QPR chief raises prospect of ground share By Julian Bennetts | Wednesday, June 6, 2012 * QPR chief executive Philip Beard admits the club cannot afford to build a new stadium without incorporating a cinema, restaurant or casino - or even ground share with a team from another sport. Rangers are looking to move out of Loftus Road, which is the smallest ground in the Premier League, and are attempting to identify a site near their current west London home. But Beard admits the club has to have a bigger fanbase before they can even consider moving - and says that a football-only stadium would not work. And the man who oversaw the transformation of the Millenium Dome into the 02 has refused to rule out other clubs playing at the stadium, with Fulham and London Wasps both having called Loftus Road home in the past. "To have a stand-alone football stadium that only hosts 19 home domestic matches a season would probably not make the numbers work," he said. "What is important is that it is the home of QPR but it will need to have facilities to do other things as well. If we are serious about building a new stadium we need to grow our fanbase and engage with young people and the community â Philip Beard "A full-on ground-share is more challenging, but I am hoping to emulate an entertainment destination model where you roll the pitch away and use it for other things. "Look at the Emirates hosting Coldplay for three nights - that is the sort of activity you need to host to generate the revenues to make the club sustainable and ultimately invest in the team going forward. "But the criteria is that we need to find somewhere that hopefully isn't too far from Loftus Road. "Our fanbase is a very passionate, loyal and local fanbase. We need to stay in the area if we can and that is almost a must." But Beard first wants to make the club a force both in the Premier League and Europe so that more supporters are attracted to the terraces. Rangers survived on the final day last season but Beard knows an average attendance of 17,295 needs to be improved significantly. He added: "We need to build our fanbase. We have a capacity of 18,500 at Loftus Road and I think we could fill a significantly higher number of seats here. "If we are serious about building a new stadium we need to grow our fanbase and engage with young people and the community and become a club that is not just known in London and around Europe but further afield. "That takes time but it is exciting and is a challenge building a brand, growing a fanbase. That is something I am hoping I can challenge the guys off the pitch to help us with. "QPR stands for so many good things that if we can get the messages out there we will start to see the blue and white Hoops further afield than west London."
We will definitely end up groundsharing. Doesnt make sense not to. The "West London Stadium" will be born soon enough with probably us an Foolham or even the scum sharing. I like the idea of casinos and cinemas etc there as well. We could really build an amazing state of the art complex in West London but it wont be on our own.
i posted about this some weeks ago,the fanbase will grow with a bigger stadium nodobt about it, multi-use is a nobrainer but try to avoid a football tenant,35-40K is doable our fanbase is bigger than the stadium is now,remember last season was packed most games (say90%)our supporters are more numerus and widespread than our owners think.
None of this is original thinking and all makes complete sense. As for grow our fanbase, much of that is down to established prem status, interesting players etc. and ground capacity. I know he's hankering after bringing current average gates to capacity (adding c.1200 fans to score sell-out status for every game). That should happen if we get the first two requirements sorted (which we're in the process of doing). All good. Go for it Phil.
Oslo, I'm not sure that he did, although it's not entirely clear if the content is Beard's or Bennett's when not bounded by quotation marks. Also, in a direct quote, he says that it's almost a must that any proposed move would be to somewhere not too far from LR; couldn't he have said a must?
As ever I'm not entirely happy with the strategy in this area. We can't grow the fanbase without a new stadium and yet Beard reckons we can't have a new stadium without first growing the fan base. I'm not sure how he will ever be able to judge that we are ready...
The question is "Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?" ... and nothing whilst we ponder the question.
Getting a new stadium puts 30-50% on the attendance without even needing success. So we should be able to get 25-30k even for the Wigans and Readings and about 40k for the big games.
I personally think that the being based in West London fixation is a misnomer. Our fan base is not restricted to W12 anymore. Everyone except a few stalwarts have moved away, to such an extent that I would guesstimate that less than ten per cent who regularly attend home games travel less than two miles. If you take a walk along the Uxbridge Road before a game, the multi-cultural diversity is there in plain sight. ( Mainly Somalians and a general make-up of other mainly, African based nations.) Yet you see none of these people attending matches. For whatever reason QPR is not on their radar. What I am trying to stress here is not a slant on these people or the rights and wrongs of multi-culturism, just my opinion. So as it is, it would all be well and good if we could generate a fan base from the ethnic diversity that is Shepherds Bush, I personally don't think it will happen. At best I would say we could generate a maximum 10,000 fans to whatever stadium we play in. This will give us the same as Fulham and 15,000 less than Chelsea who all play in the same borough. If we want to stay the way we are, then fine we stay in West London. If not, and I will pay to see QPR play whatever they become. Have a look at this map and check-out the catchment area..... http://www.myfootygrounds.co.uk/AreaMap.asp?view=ENGLAND If we need to generate a greater fan base, then we have a huge area near the M25/A3. It's between two major airports so that our foreign contingent have better access. The rail links and road links are superb, and anyone seeking to watch premiership football/concert or other sporting spectacle will have excellent access from the whole south east. There is nothing like it outside of London in this area for miles and miles.
Nines, then we essentially become a franchise like MK Dons. Being close to the West End/Kensington and having a high profile successful team is what will bring new supporters in, not being near an airport.
Its all great untill we find out we're sharing with the Swiss national water polo team. FFS as usual.
Possibly SB73, that's why I decided to post it. I have no fear of it being shouted down. If I'm wrong and it's a stupid idea, then that's what it is. I'm just throwing it out there as an idea, as all options need to be examined. Hopefully with all the collective great minds on here we can conclude as to what is the right one. I've no qualms whatsoever about being wrong. But what I will say is this... We are in a borough that already has two established premiership clubs. One of them being the current European Champions. If they go ahead and build a new stadium which increases their capacity at the same time that we do, and are seeking to up their fan base?...... You do the math! I would love nothing more than to be based in Shepherds Bush and stay true to our roots. Maybe it is or isn't the best way forward anymore. Maybe it is a case of building it and they will come kinda thing. Whatever we do, we need to retain our unique rawness. That semblance of being an un-polished diamond that sets us apart from the other clubs. That's why we love being QPR isn't it?
Being in Central London is a key part of the strategy. The club well knows that the support is no longer local for the most part but with the excellent transport links in Shepherds Bush we are at least accessible to both old and new fans. There are 20 million people within easy travel distance of Loftus Road and unlike some of our competitors we are highly accessible from Heathrow and other airports so no problem with too many clubs locally. The 'west end' location is also highly attractive to overseas visitors. So M25, no thanks (even though I live in St Albans).
Greyhound track like in the White City days? Eddie's Derby winner Blonde Snapper could keep Jude the Cat and the Squirrel company.
