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IwasanotherwatfordR said:
I am sure that I remain in a minority but I just don't understand the dreams for, or need of, a larger ground. I would be happy we stayed at LR (ideally with some investment in the present infrastructure and a re-designed roof doing away with those rotten posts). I don't think larger grounds have the atmosphere or ability to see the a match close up. In particular, the West Ham fans will get an awful view next year and will probably need opera binoculars to see a game. Our location is great, 4 train stations within a short walk, easy parking, a shopping centre to keep the other half (and my credit card company) happy. We do not sell out at LR every week as it is, so why waste cash on an extra 10,000 or more (empty) seats?
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Agree essentially. Believe by relaying the pitch much deeper we could build a bigger higher stadium.
 
Eamon Holmes said:
I'm still waiting for your wonderful ideas about where we should go.
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The 'option' that's always been a mystery to me is the playing field adjacent to Blomfontein Road which is part of Hammersmith Park. It looks perfectly big enough to accommodate a good size stadium and couldn't be better placed in terms of location and tradition. Obviously there would be a huge outcry about the loss of park land and playing fields but it seems obvious that the land of the existing stadium could be used to extend the park in another direction.

Other than that the Scrubs is the obvious option. In both cases I think H&F council have never done much to help the club out down the years and their cooperation would be crucial to these kind of ideas.
 
It's embarrassing that Brentford and Wimbledon have both planned for their future and we have just stagnated. What ever happened to our training ground plans? Another wasted opportunity. ..
 
I can never understand how digging down will increase the size of the stadium because to do that you also need to move outwards. It's simple maths surly? Unless we have some engineer on here to explain otherwise.
 
mcytiger said:
What ever happened to our training ground plans? Another wasted opportunity. ..
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For what it's worth, I think the training ground WILL happen, albeit on a less lavish scale than originally planned. The latest "vision" is a sensible down-sizing to match the depth of our pockets and it may also serve to mollify some of the strident local opposition. The process to get permission for the training ground has been particularly arduous and yet it is a much simpler proposition than a new stadium. I would have thought that anyone who has read about the difficulties encountered with the training ground would be more understanding of the massive challenges faced with the stadium project.

Personally, I think we are very lucky to have owners who can seriously contemplate building a new stadium. Many, or most, owners would not even bother. Our owners will give it their best shot. Surely, that's all we can ask?
 
Wimbledon's new stadium has been delayed and a new consultation is to take place with the mayor's office to make the final decision. Sadiq Khan previously opposed the plans. I'm fairly sure that the stadium plans will be approved (at least for the 11,000 initial capacity) but it does show that trouble finding and building a new ground isn't just a Rangers' problem.
 
I think there's very little chance of a new stadium now. House prices are so ludicrous any large area of land is going to be housing of one type or another, football won't get a look-in. There's a small new build by the roundabout on Goldhawk rd/Askew Rd which has two bedroom 'apartments' for a fiver under £700,000, f*cking Shepherd's Bush no less. I remember when the terraced houses around the Bush were under £5,000 in the late 60s.

We've missed the boat and without bigger gate income we can't compete with many in the Championship, Tony's dream will remain just that, a dream...
 
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QPAAAAAGH said:
The 'option' that's always been a mystery to me is the playing field adjacent to Blomfontein Road which is part of Hammersmith Park. It looks perfectly big enough to accommodate a good size stadium and couldn't be better placed in terms of location and tradition. Obviously there would be a huge outcry about the loss of park land and playing fields but it seems obvious that the land of the existing stadium could be used to extend the park in another direction.

Other than that the Scrubs is the obvious option. In both cases I think H&F council have never done much to help the club out down the years and their cooperation would be crucial to these kind of ideas.
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Your first option has a school on it if I've got the right one?
Agree re scrubs but Council will never release that land.
I just hope that TF and Co. can make friends again with Cargiant because that is the basket where all the eggs are at present.
 
QPAAAAAGH said:
The 'option' that's always been a mystery to me is the playing field adjacent to Blomfontein Road which is part of Hammersmith Park. ... Other than that the Scrubs is the obvious option. In both cases I think H&F council have never done much to help the club out down the years and their cooperation would be crucial to these kind of ideas.
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Sadly, you would never get planning permission to redevelop a public park.
The area behind The Scrubbs is too close to H&F Hospital and is also a public park.

It really has to be a brownfield site, and looking down from above (GoogleEarth) there are few, if any, of these sites locally.

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mcytiger said:
It's embarrassing that Brentford and Wimbledon have both planned for their future and we have just stagnated. What ever happened to our training ground plans? Another wasted opportunity. ..
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Opportunities wasted?

Yes they have planned, but their plans were/are 1000% easier to fulfil than ours. What else could we have done to get a new site for a 35,000 seater stadium?

Brentford have been lucky enough to have found a space where a 20,000 seater stadium could go. It won't get bigger. It can't.
We don't want 20,000 as it is too close to what we have. We want 35,000 and space for that is far more difficult to come by.

AFC Wimbledon have been lucky that Wimbledon's old ground of 20 years ago was still available and they can redevelop it to 20,000. Again not big enough for us but just what they want.

The QPR training ground is down to red tape. It is public park land and you have to spend ages jumping through hoops (no pun intended) to get things like this allowed.

The problems on the pitch and the wasted £250m are ultimately the fault of the last two owners and the managers they selected, but not the stadium/training ground projects.
 
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Eamon Holmes said:
West Ham are moving to the Olympic Stadium. 13 miles from Loftus Road. Never an option for us.

Chelsea are building on the site of Stamford bridge. Rebuilding Loftus Road not an option.
Spurs are building on the site of White Hart Lane. Rebuilding Loftus Road not an option.
AFC Wimbledon "moving back" and rebuilding Plough Lane. Capacity when finished only 20,000 and fixed.
Brentford moving to new stadium - a mile from the old one. Capacity when finished only 20,000 and fixed.

QPR.
We cannot redevelop. No space.

If we are to move then we must find a totally new site. Where?

White City was never, ever viable. The cost would have been far too much (especially when it became available in the 1980s). Redevelopment of what had become, for the most part, a ****-hole was too expensive. Lots of bullshit spoken at the time, but is was never on. The cost of the land was far too expensive.

The Old Dairy. This was never on. The cost of the land was far too expensive. Would need to go into partnership with H&F Council, but their priority is housing. They have quotas to reach. We would never have got planning permission.

Westfield. Could not hope to compete with others over the cost of land and H&F council wanted the shopping centre more than a football ground and we would never have got permission.

Old Oak Common ... well, that one you know.

So come on, tell me how any brilliant forward planning would have found us a new home?

You can't compare us with Chelsea or Spurs because they are building on their old sites ... much cheaper too.
Brentford are moving up, but to become roughly the same size as us. The size of their allowed build reflects this. We could not have bought the same plot and put 30,000 or 35,000 stadium on there.
AFC Wimbledon are going back to the site of a ground for a 20,000 stadium - but would you want to travel 9 miles to a game?

People seem to live in a dream world that if there is any space where a stadium might fit then all we have to say is "We are QPR" and suddenly the price becomes right and planning permission granted.

It has **** all to do with who is (or were) owners/in charge of the club.

Of all the clubs mentioned ours has the hardest task by far. Totally new build 30-35,000 stadium. Remember that Chelsea spent years looking for a place to build a new stadium and failed. Luckily for them they could redevelop Stamford bridge.

If you want someone to blame then maybe we should blame those in charge in the 1950s. The club had actually bought 39 houses in Loftus Road and Ellerslie Road thinking of expansion. However the club was short of money and the houses were sold off again!

I'm still waiting for your wonderful ideas about where we should go.
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Thanks Eamon. A good read and a reminder that every football fan knows how to run the team better than the manager and most seem to know how to run the football club better too.
If it was (even relatively) easy, ground would have been broken months or even years ago.
As to TF's passion, just re-run OBZ day and listen to his interviews and watch his behaviour. I dare say that passion has been tested by the NIMBYs at Warrren Farm, mercenary players, quarter of a billion down the tubes, FFP still to be resolved and Cargiant being a pain in the ass.
I just hope that passion has not been extinguished and he has the grit to give it one more go.
 
well all my worst nightmares have materialised brentford will beat us on a regular basis and have a better ground than us,if the springbok up market idea dosnt work out then it could become a mosque,its all going terribly pear shaped
 
ELLERS said:
I can never understand how digging down will increase the size of the stadium because to do that you also need to move outwards. It's simple maths surly? Unless we have some engineer on here to explain otherwise.
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I think it would take some imaginative engineering, a lot of money, and would need us to share another stadium for a couple of seasons, but with funding and the drive to make it work it could be done in a few years, and a lot quicker than the current dream.
 
You do feel the longer we leave it, the worse it will get. I just don't know whether Fernandes has a cunning plan or is spending most of his time running his airline
 
QPR Oslo said:
I think it would take some imaginative engineering, a lot of money, and would need us to share another stadium for a couple of seasons, but with funding and the drive to make it work it could be done in a few years, and a lot quicker than the current dream.
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Has a subterranean pitch been done anywhere else in the world or are we to be the pioneers?
 
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