Thetownend.com

I know it's early days, but is this something likely to be on the table for the future now?

He has spoken about it a lot, and I still don't believe him when he says he doesn't want to build the stadium.

I reckon he'll be looking at it more when he's got his team settled in.

Here's what Alex P posted on Twitter yesterday:

And now what happens with the training ground?

100% this for me too.

What training ground? That was all pie in the sky

Whilst not doubting that SBC would want to work with Clem, having had their fingers burnt in two ways with Power I would imagine they will want to see both the colour of his money for the rent and the whites of his eyes for trustworthiness ebfore they consider moving forward with any sale.

Add into the equation the crap financial position Clem is inheriting, the undoubted skeletons which will appear out of the closet and the need to stay in the division as objective 1, I cannot see anything more solid than some nice words happening WRT the ground for the next 12-24 months.

If it does need some tarting up to generally improve the environment and sort certification, this is probably something the Trust/fans can help with short term, you provide the materials the fans provide the labour and expertise.

It has PP, sort of. Albeit it Power is clever he could boost its value considerably by not building it.

I reckon it was a legit plan. Not a benevolent plan mind, but one that would make him money in the long run.

There are a number of issues and or hurdles to overcome. I am confidant that CM knows all about the Highworth ‘training ground’ saga. I am equally confidant that CM would not want to engage with LP in anyway going forward that would enrich the bloke.

So where does that leave us. Well as it stands the club do not have a dedicated training facility with shall we say commensurate medical, injury and rehab facilities outside of the county ground. But and there is a win win opportunity. I did mention that Clem had asked for a tour of the Swindome and indeed after the game he had a rather relaxed and genial conversation with Jez not 10 yards from where I was sitting. STFC have used Webb’s Wood before but again as I mentioned they were not as quick to pay as they were to ask to use it, which is why over the years the club has used a number of places to train.

I’d suggest that going forward the club admittedly would have to upgrade their playing surface to accommodate this but offer Supermarine the CG on alternate Saturdays in exchange for the use of Webb’s Wood. The Supermarine pitch could be upgraded to allow for development matches and training but also facilities for bigger clubs to use when in the area (like Rushden used to do), a win win for everyone. It would benefit Supermarine as they would admittedly only need to open the N. stand on match days but give them the opportunity to grown and maybe enter the league like Forest Green. The Webb’s Wood cannot be used for anything but sporting uses just like the CG either.

Can’t see any Supermarine fan wanting them to play in another team’s ground out of choice, would rip the soul out of the club. Most fans go to games at that level because they enjoy the intimacy of the viewing experience you get with proper non league football

There doesn’t need to be a “deal” just pay them the going rate to train at the Dome thing

Sorry but letting them use the CG is a stupid idea for both them and us. Using their facilities for training is one thing and makes sense, having them ground share with us and lose their identity whilst increasing wear on our pitch does not.

Or negotiate some kind of feeder club option where they have first option on our fringe players to take on loan for a discounted rate to train at the Dome.

I'm sure the council will be happy to dispose and get money in their pocket

I am sure there is some mutually beneficial deal that can be reached that benefits all parties, why they would want to play at the CG is anyone's guess, we can barely fill it let alone a fair few divisions lower.

The Swindome website literally talks about it being available for rent.

So why not just do that?

We are now a few decades behind where we should be in terms of ground redevelopment.  So far behind the curve, that I'm finding it inconceivable that someone with Clem Morfuni's background would not be looking to do something with the County Ground.

I still think of the (now 27 yr old) DRS as the 'new' stand.

The failure to pay our way seems to have been the barrier up until now. I imagine that can be put in the past now though.

Why would the club rent the dome when there is an all weather facility directly behind the County Ground? Unless it's snowing there is no need to use it.
Grass pitches are a different issue of course and that is more important. The club needs a base.

Amazing to think that the North Stand was newer than that when we played in the Premier League!

Absolutely!

I think supermarine have plans to develop their current ground. They seem to be slow, steady and sustainable both on and off the pitch.
They will have a good go for promotion this season.

If we must continue to use Beversbrook in the interim, would it be inconceivable to use it properly?

For example, they have catering facilities but as recently as last season we were expecting players to hop in the car and drive to the CG for lunch. Then not bothering. We seemed to have the a similar arrangement as I imagine the amateur teams would. First start would actually be using the facilities in place. Not much call for those on a weekday morning, then reconvene at the CG after eating.

Surely it wouldn't be a dreadful idea to consider putting a modular building in for media/comms, a gym, treatment room, offices etc... then you can move it as part of a new site when one is secured?

Hopefully the new regime have such logic.

The old regime however...

Depends who actually owns it.

Or where the money came from to buy it.

It would not surprise me either if by the end of this year the free hold is with the club and the trust. After all the trust and the council are ready to sign the deal so Clems team will have a head start on their due diligence to secure their 50%. After all they will be at pains to settle the debt owed to SBC to have a clean slate and a huge amount of goodwill to boot.

The Council are prepared to be reasonable about the rent arrears, if this is to be believed:

https://twitter.com/caridaviestv/status/1417877353942892551?s=21

I haven't seen the leasehold title but I don't think that the previous owner was liable for the rent.

Of course not, the limited company would be. Although could there be an argument that the owner was delinquent in not paying it when there were funds to do so? If so, that may be for the Axis team to pursue the previous directors and or club secretary for if they can prove there was underhand practices as such.

I have observed previously that a significant proportion of commercial tenants elected to withhold rent during the pandemic. Many advisers considered that there were legal grounds for doing so (this isn't the forum for going into further detail).  I should add that most, if not all, failed when tested by the courts in some recently decided cases.

Obviously Clem has a laundry list of shit to do with the season starting in two weeks. We've got like 6 first team players and I'm not sure if we even have kit sponsors and stuff.

Further down the line though if he is looking at improvements and his construction company are at hand to do the job, start small and knock Stratton Bank and build a small basic stand with a roof behind.

Nothing major just something like you'd get behind the goal at Northampton or somewhere but slightly bigger. Would improve the overall look of the ground massively compared to having something Bristol City fans call environmental health about.

Then it would at least give us two stands built in what I would probably call the modern era when newer stadiums became a thing.

Rob Angus was one of the main drivers of the CG purchase for the Trust, and Clem was the Club's until the big fall out. Both have worked with the Council on this.

Once the crap gets sorted behind the scenes, the purchase of the CG will be done with the Trust, and then the ground will start to be developed. I believe the Town End will be developed first, even though the SB will also need sorting, with at least a roof.

anyone know if the ex-Excalibur guy (James Phipps) is still about where stfc/trust is concerned

Advisory i think mate

good to hear he's still around though

I would like to think that exploiting the Second Concourse in the South Stand will be on the list of things to do, too.

Bloody hell, the only priority with the CG at the moment is to get a safety certificate and to make sure the Council are satisfied with the rent being paid. Apart from that the ground is way down the list of priorities to sort out!

The bank is FUBARed mate. When fans are in it you can't even use the toilets I think. Gotta go in the arkells. It's a mess and I honestly don't think it's worth trying to fix it up.

As it's barely even used I would start with the bank and then it can house the town enders while that's being reveloped, but just my two pennies worth.

i disagree, although i would love it done and it would look better we need to make this club more sustainable. stratton bank espeecially in div 2 does absolutely nothing for us.

A townend/nationwide with hospitality/hotel/function rooms/gym/ anything else that could make money all year round is far more important for me.

Yes we are jumping the gun by even talking about this but it has been directly answered by clem previously, he has experience of stadium construction and we have the opportunity to buy the ground from the council so there is no harm in it

It should at least have good waste pipes.

If the Bank is cheap enough to sort. It is probably worth doing first.
Then when you do come to work on the other stands you can either rehouse home fans in the Arkells and stick the away fans on the bank. Or just relocate home fans to the bank.

Of course all relative to work being done on the home stands reducing capacity.

You're definitely right that a stand that has other uses probably should be prioratised and I hadn't considered that.

I was thinking more from a capacity stand point that if you did it with the bank first, at least when we need the extra seats you aren't forced to use the unroofed bank with all it's problems with the facilities while the town end is being redeveloped.

But the extra revenue is probably more important than getting wet on the bank and most games the two stands would just about suffice anyway.

Apologies if this has already been posted but I had no idea Brentford have a new stadium this year.
https://newstadium.brentfordfc.com/
Interestingly only around 17k capacity.
No doubt easy to make bigger if needed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58137450+

Absolutely impossible to do anything with the ground. Surprised they restricted themselves to only 17k

Was driving around that part of London last weekend and got a reasonable view of it from the M4 and from Kew Bridge on the other side. Looks smart, and I guess it's hard to find the space for anything bigger round there.

Interesting. There’s no doubt that if we ever get to redevelop (I’m laughing as I write that) that we would be making it higher than that but 20k would probably be about right.
I’m aware we’re lucky to see 8k but the Exeter game not long back proved there’s interest when the time is right.

Opened last season didn’t it? I like the funky seats

It seems very unambitious at first, but they only got an average of around 9,000 in 2018-2019.

I know I rattled on a bit about this after Leicester City won the FA Cup last season, but I wonder how different the 2 clubs standings would be now had Miles Story not missed his penalty and we were promoted instead of Brentford. Probably not very much given Brentford were always on the up and would probably have bounced up eventually but it does get you thinking.

We were trying to build a house on sand,  made of sticks whereas Brentford were building a house of bricks, on solid foundations. Despite going full on Cantona, I think that answers that 'imponderable' question😉😂

Brentford had A LOT of money pumped into them.

That also helps 🤔

They’ll be back down next season with a half full stadium, just like old times.

They did indeed have a lot of money pumped into them but they also had a cunning plan, which seems to have worked out very nicely for them. Whilst I have no great desire to get into the premiership, I like the fact that we also now have some sort of plan, which isn't just 'in 5 years we'll be in the Championship Shawwwwwwn'

I think last season they looked a good footballing side and have strong money behind them to consolidate in the Prem, they looked a far better team than Fulham and WBA did, I think they will be low mid table and survive this season and build on it.

As for capacity, Boremuff didn't do too badly with just a 11k full house for a few years.

17,500 seems generous compared to their average crowds recently of around 10k max.

They had an attendance of just 3,155 as late as 2007 and Griffin Park was limited to 12,573 for quite a few years and never saw an attendance higher that 17,000 other than once in 40 years, 1983 when they had 17,800 vs Liverpool.

You're right. I don't have sky so didn't watch the playoffs and never really watched any goal highlight programmes last year due to the pandemic.

AND a lot if support from a Council prepared to be flexible on planning matters.

Muff only got 9000 for their first game last Friday - and that was a tasty looking fixture with WBA.

They will be back to 3,000 again soon when they get relegated to L1.

Brentford owner has chucked in £80 million since 2010 which is still on the budget side of championship spending. They've done well and I hope they can stay up.

CG Redevelopment is finally underway....

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E8qqliXXsAYaYyz?format=jpg&name=large)

Lovely.

Now to get the ground purchase done within the next year or so and real work can begin.

We’d have no doubt embarrassed ourselves in the final anyway.

The real what if has always been what if Andrew Black held on for 3 more
Months.

We’d have been a Championship club with successive promotions, massive momentum with a famous manager. We’d have been quite the attractive prospect and worth more....

I still think that will be what Clems end game will be. Do things correctly and leave us in a better position to be able to sell us on

That was Power’s mantra, too.

Our past suggests, given the sand filled foundations of that time as well, that we'd have spunked too much money up the wall trying to compete and crashed and burned much quicker.

How do we know that or be able to say it with confidence, considering Paolo's (for you Nev!) ability to fall out with himself and start a fight in an empty room anything could have happened in 3 months. 

If the fall out hasn’t of happened we were going up as Champions, no doubt.

Not sure of the best thread to post this on but this great pic just appeared on my Twitter feed. I stood in the old ‘enclosure’ a few times as a kid:

https://twitter.com/oldstadiums_/status/1454906184977240065?s=21