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Current state of the SOL and surrounding area.

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If the confessions are franchised what difference does it make to the club what the revenue is (other than at renewal time) ?
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How many qualified priests do we have on duty on match days? Who will get the confessions franchise? The RC Church or the CofE?
payne said:
Might not have had the funds to make it bigger a the time
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Didn’t have the crowds at the time. Look at the RP attendances over the previous five seasons.

The SoL was a long shot and, luckily, Bob Murray’s gamble paid off.
 
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Mackem Mad said:
If the confessions are franchised what difference does it make to the club what the revenue is (other than at renewal time) ?
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How many qualified priests do we have on duty on match days? Who will get the confessions franchise? The RC Church or the CofE?


Didn’t have the crowds at the time. Look at the RP attendances over the previous five seasons.

The SoL was a long shot and, luckily, Bob Murray’s gamble paid off.
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Then why put that many seats in in the first place if you don't expect the footfall and by extension people buying stuff in the concourses? Just wondering. The stadium on the whole was a great improvement for us.
 
Fredericton said:
Service not good at the kiosks ... WBA game went down to concourse for a couple of bovrils exactly on HT whistle, did nothing but queue, brought them back up and had missed the first 7 minutes of the second half.
And the crowd wasn't that big. Won't be bothering on Boxing Day.
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Queue barriers and pre-poured pints like at Sheffield United might help.
Invictus said:
I think the SOL was built just before things like the ‘match day experience’ became important. It was obviously an improvement on Roker Park but was still sticking to the principals of the old style English football ground where people came in to mainly watch the football after socialising elsewhere.
Modern grounds try to combine the match with the social aspect to maximise revenue, so we need to change something to accommodate that or we as a club are going to lose out on millions over the course of a decade or so.
Sitting having a bite and a pint with your mates in the ground prior to the game is what the club need to provide for.
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Why not dispense with the football altogether and re-open the SoL as a super pub?
 
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Some very good points on this thread and I hope the club do take the feedback in. No cheap options but if we can spend £200k on a new gym and 10s of thousands on the pitch we could definitely do something, albeit long term, to improve fan experience
 
garyeaststand said:
There’s defiantly room outside to widen the Concourses and bring a street food element micro brew bars etc , even if it’s just an outside perimeter with stack like set up for kiosks which wouldn’t cost much
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Personally would like this but have you seen most of our fan base? If they were offered this at half the price of Carling and Burger vans they would still choose the latter as "tha fathas wor miners" and they don't want "any posh tory shite"
 
Roker Scoreboard said:
Saw this thread on Twitter and agree with a lot of the replies, especially about overcrowding in the concourses and general upkeep of the stadium.

You must be logged on to see media items
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The PA system is dreadful. Its surprising the sol gets a safety certificate. Absolutely inaudible. Has been crap for a decade now.
 
Lionel Hutzz said:
Personally would like this but have you seen most of our fan base? If they were offered this at half the price of Carling and Burger vans they would still choose the latter as "tha fathas wor miners" and they don't want "any posh tory shite"
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What was your fatha, like?
 
Frankey said:
Around the ground is massively poor.

Not sure how we improve it, but it needs improved regardless.

Identify the problem, over to the club to find a solution
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I don’t know a ground that has good surroundings
You’re not going to get investment from outside with 20 or so paydays /year unless it’s something people will plan into another event /crawl
 
cornish mackem said:
I don’t know a ground that has good surroundings
You’re not going to get investment from outside with 20 or so paydays /year unless it’s something people will plan into another event /crawl
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Ours is not too bad, and improving. The Stables will be open next season 🤞🏻and that will be the answer to all those wanting good beer and real food ( I hope).
Anyone who went to the old Den at Millwall will know a thing or two about the surroundings of a ground.
Equally bad imo are the industrial estate grounds, that’s really soulless.
 
In terms of increasing concourse size, for the North stand at least, surely it wouldn't take that much just to move turnstiles to the outer bit of the extension & utilise all the room underneath. The bars are are only a bit of breeze block which could easily be knocked down & rebuilt a bit further back during close season
 
Lionel Hutzz said:
Personally would like this but have you seen most of our fan base? If they were offered this at half the price of Carling and Burger vans they would still choose the latter as "tha fathas wor miners" and they don't want "any posh tory shite"
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The clip of this^^^^^^^
 
alunb said:
There are worse premier league grounds, Sid James’ Park for one.
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Shit ground but fantastic location, I don't think there is anything wrong with our ground but as is always the case with property location is key as it is the one thing you can't change
Skylon said:
The clip of this^^^^^^^
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It would work well at some clubs but not at ours same as it wouldn't in a similar area such as Boro or Hull. A lot of people on here have massively rose tinted glasses towards Sunderland as a place. Its now in terminal decline as it is still 15 years behind similar cities and towns who long ago identified the need to reinvent themselves and modernise.
 
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I do my usual, get there early and have a cup of tea and a chat with a couple of blokes.
I still get a massive buzz when I leave the concourse, walk up the ramp and see the Stadium in all its glory.
No complaints from me an ex Fulwell Ender who stood in 2inches of piss when using the excuse for a toilet.
f***ing love the place.
 
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