Ground Development - Decision Expected in May

And finally the main development at the Riverside


Part 1

The Riverside was the second actual stand to be built at Fulham, being topped out in 1973 and named the Eric Miller Stand after a then director who funded the project: it was opened with a prestigious friendly against Benfica, the team which included Eusebio in their side at that time. It was renamed the Riverside after the suicide of Eric Miller, and traditionally houses the hospitality fans, as well as Mohamed Al-Fayed when he attends matches. Interestingly, in the 1960's all the flags of the teams in Division 1 alongside Fulham were flown along the back of the stand and when Fulham were relegated, Tommy Trinder, then chairman, refused to change them saying that "Fulham won't be in this division next season". He was right. Fulham were relegated again. The stand also incorporates the Fulham Wall, which is the mile post in the Boat Race.


The stand is receiving a massive overhaul consisting of an entire second tier, a new Wembley arch style roof, new hospitality units, a new river walkway, a new outer shell, residential accommodation and a variety of other joys. Estimated at between 30 million pounds (according to the official plans) or 15 million pounds, according to "Construction Enquirer", the stand will start as the season closes, with the new riverside walk being ready for the new season, before the new stand is built around the current one during the 2013/14 season and finished off next summer, ready for the new season in August.

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Stunning Picture Credit-Fulham FC



I suppose it is firstly logical to look at what actually is happening to the stand. At the moment the stand sits roughly 4,000 people, but that is set to increase to 7,771 general admission seats, whilst there will be 78 wheelchair seats, 830 corporate spaces (up from 563) and 290 box seats (up from 48). 48 new commentary positions will be provided, with the old commentary positions in the Johnny Haynes becoming corporate seats for the new lounge, whilst new TV galleys will be provided at the front and back of the upper tier. The chairman will be rewarded for his 15 years hard work with a dedicated "Chairman's Box", with prime balcony view and pitch view from the centre of the stand, whilst there is plenty of retail space below, that could quite happily be taken up by a larger club store.

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Danny Murphy, Still Playing For Fulham (Apparently!). Stunning. Picture Credit- Fulham FC



An entirely new river walkway will be built over and out into the river, using a system of a reinforced river wall and fenders, but this will bend to reflect the natural curvature of the River and will provide an entirely non-match day walk-able river path, unseen since Fulham blocked it off almost 10 years ago. The floodlight masts on either side of the current stand will be taken down, to be replaced with floodlights underneath the new roof, which itself will be partly transparent to allow optimal sunlight to reach the pitch. A new roof truss, almost 140 meters long, will hold up the structure and provide a distinctive identity to Craven Cottage: the fantastic mix of heritage and tradition facing dynamic modern design, but both working together to create a tremendously beautiful stadium.

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New Riverside Walk. Picture Credit-Fulham FC


This is going to cost, as mentioned earlier, anything between 15 - 30 million pounds, but VEF reckons it is more likely to be nearer the 30 million mark. That, of course, requires quite a bit of funding but Fulham have a plan for that too (naturally!). Firstly, the club plan to incorporate 4 residential units within the stand, and with the prime location, view and good transport connections, you can safely say that these will be selling for a lot of money. Interestingly, on the plans that Fulham submitted it does hold a small space for "naming rights", an issue that I'm sure many fans would rather go to celebrating a fantastic chairman (I'll get onto that later). But of course, the easiest way to pay off a stand is to get bums into seats: with roughly an extra 3,700 seats my very shady maths makes that around 8,000 pounds per seat (before corporate/naming rights/ flat selling has come into it). So it is an investment, yes, but an investment that should be paying for itself before too long. Of course, the new TV money and a significant boost in player transfers might come into it, but seeing as VEF isn't fully aware of the clubs plan to fund it, we are not in a position to comment on that. But what we can say is that this will not affect the long-term financial stability of the club, and that is welcomed.

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Naming Rights? Picture Credit - Fulham FC

 

[I[Part 2[/I]

Like all modern buildings, the stand will be highly environmentally sustainable. The entire lower tier will be retained (and used during the building works), whilst a central gutter beneath the main roof trust will allow the collection of rainwater into two tanks, which then can be used for toilet flushing or pitch irrigation. Although Fulham haven't confirmed any of the following sustainable plans, they have been "recommended for further consideration", so they could well be seen: they include the provision of wind turbines on the stand's roof, and the implementation of two solar panels on either side of the roof. Perhaps more of a novelty, the environmental plan also "recommended" a ground source heat pump, but VEF highly doubts if Fulham would put that last one in place. The materials to build the new stand will be arriving by barge, naturally, on a specially constructed platform to minimise noise and traffic in the surrounding roads. All the new fixtures and fittings will be low-energy and sustainable, and up to the standards of 100's of different standard guides, and so it is pleasing to see that the stand could become, in theory, partly self-running.

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Wind Turbines AND Solar Panels? Sustainable! Picture Credit-Fulham FC


Fulham wanted to start in the summer of 2012, but unfortunately, planning permission wasn't granted until June, so plans have be put back a year (this is unconfirmed, but would be logic to do so and Al-Fayed practically confirmed it in his statement RE financial results). The building programme would follow as such:
Phase 1: Closed season 2012/13. New river wall, new fender piles, new stadium bearing piles, modifications to Putney Stand undertaken and new river walkway are built.

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Completed Phase 1 Picture Credit- Fulham FC

Phase 2: Open season 2013/14. Temporary platform constructed, and foundations finished. Then steel frame is erected, floor slabs put in place and core towers at each end (for roof) put into place. Roof trust is delivered and put into shape on top of new stand, before being put into place and supported on its end cores. Finally, the remaining steelwork (the seating) is erected, before the roof is put up and clad.

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During Phase 2 of the project Picture Credit- Fulham FC



Phase 3: Closed season 2013/14. Existing Riverside roof is removed, as well as supporting columns, whilst stand is fitted out and modified for the start of the 2014/15 season. New gates/ turnstiles put into place at end of Bishops Park and start of riverside walkway on Hammersmith side of stand.

No seats would be lost during construction and it will be fascinating to see the stand take shape over the course of the season. The contract was rumoured to be have granted to Buckingham Group Contracting, according to an article by Construction Enquirer, and the stadium works should be finished by 2015 at the latest.

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Fulham are going places. Picture Credit- KSS Group

 

As the first phase of the contract progresses, a deal with local sailors has hit the buffers -


"Two historic sailing clubs face ruin because Fulham Football Club’s stadium redevelopment will alter wind conditions on the Thames and make the pursuit a ‘frustrating lottery’.

Ranelagh, which has operated from Putney Embankment since 1889, and South Bank, which formed opposite the stadium in 1956, received emails from Hammersmith and Fulham Council to say the Premier League club had scrapped its offer of financial support to help deal with the effects its new Riverside stand will have on wind direction

Fulham FC had offered to pay South Bank £25,000 and then £5,000 a year for five years to improve facilities at the sailing booat club house and alter the angle of the start/finish line to mitigate against new winds. It also suggested Ranelagh, which sails past the stadium towards the Crabtree pub and back, could relocate to South Bank on wind-affected days and pay for a motorboat to tug Ranelagh’s participants to its neighbour. Thinning of trees and shrubs was also proposed.

But the offer was suddenly withdrawn after discussions between Fulham and the clubs broke down, which leaves them facing an uncertain future."

Here is a link to the full story -

http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/fulham-and-hammersmith-news/local-fulham-and-hammersmith-news/2013/05/13/82029-33312993/


Just as well this proposal (from the 1980s I think) wasn't pursued -

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How many sailors are we talking about? 200-300?

And what kind of sailors are these who can't manage the wind direction??

 

Actually, I have some sympathy with the sailors. It's not that they can't handle the wind, it's more likely to be that the extra height of the Riverside stand will kill the wind patterns that make that stretch of the river good for racing (or something like that). If some third party did something that affected the suitability of the Cottage for playing football, we'd be horrified. It would be interesting to know why the club 'suddenly' withdrew the offer. It could be that the sailing clubs were being unreasonable. I hope it isn't that we simply don't need to play nice now we've got planning permission. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted that the ground improvements are going ahead, I just hope we aren't upsetting the neighbours with arrogant high-handedness, that's all.

 

This expansion is just never going to happen is it?

 

Probably not, next will be Thames Water that we affect the route of sh*t travelling down the river...

Rumors have it to start in January after the contractors have been appointed, to complete and ready for the season after.

 

Wind conditions effecting the sailing club utter B.....ks. what abott the much higher buildings between the Cottage and Hammersmith Bridge.
Or do they only sail the 100 or so yard, length of the cottage.

 

But the Riverside (Thamesbank) used to be open before the old stand was build so surely the wind
was different then and they've coped with that change, or did building it create the better wind conditions they have today?
Plus on Sunday the wind was blowing a gail towards the stand, not a sail boat in site, guess it was too windy or the wrong type of wind.
I always thought the were worried about the flow of the river being effect by putting an extra 11 meters of bank for the walkway.
Solution wind tunnels ...either that or tell them to eat more baked beans.

And I think that old diagram of the stand is with the Wembley Towers that Al Fayed wanted to purchase, but they had been built with
meshed concrete and couldn't be reassembled.

 

What about some fans?

As with many things like wrong type of rain, snow and sun for the trains the optimal conditions for those are low tide, no lights at CC, and not too many people walking or cycling at the banks of the river as it causes the wind to change pattern...

 

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/m...utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=allsocialandre

Is there any chance that this is linked to an early start to the redevelopment, or is it definitely not happening this summer?

 

Well spotted Captain. There may be other factors at work in cancelling these Internationals (lack of sponsorship?) but the Club are definitely preparing to start work on the Development. As I posted on the other thread there's little doubt that raising a loan (of reputedly £17m) against next year's TV money is to enable the first payment to the contractor.

Also, whatever the ins and outs of the spat with the sailors, the involvement of H&F Council means that the planning approvals are actually being actioned/invoked.

 

The Fulham Supporters' Trust met with Club officials last week and not surprisingly Development of the Riverside was high on the agenda. They have reported back that:


"The club is progressing plans for the Riverside Stand redevelopment, with the project having recently received formal sign-off from the Mayor of London. The initial phase of works will require an entire close-season and are intended to be commenced at the first available opportunity following final planning approval. There are still some technical planning and approval issues to resolve so, whilst there is no formal start date, yet, the Club wishes to re-affirm to fans that the scheme will go ahead as soon as legally and feasibly possible."


Not quire as straightforward or as quick as expected then, but still positive.


Here is a link to the full report of issues discussed at that meeting -

http://fulhamsupporterstrust.com/news/2013/6/19/fulham-supporters-trust-statement-end-of-season-meeting-with-1.html

 

Fulham owner Shahid Khan believe renaming Riverside Stand after Mohamed Al Fayed a ‘fitting tribute’


[I"One of Khan’s first moves will be to get the development of the Riverside Stand under way, which would see Craven Cottage’s capacity increased to 30,000."[/I]


Here is a link to the full story: http://www.london24.com/sport/fulham/fulham_owner_shahid_khan_believe_renaming_riverside_stand_after_mohamed_al_fayed_a_fitting_tribute_1_2277180


Well at least he's making the right noises, albeit that they have a certain ring 'political' preparedness.

Anybody found a picture of MAF with the fake moustache? You've got to love the eccentricity of the guy.

 

It would be a great sign if Khan built the new stand. If he wanted us to move, he wouldn't waste the money.

I have said for years that Craven Cottage has 3 stands that could be renamed and the Riverside was a prime candidate.

 

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Brilliant!!

 

zany to the end,m love mo

 

And now for some good news:


Fulham Football Club is delighted to announce that on Wednesday 26th March, after a meeting of the Board of the Port of London Authority, the Club has been granted a river works licence to enable it to progress with the development of the Riverside Stand.

One of the key considerations of the Port of London Authority in granting the licence is the Club’s commitment to the opening up of the river walkway to enable it to be enjoyed by the local community and the general public for the first time in recent history.

Fulham received planning consent for this development in July 2013, subject to the this licence being obtained. The Club is now in a position to commence with a projected timetable for the development.

Source: http://www.fulhamfc.com/stadium-development

 

Permission, sure, but I'm not sure that means its actually going to happen. If we go down (as we probably will), will the club want to expand the stadium for Championship crowds? And unless we bounce straight back up (which we might, but we certainly can't take it for granted) my understanding is that our planning permission from the council will lapse.

 

I would love this to go ahead even if we go down, for me the worst part of getting relegated was going to be the new stand being put on hold.... Let's build it anyway and come straight back up in a season of goals and celebrations and a number of youngsters in the first team squad

Coyw