Never in this mess again

I don't understand all this talk of BP being unfit for purpose... been to most away games this season and it's probably top 5/10 grounds in the league. No way near the state of some of the grounds in this league... obviously the problem is based on potential future progression but the problem is more about people releasing seats than it is actual capacity.

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.)

Quoted from Maringer

I could have sworn I've watched hundreds of football matches at BP over the past 40-odd years. It's got a pitch, stands, seating and a safety certificate, so it is certainly fit for that purpose and will be so for the foreseeable future. The problems will come when we need to replace the Main Stand. Hopefully, the owners have some sort of a plan in this regard. I'd imagine they will be liaising with the safety bods about this.

We can't fit a conference centre in the ground and don't have room for many other facilities, but those are just sidelines for a football club to help keep it going. What won't keep a club going is moving to a new stadium which it can't afford to even build in the first place!

Could we look to build a new training ground with a conference centre attached as part of the development? If it was not far off the A180, it would probably be a better location than having to drive through Grimsby to get to BP? No idea if this would be any more feasible than a new ground, of course.

Is there a huge need for conference facilities in North East Lincolnshire though?

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Is there a huge need for conference facilities in North East Lincolnshire though?

If you build it, they will come...

(...probably)

Looking at league One, there are probably only 5 grounds as bad or worse than ours. That’s a measure of how much we need to do.

Quoted from ginnywings

All this talk of next season is making me feel uneasy.

We are not mathematically out of the current mess yet.

I’ve still got a nervous feeling so I’m guessing we’re definitely not safe yet

Quoted from It Bites

I’ve still got a nervous feeling so I’m guessing we’re definitely not safe yet

If we lose our last three games and they win their last two it means at least a 5 goal turnaround on goal diff. Sutton need a ten goal turnaround so they need the winning margins in those five matches to average 2 goals.

It’s not impossible by any means but I really don’t see us losing at home to Swindon.

Quoted from RonMariner

If we lose our last three games and they win their last two it means at least a 5 goal turnaround on goal diff. Sutton need a ten goal turnaround so they need the winning margins in those five matches to average 2 goals.

It’s not impossible by any means but I really don’t see us losing at home to Swindon.

Yep, three 2-0 defeats for us combined with two 2-0 wins for Sutton AND an additional win for Colchester would relegate us, but that strikes me as an extremely unlikely sequence of events. Still, like everyone else I’ll be able to relax that bit more once the job is officially done.

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.)

Potential growth is limited I agree, but it's only draining money away in the short term because it's been abused in the long term.

Without question.  But it's the card we've got to work with.  We either address it soon or we continue to put sticky plaster over the big holes.