I believe it’s possible for us to realise our ambition and to get to the Championship but a stadium more than double the capacity what we have now would be needed to try and at least sustain it.
Yes that’s fair enough, and the two cities are of comparable size. But that said, the Imps idn’ up against a successful rugby club. Iirc, they also revealed grand plans for a new stadium of c 12,000 capacity a year or two backalong, but that seems to have been superseded by recent plans (permission granted) to extend the away end stand with another tier, which still only raises capacity to c 11/12K.
As doubtless others will say/have said, realistically, are we ever likely to pull in in excess of that consistently?
 

fred binneys head

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Never say never, just look at how the Lincoln support has almost trebled over the last ten years off the back of some success....I believe it’s possible for us to realise our ambition and to get to the Championship but a stadium more than double the capacity what we have now would be needed to try and at least sustain it.
What’s Lincoln's current ground capacity?
 
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