We're being left behind

Agree essentially. Believe by relaying the pitch much deeper we could build a bigger higher stadium.

 

The 'option' that's always been a mystery to me is the playing field adjacent to Blomfontein Road which is part of Hammersmith Park. It looks perfectly big enough to accommodate a good size stadium and couldn't be better placed in terms of location and tradition. Obviously there would be a huge outcry about the loss of park land and playing fields but it seems obvious that the land of the existing stadium could be used to extend the park in another direction.

Other than that the Scrubs is the obvious option. In both cases I think H&F council have never done much to help the club out down the years and their cooperation would be crucial to these kind of ideas.

 

It's embarrassing that Brentford and Wimbledon have both planned for their future and we have just stagnated. What ever happened to our training ground plans? Another wasted opportunity. ..

 

I can never understand how digging down will increase the size of the stadium because to do that you also need to move outwards. It's simple maths surly? Unless we have some engineer on here to explain otherwise.

 

Remember fernandes is full of hot air n the poo of the bull....he wanted to become a in the spot light owner but has failed miserably!

 

Can't be done around those parts ellers...there be Victorian sewers and the tube tunnels!

 

For what it's worth, I think the training ground WILL happen, albeit on a less lavish scale than originally planned. The latest "vision" is a sensible down-sizing to match the depth of our pockets and it may also serve to mollify some of the strident local opposition. The process to get permission for the training ground has been particularly arduous and yet it is a much simpler proposition than a new stadium. I would have thought that anyone who has read about the difficulties encountered with the training ground would be more understanding of the massive challenges faced with the stadium project.

Personally, I think we are very lucky to have owners who can seriously contemplate building a new stadium. Many, or most, owners would not even bother. Our owners will give it their best shot. Surely, that's all we can ask?

 

Piecrust promises...no need for a new stadium anytime soon..safe standing will be reintroduced by 2020... job done!

 

Wimbledon's new stadium has been delayed and a new consultation is to take place with the mayor's office to make the final decision. Sadiq Khan previously opposed the plans. I'm fairly sure that the stadium plans will be approved (at least for the 11,000 initial capacity) but it does show that trouble finding and building a new ground isn't just a Rangers' problem.

 

I think there's very little chance of a new stadium now. House prices are so ludicrous any large area of land is going to be housing of one type or another, football won't get a look-in. There's a small new build by the roundabout on Goldhawk rd/Askew Rd which has two bedroom 'apartments' for a fiver under £700,000, f*cking Shepherd's Bush no less. I remember when the terraced houses around the Bush were under £5,000 in the late 60s.

We've missed the boat and without bigger gate income we can't compete with many in the Championship, Tony's dream will remain just that, a dream...

 

Your first option has a school on it if I've got the right one?
Agree re scrubs but Council will never release that land.
I just hope that TF and Co. can make friends again with Cargiant because that is the basket where all the eggs are at present.

 

Sadly, you would never get planning permission to redevelop a public park.
The area behind The Scrubbs is too close to H&F Hospital and is also a public park.

It really has to be a brownfield site, and looking down from above (GoogleEarth) there are few, if any, of these sites locally.

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Opportunities wasted?

Yes they have planned, but their plans were/are 1000% easier to fulfil than ours. What else could we have done to get a new site for a 35,000 seater stadium?

Brentford have been lucky enough to have found a space where a 20,000 seater stadium could go. It won't get bigger. It can't.
We don't want 20,000 as it is too close to what we have. We want 35,000 and space for that is far more difficult to come by.

AFC Wimbledon have been lucky that Wimbledon's old ground of 20 years ago was still available and they can redevelop it to 20,000. Again not big enough for us but just what they want.

The QPR training ground is down to red tape. It is public park land and you have to spend ages jumping through hoops (no pun intended) to get things like this allowed.

The problems on the pitch and the wasted £250m are ultimately the fault of the last two owners and the managers they selected, but not the stadium/training ground projects.

 

Thanks Eamon. A good read and a reminder that every football fan knows how to run the team better than the manager and most seem to know how to run the football club better too.
If it was (even relatively) easy, ground would have been broken months or even years ago.
As to TF's passion, just re-run OBZ day and listen to his interviews and watch his behaviour. I dare say that passion has been tested by the NIMBYs at Warrren Farm, mercenary players, quarter of a billion down the tubes, FFP still to be resolved and Cargiant being a pain in the ass.
I just hope that passion has not been extinguished and he has the grit to give it one more go.

 

well all my worst nightmares have materialised brentford will beat us on a regular basis and have a better ground than us,if the springbok up market idea dosnt work out then it could become a mosque,its all going terribly pear shaped

 

I don't know why there is such a clamour for a bigger ground...when never fill loftus Rd more than maybe once a season!

 

Is it any surprise considering the shyte we've served up this season?...

 

I think it would take some imaginative engineering, a lot of money, and would need us to share another stadium for a couple of seasons, but with funding and the drive to make it work it could be done in a few years, and a lot quicker than the current dream.

 

You do feel the longer we leave it, the worse it will get. I just don't know whether Fernandes has a cunning plan or is spending most of his time running his airline

 

Has a subterranean pitch been done anywhere else in the world or are we to be the pioneers?

 

Seems a few are. Stanford Stadium in California is over 8 meters below ground level, so is Rice Stadium in Houston.