Wael & Hamer with Twentyman

Did any of you go last night to the Mem for Radio Bristols Twentyman 'having a gas' live show which was in front of an audience? I didnt and I forgot to listen in as well

Anyway, I have seen a few quotes from the show from both Wael and Hamer doing the rounds on twitter.

Here are some...

"Our budget is as competitive as other @EFL One clubs" says @Official_BRFC chairman Steve Hamer.

"Our budget is higher than @burtonalbionfc had last year and they won the league" Steve Hamer from @Official_BRFC on the club's budget.

The talks for #BristolRovers new training ground are "advanced". It is a huge site, and Darrell Clarke is "impressed".

Training ground site "is very advanced", but it would be unfair to announce where it is (but it is "north of the city").

Chairman & Manager have walked site of club's proposed new training ground, north of the city, would mean Academy 2 status. #BristolRovers

"We'll move in March" to new training ground says @Official_BRFC chairman.

The @Official_BRFC president @waelalqadi says the new stadium would have a capacity of 21,700

"UWE is the only site we're interested in", "everything is in place, finance was never an issue". @waelalqadi talks #BristolRovers stadium.

Q: What will happen to The Mem when you move to a new stadium? Wael says it might be sold or auctioned.

"99.9% of clubs in the football league are opposed" to the new @EFL Three proposals says Steve Hamer.

Here is the show if you want to listen in full. I havent yet but I will though
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p044yplv

 

From the post....

Chairman Steve Hamer has revealed that talks over a site for a new training ground are at an "advanced stage".

The club has been exploring possible sites on which to build a state-of-the-art complex and that an as yet unnamed 29-acre site has been identified.

Hamer confirmed that the plans include the construction of a facility on the site that would see Rovers become eligible to apply for Category 2 Academy status.

"I would consider the talks regarding the site to be at an advanced stage. We are currently waiting for approval from the relevant authorities but I am optimistic that something will be concluded pretty soon. I was at the site on Thursday with people who clear and prepare ground for the laying of playing surfaces. It would be unfair on the vendors for us to release the location of the site at the moment. What I can say is that it is a substantial 29 acres of recreational land that fulfils all of our requirements."

Rovers' first team has been a tenant at the Lawns - a 15-acre site that was previously owned by AXA – in Henbury since 2012, while the youth and academy sides are housed some 3 miles away at the Golden Hill Training Centre in Horfield.

Hamer siad: "The lease on the site which currently houses our academy teams expires in March of next year so we need to move pretty quickly. Our teams are currently dotted around at various locations around Bristol and it is important that we bring them all under one roof. The possibility of a new training ground to enable us to do that is a vital part of our plan going forward."

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/steve-...9700093-detail/story.html#kqiVcuQhwfVWXwip.99

 

President Wael Al-Qadi reaffirmed a commitment to building a new stadium on land owned by the University of West England (UWE) when addressing supporters during a question and answer session at the Memorial Stadium on Thursday night.

Al-Qadi has never wavered in a desire to follow through on a plan to build a 21,700-capacity arena at on land owned by UWE in Frenchay after inheriting the proposals as part of the deal to buy the club in February.

Speaking to around 100 supporters, who has been invited to watch a sneak preview of a BBC-produced report that is set to air on Monday night, Al-Qadi confirmed that UWE remains the only site the club are interested in building on and that the finance to fund the project is in place.

Wael said: "We inherited the plan as part of the deal to buy the club and it was our right to take some time to re-evaluate all aspects of the proposals. There were some issues that came to light as we were going through that process. Those have been addressed and we are now at a stage where we have acquired the services of a top accountancy firm to complete a feasibility study. That should be completed within the next couple of weeks and then the next phase will be to sit down with all of the concerned parties to move the project forward. We have planning permission for a 21,700-capacity stadium and the funding is in place. We would have to apply for a new planning permission at a later date if we were to consider any plans for expansion in the future. The site at UWE has always been the preferred option and they want this stadium just as much as we do."

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/wael-a...9699993-detail/story.html#vLcA6zMOgSiRZptD.99

 

And we will still get some fans moaning about the owners not keeping us updated

 

We do have some fickle fans dont we

They didnt have to do that show last night but they did. Maybe they havent come out to update us sooner as they knew they were doing the show last night. Whats the point telling everybody 2 weeks ago and then have to either talk about last night or have to repeat it all last night.

The have secured DC and the squad from last season (apart from Parkes) meaning kept that hard working team spirit and also the winning mentality at the club. They have add to the squad with good quality players too. They have upgraded some facilities at the Mem too. Dont forget they have brought in top experts to deal with UWE and scouting as well. They have got ALL finance in place to pay for UWE without the need to sell the Mem. They got in new solicitors to deal with the Sainsburys situation who found no point in pursuing Sainsburys for the contract - while Higgs would have put us in administration to pursue Sainsburys. And now they are in advance talks to purchase land to set up a new traning ground big enough and good enough to get academy 2 status which is the same as most championship clubs and maybe the odd prem club too possibly.

ALL this have been done in 6/7 months as they only arrived in February. That is all a bloody great achievement to do all of the above! All the above was made public so how can some say they feel they havent been updating us enough? Crazy

 

Had a word with Wael Al-Qadi at the central league game, nothing important just a did you enjoy the game type comment but he does seem approachable and willing to talk to people and the lift it hopefully gave the youngsters to see the BOSS there hopefully helped them to realise that when he said about bringing on our own youngsters he meant it

 

The land for our proposed new training ground has been revealed....

The site for Bristol Rovers proposed new training ground has been revealed in planning documents that have been published online.

Chairman Steve Hamer revealed last week that 29 acres of land in an unnamed location had been identified and a South Gloucestershire planning planning has now confirmed that Colony Farm in Hortham Lane, Almondsbury is the site Rovers are proposing to develop new training facilities on.

In the document, which was submitted on August 31, Rovers are named as the applicant and are seeking the green light to carry through to completion on a historical planning application that was approved for the 'erection of clubhouse, floodlights and store.' The plan also includes 'construction of vehicular and pedestrian access and car park'.

Planning permission for a similar use of the site was granted in 2001 but the development of training facilities by Bristol Combination Trustees – the original applicant – was never completed and the land, which currently has marked out football pitches, has since been used to house local amateur football clubs.

The club's decision to see the project through to completion depends on the removal of two conditions that were attached to the original planning permission that prohibited use of the facilities before 6pm during school term time.

They have also submitted justification for the removal of a condition that limits use of the site only to the previous applicant for non-professional and Under 18s matches unless a written request for consent is submitted to the council.

The plans are believed to include the construction of facilities that would initially meet Category 3 Academy status with the possibility of applying for upgrade to Category 2 status in the longer-term.

Rovers' first team has been a tenant at the Lawns - a 15-acre site that was previously owned by AXA – in Henbury since 2012, while the youth and academy sides are housed some 3 miles away at the Golden Hill Training Centre in Horfield.

The lease on that site expires in March and the club is keen to house their first-team and all of their age-group sides under the same roof at the proposed new training facility.


http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/myster.../story.html#ixzz4KdABxYqG#1RgF0kQEDdM27Hbm.99

 

Hope this application is successful as I believe the benefit to the club would be immense especially as they really do seem to want to invest in the youth teams and try and develop our own stars of the future

 

This is massive for us. I think it will go through as there has been no real opposition getting involved so no real press doing stories on it and therefore I expect it to easily slip through successfully without any real issues. This application in my eyes will show everyone how simple it is to get an application through. Dare I say that Wael and his team would have it all WATERTIGHT