Very good post. Easy to say we spend nowt, impossible to back that up! Because we don't see Sunderland sign player for £10 million plus people insist it means nowt is spent. All I see is Sunderland spend sensibly!
My recollection is that it was funded from a number of regenerational grants from both the Uk Govt and the EU,together with the proceeds from the sale of Roker Park. I don't think there was any commercial borrowing more than £3m.....although my memory dims a bit now.
Watch the Bob Murray interview on the other thread, and he mentions KLD has invested into the AOL, taking it to the next level. Good to hear.
You definitely get the feeling there is a bond between Sir Bob and KLD compared to our previous owners.
If I were an owner I would put my money into the facilities to maintain and grow my investment. It is good sense. A £10m striker might only play for 1 season. A top notch academy will last a long long time. I used to spend a bit of time at Stoke City. They have a brilliant academy and training facility. I got a full tour once and the guy showing me round said the business case is simple for all of this investment. Produce a couple of players to sell on and it pays for itself. We sell Neil, Patto, Rigg at some point and thr whole dynamic of our funding model changes. Then there are the next kids through the ranks too. It is the ultimate self funding model in football.
Investment behind the scenes isn't visible until the accounts are published. Murray painted a great picture of the SOL, AoL and Beacon, and is in regular touch with KLD, even sharing data. Our future looks bright.
Is Stoke’s academy recently new?, when my lad played for the safc academy in the late nineties I’m sure they played at Keele university,my memory is not good now mind
It helped that the main building contractor, Ballast Wiltshire, went bust after the stadium was completed
Off the field the ticketing issues are so unnecessary, if people would prefer a plastic card just let them have one ffs.
Think it was built c 2009 mate. Was an old rented space they had. If memory serves they had to do a bit more to get cat1 status a couple of years later. Most recently I did some coaching at St Georges park for them for a couple or years. Now that is a venue and a half.
Here's another thing that makes us a good club, our support. Geographically we're the best, Leeds are well placed, recently PL and have great transport links. Ipswich are next best imo and Boro poor considering Plymouth are better supported away with a smaller home fanbase. Millwall, for a club that thinks it's big, are dreadful ... 500 for any away game is embarrassing.
I have just finished reading Sir Bob's book and after slagging off Drumbille, short and the chuckle Brothers he has lauded Kriil and the way he is running the club and given time will succeed without risking the future of the club. Krill has asked SBM for advice in the past on certain matters including the long awaited extension of the upper tear. So Kryll is looking to the future. He has also added time and money to the foundation of light and Sir Bob believes he gers the area. So hopefully we have the patience not to piss Kryll off too much and he lthinks he is not wanted and does not care and sells up to another chancer to run the club. By the way I found the book an excellent read and brought back some great memories of the 60s and 70s
