Why we struggle to compete...

[url]https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/23466202.wrexham-new-kop-stand-gets-25m-boost-wrexham-council/[/url]

That adds circa £100k to potential matchday revenue for Wrexham from ticket sales alone, and they are likely to sell alot as season tickets, they could be adding hospitality as well. And we have a whole side of our ground comprising 2200 cramped seats, with about of them 400 restricted view, prime position taken by a police box, appalling toilet provision and very little food and beverage sales frontage.

This isn't a criticism of 1878 BTW, just an illustration of the challenge they face to make GTFC competitive at even just League 2 level.

Aside from their owners having a much more aggressive growth strategy than ours due to the wealth and commercial appeal that comes with Hollywood owners, they also have a council that isn't spunking millions on a shopping centre that can't be saved.

I think this is a wonderful vision of how Wrexham Council see the future and back it. On the other hand, our council have done little to help GTFC.

Invested money in a dead cow, top town. These centres are now part of the past and the council should look to the future; such as the scheme that wants to put a relief road from Great Coates to Morrisons. That could not only involve housing but a new community stadium for GTFC and businesses to relocate.

Ok it's going to cost millions, but about £30 million is going on top town; so there is money there. It's how they spend it and supporting the past is not going to help the future.

Unsurprisingly the headline’s a bit misleading, but it does go to show what can be achieved with the support of local politicians and partners. Wrexham also benefit from being uniquely positioned as the only real team in north wales, and a significant focus of the larger scheme is providing a gateway to the town and enable events like international football to take place. They’re also proposing to use the Racecourse as a concert venue, they’ve got Kings of Leon playing there this summer, so it all feeds into the use of the site outside of just a football ground.

The redevelopment of the Kop was meant to cost about £16m I read, so would be interested to see how much of that £25m ends up specifically on that rather than the wider regeneration works.

They, and everyone else, has the massive advantage of not having to work with bungling North East Lincs council.

We should remember also, and this is something the new owners are attempting to change, that the support for the club within the town has never been huge and often, at best, luke warm. During the height of Buckley’s tenure the gates steadily dropped prompting Arthur Mann to remark: “Sometimes we really do wonder whether all our efforts are worth it.”

This is going to go down like a lead balloon but here goes...

I've been living in the Leeds area for the past 15 years and working in the city centre for the last 10.

It's a city surrounded by out-of-town retail parks, like White Rose, but the city centre during the week and at weekends is as busy as ever.

It's unrecognisable from what it was back in the mid-2000s, which isn't that long ago.

They've developed Granary Wharf and are now building loads of new flats, accommodation and shops next door at Mustard Wharf, close to where the canal and train station meet.

I'm a Meggie, I never saw myself living and working in Leeds when I was younger but I've gotta be honest, I visited Grimsby a couple of weeks ago and it left me feeling very empty.

I can project memories over what it is now, but for my wife who isn't from there, it just looked what it was: a dead end. Loads of closed shops, hardly any people, no kids hanging out there, despite it being the Easter holiday.

Leeds city council have invested loads in data, it's grown from a financial hub into a digital city of excellence, and while I'm all for their football club failing I have to say it's not a dirty slum as we may have sung about them in the past. It's anything but.

It's also not perfect, but you can see how the city is constantly developing, it never rests. The council are investing, which invites so many more companies to do the same. It's snowballing and it's come out the other side of the pandemic stronger than it was going into it.

Also, I'd add that when football clubs in geographically isolated locations fall on hard times, it's harder for them to get back to where they were.

While we were in the Championship, we could attract decent players because we could pay them more than Scunny, for example. It wouldn't have been top Championship wages, obviously, but given the choice they'd get more money and play in a higher division than Scunny, Lincoln, Hull, Mansfield, Donny etc.

Once we hit rock bottom, even if we could have somehow competed financially with those above, players wouldn't choose to travel further to play lower.

We all know location doesn't play into our hands, so we have to be better in two other ways: pay more money, play in higher divisions. Then location is almost taken out of the equation.

Right now, if we offered the same wages as Donny, I'd dare say the player would choose Donny. Same division, both mid-table, same cash... Donny's probably closer to home for said player (on balance).

If we edge our way into L1, suddenly we'll win that sort of player over. Further for them to travel, but higher league to play in (with a bit more cash).

Possibly all very obvious. But we could have gone the way of Barrow, Workington, Scarborough, etc. Non-league, unless you have cash like Wrexham or even Solihull, is a great leveller. We could have levelled out down there. Our only advantage was our history of being a 'league' team in name.

Cash would have been average - not enough to uproot your family - standard would still be non-league, location wouldn't ever be an advantage unless you were from round these parts.

Eternally grateful that we got out of there when we did.

I get really drunk off with this kind of “ooh look at what they’re doing” thread.  

Looking over the fence and comparing our lot with incomparable situations at other clubs is pointless.

We had 20 years of decline under JSF and actually we’re on a decent road to recovery without 1878 waving their c0cks in the air shouting “look at us aren’t we great”.

Quoted from RichMariner

This is going to go down like a lead balloon but here goes...

Completely agree with the sentiment, but it really is comparing apples with oranges looking at the differences between Leeds and NE Lincs.