• The forums will be unavailable for a few hours on Saturday 6th June, when they do return they will initially be in a degraded state with some features missing, but normal posting/reading will be possible. The main website will not be affected by these updates.
    New user registrations are currently disabled.

SOL expansion


Blyth said:
There just isn’t. Sorry.
Click to expand...

Obviously not a numbers person then, and quite telling that you chopped off the rest of the post. If the club dont think theres a return on investment, it wont happen. That is a fact. And given the comments made by the new gadgy, it does seem they're not fully confident they can get it to work.
Wherever ive challenged you on how it'll work, youve just given me vague nonsense.
Sorry that reality upsets you.
 
Last edited:
Sgt Pepper said:
If anyone thinks you’d see the sort of celebrations we did after Ballard’s Coventry goal with a ground diluted with tourists they’re deluded. Bet hey, great for the revenue eh.
Click to expand...
Why not?
Most of the lower bowl is SC holders and therefore supposedly die hard fans. Any extension for newbies would be higher up.
So unless there are wholesale movings of SC holders’ seats to accommodate corporate, then things won’t be that different.
Not extending the ground will make that scenario much more likely, so be careful what you (don’t) wish for.
 
Wearson said:
Why not?
Most of the lower bowl is SC holders and therefore supposedly die hard fans. Any extension for newbies would be higher up.
So unless there are wholesale movings of SC holders’ seats to accommodate corporate, then things won’t be that different.
Not extending the ground will make that scenario much more likely, so be careful what you (don’t) wish for.
Click to expand...
Only thing I’m wishing for is to give it time to see if the demand is sustainable, especially given the way prices are going and will continue to. A concept beyond many it seems.
 
old supporter said:
It's costing Aston Villa £100m for their new stand construction costs are massive now. When Spurs built their new stadium it cost £1 billion
Click to expand...

Villa’s ground

- requires the closing of a busy road.
- wasn’t built with an extension planned.
- doesn’t have the foundations already in the ground.

Whilst ours won’t be cheap, it won’t cost anywhere near £100m.
 
42 said:
Obviously not a numbers person then, and quite telling that you chopped off the rest of the post. If the club dont think theres a return on investment, it wont happen. That is a fact. And given the comments made by the new gadgy, it does seem they're not fully confident they can get it to work.
Wherever ive challenged you on how it'll work, youve just given me vague nonsense.
Sorry that reality upsets you.
Click to expand...
That’s not an argument for it not to be extended.

Nobody is saying extend it regardless of cost or return.

We can all work that out and understand it. It’s pretty obvious.

If the numbers fit then there’s no valid argument not to do it.

I’m sorry that really upsets you.
 
Blyth said:
That’s not an argument for it not to be extended.

Nobody is saying extend it regardless of cost or return.

We can all work that out and understand it. It’s pretty obvious.

If the numbers fit then there’s no valid argument not to do it.

I’m sorry that really upsets you.
Click to expand...

What 😅

Thats like saying I want to buy a £1m house, but me not being able to afford it is not a reason for me to not buy it. Of course its THE reason for me to not buy it.

And ive always maintained that if theres a valid business plan & the numbers work, then they should do it. The fact youve even said this contradicts your previous comment since logically the contra does mean if they don't fit, its the reason it shouldn't be done.
 
42 said:
What 😅

Thats like saying I want to buy a £1m house, but me not being able to afford it is not a reason for me to not buy it. Of course its THE reason for me to not buy it.

And ive always maintained that if theres a valid business plan & the numbers work, then they should do it. The fact youve even said this contradicts your previous comment since logically the contra does mean if they don't fit, its the reason it shouldn't be done.
Click to expand...
How thick can you be. Do you honestly think anyone on here thinks just build it regardless of cost. It has to make sense financially. It’s obvious as fuck.
 
Blyth said:
How thick can you be. Do you honestly think anyone on here thinks just build it regardless of cost. It has to make sense financially. It’s obvious as fuck.
Click to expand...

Well youve constantly been saying that the numbers not working isnt a reason not to do it. See your reply a few posts up 😂
Youre now very much back tracking.

So can we all agree that there is indeed a reason not to do it, and that being if the numbers dont stack up.
 
Sgt Pepper said:
And dare I suggest for these types of fans (this isn’t a dig btw, I like any local fan showing an interest), that being back in the Premier League for the first time in nearly a decade has nothing to do with their sudden staunch interest? This is precisely my point, that when something is new and shiny is not the time to make huge decisions with large financial ramifications because who is to say these people who previously only had a casual interest will return to having a more casual interest in 2-3 years unless we are doing a Man City (which isn’t very likely). My stance all along has been precisely because of this - to just wait a couple of years to see if casual fans like the ones you describe actually mean it and aren’t just latching onto something new and exciting while it’s popular. I can’t understand people’s impatience.
Click to expand...
At the end of the day,the decision to expand or not will be taken by our owners. Given the nous in the Dreyfus family for business building, I’m sure they will be better qualified to grow the business. If that means expansion, then it will happen as and when they deem the time to be right. As others have said, it’s the next generation of fans we are locking out at present.
I grew up in the north east until 13 then we moved to Birmingham, my love for the club is stronger than ever, I want to be able to take my young son to games in a couple of years time, don’t want him being a blues or villa fan.
 
Elmers said:
At the end of the day,the decision to expand or not will be taken by our owners. Given the nous in the Dreyfus family for business building, I’m sure they will be better qualified to grow the business. If that means expansion, then it will happen as and when they deem the time to be right. As others have said, it’s the next generation of fans we are locking out at present.
I grew up in the north east until 13 then we moved to Birmingham, my love for the club is stronger than ever, I want to be able to take my young son to games in a couple of years time, don’t want him being a blues or villa fan.
Click to expand...
Agreed, all about timing. With this being the first season since 2002 of being at capacity I don’t think we’re in any immediate danger of losing a generation of fans. People still can get tickets tbf. Today we have a Peterlee lad in our group who moved away at 16 for a long career in the military back up and he’s managed to get a ticket, same as he did for Bournemouth in November and a couple of games every season.
 
42 said:
Well youve constantly been saying that the numbers not working isnt a reason not to do it. See your reply a few posts up 😂
Youre now very much back tracking.

So can we all agree that there is indeed a reason not to do it, and that being if the numbers dont stack up.
Click to expand...
It’s not a valid reason or argument as you’re not seeing anyone saying build it if it doesn’t make financial sense. No one. You’re arguing with no one on here :lol:

It’s called common sense, why would they build it if it doesn’t make financial sense. I’ve not backtracked on anything.

My stance has always been there’s no valid argument for it not to be extended.

Because I’ve got some basic common sense in understanding that if you can’t afford it becomes a moot point anyway.
 
Blyth said:
It’s not a valid reason or argument as you’re not seeing anyone saying build it if it doesn’t make financial sense. No one. You’re arguing with no one on here :lol:

It’s called common sense, why would they build it if it doesn’t make financial sense. I’ve not backtracked on anything.

My stance has always been there’s no valid argument for it not to be extended.

Because I’ve got some basic common sense in understanding that if you can’t afford it becomes a moot point anyway.
Click to expand...

Ffs 🤣
Thats some verbal gymnastics you're doing there. Something thats common sense is a valid reason. Its the same thing. Stop trying to double down on it.
Its petty semantics you're playing & im now done as youve finally admitted what I wanted.
 
I came back for the Brighton game recently and we did manage to get a couple, however we got tickets fairly early and the game pretty much did sell out afterwards (and I don't think anyone would describe Brighton as a box office game by EPL standards). A quick look at the figures this year would tell you that we're selling out and inevitably that will mean some are not getting tickets who might want them. Our STs will sell out next year too.

I agree that the playing squad takes priority. The interview with the new CEO makes it very clear the club understands that too. EPL status is far more important than a stadium extension to them, not least financially, and is a big positive for fans (both inside the stadium and beyond).

That being said, our spending will naturally reduce after this season given we have done a good job buying most of our EPL first 11 in this first season. We shouldn't (and won't) mess up our wage structure by copying the Mags and just incrementally buying ever more expensive players and bigger contracts and then upsetting the rest of the squad/bumping up their wages. This summer I can see us spending reasonable money on one or two first teamers and then the rest will be smaller fees on squad players. The summer after that it'll probably be even less we need and want to spend. Obviously that assumes we find we keep performing as we are and don't suddenly start signing duds.

Even that modest spending compared to this year will begin to gradually take us closer to our SCR limit though. We have to remember we still have the cost of this season's transfer fees on our books for another few years (on average).

In that context I can see why it makes sense for an extension in a year or two's time. By then we could maybe use the extra revenue (which is the focus for the club) and for us as fans it'll mean more people able to get tickets who want them. That could be future fans not just abroad but at home too. I don't want to think we lose fans in South Shields because they couldn't get tickets. I want to take our territory back from the Mags. This would help with that. If we do find surplus seats are available for lower demand games then do the free school giveaways or to those involved with our charity work.
 
Sgt Pepper said:
Agreed, all about timing. With this being the first season since 2002 of being at capacity I don’t think we’re in any immediate danger of losing a generation of fans. People still can get tickets tbf. Today we have a Peterlee lad in our group who moved away at 16 for a long career in the military back up and he’s managed to get a ticket, same as he did for Bournemouth in November and a couple of games every season.
Click to expand...
I don’t want him to go to the odd game when he’s old enough, want him to have a season ticket like I did. I’m well aware you can go online for tickets even though it’s a free for all. That was never my point. Expansion splits opinion on timescales, Kyril and Satori will decide mate, far better qualified than you or me.
 
42 said:
As I supporter, id prefer that but from a business prospective it doesnt make much sense to do that as theres no money in it


If its to be financed through borrowing, the additional costs to obtain a ROI will make it tricky. However, it can also be financed from player sales which we will make some very good profits on


Well there is, the obvious one being the return on investment & time it takes for pay back. Which of course none of us really know until were privy to the business plans. However being in a deprived area it is more difficult to achieve than being in london
Click to expand...
If KLD was ever to sell, already having the expanded stadium would add value so he'd also get a return that way.
 
There must be many thousands of people who a week or so before a match may be thinking, I wouldn’t mind going to that game, but they don’t have a cat in hells chance of getting a ticket. Not everyone can justify a season ticket, due to cost, living away, work, etc… and would love the chance to go to a few games each season. Can’t believe that people are happy to see supporters prevented from attending as it may result in games not being sold out every week.

Who was it that said if you stand still in football, you get left behind?
 
Sgt Pepper said:
Future local generations can and do get to the matches, I see plenty of kids at the SOL. For the last 20 odd years we’ve had thousands of seats for them to come and we’ve been one of the better clubs at pricing it well for them to make it affordable for their families. We can’t base extending a ground for the perceived benefit of local generations on one season since 2002 of selling it out.

And like I’ve also pointed out, have you seen the way pricing is going now across the board? How the hell are local families supposed to afford it in a few years if the trajectory remains the same? It’s worrying tbh.
Click to expand...

An extension / redevelopment in theory could (and should) make it more affordable. The club are talking about the main driver of revenue being corporate so if 10k seats are added, there’s no reason 7k of them can be affordable with concessions offered. Let the corporates drive the revenue up if they’ve got the money that they’re willing to part with.

I’m not keen on the focus on revenue much like you but it’s a reality the club face. We shouldn’t be scared of the potential of empty seats if things go wrong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top