Dog Walkers 1 Ambition 0..

DOG WALKERS 1 AMBITION 0: Why many Bristol City fans feel cheated by stadium decision.

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Post Comment: Bristol City's dream of building a new stadium at Ashton Vales has been derailed by a small number of dog-walking protesters. Now the club is opting to redevlop its Ashton Gate home. But is this really the right decision for the club and the city?

"I'D like to see us build something the people of Bristol can be proud of." When Steve Lansdown said those words in 2007 to a room of stunned, but delighted, Bristol City shareholders who had just found out the club planned to build a new stadium, he could not have foreseen the problems that would follow.

"Field of dreams" was the Post's headline the next day.

This week, six years later, that dream is dead. Our front page headline today mentions a defeat for ambition. That is not to say that Bristol City has no ambition – the club clearly has.

But while Mr Lansdown and the official supporters clubs are duty-bound to put a brave face on the news that the club has opted to redevelop their current stadium rather than move to a new one, their decision marks the end of one of the most ambitious plans put forward by any of Bristol's professional sports teams.

And so, a former landfill site is preserved, and City will redevelop Ashton Gate. Something they said in 2007 was not desirable or even possible.

"We all love Ashton Gate but there is so little we can do to it," said Mr Lansdown at that meeting.

"This club needs to develop if it is to realise its potential and we believe our supporters will be excited by the possibility of a new stadium."

When he spoke that night, Mr Lansdown hoped the club could be in their new stadium by 2011.

Instead, three years on from when they hoped to have moved and without so much as a single brick in place, the club appears on the face of it to have lost patience with the endless legal wrangling over Ashton Vale, and compromised.

And while official fans' groups have a "you win some, you lose some," take on the news, many supporters have reacted with fury.

It is inevitable that many Bristol City fans feel the club has missed out.

The trouble is they were shown the future by a man who has poured millions into this club and was able to deliver it.

It seemed that all that stood in Steve Lansdown's way were a handful of dog walkers.

But, thanks to their efforts, the new Ashton Vale stadium will now not be built. Let's not forget, this was not a development in conjunction with the council - as has happened in other cities. This was a private businessman willing to buy the land and make it happen.

And when would the stadium building have begun? In the middle of one of the worst recessions this country has ever seen, creating hundreds of desperately needed jobs.

And while the stadium row has rumbled on, the club has gone from knocking on the door of the Premier League to fighting relegation to the bottom tier of English football.

Some of that decline is down to the club itself of course, but the thwarting of their off-pitch plans has clearly been to the detriment of their hopes on it. While City's ambitions have stalled, other clubs have redeveloped and overtaken them.

Ashton Gate – like the Memorial Stadium – now stands out in its division as a tired, out-of-date stadium.

And if this is a victory, you have to ask for whom?

Steve Lansdown still owns the land at Ashton Vale, and it may still be developed.

All the opponents have done is to damage the club and the city.

People who want to stand in the way of developments like this claim the moral high ground but they overlook the cultural and economic harm they cause.

Many Bristol City fans feel they have been cheated. They are right. They have.

Many Bristol City fans feel they have been cheated. They are right. They have..


Read more: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/DOG-WALKERS-1-AMBITION-0/story-20482829-detail/story.html#ixzz2rEWKGTJp