No worries marra....I trust you and understand completely. I remember the Dell thing very well and,indeed,followed you over here when it got too ridiculous to cope with over there.
I wouldn't be suprised if the ultimate end game is a new state of the art multi use stadium. The SOL is great but it's 30 years old and things have moved on so much with facilities, events etc
I’d be sad mind. I grew up with Roker Park but my adult days have all been at the SOL. at 47 years of age I still get that tingle walking out from the concourse and taking it all in
I’m quite happy just knowing that plans for growth/improvement are being seriously considered and we won’t be just plodding along like most clubs. However, if you need to have someone to confirm later that you had inside knowledge, feel free to PM me the details.
Hope so. I never experienced Roker Park so I have nothing to compare the SoL to but I don't particularly like the SoL. Noise doesn't travel well and even though it's only 30 y/o it feels dated. Don't think it would happen for a good 10+ years though.
Roker Park is the spiritual home of this club. Whilst I've visited the SOL hundreds more times than I ever went to Roker, the attachment is to the club, not the stadium. It was fantastic at the time but it hasn't aged well. These modern super stadiums put the 90's bowls to shame and the money they can make from them is vast which is crucial to being able to spend in football these days. It would be exciting if that was the plan, but we'd also have to be very careful not to price our own fans out. I'm interested in whether KLD is looking at a multi sport club with some kind of Sunderland branding/link or if he's just investing in other sports himself.
I'm just trying to piece together bits I heard ages back with things that are popping up now tbh. So I'm guessing with some of it and I'm sure my mate, on RTG, knows a lot more than I do ... but he's not spilling the beans to anyone. He just drops in things to annoy me like 'Watch where they move the away fans, that'll give you a clue'. Encouragingly, whenever the club makes improvements he'll say 'You ain't seen nothing yet'. Many people thought KLD was a daft young man, buying a basket case like Sunderland, but it's starting to look like he's smarter than anyone ever thought. Bringing in Bruce has certainly hastened things along.
I doubt anything is off the table with the owners, new stadium, stadium upgrades. We just have to enjoy the ride and hope it stays affordable for "normal" fans, which I think they would do, they don't strike me as owners that would chase the tourist money
Normal fans, like us, have to appreciate that not everyone wants cheap beer, hot pies and standing areas ... ... I'm sure you do. People coming for internationals, tournaments, concerts, etc, are happy to spend money and want proper corporate hospitality. The hostility directed at the Founders experiment doesn't reflect well on some of our supporters tbh. I'd happily, in fact deliriously, go back to Roker Park but that won't progress the club. Those who criticise the BCB, Founders, etc, are probably the same people screaming for more money to be spent on building the team ... ... but attack the club every time they want to increase SC usage, produce more merchandising, cultivate sponsors, reduce costs on ticketing, etc. They just want KLD to keep 'investing', which actually means spending, his own money.
Mate, I have banged the drum of off the field being so important. Every pound made off the field benefits the team on the field. We have made massive strides this year and it's probably still not enough despite their brilliant efforts. You can see what they are trying to do, maximise corporate revenue while still trying to allow those fans that can have a range of corporate tickets. We have to produce more money and can't and shouldn't rely on any owner just to fund it
Unfortunately, due to the financial setups to the leagues, we are going to have to rely on owners to fund getting us promoted.
This is to do with the club increasing it's brand and revenue streams across different sports. KLD has been doing that with his investments for a while and it's part of the bigger picture. It's why the stadium has already undergone huge connectivity improvements. The 5g cabelling etc to make the stadium positioned to host other sporting events (esports etc) and increase corporate demand/quality. It's also a key KPI for Bruce and the new corporate offerings/wide selection of kits etc all feed into this. There is significant investment going into corporate facilities to be able to deliver the new packages. The kitchens and areas are below par and won't be able to currently deliver on the quality they have set out too, so more is going into that. They have had plans drawn up for ages about extensions and such however, now I think they are getting looked at again to increase the SOLs appeal to hosing more sports, more regularly. Also, to make it more appealing, modern to fit into the massive sheepfolds development. It would be a big improvement and I think I would be good. I don't think a full new stadium is on the cards anytime soon.
You're right, we're creating a gap between clubs like most of the playoff contenders and leaving them behind in many respects. It's only a year or so that many people were claiming KLD was allowing the club to rot and the SOL was gradually deteriorating. He's obviously a very smart man with a clear idea of what he wants.
Well, I emailed the club re cancellation, got an automated response, I thought that's all I would get. 2 days later proper response confirming cancellation, the mail box is being monitored. Well done the club for the speedy response
I’m 36 used to get it for me christmas box every year ha. and thats good going and great parenthood mate
Ha cheers. I had cards before being an adult but it was sporadic as the parents couldn't afford it every year. So just counted from when I got my own really.
All kind of things happening and people can either like it or lump it. Sadly those who lump everything else will lump all this as well. https://eflanalysis.com/news/sunderland-owner-kyril-louis-dreyfus-plots-new-takeovers-in-2025-as-two-big-new-hires-confirmed/ By the way, this isn't the big surprise I mentioned ... ... KLD hasn't shown a fraction of his cards yet in my very humble opinion. I'm sure there were Man City fans who refused to believe their club was gradually going from the Third Division to the top. They'll have missed out on years of steady progress by always having a glass half full at best. As my 'signature' , that I created when he took over, says I'm just going to sit back, trust the club and let myself be carried away with it all. Those sad people who bleat on about 'pocket money from his mam', etc, will miss out on all the fun because their grudge is so engrained. I don't actually care about that, it's their loss, but I wish they wouldn't just automatically moan about every f*cking thing the club do. The Founders experiment, for example, will only 'affect' 300 people but some are still claiming the club have shiit on the entire support ... ... just f*ck off, we're absolutely blessed to have KLD at the club. please log in to view this image
