New Ground Feasibility Study

[Spoonz Red E]

As regards income generation... Quite a sobering statement from Rick Parry:
"In a normal year our clubs rely on £440m of owner funding to keep them afloat. That is the size of the losses they make."

Maybe we need a fees ability study.

 

[DB9]

As regards income generation... Quite a sobering statement from Rick Parry:
"In a normal year our clubs rely on £440m of owner funding to keep them afloat. That is the size of the losses they make."

For me it shows that owners who have the money are willing to put that much yearly into their clubs yet private ownership is frowned upon, it certainly doesn't bring you success but they put their money where their mouths are. As for SJP, I personally see a City Centre location as an advantage for non-footballing income, It's just got to be exploited more.

 

[denzel]

Sandy Park, then

Agreed. I had to laugh at Radio Debn this evening when they said that the Chiefs have built a fantastic stadium. It has one great stand, two terraces and a marquee behind the posts.
IF we ever were in the amazing position of getting to the Championship AND we couldn't develop SJP AND had to leave I would say that Sandy Park was favourite, however they would need to replace two of the stands to make it into an all seater.
I dont know what future plans they have but if they continue their fantastic progress they would surely have to consider that.
If that does happen SJP would make a great community pitch for the reserves/ women...
I doubt any of the above will happen though for a myriad of reasons

 

[LOG]

Sandy Park is a conferencing facility with a rugby pitch attached.

 

[dontpassback]

Agreed. I had to laugh at Radio Debn this evening when they said that the Chiefs have built a fantastic stadium. It has one great stand, two terraces and a marquee behind the posts.
IF we ever were in the amazing position of getting to the Championship AND we couldn't develop SJP AND had to leave I would say that Sandy Park was favourite, however they would need to replace two of the stands to make it into an all seater.
I dont know what future plans they have but if they continue their fantastic progress they would surely have to consider that.
If that does happen SJP would make a great community pitch for the reserves/ women...
I doubt any of the above will happen though for a myriad of reasons

Marquees must be the in thing at rugby grounds,Bristol rovers have one and that was formerly a rugby ground ! As for sandy park its just meh !

 

[Trapdoor]

Given our current attendence figures I dont think we can justify any expense on the ground other than basic maintenance and the pitch quality.
In 25 years time things may be different, but my crystal ball says "come back later".

 

[geoffwp]

I wont mind where city play as long as the Duke of York is within a 5 minute walk.

 

[geoffwp]

Marquees must be the in thing at rugby grounds,Bristol rovers have one and that was formerly a rugby ground ! As for sandy park its just meh !

One of the best descriptions of sandy park I've seen. Yes, total meh!

 

[WXF]

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.

Making use of more of the land behind the Big Bank at some pint in the future, to instead expand the stadium, need not have involved that list of things - you're presenting a false choice. And how cheap exactly do you think an entirely new stadium would be?

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??

Surrendering the land paid for the new stand, but it has also limited long term options regarding what can be done at the ground. If moving to a new site was in the back of the minds of some of those taking the decision to surrender the land, then I think we should have been made aware.

 

[Greyhound]

New stadium? Pah! It's SJP that makes ECFC unique. What other club would have a ground on a cliff-top?