Spring News

Forget the maths its not needed and is my strong subject, the maths are keep winning 1 nil we will be champions, or 1 draw nil nil maybe.. but i will be predicting different .. i dont mind eating my first gingsters and finishing bottom of the table as long as we go up... thats more important to me ..

 

Awards tonight. Bali Mumba voted League One Young Player of the season. Stephen Schumacher voted League One Manager of the season. Proper job.......

 

I see that Torquay and Yeovil have both been relegated from the Vanarama National League....and will be playing next season in Vanarama South against the mighty Hemel Hempstead, Tonbridge Angels, Havant & Waterlooville and also Taunton.

My local team Bromley have just sneaked into 7th place in the Vanarama National and the play-offs for Sky Bet League Two.

Wrexham got promoted back into the Football League with a massive 111pts.

Notts County who amassed 107pts will have to go through the play-offs.

 

Just saw an interview with Steve Parish, fan and owner of Crystal Palace. They’ve had an unbroken 10 year run in the EPL, usually finishing in the middle third of the table.

He was asked where he saw Palace in 5 years’ time. He said their objective would be semi- finals of the domestic cups, perhaps winning one occasionally, and qualifying for the lower tier European competitions.

Having had previous financial crises, rash overspending was not an option, ever.

In order to do that, they needed to grow their turnover and to the end, they were about to start building a new larger grandstand to match the one on the other side.

Big money signings were too high risk and they’d put a big investment into their academy. Of course, they are extremely lucky where they are. Something like 1 in 3 English players in the EPL come from an area of perhaps 100 sq miles south of the Thames.

All in all, very much from the Simon Hallett playbook and timely given what we face in the financially incontinent Championship.

 

Paul Wotton's Truro City won the Southern League Premier play-off Final 3-2 away to Bracknell Town.

This means that they will be playing in the National League South next season alongside Weston-Super-Mare who won the Division.

They will still be ground sharing next season with Plymouth Parkway....which means that relegated Torquay will be playing in Plymouth next season against Truro.

 

An honest assessment even if it upsets some - or perhaps many.

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/football/simon-hallett-addresses-plymouth-argyle-8403433

 

I have read both interviews this evening and have to say I don't have a problem with either. There is not a snowball in hells chance Argyle will be put in jeopardy by either Hallett or the Yank team of investors. They have done alright so far so I have no doubts they will do ok in the future. I trust them all.

 

And more which you can't argue with.

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/football/simon-hallett-plymouth-argyle-can-8404599

How does the season ticket process work Sensible? Do you have a lien on the seat you had this year so that you have first dibs on it next year?

 

I would think you would have been given a date to renew your seat by ...after that it goes on general release......that's what happens with my son and grandson down Charlton.

 

If a seat is currently booked by season ticket then it is treated as taken until a given date and then is obviously up for open season, My seat is my seat and as I always do the earliest purchase available then it is never in doubt. I can only talk for full season tickets and have no idea how any of the other options work.

 

That's what I was afraid of personally, although it's obviously not unreasonable for existing ticket holders. The fact of the matter is that it's clear from booking seats using a Flexi ticket that there's virtually nowhere left that I would want to sit if I had a choice. I don't suppose that's going to change and it's compounded by the fact I want 4 seats together.

It's a lot of money for 4 season tickets to be sat as low down as I was on Saturday, when half the time you've got people going to the loos or whatever in the way. This was especially so at the end when those peculiar individuals who leave at 85 minutes decided to leave their seats, get down to the exit but then remember it was 1-0 in a promotion decider and try to hang around there until the final whistle. Luckily the wind was such that we didn't get wet as well!

 

It's clear that "filling in the corners" isn't on the agenda because commitments have already been made on Harpers Park and the Brickfields, it is an expensive project relative to the potential revenue and, even if built, there's no guarantee the current bumper gates would continue in (let's say) the middle third of the Championship.

I don't know what the building costs or what investment criteria would be used. However, it's clear the wage bill will go up in the Championship and that's another big cash demand on top of the playing infrastructure spend. Short-term cash payback is therefore king.

What probably makes more sense is to complete Harpers Park and Brickfields, get established in the Championship, maybe bring in more investment and then think about replacing the entire grandstand side including the corners. With a big stand you'd get extra capacity plus more income from extra hospitality and function space. All that's probably five to ten years out with lots of obstacles to overcome between now and then.

It's bound to be the case that ticket prices will go up, firstly because they've been held back to rightly reward season ticket holders for sticking by the club during Covid. Inevitably, there will have be a significant increase now to recover lost ground and to sustain a Championship wage bill. That is likely to mean the club starts showing a growing profit. But profit isn't converted into cash if you are spending large sums on capital development projects like Harpers Park and Brickfields. Fans will need to patient.

 

Filling in the corners and sorting out the upper stand...are just short fix strategy....if Argyle "establish" themselves in the Championship.....then a new stadium not just an upgrade of the existing one becomes essential for the future growth of PAFC.

Building up the training facilities becomes the future and a more fruitful way of bringing along the playing side of the developing team....in this age of multi-million pound players that an aspiring club "require" to even survive at these higher levels.....bringing along your own talent is also a way of making money as some of them move on at a profit to the club.

 

Aberdeen expect to spend £80m on a 16-18 thousand stadium.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen-aberdeenshire/4924585/aberdeen-fc-new-stadium/

Coventry estimate more than £50m for a 20k stadium

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/coventry-city-new-stadium-costs-16463465

Brentford spent £70m on a 17,000 seater.

AFC Wimbledon spent £30m on a 9,000 seater

If you want to really enter the big time, Everton's new 53,000 seater (with potential extension to 62,000 at additional cost) is estimated to be costing between £0.5 billion and £0.75 billion, although it's on a new site, so there may be money to be made by re-developing the old one.

Even excluding Everton, these are big figures so I think it'll be new stand not a whole new stadium, and even then, not for some years.

With the land at the back in Argyle's ownership so it could go higher, and bearing in mind the current stand doesn't fill the whole length of the pitch, plus the corners too I guess you could look to at least double the current capacity on that side. No doubt a design could allow for later expansion of the relatively new "horse-shoe".

It's important fans are realistic as to what can be afforded at this juncture

 

You say the ...The land at the back ?...is that behind the Mayflower I assume.....didn't it get mentioned that it might be better to have knocked it down to start with....and you could have joined it up both ends with the horse shoe....I cannot understand how parts of the top tier got built for people with no legs.

Down the Valley behind the' home end goal'... there are a few rows that you have to sit sideways...because their isn't no knee room....unless your a ten year old of course....did they get their measurements wrong or was that intended to get the required amount of rows in to get the required capacity quote ?

 

History so far has taught us that the capacity we have now is probably sufficient. The last time we were here we started off with large crowds and that quickly dwindled when the premier push didn't happen. Hallett has told everyone that the ambition is Championship consolidation and there is no way on this planet he will be pushing for the higher league and spending shed loads of cash the club hasn't got. Given what happened to us the last time we tried the other approach then that is fine by me and if promotion happens anyway then we won't be bankcrupt. You go into a new season with hope that you will be up there and having hope and not expecting is good enough for me. It always astounds me how easily people are willing to spend somebody else's money. These are the same people who generally desert the ship when things like promotion don't happen.

 

Of course it would have been better to knock and down and start again. If the club happened to have >£20m not otherwise required that is.

Fans need to be realistic. Money does not grow on trees.

 

I don't think I like this much.

https://www.pafc.co.uk/news/efl-statement-2425-sky-sports-broadcasting-deal

Some matches will be available "via a Sky Sports streaming destination available on TV and mobile devices". What does that mean?

I take my broadband from Virgin Media because at least until very recently, all the other providers could only offer a 350 mbps service in Plymouth (mega-bits-per-second in case you don't know), mostly using BT Openreach's physical network, which is antique in parts. Sky are one of those who offer broadband using the Openreach network. Virgin however acquired the original fibre-optic cable laid back in the 1990's and have offered a 1,000 mbps service - 3 times as fast - for some while and a 500 mbps service before that

I subscribe to a Sports package via my Virgin Media account. That includes both Sky Sports (football, test cricket, F1 etc) and BT Sports. I have no direct relationship with Sky. I follow F1 and although that is included in the Virgin - Sky Sports package, it's a second tier service. Those who watch directly via Sky are able to overlay a driver's eye view from any car they choose. That facility isn't available to those watching via another broadband carrier - as far as I know.

So, the point is, some games will be streamed online as Argyle TV does now but will they be available only if a) you have a Sky Sports subscription and/or b) only if you take your broadband from Sky?

There is a general question whether we will be able to watch Argyle more often or less than we would via Argyle TV. My guess is less. There is a second question of whether we'll see anything at all if we don't take Sky Sports and/or Sky broadband.

 

I'll never change my mind about Sky Sports.....I'll just go without if I have to.

Just hope that I can keep following on BBC Sport.....that will do for me.....I don't need live matches to enjoy football.

My Argyle TV watch was obviously better than a lot of you experienced today....it had it's limitations....no close ups....poor sound commentary...but passable....not that I think I would pay £10 each time for that.

 

HERE HERE!!!