Reasons Not To Leave The County Ground Site

[Colin Todd]

Theres been a few i think.

Walsall in L2 when we got promoted.
Bristol city when Fallon scored "that" goal?

Cant think of the others

[Summerof69]

Against Brighton in the play-offs.

[Kinky Tom]

Theres been a few i think.

Walsall in L2 when we got promoted.
Bristol city when Fallon scored "that" goal?

Cant think of the others

i didn't think we managed to sell out for walsall

[Simon Pieman]

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

Yes, I wasn't making that specific point one way or another, it just seems a focus of certain posts to increase capacity, when that should be the least of our concerns.

[jonny72]

Yes, I wasn't making that specific point one way or another, it just seems a focus of certain posts to increase capacity, when that should be the least of our concerns.

I'd agree, unless we get back to the Championship and stay there when our capacity could be an issue. At present, even if we had 100% capacity at every game we'd only have the 15th highest attendance in the Championship. There are a lot of big and decent teams in the Championship now, who would bring a lot more fans of their own as well as attracting more home support.

[Lumps]

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) .

The first bit I don't think stacks up when you consider the experience of other clubs. Just about every club that's relocated into a new ground has seen attendances increase. The example that always comes to mind is the comparison between P.Vale and Stoke. For years they were about on a par kicking around the middle two divisions, Vale if anything doing slightly better. Vale piecemeal redeveloped their existing ground and Stoke built new. Stokes attendances jumped and they've built from there. Vale have sunk.

But all you're saying really is that you feel the same way as me. The difference is I can admit it's an emotional thing. I just feel the club belongs in it's traditional home in the heart of its community, even if there are strong arguments in favour of moving.

Everything you posted at the start of the thread is irrelevant to the argument. What you really meant was: "I got lost on the way there 'cause I missed the sign and didn't print the map of the website, got soaking wet in the rubbish car park and we played shit and lost. Bugger! Oh and I don't like the feel of those out of town grounds anyway."

[suttonred]

Everything you posted at the start of the thread is irrelevant to the argument. What you really meant was: "I got lost on the way there 'cause I missed the sign and didn't print the map of the website, got soaking wet in the rubbish car park and we played shit and lost. Bugger! Oh and I don't like the feel of those out of town grounds anyway."

Expertly summed up for most of us last night i think.

[THE FLASH]

Everything you posted at the start of the thread is irrelevant to the argument. What you really meant was: "I got lost on the way there 'cause I missed the sign and didn't print the map of the website, got soaking wet in the rubbish car park and we played shit and lost. Bugger! Oh and I don't like the feel of those out of town grounds anyway."

Expertly summed up for most of us last night i think.

I was caught out as i 'prepared' by taking the address and postcode of the ground only for my recently updated TomTom not to recognise anything....
Went the long way...i did see some brown signs but not as i neared the industrial estate.

[blinkpip]

I don't care new or old, I just want us to own it etc.

Our board listens to the fans problems anyway, so it would never be as bad as Colchester.

[STFC_Gazza]

But all you're saying really is that you feel the same way as me. The difference is I can admit it's an emotional thing. I just feel the club belongs in it's traditional home in the heart of its community, even if there are strong arguments in favour of moving.

I agree totally. Seeing COl U out in the sticks, there wasn't really any soul to it if that makes sense it was detached from the community. On another note I Cant be fucked to change buses 10 times and leave get to the gorund with no pub near by!

[Reg Smeeton]

The first bit I don't think stacks up when you consider the experience of other clubs. Just about every club that's relocated into a new ground has seen attendances increase. The example that always comes to mind is the comparison between P.Vale and Stoke. For years they were about on a par kicking around the middle two divisions, Vale if anything doing slightly better. Vale piecemeal redeveloped their existing ground and Stoke built new. Stokes attendances jumped and they've built from there. Vale have sunk. .
 anyway."

 The Port Vale/Stoke analogy is a poor one....as Port Vale were one of the pioneers of moving to a new ground....traditionally they were Burslem Port Vale...but quite early in their history moved to Hanley, so dropped the Burslem prefix....in 1950 they moved to Vale Park which was planned to have a capacity of 70,000....in 1960 Vale got 50,000 for an FA Cup game.

 Stoke had always been the bigger and better supported club, but if anything their crowds dropped after going to the Brittania.

[michael]

One reason to stay at the current site is to exploit this mythical second concourse in the Don Rogers Stand that we have all heard so much about.

[Spencer_White]

Lumps, Port Vale have had crap support for 20 years! Look back to the mid 90's when they used to hold their own in Div 1 and they still only got 5,500 average (and think of all them away fans they used to get!!!??).

Stoke's attendances actually dropped after they moved. In his book Lou Macari thinks the new stadium put the club back 10 years because 1) the club couldnt afford it 2) attendances decreased and 3) he thought the Victoria grounds hostile atmosphere was worth an extra few points every season. 

I honestly honestly think that the mid 90's to mid 00's out of town ground expansion will now become less and less common. Football's authorities have set themselves on a path of eradicating old style grounds, but the more clubs that move, the more people will mourn the loss of the atmospheric old grounds. Weve already lost Maine Road and Highbury. When/if Anfield goes I think fans really will start to wake up and question it all.

Gazza thanks for the review. To be honest Im not sure Il ever get round to going to that new ground, or Doncasters either, I just cant be fucked. Layer road was little shit pit, but still an exciting place to watch football!!

As Ardiles says, I think commercial considerations will also come into play. Internet shopping is here to stay, so brown field sites might well start to come available in Town centres. Plus are we ever likely to see the surpluses in cash available from people like St Modwen again? St Modwen/Bryant and all them are really suffering at the moment, some even going bust!

Just keep hammering it home that we dont want to be plonked on a motorway junction! Heres to another 120 years of football at the County Ground!!!

[jayohaitchenn]

Spencer I fucking love you x x x

[pauld]

Spencer I fucking love you x x x

That's not necessarily a good thing