Show us the money

Tony Butcher - as always - has come up with an excellent article on Cod Almighty.
Can't download onto here but well worth a read on his insight into the finances of 3 clubs in our sphere.

Does he mention football fortune??

We will have caught up with Lincoln a bit on turnstile revenue, but we will always be behind them, with Blundell Park as it currently is and Lincoln are expanding their away capacity. I reckon they will get nearly £500k more revenue from away fans per season than us once that opens; a relatively accessible location with much better train links they could get an average of circa 1,200 away fans per game at Sincil. Whilst most clubs wouldn’t bring anywhere near that to us we miss out on the big pay days like Bradford and Donny.

Our corporate / executive accommodation is also constrained. If we were promoted we could sell loads more than we do now, there just isn’t the space in the Findus to do that.

Really interesting and well researched read that .

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

We will have caught up with Lincoln a bit on turnstile revenue, but we will always be behind them, with Blundell Park as it currently is and Lincoln are expanding their away capacity. I reckon they will get nearly £500k more revenue from away fans per season than us once that opens; a relatively accessible location with much better train links they could get an average of circa 1,200 away fans per game at Sincil. Whilst most clubs wouldn’t bring anywhere near that to us we miss out on the big pay days like Bradford and Donny.

Our corporate / executive accommodation is also constrained. If we were promoted we could sell loads more than we do now, there just isn’t the space in the Findus to do that.

I thought the capacity increase at Lincoln got shelved because of Covid costs ,and the new stand is just being redeveloped to improve facilities . Might be wrong though .

Or are Lincoln just offering more away tickets in the ground to away fans as it is ?

Interesting read that.

I’ve said for a while that taking the best bits from Luton/Lincoln and possibly a few other scattered about would be a good plan for us, but, it’s also important for us to to approach things that suit GTFC and not just lift and shift.

There’s an argument that our capacity will be a thorn in our side but leaving BP would be an even bigger thorn due to costs etc. I do think we’ll see an extension of some sorts at some point, although expanding the away allocation doesn’t seem worth it, but home fans could be the answer there.

What I take from the article is that you need to maintain some momentum, stay focused and keep moving forward. The minute you take your foot off of the pedal or regress, all is lost, as we saw after last time.

Leaving BP is great if it can happen but as the article shows it's just money drunk up the wall if it doesn't. You can sink all that money into planning and then the whole operation is shut down because of the people in the local area arguing against it and other planning roadblocks

Had we managed to ride that momentum and get it built who knows where we'd be by now. I guess it could have ended up like Darlington's stadium that just kept costing them more money and led to administration. When the project was at its most likely we were in a much better position than when Darlington spunked a load of money on a new stadium they can't fill.

Quoted from Kris2

Leaving BP is great if it can happen but as the article shows it's just money drunk up the wall if it doesn't. You can sink all that money into planning and then the whole operation is shut down because of the people in the local area arguing against it and other planning roadblocks

Had we managed to ride that momentum and get it built who knows where we'd be by now. I guess it could have ended up like Darlington's stadium that just kept costing them more money and led to administration. When the project was at its most likely we were in a much better position than when Darlington spunked a load of money on a new stadium they can't fill.

Christ looking back at the thought of our John being the brainchild behind a new stadium makes me shudder .

It would have been crap ,most of the new builds for lower league teams over the last two decades have been , I went  to Oxford Utd's  ground the other week and it's awful , hate Colchester's , Donny does not do it for me and there are more,  even Wembley I don't like  ; the only one I like a bit is Rotherhams .

I know for financial reasons it's helpful but for matchday they are no way near as good as the old traditional grounds - love BP , love Fratton Park even Selhurst Park ; 'shitholes' but the nostalgia does it for me rather than a posh pint in a fancy concourse .

Just opinion of course

At least if we were ever to get a new one , I would be more confident in Pettit and Stockwood to deliver something to the fans liking though than before .

Cost aside, football momentum aside, just compare the two periods of ownership…which would honestly have the ability to deliver anything like a stadium project? We all know the answer.

Honest John spaffed a fair few quid of the clubs money up the wall chasing an ambition that, in truth was about him, his ego and his pocket, not the long term future of the club. I honestly believe that had a stadium been anywhere near been built it would’ve been dreadful and probably seen us go the same way as Darlington.

I remember going to Colchester the first time and was terrified, not because we might lose, the steep steps or the fact it’s in the middle of nowhere but because the experience is awful, truly woeful but our John would’ve no doubt been impressed, parking spaces for him, fancy entrance and some ikea designed corporate experience…he’d have wanted something similar, although it would never have been pulled off.

Stadiums can make or break a club and at present you’d imagine that unless you’re flying like Luton for instance, it’s probably a poor time to start investing and exploring a new stadium or full move.