Ok then , New Ground time

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

Neigh on impossible I say and you can basically double those prices as the residents hold all the cards.

You could easily spunk £10m on a new, improved, larger main stand and you've still got three sides of an antiquated ground with poor access and substandard facilities.

The cost/benefit for a new stadium is against the cost/benefits of the status quo. That includes any opex and capex needed to run and maintain Blundell Park for the foreseeable. Whatever way you cut it up we are going to have to spend an eight figure sum on something at some point its unavoidable as the current set up won't last forever.

That makes sense if we are set on building a new ground anytime soon but If someone had told us 25 years ago that we’d still be here with no improvements then I suspect most would have been up for Blundell park being developed

Quoted from Marinerdeano

Do we need the houses behind though. Modern structure same height but full length could provide a stand with around 3,500 seats. That would be 1,000 extra.

This sort of thing?

Quoted from Roast Em Bobby

I often think we should just buy up the 10 or so houses behind the main stand and then build a new full length main stand similar to the biggish one Lincoln have

There are 20 houses behind the Main Stand boundary of Blundell Park. I’m not sure how much those type of terrace bourses go for in Cleethorpes but even at a conservative £100k each that is £2m before you’ve gone to the expense of bulldozing the Main Stand and the 20 houses and building the new stand.

You also need all 20 house owners to agree to sell which would never happen. And that would mean compulsory purchase orders which are expensive and far from straight forward when there are loads of more suitable locations to build a new stadium in the area.

BP isn’t suitable for redevelopment. There was a feasibility study done years ago and my memory was that it concluded a 14,000 seat stadium could be build on ythe site but without the parking that would be required to realistically achieve planning permission for such a scheme.

Everyone needs to accept. BP isn’t a viable long term home for GTFC.

A thousand plus season tickets sold in a day and now only one promotion away from BP in its present state being not fit for purpose..

I'd assume the remodelling of BP or plans for a new stadium have organically shuffled themselves higher up the to do list..

Sitting still and doing nothing when it comes our facilities and capacity is the absolutely worst thing we can do, if anything it's the type of approach and mindset that has been at the forefront of our decline over the last 20 odd years, including the inability to hold onto our Football League status just 5 years after painfully regaining it.

Paul Hurst said in his post match interview on Sunday that this club can never let it happen again, that surely doesn't just include on the pitch.  It's everything! The team, the support set-up, the facilities, the ground, the engagement with fans...

As long as we only have the ability to sell 6,000/7,000 tickets we'll always be limited by that.  That's less revenue coming through the gates, less investment in the team and a lesser chance of further success.

There's an incredible opportunity here to capitalise on interest in the club.  Over 1000 season tickets sold on Day 1 and we're talking about not maximising the options available to us?  Really!  Get that PA box knocked down and get some of those temporary stands up that loads of clubs have.

Lot of talk around the training facilities should be the priority.  I don't disagree that they're a priority, but it is possible to have more than one priority and focus on more than one thing at once.  

Quoted from GollyGTFC

There are 20 houses behind the Main Stand boundary of Blundell Park. I’m not sure how much those type of terrace bourses go for in Cleethorpes but even at a conservative £100k each that is £2m before you’ve gone to the expense of bulldozing the Main Stand and the 20 houses and building the new stand.

You also need all 20 house owners to agree to sell which would never happen. And that would mean compulsory purchase orders which are expensive and far from straight forward when there are loads of more suitable locations to build a new stadium in the area.

BP isn’t suitable for redevelopment. There was a feasibility study done years ago and my memory was that it concluded a 14,000 seat stadium could be build on ythe site but without the parking that would be required to realistically achieve planning permission for such a scheme.

Everyone needs to accept. BP isn’t a viable long term home for GTFC.

Was the parking issue part of the conclusion of the study though? There are plenty of precedents for stadium redevelopment in situ with increases in capacity without parking provision - Old Trafford, St James Park, Anfield for starters - Anfield in particular is totally hemmed in by terraces streets. The capacity used to be 54k+ in the days of terracing went down 10k+ and now is back up again. Pre-all seater we had a capacity of 17k. I can't see a difference in the planning case. I agree there would need to be financial contributions for match-day shuttle bus from park and ride / station etc.

On some of the notes above, IF Blundell Park was to receive a more glamorous makeover to extend it's life by say 25 years until a new stadium is more viable, then I think that the addition of a rail stop outside the ground could be beneficial.

It would need some logistical thought in terms of mixing fans but if overcome this could alleviate the parking restrictions considerably. I'm sure it would be costly but running a shuttle train between Grimsby and the ground constantly, coupled with scheduled (existing?) stops at the likes of Great Coates, Healing etc would provide a major improvement on accessibility.

There are large train stations 3 mins either side of BP, it doesn’t need another.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

BP is not fit for purpose even in the short to medium term. The disabled facilities are an absolute disgrace for starters. The place is slowly falling apart. The Main Stand would need completely rebuilding as would the Osmond Stand. People rightly expect unobscured views from their seat and easy and free movement when they getting to and from their seats. Most of BP provides neither of those things and it puts people off attending.

As I said in my post, it's not going to happen, there will not be a new ground. There is so much that can be done to improve BP and that is where the emphasis will be.

Personally I am glad about that. So many happy memories at BP

I don't think we should look at a new stadium till we are comfortably partaking and holding on L1.

Sustaining BP I'd look to redevelopment the following:

Additional seating permanent or semi permanent corner stand.(between Pontoon and Main stand)

Resiting Police box.

Other than 4-5 teams I don't see many teams bringing many away fans so I'd look to limit them in Osmond and open the rest to home fans. (Put them in the corner)

I see the priority of investment as Squad, Training Facilities then stadium improvement. I'd rather see 3 points than a shiney new police box!