Show us the money

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

I agree. And the owners have said the same. But there will come a time when the costs of BP are untenable.

How far off do you think that is ?

I mean is there a point in the short to medium term when the Main stand could be condemned/ not safe to use?

I suppose to stick with BP is like running the old girl in the 3:15 at Doncaster. No amount of paint is going to make her teeth glow brighter.

Though the crowds suggest that BP is holding its own with a few sellouts a season, we are left with only one corporate capable stand that is showing its age at forty years, yet can, from info in this thread, seat 50 paying customers a game. Having been to other grounds, that is low at our level.

Other clubs I have been to have realised that to go further, more corporate facilities need to be available. Ayr Utd have taken the decision to knock down the old corporate suite and build a ne facility, increasing that income stream. We, at BP, can only get a can of paint out and cover the cracks in the main stand.

But where can we out a new corporate box? When I first went to BP we had open corners, spent many a Saturday on the Constitutional Avenue corner. These are not used, so why not here in the first place?

Until this income stream increases, further league progress is hindered?

Quoted from Mappers

Yeah I would say definately struggle badly-  
Newport
Morecambe
Crawley

Then maybe -
Sutton
Accrington
Colchester
Crewe
FGR
Harrogate
Wimbledon

I am sure Crewe will be the next once bigish traditional club to go at some point soon , no investment and still trying to bring through a few youth players but slowly declining year on year - almost a copy of us from the last decades .

What do you think ,any more ?

I spoke to an Accrington fan the other day and he reckons they’re in free fall. He rates Rodger who we poached, and even told me their best player justified leaving by the fact he couldn’t afford to travel to Accrington as he was paid so low! Promptly signed for port vale.

He thinks they could ‘do a Scunny’ (my analogy, not his - it’s not in the day-to-day football lexicon yet outside of Lincolnshire) and drop twice on the trot.

An interesting thread, as are the replies. I doubt either of us will move from SB/BP anytime soon, but with the upgrading of the Stacey West Stand already in progress, it gives us an advantage in the longer term.

I saw plans for Luton’s new stadium a while back but still no sign of it, and like yourselves, upgrading Kenilworth Road will cost a small fortune that will eat up the Premier League TV income, not to mention players wages if they’re going to have any hope of avoiding relegation.

The Imps look in a good place both on and off the pitch, with top half Tier 3 as good as we can realistically hope for … and I’m content with that.

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

I agree. And the owners have said the same. But there will come a time when the costs of BP are untenable.

I wonder if it is feasible to do a complete rebuild of BP over time?

The benefit is we already have the plot, we can do it over a decade or more and can be working from a new stadium blueprint but done over a time frame we can afford.

The downsides is that the plot might not be big enough, the cost of dismantling the existing stands increases the price and we would have an even more reduced capacity whilst the work is done.

It is a dilemma for sure, but a new stadium seems out of reach otherwise we would all want that I would imagine if it wasn't a boring flat pack design.

In part it will depend on our success on the field - if we did do as well as we hope it would become critical.

Perhaps it is not on the owners agenda at all. Perhaps their main aims are to get the club properly set up, some success on the field and will pass the baton on to people with even deeper pockets.

Quoted from NorfolkImp

An interesting thread, as are the replies. I doubt either of us will move from SB/BP anytime soon, but with the upgrading of the Stacey West Stand already in progress, it gives us an advantage in the longer term.

I saw plans for Luton’s new stadium a while back but still no sign of it, and like yourselves, upgrading Kenilworth Road will cost a small fortune that will eat up the Premier League TV income, not to mention players wages if they’re going to have any hope of avoiding relegation.

The Imps look in a good place both on and off the pitch, with top half Tier 3 as good as we can realistically hope for … and I’m content with that.

They have to fund 11 million just for it to comply with the EPL criteria , small change for where they are now but fortunes in terms of where they have come from .

I suppose the only realistic route for Town or Lincoln now without somebody putting their hand in their pocket for 40 or 50 million quid is enabling housing projects out of town ; which don't seem to create a great atmosphere both in and out of the stadium .

I think Lincoln might actually have an outside shot of the play-offs next season, a solid club in what looks a notably weaker league 1, with both the teams going up and the one's imploding who have come down from The Champ making it look a more evenly contested league .

I would stick my neck out and predict that our next ground will form some part of the "Freshney Valley" project, it's a huge development that could quite easily house a football stadium and other retail space on the land between Great Coates & Healing

Rail network already in place, ample space for car parking and a perfect location for visiting supporters being on the A180

Just needs a few intelligent local folk to get together to make it happen, could be great for Grimsby/Cleethorpes and could solve many of the local issues with just the one development, i.e. park and ride into cleethorpes which would solve traffic/parking issues during the summer months, decent conference facilities & wedding venues etc which the town is lacking the list is endless and all extra commercial income for the club

I love Blundell Park especially on a freezing cold Tuesday evening in December to me that is football but i speak to plenty who don't see the old girl like i do and stay away because the facilities are so poor, speculate to accumulate give the fans a bit of quality and you watch the attendances rise  

Quoted from Simon

I would stick my neck out and predict that our next ground will form some part of the "Freshney Valley" project, it's a huge development that could quite easily house a football stadium and other retail space on the land between Great Coates & Healing

Rail network already in place, ample space for car parking and a perfect location for visiting supporters being on the A180

Just needs a few intelligent local folk to get together to make it happen, could be great for Grimsby/Cleethorpes and could solve many of the local issues with just the one development, i.e. park and ride into cleethorpes which would solve traffic/parking issues during the summer months, decent conference facilities & wedding venues etc which the town is lacking the list is endless and all extra commercial income for the club
  

A stadium at Great Coates eh?

Quoted from pizzzza

A stadium at Great Coates eh?

Yeah, funny how things sometimes go full circle

Freshney Valley still has a lot of hoops to jump through to come to fruition so don't hold your breath but it makes sense to have the ground as part of the project, 10-15 years would be my guesstimate

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

I wonder if it is feasible to do a complete rebuild of BP over time?

The benefit is we already have the plot, we can do it over a decade or more and can be working from a new stadium blueprint but done over a time frame we can afford.

The downsides is that the plot might not be big enough, the cost of dismantling the existing stands increases the price and we would have an even more reduced capacity whilst the work is done.

It is a dilemma for sure, but a new stadium seems out of reach otherwise we would all want that I would imagine if it wasn't a boring flat pack design.

In part it will depend on our success on the field - if we did do as well as we hope it would become critical.

Perhaps it is not on the owners agenda at all. Perhaps their main aims are to get the club properly set up, some success on the field and will pass the baton on to people with even deeper pockets.

I've never previously been a fan of this idea, lending my support more to the brand new crisp stadium in some open space with better commutability. Appeals to mine aesthetic eye.

In the last year or so however I do find myself coming back the other way and wondering if redeveloping BP might be a better option. The one thing I see as difficult within that project though - and why I don't think it would be feasible without substantial cost - is the proximity of houses.

Although we wouldn't need towering stands all the way around like the Findus, the whole point would be to build something to cater not just for today but for the future and hopeful success that might be part of said future. The corners will obviously add an awful lot of extra capacity without the need for height.

The bit I can't see though is how the work will be able to take place, without disrupting the season in terms of encroaching on the pitch and with the houses all round. People within the construction industry may easily point out how simple it could be but I can't see past the limited space for construction without impacting the pitch and ability for games to go ahead.

It also just occurred to me that an improved stadium with improved corporate facilities would require increased car parking availability which again I can't see being possible without a number of houses being purchased and knocked down. Obviously not a show-stopper and still possibly cheaper than a brand new stadium but I imagine could be more tricky to achieve.

It certainly does feel we're between a rock and a hard place at the minute. We've had two seasons out of two with the new owners where ST sales have been fantastic and shows the support is out there, yet we'd perhaps be jumping the gun to rush into a brand new stadium. But we can't prove the height of that support given the limitations BP has. It's a nice problem to be in, and better discussing this than discussing how can we get more local football fans into BP to support the club which was more the case pre JS and AP.