Trust AGM

[Batch]

Just a thought but if there were plans to do any kind of upgrades to the ground that might include the things the trust are proposing but are not yet confirmed, the best approach might be to keep silent on the issue rather than comment... perhaps the reason for a lack of engagement is because it is in hand?
..

Maybe, hope so, the Trust claim to know nothing though

TrustSTFC ‏@TrustSTFC Mar 3

Mike Welsh: As far as we can tell, the current owner is not looking to develop the County Ground.
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[The Grim Reaper]

Power would not invest money into rebuilding The County Ground as there is no opportunity to make a return on it. Building a new stadium would make more sense to him.

[pauld]

Power would not invest money into rebuilding The County Ground as there is no opportunity to make a return on it. Building a new stadium would make more sense to him.

Sorry but that makes no sense. He'd have just as much chance of making a return on a redeveloped County Ground as he would on a new ground, probably more as he wouldn't have to shell out for a build from scratch, although he'd obviously need to buy the ground and/or obtain a 999-year lease on it.

[suttonred]

Maybe, hope so, the Trust claim to know nothing though

To be fair he has stated get the foundations in, I.e training ground, then do the rest in order. Pointless putting in an engine, until the chassis is built.

[Nemo]

Sorry but that makes no sense. He'd have just as much chance of making a return on a redeveloped County Ground as he would on a new ground, probably more as he wouldn't have to shell out for a build from scratch, although he'd obviously need to buy the ground and/or obtain a 999-year lease on it.

Not sure that's totally true - is the covenant on the CG land not such that none of it can be used for non-sporting development?

In that case, developing an out of town site with housing/business areas alongside it may well offer more financial potential.

Not that I really think Power is in this for the redevelopment money, not sure the off the field stuff really interests him that much.

[pauld]

Not sure that's totally true - is the covenant on the CG land not such that none of it can be used for non-sporting development?

In that case, developing an out of town site with housing/business areas alongside it may well offer more financial potential.

Not that I really think Power is in this for the redevelopment money, not sure the off the field stuff really interests him that much.

Christ when is this hoary old myth going to die a death? Yes, there is a covenant on the Country Ground, no it is not etched in blood. It can be bought out, as Diamandis proposed when he wanted to sell the whole lot off for housing. And it wouldn't apply at all in a redevelopment, the ground would still be being used for sporting purposes, there is no restriction on commercial development alongside that. Or the club wouldn't be able to host conferences, lunches, give blood drives etc i.e. the minimal commercial activities they do now.

[The Grim Reaper]

Assuming you are correct Pauld, why has every previous owners of the club made very little headway into doing something about the ground? It's starting to become a white elephant in the sense sooner or later someone surely has to take ownership. I personally don't know the ins and outs of the convent and the restrictions it may impose but how long can the stadium last in it current condition?

[pauld]

Assuming you are correct Pauld, why has every previous owners of the club made very little headway into doing something about the ground?

Going back over our recent owners over the past 15 years or so:
Diamandis/Wills - Diamandis' schemes all revolved around him and the Wills family being able to extract cash from a development to the greater benefit of Mike Diamandis, rather than the club or community. They were all founded on assumptions that the council could not lawfully meet. He didn't get that and just thought they were being awkward, no matter how many people told him his schemes were not lawfully permissible. Ended up just saddling the club with a load of debt to St Modwen that took Fitton and co years to unravel.

Fitton/Wray/Black - faffed about and missed the boat, largely. TBF Diamandis had poisoned the ground development issue a little when they first came in and they had to unravel a lot of the mess left behind but they took too long doing that and feasibility studies etc and by the time they were anywhere near ready to looking for investment partners, the crash had hit and the arse had fallen out of the market.

Jed - Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Just be grateful he didn't have any redevelopment plans.

[tans]

On another note, where did the Sun drag this little twat up from? In todays paper:

[Christy]

Ha, ha...that reminded me that I met him at Newbury races once during his tenure with us...we'd just signed a couple of players and had won 4-1ish that day, which I had the merry pleasure of informing him.  He was so so happy, and did that silly cackle thing of his.

Great, great days - remarkable to think I could have forgotten that forever without that prompt.

[Sam Morshead]

Jed - Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Just be grateful he didn't have any redevelopment plans.

Oh but he did. I have a hand-drawn blueprint somewhere to prove it.

[Nemo]

Oh but he did. I have a hand-drawn blueprint somewhere to prove it.

Is it in field green or yellow green Crayola?

[Summerof69]

Here's out AGM handout on what we've been doing in the last year

[pauld]

Oh but he did. I have a hand-drawn blueprint somewhere to prove it.

Let me guess, it's a sketch of the current ground plus the famous Town End bar and all the windows, internal and external, replaced with newly supplied top of the range double glazing (to be supplied at our best possible price by McCrory's Magic Window Solutions). Job done!

[Ells]

Got it.



(And before anyone says anything, I've been stuck at a train station for 45 minutes.)