New Stadium Needed
By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 23/07/2000
New Stadium Desperately Needed
News From 4th April 2000
In a club statement Town chairman Doug Everitt revealed today just how desperate GTFC are to move to a new stadium to in order to stem the £15K a week loss which the company currently sustains, on top of its current debt of £1m.
In a statement released by the club, Mr Everitt (pictured) said:
"The opening of the new stadium would signal the start of a whole new era for Grimsby Town.In response to fans pleas for new faces in the squad the Chairman explained in no uncertain terms:
"The financial stability the stadium brings with it will mean that the club can buy new players, consolidate its first division status, build up steadily from there - and look forward to one day achieving its ultimate ambition of a place in the Premiership.
"The simple reason is that GTFC can't earn enough money at Blundell Park to cover its overheads.
"We can go on like this for one more season, but we then desperately need the new stadium in order to turn the club's fortunes around, put it on a profitable footing, and maintain our position in the Football League.
"Without the new stadium, the future of the Mariners is very bleak.
"No business - and a professional football club is a big business - can continue throwing good money after bad when there's no light at the end of then tunnel.
"So until we know the result of our new stadium planning application, we obviously have to be prudent.
"But as soon as we know that the new stadium is definitely going to be built, we can afford to take a much more relaxed view. We can stop selling players - even if that means incurring some extra losses in the short term - because we shall know for sure that the club's financial situation is going to improve dramatically within a year or so.
As long as we stay at Blundell Park, our financial situation can only get worse. We all love Blundell Park, and the Mariners have had some marvellous successes.
"But the truth is that the stadium is so old, so outdated, and so lacking in both spectator and commercial facilities, that the club cannot generate sufficient revenue there to cover its operating costs.
"All successful clubs today rely heavily on the income from their commercial facilities - executive boxes, banqueting suites, conference rooms, sponsors' lounges, merchandising units and the like - to keep them solvent.
"The new stadium will have them all - but Blundell Park has hardly any.
"And, as everyone knows, our average gate receipts are very low. Our core group of dedicated supporters never let us down, but we need to attract many more regular spectators to make the club pay.
"To do that, we have to be able to offer everyone who comes to watch the Mariners a comfortable seat, adequate legroom, a good view of the pitch, and plenty of toilets and refreshment facilities - all in a clean, safe environment.
"The new stadium will offer all that - and more - but we can't provide that type of comfort and convenience at Blundell Park. The stadium is too old - too structurally 'set in its ways' - for any radical changes to be made.
"Pulling it down and rebuilding it isn't an option, because the site is too small.
"The financial stability the stadium brings with it will mean that the Club can buy new players, consolidate its First Division status, build up steadily from there - and look forward to one day achieving its ultimate ambition of a place in the Premiership."
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