Never in this mess again

A heavy defeat tonight would make us far more vulnerable to being caught by Sutton. Let's go there and get that point

Quoted from diehardmariner

.  I don't think there's a huge revenue stream of having facilities at the football club.

Griffin Park had facilities for 50 ,the new Brentford ground has facilities for 5000 (and it was built before they got into the Prem) - I think Mr Stockwood would like a slice of that on match day.

Yeah, corporate matchday facilities are (sadly) a necessary requirement for any football club that wants to move forward.  

That needs to be factored into any plans and I'm not sure if corporate and conference capabilities go hand-in-hand or can be separated out.  At the minute it's all shoved into one big room at BP.  

Purely in terms of conference and function suites, I don't see any real need for them to specifically at the football ground.  

They are ideally at the same place because that gives you more options and economies of scale - kitchens are used on match day and non match day (building kitchens is not cheap!), you only have to buy stock for one set of bars and kitchens, you only have to clean and maintain one place, you only pay rates etc on one place, staff costs are less.

By using the ground you also have the option of using the boxes for meetings and break out rooms for the wider conferences so increasing your size without new build expenses.

And match day facilities can be used for conferences, and conference facilities can be used for match days. It's a win:win

Quoted from diehardmariner

Yeah, corporate matchday facilities are (sadly) a necessary requirement for any football club that wants to move forward.  

That needs to be factored into any plans and I'm not sure if corporate and conference capabilities go hand-in-hand or can be separated out.  At the minute it's all shoved into one big room at BP.  

Purely in terms of conference and function suites, I don't see any real need for them to specifically at the football ground.  

Just an aside to this: even now Town are charging £75 for the full matchday experience. 5000 people paying £75 is £375k!

I know we won't get 5000 buying hospitality, I'm using it to illustrate a point, but these are not small sums of money.

Quoted from diehardmariner

And that's it - our potential for growth is really limited there.

And it's also a huge money pit.  We're consistently throwing money at it just to make it right, not for any benefit other than allowing us to continue to play from there.

I think Maringer is onto the right thing with the added on facilities forming part of the training ground.  I don't think there's a huge revenue stream of having facilities at the football club.  Sure there's a few who will have a wedding or engagement at the club because it's actually at Blundell Park, but the real money comes from those who are looking for good and accessible facilities (sadly, none of which BP is).

From absolute personal experience, there's a definite lack of conference type facilities in this area.  I'm going on a bit of a presumption that there's demand but the right facility would definitely generate income.

I'm also not going to pretend that BP is indeed fit for purpose.  It's really unpopular to say and I know people love the place but I'm sorry it's a shithole.  Yes it's our shithole but it's still just that.  There's plenty of other shitholes in this league but to be 100% honest I don't want to be competing with League Two dumps.  I want us to be better than that.  It needs a lot doing to it.  Some relatively short term (toilets), some medium term (making good the Main Stand) and then some much longer term (increasing capacity, generally having better stands etc.)

To describe BP as a shithole is a bit harsh isn't it? It depends what you are comparing it with, but as lower league grounds go it has a lot going for it.

On street parking, all seater, all covered unless a gale is blowing the wrong way, some corporate facilities/restaurant, bars in the ground, plenty of food outlets, a brisk walk away from pubs for a pre match drink.

Added to that it has seen more drama that most lower league grounds combined.

As regards Maringers point about having conference facilities away from the stadium, say as part of the training complex, I have mentioned that many times in the past. There is more than one way of skinning a cat, and this is the sort of clever thinking and innovative ideas I expected from 1878.

It's all very well mentioning how Brentford increased their hospitality spaces to thousands, but they had the benefit of an owner worth hundreds of millions who could finance a £70 million stadium plus a slightly more attractive location for hospitality as it is located within the M25 and about 10 miles from central London!

Quoted from Maringer

It's all very well mentioning how Brentford increased their hospitality spaces to thousands, but they had the benefit of an owner worth hundreds of millions who could finance a £70 million stadium plus a slightly more attractive location for hospitality as it is located within the M25 and about 10 miles from central London!

It's an example that I used because I happen to know a bit about the ground. I also mentioned that we will not get 5000 buying hospitality at BP but you've conveniently not mentioned that.

But, we don't have 3 other clubs (2 in the EPL) on our doorstep or the multiple opportunities to do other things on a Saturday afternoon that you could do in London.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

To describe BP as a shithole is a bit harsh isn't it?

I'm afraid it's not - the ground is old and tired, the area behind the main stand is particularly depressing. Sitting in the ground feels like you're back in the 70s.

It's not just the ground either, arriving in the area around the ground is like driving through Aleppo. I live outside the area and maybe see it through 'outsider's eyes'.

There's a comment about it being a short walk to get a drink. There is no pub in walking distance of BP that I would go in.

Quoted from Roast Em Bobby

The point I was trying to make (though obviously not very well) is that there is a world of difference between the way MK Dons play in-comparison to Stockport, Wrexham or Mansfield. All I'm saying is that I hope DA doesn't try to go down the MK Dons route because I don't think we can afford/attract the players required for that style and you have to be very very good at it in order to achieve success in this league. Yes, of course we all want players who can pass and control the ball better, but personally I hope DA is prepared to mix it up a bit and ensure that we have a fair bit of steel and athleticism as well because that is pretty much essential in L2

I don't think that's strictly true, Barrow aren't littered with stand out L1/L2 players in their ranks yet have played decent enough football, I personally thought it was criminal we beat them at BP (though obviously pleased we did).

There's no denying that the better the individual the more you can encourage attractive football which comes with a degree of risk. But ultimately all it needs is a coach with competence to instil an understanding amongst the players of their roles both with and without the ball that bridges the gap in ability that may exist individually across teams.

I think the other level to it is what are fans happy with and in my opinion it always changes with the wind and words can't be relied upon. If we played the attractive football that we'd like and passed the ball, took shots etc etc, and the game was end to end but we finished 17th, where would that compare to a 'pragmatic' (PH style) brand of football that saw us finish in the top 3 or play offs? It'll be an unpopular view but I don't think we're ever happy and much as we say we just want 'this', when we get 'this' we then want 'that'.

For me personally, I'd be happy with a 15th place finish with some improvements in our playing style. I can happily sit and watch a free-flowing game of football with some neat passing exchanges throughout etc and find it enjoyable even when it finishes 0-0 courtesy of a blinder by the keeper/opposition defence. Along the lines of my belief that a deep understanding of individual and collective roles can bridge ability deficiencies, I also think that anything worth having can take time to acquire so a season of steady progress is fine in my book, the more challenging aspect is how that progresses season on season.