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Post by mentors on Jul 15, 2015 20:59:51 GMT
We can't go on with these pipe-dream projects which have cost the clubs millions in the last 10 years and could put the club in serious trouble. Sadly : I have said many times that the Opal student deal ( revamp MEM) won't work and argued this on the old forum. And I argued with some pro Higgs board backers this UWE deal will fail. I don't delight in these failures but it seldom happens in life someone else pays for our dreams. All these suggestions quite frankly sound like a wish list from Walter Mitty. So can we please be realistic and grounded. No -one will pay for a large scale project and it needs exiting now. In regards to a local authority contributing some funding is laughable. South Gloucestershire council are cutting youth provision : library's : care services and other front line services. The latest cuts suggested for the next few years in a recent union meeting is £40 million as starters. So what have we got ? And what are small aims ? . We own a ground and are a 4th division team. Our ground holds 11000 but lacks family facilities. What can we do to improve - What are small objectives ?. We can apply to the now football foundation for funding towards a south stand provision. We are entitled to nearly £1 million but could get up to 50% matched funding. We could evaluate in 3 years time once a modest size stand is built. This would improve the ground increase capacity to around 13000. We would need to apply and start work by May 1st 2016 to safeguard the football status criteria. Can we not have anymore about big projects but focus on realistic achievable plans. If the club wants we could fill in the forms and call the new stand ' The young Pirates community stand ' . This is what Kiddeminster community fans did !. The next stage could involve a fan base community group seeking funding from various organisations for other small ground improvements. So a 5 years realistic plan could involve the following. 1) Football foundation grant for 2000 south Stand. ( 1-2 years ) 2) Roof for away fans and seated away end ( 2-4 years ) 3) In consultation with fans a seated north stand ( 5 years ). This will make the MEM a basic looking 13000 stadium : mostly seated and paid largely by grants / funding. Then hopefully we could get a top 10 division one side playing in it like in 2010... Nothing more to say other than 'great post'
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Post by thecyclist on Jul 15, 2015 21:02:51 GMT
This football club will not move forward until the current major shareholder relinquishes control. The Director of Finance needs to be removed. Anyone actively found to be propping up this disastrous regime should be shown the door as well. Let's not have MPs or Mayors trying to gain political advantage of Bristol Rovers, where did that get us? Perhaps the way forward is to persuade the major shareholder to relinquish 2% of his shares so that he no longer holds 51%, then maybe, just maybe the rest of the Board may begin to grow a pair and recognise that the time for change has finally come.
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Post by mentors on Jul 15, 2015 21:16:51 GMT
This football club will not move forward until the current major shareholder relinquishes control. The Director of Finance needs to be removed. Anyone actively found to be propping up this disastrous regime should be shown the door as well. Let's not have MPs or Mayors trying to gain political advantage of Bristol Rovers, where did that get us? Perhaps the way forward is to persuade the major shareholder to relinquish 2% of his shares so that he no longer holds 51%, then maybe, just maybe the rest of the Board may begin to grow a pair and recognise that the time for change has finally come. I'm not a fan of Higgs but even he isn't stupid enough to voluntarily move from being a majority shareholder to one holding a minority stake...although I doubt his freedom of action is that great considering the charge held over the assets. The best thing to have happened to the club was promotion...much more important than the UWE, 'onedaythecUWE's suggestions re ground initiatives and funding sound intelligent, compelling and possibly achievable which gives me cause for optimism as I'm sure the BoD will already be investigating alternatives. We should remember that financially the board, and especially Higgs, has significant financial investments in the club and will want to get it in a position where it would be attractive to a new buyer...it isn't now, in fact anyone coming in would want a contribution or at least significant deferred consideration.
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Post by thecyclist on Jul 15, 2015 21:32:50 GMT
This football club will not move forward until the current major shareholder relinquishes control. The Director of Finance needs to be removed. Anyone actively found to be propping up this disastrous regime should be shown the door as well. Let's not have MPs or Mayors trying to gain political advantage of Bristol Rovers, where did that get us? Perhaps the way forward is to persuade the major shareholder to relinquish 2% of his shares so that he no longer holds 51%, then maybe, just maybe the rest of the Board may begin to grow a pair and recognise that the time for change has finally come. I'm not a fan of Higgs but even he isn't stupid enough to voluntarily move from being a majority shareholder to one holding a minority stake...although I doubt his freedom of action is that great considering the charge held over the assets. The best thing to have happened to the club was promotion...much more important than the UWE, 'onedaythecUWE's suggestions re ground initiatives and funding sound intelligent, compelling and possibly achievable which gives me cause for optimism as I'm sure the BoD will already be investigating alternatives. We should remember that financially the board, and especially Higgs, has significant financial investments in the club and will want to get it in a position where it would be attractive to a new buyer...it isn't now, in fact anyone coming in would want a contribution or at least significant deferred consideration. Good points well made, it was my wish list in terms of getting rid of Higgs.
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Thatslife
"Decisions are made by those who turn up"
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 669
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Post by Thatslife on Jul 15, 2015 21:47:22 GMT
We are constrained by Local Plan policies (the South Gloucestershire local plan 2006): Major Sports Stadia LC6 - ONE MAJOR ALL SEATER SPORTS STADIUM WILL BE PERMITTED PROVIDED THAT:- A. IT WOULD PROVIDE FOR A MINIMUM OF 20,000 SPECTATORS AND A RANGE OF SPORTING ACTIVITIES INCLUDING ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL AND OTHER ACTIVITIES; AND B. THE SITE IS OR WILL BE HIGHLY ACCESSIBLE BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND WOULD NOT GIVE RISE TO UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS OF TRAFFIC ON THE ROAD NETWORK TO THE DETRIMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY; AND C. AN ACCEPTABLE LEVEL OF PARKING PROVISION IS MADE FOR THE EXPECTED NUMBER OF VISITORS; AND D. DEVELOPMENT WOULD NOT HAVE UNACCEPTABLE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS; AND E. DEVELOPMENT WOULD NOT UNACCEPTABLY PREJUDICE THE AMENITIES OF NEIGHBOURING RESIDENTIAL OCCUPIERS AND WOULD ENSURE THE AVAILABILITY OF FACILITIES FOR COMMUNITY USE. 10.52 ....... 10.53 The Council is not currently in the position of being able to allocate a specific site and has therefore included a criteria based policy which potential developers of major stadia must address and satisfy. The policy includes a minimum size requirement and the need for all seater provision to meet the requirements of professional sports organisations. ...... Would S Glos really turn down plans for a revised 12,000/15,000 stadium if it meant there would never be any stadium in their county? It seems to me a smaller, expandable, stadium suites everybody as we'd never fill a big one and UWE are more likely to get use out of 10,000 stadium for Varsity games etc than one double the size. In fact with AG having such a big capacity it would be the ideal smaller venue in the area. The problem with a smaller ground is the the ground planning consent was part of S. Glos Regional Development Plan which requires the ground to hold 21,000. Anything smaller is classed as a Local Developement
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 22:18:42 GMT
We can't go on with these pipe-dream projects which have cost the clubs millions in the last 10 years and could put the club in serious trouble. Sadly : I have said many times that the Opal student deal ( revamp MEM) won't work and argued this on the old forum. And I argued with some pro Higgs board backers this UWE deal will fail. I don't delight in these failures but it seldom happens in life someone else pays for our dreams. All these suggestions quite frankly sound like a wish list from Walter Mitty. So can we please be realistic and grounded. No -one will pay for a large scale project and it needs exiting now. In regards to a local authority contributing some funding is laughable. South Gloucestershire council are cutting youth provision : library's : care services and other front line services. The latest cuts suggested for the next few years in a recent union meeting is £40 million as starters. So what have we got ? And what are small aims ? . We own a ground and are a 4th division team. Our ground holds 11000 but lacks family facilities. What can we do to improve - What are small objectives ?. We can apply to the now football foundation for funding towards a south stand provision. We are entitled to nearly £1 million but could get up to 50% matched funding. We could evaluate in 3 years time once a modest size stand is built. This would improve the ground increase capacity to around 13000. We would need to apply and start work by May 1st 2016 to safeguard the football status criteria. Can we not have anymore about big projects but focus on realistic achievable plans. If the club wants we could fill in the forms and call the new stand ' The young Pirates community stand ' . This is what Kiddeminster community fans did !. The next stage could involve a fan base community group seeking funding from various organisations for other small ground improvements. So a 5 years realistic plan could involve the following. 1) Football foundation grant for 2000 south Stand. ( 1-2 years ) 2) Roof for away fans and seated away end ( 2-4 years ) 3) In consultation with fans a seated north stand ( 5 years ). This will make the MEM a basic looking 13000 stadium : mostly seated and paid largely by grants / funding. Then hopefully we could get a top 10 division one side playing in it like in 2010... Hard to argue with that as an achievable way forward for the good of the football club. Maybe it's a product of the last 7 or 8 years, but I get the sense that this has become a board, albeit of supporters, focused on property development and RoI rather than immediate stewardship of a football club. I'm sure their ambitions for the club are genuine, and their dream of having us playing in a fab ground reflects that. They've just lost track of the day to day practicalities and incremental improvement in favour of decreeing Xanadu. Part of that is the 'all will be better at UWE' line with regard to a range of shortcomings that are entirely independent of what ground we play in; they all take second priority to the main objective of delivering magic. So I think it would take a quantum leap to get them to what you propose as a genuine strategy (and not just as a lip service holding position pending the next big thing).
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Post by mentors on Jul 15, 2015 22:29:32 GMT
We can't go on with these pipe-dream projects which have cost the clubs millions in the last 10 years and could put the club in serious trouble. Sadly : I have said many times that the Opal student deal ( revamp MEM) won't work and argued this on the old forum. And I argued with some pro Higgs board backers this UWE deal will fail. I don't delight in these failures but it seldom happens in life someone else pays for our dreams. All these suggestions quite frankly sound like a wish list from Walter Mitty. So can we please be realistic and grounded. No -one will pay for a large scale project and it needs exiting now. In regards to a local authority contributing some funding is laughable. South Gloucestershire council are cutting youth provision : library's : care services and other front line services. The latest cuts suggested for the next few years in a recent union meeting is £40 million as starters. So what have we got ? And what are small aims ? . We own a ground and are a 4th division team. Our ground holds 11000 but lacks family facilities. What can we do to improve - What are small objectives ?. We can apply to the now football foundation for funding towards a south stand provision. We are entitled to nearly £1 million but could get up to 50% matched funding. We could evaluate in 3 years time once a modest size stand is built. This would improve the ground increase capacity to around 13000. We would need to apply and start work by May 1st 2016 to safeguard the football status criteria. Can we not have anymore about big projects but focus on realistic achievable plans. If the club wants we could fill in the forms and call the new stand ' The young Pirates community stand ' . This is what Kiddeminster community fans did !. The next stage could involve a fan base community group seeking funding from various organisations for other small ground improvements. So a 5 years realistic plan could involve the following. 1) Football foundation grant for 2000 south Stand. ( 1-2 years ) 2) Roof for away fans and seated away end ( 2-4 years ) 3) In consultation with fans a seated north stand ( 5 years ). This will make the MEM a basic looking 13000 stadium : mostly seated and paid largely by grants / funding. Then hopefully we could get a top 10 division one side playing in it like in 2010... Hard to argue with that as an achievable way forward for the good of the football club. Maybe it's a product of the last 7 or 8 years, but I get the sense that this has become a board, albeit of supporters, focused on property development and RoI rather than immediate stewardship of a football club. I'm sure their ambitions for the club are genuine, and their dream of having us playing in a fab ground reflects that. They've just lost track of the day to day practicalities and incremental improvement in favour of decreeing Xanadu. Part of that is the 'all will be better at UWE' line with regard to a range of shortcomings that are entirely independent of what ground we play in; they all take second priority to the main objective of delivering magic. So I think it would take a quantum leap to get them to what you propose as a genuine strategy (and not just as a lip service holding position pending the next big thing). If they have been concentrating on property development and ROI perhaps we've benefitted from them ignoring the football side of things, because frankly they've been pretty awful which ever they've been majoring on.
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Post by Westcountry Gas on Jul 15, 2015 22:36:05 GMT
We can't go on with these pipe-dream projects which have cost the clubs millions in the last 10 years and could put the club in serious trouble. Sadly : I have said many times that the Opal student deal ( revamp MEM) won't work and argued this on the old forum. And I argued with some pro Higgs board backers this UWE deal will fail. I don't delight in these failures but it seldom happens in life someone else pays for our dreams. All these suggestions quite frankly sound like a wish list from Walter Mitty. So can we please be realistic and grounded. No -one will pay for a large scale project and it needs exiting now. In regards to a local authority contributing some funding is laughable. South Gloucestershire council are cutting youth provision : library's : care services and other front line services. The latest cuts suggested for the next few years in a recent union meeting is £40 million as starters. So what have we got ? And what are small aims ? . We own a ground and are a 4th division team. Our ground holds 11000 but lacks family facilities. What can we do to improve - What are small objectives ?. We can apply to the now football foundation for funding towards a south stand provision. We are entitled to nearly £1 million but could get up to 50% matched funding. We could evaluate in 3 years time once a modest size stand is built. This would improve the ground increase capacity to around 13000. We would need to apply and start work by May 1st 2016 to safeguard the football status criteria. Can we not have anymore about big projects but focus on realistic achievable plans. If the club wants we could fill in the forms and call the new stand ' The young Pirates community stand ' . This is what Kiddeminster community fans did !. The next stage could involve a fan base community group seeking funding from various organisations for other small ground improvements. So a 5 years realistic plan could involve the following. 1) Football foundation grant for 2000 south Stand. ( 1-2 years ) 2) Roof for away fans and seated away end ( 2-4 years ) 3) In consultation with fans a seated north stand ( 5 years ). This will make the MEM a basic looking 13000 stadium : mostly seated and paid largely by grants / funding. Then hopefully we could get a top 10 division one side playing in it like in 2010... The size of land available at The Mem, would mean that a stadium identical to the kassam at oxford could be achievable. Kassam Stadium LinkOxford Mail East Stand - Replace current Blackthorn End 2 Tier South Stand - Replace centenary stand North Stand (away supporters stand) - Replace West Stand & Enclosure Empty End - Bulldoze south stand.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 23:49:53 GMT
We can't go on with these pipe-dream projects which have cost the clubs millions in the last 10 years and could put the club in serious trouble. Sadly : I have said many times that the Opal student deal ( revamp MEM) won't work and argued this on the old forum. And I argued with some pro Higgs board backers this UWE deal will fail. I don't delight in these failures but it seldom happens in life someone else pays for our dreams. All these suggestions quite frankly sound like a wish list from Walter Mitty. So can we please be realistic and grounded. No -one will pay for a large scale project and it needs exiting now. In regards to a local authority contributing some funding is laughable. South Gloucestershire council are cutting youth provision : library's : care services and other front line services. The latest cuts suggested for the next few years in a recent union meeting is £40 million as starters. So what have we got ? And what are small aims ? . We own a ground and are a 4th division team. Our ground holds 11000 but lacks family facilities. What can we do to improve - What are small objectives ?. We can apply to the now football foundation for funding towards a south stand provision. We are entitled to nearly £1 million but could get up to 50% matched funding. We could evaluate in 3 years time once a modest size stand is built. This would improve the ground increase capacity to around 13000. We would need to apply and start work by May 1st 2016 to safeguard the football status criteria. Can we not have anymore about big projects but focus on realistic achievable plans. If the club wants we could fill in the forms and call the new stand ' The young Pirates community stand ' . This is what Kiddeminster community fans did !. The next stage could involve a fan base community group seeking funding from various organisations for other small ground improvements. So a 5 years realistic plan could involve the following. 1) Football foundation grant for 2000 south Stand. ( 1-2 years ) 2) Roof for away fans and seated away end ( 2-4 years ) 3) In consultation with fans a seated north stand ( 5 years ). This will make the MEM a basic looking 13000 stadium : mostly seated and paid largely by grants / funding. Then hopefully we could get a top 10 division one side playing in it like in 2010... The size of land available at The Mem, would mean that a stadium identical to the kassam at oxford could be achievable. Kassam Stadium LinkOxford Mail East Stand - Replace current Blackthorn End 2 Tier South Stand - Replace centenary stand North Stand (away supporters stand) - Replace West Stand & Enclosure Empty End - Bulldoze south stand. You suggest this as if it would be a good thing?
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james83
Joined: August 2014
Posts: 332
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Post by james83 on Jul 17, 2015 19:54:58 GMT
I was told last season by a supporter who I know that there was a plan B but after Higgs suggesting we would appeal the decision and chuck more money at this project I feel there isn't any other plan B at all. All eggs in one basket and now we're another couple of million in debt on top of the already millions we were before this project started! Higgs tried and failed but with the best intentions for the club but now he has to stop with this and stop loaning even more money as this club will fold if he continues to play roulet with our clubs finances. I do feel something big will change for the club in the next 12 months but can't be sure if it will be good or bad?
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Post by chelt_gas on Jul 18, 2015 0:53:40 GMT
We really could have done with keeping hold of Tyrone Mings!!
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Bridgeman
Alfie Biggs
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,549
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Post by Bridgeman on Jul 18, 2015 9:21:18 GMT
How about this. Knock down the Centenary Stand and replace it with a massive fish tank and then build The Kop on top of the Filton Bank Terrace? And yet another viable alternative..... Just one small suggestion though, if we didn't have the cover on the fish tank we could have a pirate ship floating in it as well, how cool would that be....pride of the West Country
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 9:51:16 GMT
How about this. Knock down the Centenary Stand and replace it with a massive fish tank and then build The Kop on top of the Filton Bank Terrace? And yet another viable alternative..... Just one small suggestion though, if we didn't have the cover on the fish tank we could have a pirate ship floating in it as well, how cool would that be....pride of the West Country The fish would get out you dimwit!
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Bridgeman
Alfie Biggs
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,549
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Post by Bridgeman on Jul 18, 2015 9:59:07 GMT
And yet another viable alternative..... Just one small suggestion though, if we didn't have the cover on the fish tank we could have a pirate ship floating in it as well, how cool would that be....pride of the West Country The fish would get out you dimwit! No they wouldn't we'd have a net under the water line, dimwit indeed, what do you take me for
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Post by captain1883 on Jul 18, 2015 10:31:56 GMT
Our best shout is to find a site out Keynsham way and get into bed with Bath RFC. A shared venture with them has to be a realistic possibility
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 11:16:49 GMT
Our best shout is to find a site out Keynsham way No thanks.
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Post by onedaytheuwe on Jul 18, 2015 11:40:29 GMT
Can we just move on please and accept it's over . We need to consider how we pay back the millions since NH took over from Ron Craig . I would of thought the most sensible option is to sit down and work out A) How much debt we have built up ? B) How are we going to pay it back C) Will the club survive or what form will it have ?.
It's the same with the playing budget. Everyone knows with the play off cash and the live tv games (x3) . We were looking at 4-6 additions and the bookies in late May had us joint 2nd. Since the breaking news of the UWE failure we are dropping day by day and currently are about 10th to win the division. I am afraid the joy of around £300'000 plus will now go on you know what.
Finally: if Bath City did move then surely Bath Rugby would put up cash to extend the size of the stadium. They have sold out in the 150 years of club rugby and the 13000 capacity just isn't big enough. It's gonna be a job to get ticket's to watch Bath this year.
Let's pay off our debts which will take years and stay put. Maybe a new community stand via football foundation funding at the MEM will at least move us on from the nightmare since Mr. Craig..
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 11:55:28 GMT
Our best shout is to find a site out Keynsham way and get into bed with Bath RFC. A shared venture with them has to be a realistic possibility what miles away from our fan base? hope not
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Post by captain1883 on Jul 18, 2015 12:11:35 GMT
Our best shout is to find a site out Keynsham way and get into bed with Bath RFC. A shared venture with them has to be a realistic possibility what miles away from our fan base? hope not Without the money from the supermarket sell we have no chance of funding a new stadium by ourselves. The only option is to sell the Mem' for housing and split building and running costs with Bath RFU The site doesn't have to be in Keynsham but you would be looking at somewhere between the two Cities
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 13:01:21 GMT
what miles away from our fan base? hope not Without the money from the supermarket sell we have no chance of funding a new stadium by ourselves. The only option is to sell the Mem' for housing and split building and running costs with Bath RFU The site doesn't have to be in Keynsham but you would be looking at somewhere between the two Cities not for me but respect your view
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