Debbie Cook interview

Re a new stadium. Firstly, the capital required would be immense, even if a suitable site could be agreed upon. How would the money be raised. Secondly, when 1878 took over, the club, like every entertainment business, was gripped by the disastrous Covid pandemic and was about to be dumped back into the NL with a clearly inadequate playing staff, a legacy of Holloway and the previous board. What prospects were there, at the time, of a recovery of fortunes in the near to medium term?
The remarkable end to the 21-22 season has shocked us all and has required a huge re-think of the future of the club (note even the home shirt purchase planning process was turned upside down by the resurgence of interest).
I think 1878 is doing a fantastic job, improving the management structures of the club and the most immediate shortcomings in the training facilities and the stadium infrastructure issues (dressing rooms etc). I expect the list of 'things to do' stretches to several spread sheets, and all the while the balance sheet of income to expenditure has to be monitored carefully. Of course, fans are always in a hurry to see things improve both on the pitch and away from it, but there are only 24 hours in a day, the management team is not infinite in number or resources and planning is clearly key to this formidable group. Patience is always a virtue!

A possible PA announcement on our current pa system

Gjbfghbhumvgunbfyjbcfyhbgyujvderhhbvyhbvghhvggg

On a new sytem
Could Mr Smith please contact the nearest Steward , this is an emergency.

Could you please evacuate the ground

I could go on

I suspect, if we are to ever get an update regarding a new stadium and whether or not it’ll happen we’ll get a well penned, well timed press release/statement with actual concrete plans…

Unlike before where any hint or a new ground (it was never ever happening under Fenty and he only cared for himself) the club used to shoot their bolt quicker than a 14 year old jacking off to pictures of Sam Fox…

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

maybe there was a hint from Debbie that redevelopment of BP might actually be a serious option - the ground has "soul" implying that others (new ones) are soulless?

If the new owners think League One is Town's natural level and 10k is an adequate capacity, then fine, stay at Blundell Park.  I find that extremely frustrating, as I feel we could get gates of 15k in the Championship.

Given that the ground is in the middle of a residential area, are we sure that the council would grant permission for a new stand to replace the Main?

Quoted from acko338

I took in a Salisbury Town home fixture last season while visiting family, and their ground PA was clear and loud enough in each stand, we could stroll around the stands to go to the toilets and their bar areas, so got announcements on 3 sides quite easily.

I assume that surveys have been done so as to split the power amplifiers into individual stands, with ability to raise  or lower volumes as needed.

The quality and size of loudspeakers has vastly improved, even given that they need to be waterproof if positioned in open areas. Poor wiring can also effect speakers working to their clarity and I guess that those which are in place has been there for years.

A new speaker is a waste of money if the wiring is not up to standard. Loop impedance tests will prove if wiring replacement is needed. Bad connections into speakers can also effect output and clarity.

I would assume that all of these common problems, along with amplifier volume and setting tests for correct output frequencies, have been surveyed prior to getting new equipment quotes??

You know your stuff, so short of completely starting again with an up-to-date system (which seems to be cost prohibitive) would you recommend anything that can be done on a semi-temporary basis to improve things?? Even in Fenty's time in our annual relegation scraps he managed to improve the (sound) experience.

That speaker we had in the Harrington Street corner under Jolley was loud and clear, surely something like that wouldn't be extortionate.

Then again, football work comes at a premium cost, whatever they've done to the gantry cost £27k for example!

Quoted from White_shorts

If the new owners think League One is Town's natural level and 10k is an adequate capacity, then fine, stay at Blundell Park.  I find that extremely frustrating, as I feel we could get gates of 15k in the Championship.

Given that the ground is in the middle of a residential area, are we sure that the council would grant permission for a new stand to replace the Main?

I don't know but expect 1878 will do. I might be wide of the mark here but I think they may be taking a serious look at it, given the strong messaging that they are not looking at a new ground. Remember, their initial messaging was - it's not a priority, we are not filling BP. Now it's - "the capacity is 9k (when the usuable capacity clearly isn't)...we are not filling that (when we are pretty damn close to filling the home areas with STH) we are reducing the away allocation, ...hope families will go for the Osmond / Main corner...we'll start looking at additional capacity at BP if need to, and, BP has soul..."

I'm not an architect, but employ them. Let's ignore planning - we have history of a much larger capacity on the site (may or may not help don't know). The Findus was a cheapskate solution when there was an opportunity to do something more impressive. It needs an arched cantilever stand - high in the middle and lower in the two corners - precedents - Huddersfield, or, better, Thomond Park, Limerick (Munster Rugby), where the arch is seats and the lower part is terracing. It would be a smaller version, but I would estimate a capacity of circa 5k assuming any safe standing would be similar capacity to seating.

The rest would be a replacement with fully enclosed continuous cantilevered roof stands with a similar roof height to present. Maybe with a couple of blocks of safe standing in the Pontoon. I would estimate that would get 7.5k maybe, at a push, 8k capacity. So a 12.5 or 13k capacity stadium. I agree 14k / 15k is ideal for us - and that is what our historic averages show. So BP would be a little on the small side but probably cheaper (alot less siteworks cost than completely new) and deliverable in phases helping with cashflow.

A major drawback of BP - and this is the biggest shortcoming of staying IMO, I don't think it could provide a 500 place corporate suit (don't think the Findus side would have the depth); that would be a great facility for the club and town and a great money earner. Port Vale for example, off the back of promotion have sold the same number of regular ST as us, but they have sold an extra 300 corporates (500 compared to our max of 200). These earn a load of dosh - like first-class rail and airlines - all their profit (when they make it) comes from first class, they make feck all from average punters like me. Let's use £70 a match over 23 matches - (GTFC are quoting £72 for McMenemy's this season) - so Vale make £500k more than Town in matchday revenue and that's without counting the non-match day revenue, with the same fanbase as us.

Quoted from White_shorts

If the new owners think League One is Town's natural level and 10k is an adequate capacity, then fine, stay at Blundell Park.  I find that extremely frustrating, as I feel we could get gates of 15k in the Championship.

I think that's wishful thinking. We only had averages of 5.5 to 6K when we were regulars in the Championship previously.

As others have said the 9000 capacity that Debbie and Jason keep saying is just plain wrong. We'd be better to declare capacity as being 8000 and then the 10% away fans allocation could always be the Osmond corner and Town fans could have the larger part of that stand.

Quoted from Roast Em Bobby

I think that's wishful thinking. We only had averages of 5.5 to 6K when we were regulars in the Championship previously.

With all respect that's a bit Fenty-like - check this out

[url]https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/nav/attnengleague.htm[/url]

through the 80s low point in football attendances and the 90s the overall average for the 2nd tier was probably not much more than 10K if our numbers have increased in line with the general trend - we'd be at 10k + average and Blades, Hudders etc games would need a 14 / 15k capacity