Reasons Not To Leave The County Ground Site

[suttonred]

I'm tempted to photograph my shoes and car mats and bill them for the 1/2 inch of mud that will need to be cleaned off both, wouldn't get me anywhere i know, but thats how bad it was.

[STFC_Gazza]

our car park is like a lake too!! ask my Uggs!

You needed a canoe (and not Hal Robson) to get across the carpark here..

[THE FLASH]

I got there early enough to park on one on those road to nowhere roundabouts.

[Spy]

The club needs to be at the heart of the town. Not stuck on the outskirts.

[Lumps]

Don't take this as an argument for leaving the CG, because I'm all in favour of staying, but most of Gazza'a arguments don't really stack up.

Just listing things that are currently wrong with the Colchester Ground and then pointing out that it's an out of town development doesn't make the case for a causal link you know.

Does the location stop them putting up some signs? Does it prevent them from surfacing the car park? Does it dictate the ticketing systems or the traffic flows? Does it hell. If they'd built this thing opposite Layer Road all those things would likely be the same. I've never been to Colchester, for all I know all those problems were present at the old ground.

As for the new stadia being souless bowls, well that can be the case if you go down the identikit Pride Park, Walkers Stadium, Riverside route; but the Reebok, the Galpharm, the City of Manchester Stadium and the Stadium of Light have shown that this is more a question of limited architectural vision than necessity. Anyway there are plenty of clubs that have redeveloped their original grounds on a piecemeal basis and ended up with much the same concrete bowl result, Birmingham and WBA for example. If we stayed on in the current location and replaced stands with stuff along the lines of the DR, what the hell do you think we'd end up with?

Out of town development has made sense for a lot of clubs economically. They've sold valuable parcels of land for housing, moved somewhere cheaper and invested the money in the development. They've removed themselves from areas in which they may be a nuisance to their neighbours, and they've created a captive audience for their match day catering operations, including their bars. That not only increases their revenue streams but gives them more control over the alcohol consumption of the supporters. You can see why it makes a lot of sense.

Personally I'm an old romantic and I like to see thousands of people walking down through town from the pubs on a Saturday afternoon towards the ground and streaming away home again afterwards, rather than all arriving in cars or on a shuttle bus. So I like the idea of keeping it where it is. But the economic reasons for moving elsewhere may be difficult to overcome, especially when the board would have to go through some lengthy negotiations with the LA, the cricket club and other neighbours to secure the land for any worthwhile development of the CG.

[STFC_Gazza]

Don't take this as an argument for leaving the CG, because I'm all in favour of staying, but most of Gazza'a arguments don't really stack up.

Just listing things that are currently wrong with the Colchester Ground and then pointing out that it's an out of town development doesn't make the case for a causal link you know.

Yes but a F.C should be at the heart of the community as the Trust and the current board have said, Having it miles out of the sticks I actually thinks discourages fans to bother going as well. If its in town you can get to it easier. That was part of the point really. I know a good portion of our fans come from out of town so it wouldnt bother them say as the would come straight down the A419 (If built near GWH) .

[jonny72]

It's not a priority right now but, when the time comes, spruce the existing ground up.  We would need a new Town End (probably with a second tier), do something with the Stratton Bank (houses permitting) and fill in the corners.  That would comfortably bring the ground up to scratch and give a capacity of 20,000+ (which, let's face it, we won't be needing any time soon).

Demolish the car park, Town End, Stratton Bank. Move the pitch 20-30 yards over the old Town End. Re-build both ends behind the goals and fill in the corners. Should give us a 25,000 capacity stadium at minimum outlay.

Personally I don't mind where the ground is, happy with us moving to a new one. But unless we get in to the Premiership I can't see us ever needing more than a 25k capacity so there is no need to move for capacity reasons. So the only reason I can see for a move is if it makes the club money through re-development, in which case go for it - as long as its the club that gets the money and not the owners.

[Colin Todd]

But then the Arkells and DRS will be 20-30 yards out of sync with the pitch?

you've not thought this through have you?

[suttonred]

No sure if everyone was blind last night, but the ground was signposted after you got off the A12 (although i missed that and couldn't turn back til near Clacton) And there was a decent map on their O/S which i obviously didn't take much notice of either.

[Simon Pieman]

Rotate the pitch 180 degrees. Swap the Arkells and Don Rogers stand over and the Town End and the Bank over.

[jonny72]

But then the Arkells and DRS will be 20-30 yards out of sync with the pitch?

you've not thought this through have you?

I've spent a lot of time thinking it through (at games, as its normally more interesting than what is going on on the pitch) and it is definitely viable. I actually mentioned it some years ago at a board meeting and if I remember correctly one of the board said it was an option they'd considered. Bizarrely, they said they'd considered a complete re-build of the stadium on the same site and rotating the pitch 90 degrees which I reckon would be a dumb idea.

The out of sync thing would only affect the Stratton Bank end (as the stands would be extended at the Town End) and whilst I'm not a builder, I'm sure they could sort this out pretty easily by demolishing and re-building part of the main stands. Worst case is it just looks really stupid at the Stratton Bank end, but it would be a good talking point and I reckon we could live with it.

I'd probably start with just doing the Town End and leaving the Stratton Bank alone, which should take the capacity to 20,000+. When (or if) we need more capacity there would be options for the Stratton Bank, such as buying up the houses there and demolishing them to extend that end properly.

[overthehill]

Maybe this would be a good time to rectify the original design faults, whereby the stands are facing the pitch!
The old ones are always the best.
 

[Simon Pieman]

It's not just capacity we need to consider though. The whole point of a redevopment is to have that potential for greater attendances, but also the additional income which can be provided through other facilities.

Our corporate facilities are lacking. Don't get me wrong, they've massively improved but they are still limited. Things like the lack of disabled access are very problematic. The club shop is tiny and the ticket office needs an overhaul too. Catering facilities are limited presently.

It's not just about match day though, improved conference facilities will attract additional income on days the ground isn't used for football. Leisure facilities could be operated e.g. a gym, there could be scope for hotels etc.

How many times have we filled our ground to capacity since the turn of the millennium? We don't need the capacity right now and we won't unless we become a decent Championship team in my opinion.

[jonny72]

Our corporate facilities are lacking. Don't get me wrong, they've massively improved but they are still limited. Things like the lack of disabled access are very problematic. The club shop is tiny and the ticket office needs an overhaul too. Catering facilities are limited presently.

It's not just about match day though, improved conference facilities will attract additional income on days the ground isn't used for football. Leisure facilities could be operated e.g. a gym, there could be scope for hotels etc.

Couldn't all of that be achieved on the present site though?

There is a fair bit of space behind the DRS and the Town End which could be re-developed. Then there is the option of buying up land around the site - the cricket / football pitch, properties on County Road / Shrivenham road. Obviously this land could be expensive and there is the planning issue (especially with the pitches) but I'm sure these could be overcome.

Surely you'd make a lot more from commercial facilities at a town centre site such as the County Ground than you would from an out of town site, which would make the extra work / finances required worth the investment.

[Kinky Tom]

How many times have we filled our ground to capacity since the turn of the millennium?

Was the coventry fa cup game this millenium?  That's the last time i can remember a sell out