(Can we have) Stadium expansion?

[pafcdje]

SH actually did mention in pod cast with legal company, this is part of the argyle financial strategy over next few years.

As said , in the podcast SH says that they are drawing up plans to cover the next 10-15 years to include the development of higher home park ( where the fan fest is) , Harpers as the first team training base eventually filling in the corners . The cost will “ 10’s of millions “ which SH won’t fund so they will either have to self funded by player sales, commercial activity / profit or from an investor or investors .

Turnover likely to be £25m which will probably be mid table in the Cship - SH said we will ‘ break even “.

SH also said that staying in the CShip was more expensive than envisaged , so we can expect an increase in ST price .

That said , with the away end regularly full , it appears we could handle a capacity of at least 20,000 but I don’t think the corners will achieve that - in any event that looks some way away . One thing to bear in mind is that an extra 1000 seats sold over a season “ only” generates an extra £400k by the time you factor in tax / concessions .

 

[JackPP]

But less cost?

Minimal as the only difference is the cost of the seat.

 

[Cdp]

We’ve just finished 4th bottom and only scored 3 home goals since February time.

Trying to get a ticket for these final games was insane.

If we were 15 points adrift we wouldn’t be full, I agree, but every game will sell out next season. 500 seats in Bobby’s garden will be well received by those 500 lucky fans.

I'm backing the seats.. why wait till we are doing well again to think about seats. At some point they will be needed ( now). It's natural for attendances to some times drop if a team struggles and go up when they do well.

Why wait till we do well, we need them now and we will need them In the future, at some point they need to be built.

I know people have said it would take years for the seats to pay for themselves.... But we are going to be loosing money either way through lost revenue or paying for seats. At least we would earn more revenue through other avenues with an extra 1000 seats.

It would surely add value to the club with increased revenue and more appealing to investors and players alike.

 

[Green Flash]

It is unfortunate that the stand that is not really fit for purpose for the normal supporter with seats with limited leg room, seats exposed to the elements, seats behind pillars and inadequate vestibule space is the one we spent a large sum of money refurbishing and where our highly successful hospitality is located because what really needs to happen in the long term is to rebuild that side of the ground completely

 

[Ipplepen green]

Surely before we fill in the corners we should be sorting out the mess they made of the grandstand and take it up to full capacity?

 

[pilgrimage]

Minimal as the only difference is the cost of the seat.

Don't know difference in cost but installation and on going maintenance and safety requirements must give a saving.

 

[Izzy Shizz]

Aside from one bad decision with the Foster recruitment, the club under SH have been very astute with their decision making. For me, the investment in Brickfields and the training ground is very welcome and then they were savvy to increase other revenue with Goals and now the GT purchase.
I trust the chairman, who tells us all the time he is a "data guy" that if there was an option to throw up some temporary seats in the corner it would already be underway. Perhaps another 500 seats creates a bigger issue with lack of catering, ablutions and turnstiles (which we already know is crap for the Grandstand side of the ground).
Long term, then I am told it is a major expansion on one of the ends that offers the most attractive ROI, but I can't see how that would be sanctioned without the existing projects being completed. The balance sheet can't carry major works on the academy/training ground and stadium in any one financial year.

 

[NearlyCornish]

A agree, the corner infill is surely the easiest and most cost effective option and the additional 1,000-2,000 seats (depending on design) would be a real asset moving forwards.

I still believe a temporary stand is viable & a relatively low cost investment which can pay for itself & provide extra income until it is viable to make it permanent. Plenty of examples out there, especially at Rugby & Cricket grounds

 

[oldage]

SH has made his wealth as an Investment Manager and will already have carried out an assessment of the current and future capacity of the ground based on available data. The fact is we do not have a bottomless pot of money and must therefore be prudent in whatever we do.I am sure that SH will decide if/when it is the right time to increase our capacity.

 

[Mark58]

I'm with you on this, the next step is the training facilities. More cost effective in terms of attracting better players and cementing our place in the championship. I wonder what happened in this respect, since pulling out of the ernesettle site things do seem a bit piecemeal in this area.

Fwiw any ground development should be done as part of are larger plan to take us to the next level, if that is deemed feasible. Not just fill in the corners or try and get a couple more thousand seats here or there....hp is starting to show its age and increasingly not fit for purpose for modern football. Need a lot of ducks to line up before anything happens I feel

Really? It's been my spiritual home since the mid 1960s and in my opinion it has never been in such good nick as it is now.

 

[Timeout]

Really? It's been my spiritual home since the mid 1960s and in my opinion it has never been in such good nick as it is now.

That's not what I meant. I agree it looks fantastic but I'm going on comments made by sh and Andrew Parkinson and fan comments in the past when they have spoken about facilities, fan experience, catering outlets, etc. Plus the increased emphasis on stadia generating revenue 24/7 not just 23 times a year. Then throw in the recent advent of atv, increased sky coverage, general media coverage and the now diverse and increased demographic watching matches. Consider all this now and then consider the needs and demands in say 10-15 years. Already there were issues at the last forum about additional cameras and fans having to move.

Put all this together and it's my view that a long term strategic plan needs to be put in place for the development of HP.

 

[Green Flash]

SH has made his wealth as an Investment Manager and will already have carried out an assessment of the current and future capacity of the ground based on available data. The fact is we do not have a bottomless pot of money and must therefore be prudent in whatever we do.I am sure that SH will decide if/when it is the right time to increase our capacity.

SH is the best owner we are ever likely to have but that does not mean we cannot have opinions and it does not mean the club get everything right. In respect of the stadium, while the hospitality is a success the rest of the refurb has been something of a disaster, with the Grandstand still not capable of being filled four years later because of problems 90 per cent of fans could have told them would occur before they even started.

 

[oldage]

SH is the best owner we are ever likely to have but that does not mean we cannot have opinions and it does not mean the club get everything right. In respect of the stadium, while the hospitality is a success the rest of the refurb has been something of a disaster, with the Grandstand still not capable of being filled four years later because of problems 90 per cent of fans could have told them would occur before they even started.

The difference is by and large it’s SH’s money being spent not yours.

 

[Green Flash]

The difference is by and large it’s SH’s money being spent not yours.

So we should not post any opinion about how the club should spend money because it is not our money? Really you do have some strange ideas...

 

[Green Flash]

As said , in the podcast SH says that they are drawing up plans to cover the next 10-15 years to include the development of higher home park ( where the fan fest is) , Harpers as the first team training base eventually filling in the corners . The cost will “ 10’s of millions “ which SH won’t fund so they will either have to self funded by player sales, commercial activity / profit or from an investor or investors .

Turnover likely to be £25m which will probably be mid table in the Cship - SH said we will ‘ break even “.

SH also said that staying in the CShip was more expensive than envisaged , so we can expect an increase in ST price .

That said , with the away end regularly full , it appears we could handle a capacity of at least 20,000 but I don’t think the corners will achieve that - in any event that looks some way away . One thing to bear in mind is that an extra 1000 seats sold over a season “ only” generates an extra £400k by the time you factor in tax / concessions .

Breaking even and staying up is a very impressive achievement but too close for comfort…