Why we should leave Fratton Park

There's been a lot of talk recently about the future of Portsmouth and whether it lies at Fratton Park or elsewhere. A lot of people are saying Fratton Park but I disagree and I think the view to stay at Fratton Park is bourne out of sentimentality rather than pragmatism. I think moving would be the better option and here's why.

For top level football clubs nowadays, of which I would like to think we aspire to be, match day revenue is just one, relatively small income stream. Things like concerts, corporate events and so on are significant earners for clubs. Furthermore, for new stadia, there are often associated things such as restaurents, hotels and so on. With Fratton Park being where it is, and the limited space available, while we may be able to increase the capacity a bit, there is not enough room any adjacent businesses would could provide extra footfall to the club, especially on non-match day. If the stadium was moved to a new location, we could get so much more than just a stadium, we could get an entire entertainment complex for the city of Portsmouth, with things like restaurants, a cinema, gyms, all sorts which may provide an additional income for the club. We can make sure it is better served by public transport which at the moment seems to only consist of Fratton station. We can improve the corporate facilities, which are such a big earner for clubs nowadays. We can make it so it becomes a venue for concerts and so on.

Furthermore, developing a good stadium will naturally increase attendances as the match day experience will be better, but developing a good stadium isn't just about increasing the number of seats but improving the facilities, improving the concourse. While there may be the possibility of redeveloping the concourse at Fratton Park, moving to a new stadium will allow us to start from scratch and develop a decent concourse, like the old White Hart Lane. The concourse of the North Stand at present looks like the inside of a factory, and I don't see any way of changing that without rebuilding the entire stand, but then if we're doing something like that, why not move and take advantage of the honeypot affect by developing the business infrastructure around the stadium?

I have nothing against Fratton Park and if I felt it was the best option, I would be in favour of it but I believe it is too limited and will hinder the 'out-of-football' economy which is part of football clubs nowadays.

 

I will admit that the reason I want to stay at Fratton Park is partially motivated by sentiment and nostalgia but there is also the practical difficulties of relocating to consider. You see, part of the problem with being the UK's only Island city that, the most densely populated city in the whole of the UK and the 13th most densely populated city in Europe, is that there's not a lot of space to build a new stadium.

We went through all this with Milan Mandaric and Sacha Gaydamak over a decade ago now. Talking about moving to a new location only for every option to fall through.

King George V Playing Field in Cosham was never going to be viable because that was a protected area, so too the suggestion that a stadium could have been built on Farlington Marshes fell through due to it's protected status, the Dockyard option always seemed like a pipe-dream and never a realistic solution especially when the Navy stepped in and said it would be in the way of their aircraft carriers. After that Horsea Island was the only option left but the council weren't behind it and there were concerns about accessability which, in the end, were academic becuase the club didn't have the money for it anyway.

There is no where in the city to build a new stadium, no suitable location, so if we were to move from Fratton Park it would have to be somewhere on the outskirts if not outside the city limits entirely - such as the other side of Portsdown Hill, at which point you might find more room build but you wouldn't solve the public transportation and accessability issue.

I remain convinced that the best long-term plan was the one Milan Mandaric announced in 2002/03 to turn the ground 90 degrees, build new stands to replace the Fratton End and North Stand while redeveloping the remaining South Stand and Milton End then using the land next to it to build shops and facilities - the Pompey Village as it was termed.

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Of course, that's no longer an option because it took so long while the clubs owners chased the pipe-dream of a brand new stadium that nothing was done and we went bankrupt and the land was lost in the merry-go-round of different owners until finally Tesco's built a store there.

Ok, it wouldn't have improved the trasportation and accessabilities issues at all but it would have been an improvement on the years of doing nothing while snake-oil salesment make big promises they couldn't deliver.

I dont see there being any other option than to stay at Fratton Park and redevelop it - even if that means closing the stands and reducing the capacity or playing elsewhere in the meantime - it wouldn't be ideal by any means but it seems to me to be the only realistic option.

 

Will I suppose a caveat for all I was talking about was if there could be space and not living in or near Portsmouth, I'm not sure what the space is like in the city... but why not build it on the outskirts? There can be a park and ride system that runs to the stadium going from key areas like the centre, various stations, etc. I believe the Madjeski is on the outskirts. Must admit, the Tescos deal did seem a bit short sighted...

 

Every little helps Woops....