In realistic terms, when would be ready for the championship ? Do we need to be in a new stadium with home crowds in excess of 10k every home game ? I wonder what the target is at the club ? Promotion this year is a must but can we survive if we go higher ? Wages will rise, costs will increase but will supporters pay the extra required to maintain the progress. The excitement is great this year but the grip on reality seems to be slipping. Sorry if it seems to burst the bubble but we must work within our budgets and build steadily for the future. Forget the highly paid "superstars" build a team, build a club, build a future !
See how this season goes first. Mad Dog's and Scally's targets are for back to back promotions. Priestfield can sustain Championship football albeit with the Brian Moore re-opened. Ideally we would be in a new stadium for the championship but we know that it is still a big possibility that a new stadium is on its way. With that new stadium higher revenue could be produced and our budget could be bigger. Realistically when could all of this happen? 3-6 years. Im only fussed about getting promoted to League One this season.
I will respond in part, to the stadium question of the thread: Some decisions currently need to made in regards to the BMS, it appears the council have told the KOS that the permission for the temporary stand expired in May 2010 but are not breaking the law, unless or until the council serve an enforcement notice...http://www.kentnews.co.uk/sport/sca...steps_up_search_for_new_gills_home_1_1797881? I suppose everything is going to depend on whether the Chairman decides to spend the required 2.5 million on the BMS or go for a complete new stadium. However, I do believe this is an ideal opportunity for PS to reconsider his views on Safe Standing. I cannot remember the number off the top of my head but quite a number of league clubs have come out in support of it and if any redevelopment was to commence either of the BMS or a new stadium, then I believe this should be given due consideration. The Chairman may believe that fans are now happy with all seater stadiums and the comfort they provide, yes that might be true for us older supporters but travel to away games and you see a different picture where in particular the younger fans appear to prefer to stand. I need to check back on the FSF site but I am sure this also increases capacity but to what percentage I do not know. Personally I am happy as a supporter to remain at Priestfield, although I do continually listen to the arguments for a new ground. Some difficult decisions for PS to make over the coming seasons.
Ideally a new ground with a bit higher capacity. But I don't think we regularly sold out Priestfield during our last stay in the Championship did we? Only when the opposition brought many 000's. And that was even with all the hype about it being our first ever time up there. Maybe a 15 - 20,000 seater would be fine.
I really would not like Scally to 'waste' £2.5M or whatever on the BMS. Even when we were in the Championship we only filled the ground once - against West Ham. So, whilst the BMS and the surrounding area around Priestfield are not ideal ( although sufficed in all those years ago when we would nearly always get 10,000 + ), I would prefer to see any money concentrated in Scally's quest to get a new ground. The Chairman's proposal of a new stadium at Beechings seems to be fairly reasonable ambition for a club of our size. A capacity of 18,000 would be more than enough for an existence in the Championship. I don't recall anything in those plans where there was scope for adding to that capacity to realistically accomodate any leap up into brb's promised land. I suppose something like what they have at MK Dons would be the best of both worlds - where there is scope to increase the current capacity - circa 22,000 to 30,000. The upper tier around their ground is already in place - just waiting for seats to be installed as and when the demand arises. please log in to view this image
MK are putting another 10,000 seats in this summer! On the site that already has a Ikea and a Asda, now has opened a Primark, a Next, and a Marks and Spencer! The new stores commitment to the site have given the dons the money to add the seats in the summer rather than wait for promotion! They cant fill the ones they have at the moment!
Following on from my earlier comments: [video=youtube;apX5V1IJCW4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=apX5V1IJCW4[/video] The FSF's Safe Standing Campaign is supported by Aldershot Town, Aston Villa, Brentford, Bristol City, Burnley, Cardiff City, Crystal Palace, Derby County, Doncaster Rovers, Exeter City, Hull City, Oldham Athletic, Peterborough United, Plymouth Argyle, Sunderland, Swansea City, Swindon Town, Watford, AFC Wimbledon, Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Scottish Premier League, the Safe Standing Roadshow and Stand Up Sit Down. http://www.fsf.org.uk/campaigns/view/safe-standing-campaign
I agree that there's little financial sense in spending money on developing Priesfield if we are going to have a new stadium in the relatively near future. But then it's a matter of chickens and eggs. If we are to have a new ground regardless of where we are in the leagues (of course assuming no worse than L2), then timewise it's just a matter of going through the design, planning permission and construction stage by stage. Based on new grounds elsewhere I get the impression that a time of about 18 months needs to be allowed for the actual construction, so I can't see us in a new ground before the beginning of the 2015/16 season at the very earliest. The financial angle is going to be interesting. Although GFC is now in a much better financial situation, PS has about £12.5m of debt accumulated in other companies associated with his interest in GFC which he has transferred from the club. So I reckon that the plan will be that any new ground and associated development will not be owned by GFC but by another company and leased to GFC. If that company is profitable, and assuming that it will be controled by PS, that will then allow him to use the losses incurred in his funding of GFC against future tax liabilities. As far as being ready for the Championship, if history has taught football anything it's that even with a chairman who's willing to invest large sums of money in a club, whether it's in the form of transfer fees or wages or both, having a properly run club without a huge debt burden is the key, so that if things don't go according to plan then the financial position of the club is not jeopardised. I'm pretty sure that PS recognises that this is the sensible way to go, so whilst there is a great desire and degree of urgency about climbing the leagues, the very costly personal experience he has had in putting the club into its present financial position will not be compromised. Therefore we'll just have to play our way, not buy our way, up the ladder.
If Scally can get Gills at beechings this will be the best answer. He is trying his best to do this, if however cannot be done then he will have to do up BMS stand as i do not want Gills moving out of the area. Hopefully he can get beechings started in the next 2 or 3 years.
