New roof

As I speak the roof is being ripped off the pontoon and being replaced this week bit last minute

Quoted from crusty ole pie

As I speak the roof is being ripped off the pontoon and being replaced this week bit last minute

A strange decision unless it's not safe.

Any pictures ?

Might be the start of the ethical brothers master redevelopment plan .

No new roof no safety certificate?

Quoted from Mappers

Any pictures ?

Might be the start of the ethical brothers master redevelopment plan .

No sorry never thought but on saying that got no idea how to post a picture on here

If you can put a roof on the Ponny in a week then it should not be that difficult to take the posts out of the main and put a new one on surely ?

Quoted from crusty ole pie

No sorry never thought but on saying that got no idea how to post a picture on here

Fair mate, thanks for the info - hopefully it's ready for the opener ; or it's not raining !

Quoted from Mappers

Fair mate, thanks for the info - hopefully it's ready for the opener ; or it's not raining !

It needs to be has what I saw the pontoon is covered with scaffold and sheeting

Quoted from Mappers

If you can put a roof on the Ponny in a week then it should not be that difficult to take the posts out of the main and put a new one on surely ?

Not comparable.

I suspect the Pontoon is having new roof sheets, given the timescale, which is a straight forward job.

Removing structural posts is a whole different ball game (pun intended).

I thought we weren’t doing repairs this year because there were grants available if deferred until next year?

Quoted from ginnywings

Not comparable.

I suspect the Pontoon is having new roof sheets, given the timescale, which is a straight forward job.

Removing structural posts is a whole different ball game (pun intended).

Fair mate , is it a lot more ££££ to ?

Quoted from Mappers

Fair mate , is it a lot more ££££ to ?

Considerably more, yes.

Quoted from crusty ole pie

No new roof no safety certificate?

Possibly but I’d imagine it’s more that the club have decided to make some quick, and in truth, simple improvement…

There’s a few grounds that lack any sort of roof, although these are becoming few and far between thankfully. That said, the roof at BP is no better or worse than many others. May be they’ve just decided to improve it…

Quoted from aldi_01

Possibly but I’d imagine it’s more that the club have decided to make some quick, and in truth, simple improvement…

There’s a few grounds that lack any sort of roof, although these are becoming few and far between thankfully. That said, the roof at BP is no better or worse than many others. May be they’ve just decided to improve it…

Never one to correct your wisdom but on this occasion I can the work being done is simply down to getting that all important safety certificate..

Quoted from aldi_01

Possibly but I’d imagine it’s more that the club have decided to make some quick, and in truth, simple improvement…

There’s a few grounds that lack any sort of roof, although these are becoming few and far between thankfully. That said, the roof at BP is no better or worse than many others. May be they’ve just decided to improve it…

Best hope it's done in time before next week. Having to relocate 1700+ STHs would be a disaster as I doubt we have space for them. I think it's most likely that this last minute piece of work is to obtain the safety certificate.

Is a safety certificate not needed for pre season friendlies?

The Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 experts are in the building. Always blessed with such expertise on the fishy.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Best hope it's done in time before next week. Having to relocate 1700+ STHs would be a disaster as I doubt we have space for them. I think it's most likely that this last minute piece of work is to obtain the safety certificate.

Relocate why?

Even if they don't get finished, there is no requirement for a roof on the stand.

You'll just get wet if it rains.  

Quoted from ska face

The Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 experts are in the building. Always blessed with such expertise on the fishy.

I thought you might like this https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/912/made/data.xht#f00002

Quoted from jamesgtfc

I thought you might like this https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/912/made/data.xht#f00002

That’s because we had just been relegated and a certificate isn’t needed for non League unless ground capacity is more then 10k

I was down at the ground a week or so ago and they were working on the Pontoon roof.

Well if anyone is going to the open day tomorrow, you will be able to see first hand what's going on, and ask a few questions to those in the know, perhaps.

Quoted from HerveJosse

Is a safety certificate not needed for pre season friendlies?

Good question

Replace with roof with clear PVC, let lots of light in and nice and warm (greenhouse style) in summer or stick solar panels on top save on the bills

I know we are constantly talking about capacity increase .

Is there no way the pontoon can go a bit further back and add a few rows , or/and have less aisles to have seats , also just fill in the gaps where there are  no seats at the back ?

Any further back and it'll be hanging over the back gardens on Blundell Ave. and I doubt putting seats in the empty sections on the back row would yield any more than 50 seats.

I've always thought the only way to increase capacity would be to purchase the houses behind the Main Stand on Harrington Street, then demolish the Main Stand, despite it's history, demolish the houses and build a big new stand in their place.

Maybe theyre reshaping it to improve the acoustics

Quoted from BlackandWhiteBarmy2

Any further back and it'll be hanging over the back gardens on Blundell Ave. and I doubt putting seats in the empty sections on the back row would yield any more than 50 seats.

I've always thought the only way to increase capacity would be to purchase the houses behind the Main Stand on Harrington Street, then demolish the Main Stand, despite it's history, demolish the houses and build a big new stand in their place.

If the previous regime had the foresight to do this, then we would be in an excellent position now to build a new stand.

I hope they're filling the sides in whilst they're at it

Cost of buying the houses would be astronomical and would take a long time. It would only take one to sodomist up the whole project.
Totally  unworkable

Quoted from DB

If the previous regime had the foresight to do this, then we would be in an excellent position now to build a new stand.

There are around 20 houses along Harrington Street behind the ground, peoples homes, how would the previous or current regime go about buying these properties?
Some may be willing to Sell but i would guess the Mojority would sit tight and refuse.

Quoted from BlackandWhiteBarmy2

Any further back and it'll be hanging over the back gardens on Blundell Ave. and I doubt putting seats in the empty sections on the back row would yield any more than 50 seats.

I've always thought the only way to increase capacity would be to purchase the houses behind the Main Stand on Harrington Street, then demolish the Main Stand, despite it's history, demolish the houses and build a big new stand in their place.

The back rows would add 84 seats. I’m sad enough to have counted them

Quoted from WHYWONTYOULETMESIGNUP

Maybe theyre reshaping it to improve the acoustics

Or strengthening it for 300 seats with a sea view

Buying up those houses around the ground gradually as they came up for sale would have been a sound policy if we'd started 30 odd years ago. They could have been rented for income whilst we slowly waited for enough land to make redevelopment feasible. But we didn't so hey ho, can't see it ever happening now imagine the state of the ground in 30 to 40 years time.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

Buying up those houses around the ground gradually as they came up for sale would have been a sound policy if we'd started 30 odd years ago. They could have been rented for income whilst we slowly waited for enough land to make redevelopment feasible. But we didn't so hey ho, can't see it ever happening now imagine the state of the ground in 30 to 40 years time.

I know we say Blundell Park can't /won't last .

But if refurbished properly is that even true ?

Even the new builds require regular maintenance and repairs , and are pretty worn after 20 years +

We could always replicate the Scunts ground and build a new Main stand out of breeze blocks. Knock the old one down after a Saturday match. New one up by Wednesday at latest.

Easy

They are having a webasto style sun roof fitted so we can pull it back when the sun's shining and close it when it's pissing down.

Quoted from Theimperialcoroner

The back rows would add 84 seats. I’m sad enough to have counted them

84 seats is 84 seats , I assume there is a reason they are not there ?

The smaller gains would add up if they don't want to do anything substantial ATM .

That and the cage area in the corner would add 200-300 seats you would have thought , there is probably loads of cute ways you could add a number of seats in it's current footprint but it would take a massive reconfiguring of the seats and maximum usage of space .

Might be the cheapest option in the short term though , I'm sure it's something that has been looked at .

Quoted from moosey_club

They are having a webasto style sun roof fitted so we can pull it back when the sun's shining and close it when it's pissing down.

It’s always been like that but the mechanism broke after being redundant for so long

The forecast for the coming week is truly horrific, I know that can cause issues regarding putting roofs on buildings. I do hope this doesn't mean a postponement for next Saturday.

Quoted from WOZOFGRIMSBY

It’s always been like that but the mechanism broke after being redundant for so long

I think Menno Willems broke it some time back.

Quoted from Mariner_09

The forecast for the coming week is truly horrific, I know that can cause issues regarding putting roofs on buildings. I do hope this doesn't mean a postponement for next Saturday.

Truly Horrific? . Bloody hell it’s not that bad  . Drama queen 😂

Quoted from Mariner_09

The forecast for the coming week is truly horrific, I know that can cause issues regarding putting roofs on buildings. I do hope this doesn't mean a postponement for next Saturday.

Showers 🙄

Quoted from It Bites

Truly Horrific? . Bloody hell it’s not that bad  . Drama queen 😂

It says it's raining almost every day.

Quoted from Mariner_09

It says it's raining almost every day.

But not exactly heavy rain is it! From what I can see just a few hours of heavy showers tomorrow night, and for the rest of the days where rain is due it looks fairly light rain, just a few showers

Quoted from Mariner_09

It says it's raining almost every day.

They’ll know if there any leaks then…

Decent team of lads will have that roof back on in two days, could do it on my own in three  

When the weather man/ woman says it going to rain every day they don't mean all day it might only rain for ten minutes.

And

When they say there is not a hurricane heading our way. It might just pop up and surprise you.

Quoted from Azimuth

There are around 20 houses along Harrington Street behind the ground, peoples homes, how would the previous or current regime go about buying these properties?
Some may be willing to Sell but i would guess the Mojority would sit tight and refuse.

They could have bought them when prices were a lot lower, also they could have been purchased when available. These could have then been rented out bringing income until needed for a new stand.

Quoted from DB

They could have bought them when prices were a lot lower, also they could have been purchased when available. These could have then been rented out bringing income until needed for a new stand.

Rented out to who? That's a whole different business from what a football club does, they certainly aren't places worthy of putting football players up in which is why they usually invest in real estate. Being a landlord incurs a lot of costs and taxes to do properly and then you have to deal with property damage, bad tenants, squatters and so on that incur legal costs. Not just that but the cost of buying the properties of which you'd probably need to purchase about 20 at least hoping that at some point they come up for sale according to your plan. That's a sinking hole of costs with little in the way of yearly revenue and then heavier costs incurred to get planning permission to knock down 20 homes and repurpose the land if you could gain ownership of the land at all.

There are plenty of people who don't want to move, who have lived in their house for years and are happy there. There have been situations where companies want to acquire properties for development and get into legal issues after somebody won't accept any offers which all costs a lot of money. It's not something simple and if you purchase the properties you'll probably end up paying over the odds for each one to get somebody to move out then all the costs for redevelopment, planning permission and everything else.

Really properties would have to have been factored in from the start because you can't just buy up a property then knock it down, it doesn't work that way. 100 or so years ago when grounds like Blundell Park were built we lived in a different world with all standing stadiums and without much in the way of cars or transport so things like parking and space were not issues. Obviously we needed to move ground years ago but we never got that over the line and then after the Conoco Stadium project died out we drunk money down the drain on waster projects that were never getting anywhere with the "Free Men of Grimsby" or whatever making a Youtube video talking like they will make it happen and the club just spent several thousand more on paperwork that never went anywhere. Until we develop the means, needs and the right situation to deliver that we are pretty much stuck as is.

Quoted from Kris2

Rented out to who? That's a whole different business from what a football club does, they certainly aren't places worthy of putting football players up in which is why they usually invest in real estate. Being a landlord incurs a lot of costs and taxes to do properly and then you have to deal with property damage, bad tenants, squatters and so on that incur legal costs. Not just that but the cost of buying the properties of which you'd probably need to purchase about 20 at least hoping that at some point they come up for sale according to your plan. That's a sinking hole of costs with little in the way of yearly revenue and then heavier costs incurred to get planning permission to knock down 20 homes and repurpose the land if you could gain ownership of the land at all.

There are plenty of people who don't want to move, who have lived in their house for years and are happy there. There have been situations where companies want to acquire properties for development and get into legal issues after somebody won't accept any offers which all costs a lot of money. It's not something simple and if you purchase the properties you'll probably end up paying over the odds for each one to get somebody to move out then all the costs for redevelopment, planning permission and everything else.

Really properties would have to have been factored in from the start because you can't just buy up a property then knock it down, it doesn't work that way. 100 or so years ago when grounds like Blundell Park were built we lived in a different world with all standing stadiums and without much in the way of cars or transport so things like parking and space were not issues. Obviously we needed to move ground years ago but we never got that over the line and then after the Conoco Stadium project died out we drunk money down the drain on waster projects that were never getting anywhere with the "Free Men of Grimsby" or whatever making a Youtube video talking like they will make it happen and the club just spent several thousand more on paperwork that never went anywhere. Until we develop the means, needs and the right situation to deliver that we are pretty much stuck as is.

You seem to have missed my point, which was that some of these properties could have been bought many years ago when the purchase price was a fraction of what it is now. Any administration could have been carried out through an estate agent. It would have given Town another option instead of the 'Great Coates' location, or any other come to that.

If they were not needed then they could have been sold at current market values making a hefty profit.

As it is we have no hope, unless a rich benefactor comes forward, of building a new stadium and little land at BP to redevelop on.

This thread got me thinking, I reckon we must hold the record for fans mentioning ‘safety certificates’.

Quoted from aldi_01

This thread got me thinking, I reckon we must hold the record for fans mentioning ‘safety certificates’.

We’ve got a long, long way to go before we reach Birmingham City levels of discussion on the subject.

What’s the obsession with making the ground bigger, it’s not like we are selling out. Less than a week before the opener still plenty of seats available. We are in a good place with attendances up butcher we just need to increase the interest with performances on the pitch. Anything worse than last seasons home performances and we’ll be back to the 4000 die hards.

Quoted from lukeo

Tweet 1685603512946667520 will appear here...

I hope they're filling the sides in whilst they're at it

I actually really like the open look of this, it would be great to have a clear/clean roof go on. Maybe just because the picture is in nice sunshine but it really does look better. Oh and yeah either extending sideward into the corner surely has to be done?

Quoted from DB

You seem to have missed my point, which was that some of these properties could have been bought many years ago when the purchase price was a fraction of what it is now. Any administration could have been carried out through an estate agent. It would have given Town another option instead of the 'Great Coates' location, or any other come to that.

If they were not needed then they could have been sold at current market values making a hefty profit.

As it is we have no hope, unless a rich benefactor comes forward, of building a new stadium and little land at BP to redevelop on.

Yes, maybe these properties were cheaper then but also we would have had proportionally less money to buy them. The fact also remains that as soon as somebody knows you want their property for a future large development then some will hold out for a larger amount than that offered. I seem to recall that some years ago when Liverpool FC wanted to expand Anfield by buying some adjacent properties, one or two homeowners categorically refused to sell which held the whole process up.

I've long come to the conclusion that the best location for us is in Cleethorpes- at BP.

It is big enough for any scenario in the next few years, capacities can be increased over time, we own the site with an iconic sea view, have the history and memories,  are on a train route and parking is no more of a problem than at any ground that cannot be alleviated with park and ride schemes if necessary.

I don't think we would need to buy any housing or anything like that, just make more of the existing footprint including the car park at the front.

We can improve a little or a lot at our own pace. If something truly dramatic happened ala a Bournemouth or Luton then that would be a different ball game, but I would stick with BP for the foreseeable.

Quoted from jaygy

I actually really like the open look of this, it would be great to have a clear/clean roof go on. Maybe just because the picture is in nice sunshine but it really does look better. Oh and yeah either extending sideward into the corner surely has to be done?

Agree totally. It looks brilliant.

Quoted from Humbercod

What’s the obsession with making the ground bigger, it’s not like we are selling out. Less than a week before the opener still plenty of seats available. We are in a good place with attendances up butcher we just need to increase the interest with performances on the pitch. Anything worse than last seasons home performances and we’ll be back to the 4000 die hards.

We have 5500 season ticket holders

With having a relatively poor season at home last time out

Imagine the uptake if we are top 7 playing good football

We could easily do 5 figure gates for the bigger games ,if we were doing well I am in no doubt .

But I do believe the 'hardcore ' support has increased to 5.5k ish just off the back of our former custodians departure and fans belief in the ethical brothers long term vision for our club .

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

I've long come to the conclusion that the best location for us is in Cleethorpes- at BP.

It is big enough for any scenario in the next few years, capacities can be increased over time, we own the site with an iconic sea view, have the history and memories,  are on a train route and parking is no more of a problem than at any ground that cannot be alleviated with park and ride schemes if necessary.

I don't think we would need to buy any housing or anything like that, just make more of the existing footprint including the car park at the front.

We can improve a little or a lot at our own pace. If something truly dramatic happened ala a Bournemouth or Luton then that would be a different ball game, but I would stick with BP for the foreseeable.

Start by adding the 84 seats at the back of the Pontoon and then fill in the cage area with safe standing would be a start - nothing too dramatic 200 or 300 more capacity and then look at extending the main the full length of the pitch with a new roof , re- configuration and a decent disability section with a  new press box would probably take it up to 9.5k more than sufficient for league 1 , if we ever get any higher a fully rebuilt findus would provide ample capacity .

I think we have to accept we are staying long term and even though BP has it's flaws could be made into an excellent facility with a traditional twist - Fulham  & Portsmouth are doing the same on a bigger scale .

It's more a case of what we can do than what we can't .

Quoted from Mappers

Start by adding the 84 seats at the back of the Pontoon and then fill in the cage area with safe standing would be a start - nothing too dramatic 200 or 300 more capacity and then look at extending the main the full length of the pitch with a new roof , re- configuration and a decent disability section with a  new press box would probably take it up to 9.5k more than sufficient for league 1 , if we ever get any higher a fully rebuilt findus would provide ample capacity .

I think we have to accept we are staying long term and even though BP has it's flaws could be made into an excellent facility with a traditional twist - Fulham  & Portsmouth are doing the same on a bigger scale .

It's more a case of what we can do than what we can't .

I also imagine the owners would take the pragmatic decision that it is much more in their own hands what they can and cannot do with BP which they already own - subject to normal planning permissions and laws. The thought of working with all the interested parties looking for a new stadium site would give anybody a nervous breakdown even if they had the 30, 40 million pounds.

Quoted from DB

You seem to have missed my point, which was that some of these properties could have been bought many years ago when the purchase price was a fraction of what it is now. Any administration could have been carried out through an estate agent. It would have given Town another option instead of the 'Great Coates' location, or any other come to that.

If they were not needed then they could have been sold at current market values making a hefty profit.

As it is we have no hope, unless a rich benefactor comes forward, of building a new stadium and little land at BP to redevelop on.

Yes we could have bought Alf Common for £1000 if we had the foresight.

How many different threads does this need to be discussed on?

Quoted from ska face

How many different threads does this need to be discussed on?

As many as possible now it had finally become obvious to most that our current ground isn’t suitable or big enough

Quoted from grimps

As many as possible now it had finally become obvious to most that our current ground isn’t suitable or big enough

Don't - someone will say it's too big and we are punching above our weight in league 2 next .

Bournemouth did ok in the prem. on gates of 12,500 .

We could get ,12,500 in at the park with a little planning.

So no need to move .

With the new training ground and a bit of thought on what we could do at the park on non match days.

We will be fine.

My Nan lived on Harrington Street and passed away a couple of years ago, she was always in regular contact with the club as she was always sending balls back round. She always kept one for me at Christmas however  

The club sent a nice boquet of flowers to the funeral and a nice card from the club, however her house was sold for around 80 thousand, if you estimate around 20 houses behind all at roughly the same price that's 1.6 million before any work has even been started. It's a non starter.

Quoted from ska face

How many different threads does this need to be discussed on?

A thread for each seat that is no longer fit for purpose at BP.  By my reckoning, we've only got another 7899 threads to be hi-jacked.  The Word Association Thread must be shitting bricks.

On a serious note though, whilst it's somewhat tiresome to see everything coming back to to the same points, it does feel to me that this shows how much of an issue our ground is - certainly to the fans anyway.  It's probably more the public facing perception than anything else, but I don't get the feeling that 1878 share that same level of concern.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Bournemouth did ok in the prem. on gates of 12,500 .

We could get ,12,500 in at the park with a little planning.

So no need to move .

With the new training ground and a bit of thought on what we could do at the park on non match days.

We will be fine.

We just need a Russian billionaire to bankroll us/get us up to our eyeballs in debt then.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Bournemouth did ok in the prem. on gates of 12,500 .

We could get ,12,500 in at the park with a little planning.

So no need to move .

With the new training ground and a bit of thought on what we could do at the park on non match days.

We will be fine.

They’d have got 25000 in the Prem  if their ground was big enough

Quoted from diehardmariner

We just need a Russian billionaire to bankroll us/get us up to our eyeballs in debt then.

No thanks given time and good planning there is no reason Jason and Andrew and Co. Could get us there not that I am holding my breathe .

I will be happy to be top half L1 and if we got to the championship I would be over the moon.

On the very slim chance we ever get to the prem. I would turn in my grave.  

If Luton can do it why not us ?

Quoted from LocalLadGTFC

My Nan lived on Harrington Street and passed away a couple of years ago, she was always in regular contact with the club as she was always sending balls back round. She always kept one for me at Christmas however  

The club sent a nice boquet of flowers to the funeral and a nice card from the club, however her house was sold for around 80 thousand, if you estimate around 20 houses behind all at roughly the same price that's 1.6 million before any work has even been started. It's a non starter.

There are 13 houses on Harrington Street between the two Main Stand turnstiles. At Championship level funding that wouldn't be a non-starter, maybe even League 1 level with new investment. All of that area of housing could be demolished and additional height created in that part of a new stand with Corporate at the top.

Longer term a few acquisitions nearest the ground at the bottom of Imperial and Con Avenue would help redevelop on the Findus side.

In time, virtually every club will have better facilities than Blundell Park. So any attempt to paper over the cracks can only be termed as managed decline. There are people I know who don't like the "Blundell Park" experience, they don't think it's quaint or a "proper football ground". Realistically it will need £15m to change that perspective. At the same time, spending that money will limit our ambitions to home support of around 8.5k plus away supporters. Stay at Blundell Park with much better facilities and two or three stand rebuilds and extensions? Probably not worth it. Although I know fans who rarely step inside BP because of the facilities and matchday experience, I've yet to find a diehard who would never set foot in a new stadium because they love the BP experience so much. The huge stumbling block is the cost of relocation for a meaningful step forward in ambitions. Unfortunately we're in a Catch 22 situation, and it's why discussions like this are pretty much relentless. I try not to think about it too much and just enjoy the football.. while qiuetly hoping 1878 pull a rabbit out of the hat sometime in the future once the training ground is completed..  

Quoted from diehardmariner

A thread for each seat that is no longer fit for purpose at BP.  By my reckoning, we've only got another 7899 threads to be hi-jacked.  The Word Association Thread must be shitting bricks.

On a serious note though, whilst it's somewhat tiresome to see everything coming back to to the same points, it does feel to me that this shows how much of an issue our ground is - certainly to the fans anyway.  It's probably more the public facing perception than anything else, but I don't get the feeling that 1878 share that same level of concern.

The training ground seems to be there priority and you can only speculate but I would think they see that as the commercial money raiser on non -matchdays , because you would think it's setup will be something of a community hub - 6 million is a lot for just a training ground so i think quite a bit of other stuff will be incorporated into it (I might be wrong ) .

Jason Stockwood loves 'the art of the possibile' and I've no doubt he's got some good incremental changes in mind for Blundell Park. This season reroof Ponny (I like the sound of something that lets more light in). 1 year remove some posts from Main Stand and stabilise. 2 years a new structure that either begins the construction of a same height main stand or extends the Ponny around that corner towards the main. 3 years reconstruction of existing main stand to be in keeping with new structure (possible temporary seating either side of Findus. 4 years begin plans that see extension(s) to the Findus.

Quoted from Bigdog

In time, virtually every club will have better facilities than Blundell Park. So any attempt to paper over the cracks can only be termed as managed decline. There are peolple I know who don't like the "Blundell Park" experience, they don't think it's quaint or a "proper football ground". Realistically it will need £15m to change that perspective. At the same time, spending that money will limit our ambitions to home support of around 8.5k plus away supporters. Stay at Blundell Park with much better facilities and two or three stand rebuilds and extensions? Probably not worth it. Although I know fans who rarely step inside BP because of the facilities and matchday experience, I've yet to find a diehard who would never set foot in a new stadium because they love the BP experience so much. The huge stumbling block is the cost of relocation for a meaningful step forward in ambitions. Unfortunately we're in a Catch 22 situation, and it's why discussions like this are pretty much relentless. I try not to think about it too much and just enjoy the football.. while qiuetly hoping 1878 pull a rabbit out of the hat sometime in the future..  

I've no doubt about those two statements, don't agree it would take £15 million to change it though.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

I've no doubt about those two statements, don't agree it would take £15 million to change it though.

My point was that it would take £15m to build possibly three stands at BP with new stadium like facilities to change the experience. Agreed it would take less to patch up the corners, the Main and Osmond, but it would still be a patched up old stadium.. I also accept that it might be the best case scenario for the foreseeable future..

Quoted from Bigdog

In time, virtually every club will have better facilities than Blundell Park. So any attempt to paper over the cracks can only be termed as managed decline. There are peolple I know who don't like the "Blundell Park" experience, they don't think it's quaint or a "proper football ground". Realistically it will need £15m to change that perspective. At the same time, spending that money will limit our ambitions to home support of around 8.5k plus away supporters. Stay at Blundell Park with much better facilities and two or three stand rebuilds and extensions? Probably not worth it. Although I know fans who rarely step inside BP because of the facilities and matchday experience, I've yet to find a diehard who would never set foot in a new stadium because they love the BP experience so much. The huge stumbling block is the cost of relocation for a meaningful step forward in ambitions. Unfortunately we're in a Catch 22 situation, and it's why discussions like this are pretty much relentless. I try not to think about it too much and just enjoy the football.. while qiuetly hoping 1878 pull a rabbit out of the hat sometime in the future once the training ground is completed..  

Hang on. So you are suggesting there are actual supporters that, ironically, don’t support the club because of the ground? That’s a bit like saying that those supporters only go to certain games, such as ……play off finals, games against premier league teams etc.

Quoted from Marinerdeano

Jason Stockwood loves 'the art of the possibile' and I've no doubt he's got some good incremental changes in mind for Blundell Park. This season reroof Ponny (I like the sound of something that lets more light in). 1 year remove some posts from Main Stand and stabilise. 2 years a new structure that either begins the construction of a same height main stand or extends the Ponny around that corner towards the main. 3 years reconstruction of existing main stand to be in keeping with new structure (possible temporary seating either side of Findus. 4 years begin plans that see extension(s) to the Findus.

Waiting 4 years to increase our capacity will leave us well behind

Barrow have erected a couple of new stands in the close season. One on the West terrace that added 371 seats, and one in the north east corner that increases away seating by 522 seats.

I can't help but think there is space in the open corners for at least 1,000 extra seats. Any replacement of the Main stand would almost certainly lead to a temporary reduction in capacity, maybe even for an entire season. So to my mind, you put the extra seats in the corners first, then address the Main stand.

But something needs to be done. We are a club going places, with great momentum. I can see us at the top end of L1 before long, and there is no reason why we shouldn't expect gates for big matches to have the potential to be well over 10,000.  That capacity and more could be accommodated at BP if the ground is improved. Certainlly a more realistic option than dreaming about £50 million new stadium.  

Quoted from grimps

Waiting 4 years to increase our capacity will leave us well behind

As has been alluded to above, I think the pragmatic path is the one the club will ultimately tread on this matter.

After Saturday, we will have the luxury of the larger part of the Osmond for all but 1 of our next 12 league home games, which takes us beyond the half-way point of the season. That’s roughly another 900 seats beyond our traditional home capacity.

This gives us a pretty healthy period of time to gauge how the team is going to do this season, and what subsequent demand for tickets is going to be like, without a great risk of routinely exhausting capacity for home admission. It’s realistically at this point only that extra capacity is going to be necessary, and that’s assuming things are going well on the pitch.

I’d like to think that the necessary planning will have been done to allow swift action should it be needed, but the fortuitous way the fixtures have panned out means that keeping our powder dry for the time being is probably tue right approach.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

There are 13 houses on Harrington Street between the two Main Stand turnstiles. At Championship level funding that wouldn't be a non-starter, maybe even League 1 level with new investment. All of that area of housing could be demolished and additional height created in that part of a new stand with Corporate at the top.

Longer term a few acquisitions nearest the ground at the bottom of Imperial and Con Avenue would help redevelop on the Findus side.

Then the Findus stand was being built, players changing were meant to be to move over to the Findus, however when it was being built they was problems with the foundations.  On paper ideas sound feasible but in reality not that easy.

My mate who knows about all things building wise and knows Bp well assured me that rebuilding the main stand and taking it back to the ground perimeter would significantly increase the capacity along with extending it towards the pontoon is the best option

Quoted from crusty ole pie

My mate who knows about all things building wise and knows Bp well assured me that rebuilding the main stand and taking it back to the ground perimeter would significantly increase the capacity along with extending it towards the pontoon is the best option

There's been a lot of talk about purchasing houses behind the Main Stand (easier said than done) but what about moving a new main stand forward a bit and moving the pitch more towards the Findus (slightly narrower walkway at the front of the Findus)?  You'll also notice that the Pontoon is also slightly closer to the Findus than the Main Stand side so would work well with this.  Having said that I agree, there is room for a decent sized full length new stand.

Quoted from crusty ole pie

My mate who knows about all things building wise and knows Bp well assured me that rebuilding the main stand and taking it back to the ground perimeter would significantly increase the capacity along with extending it towards the pontoon is the best option

I agree about extending it to the perimeter with seating would add a justifiable number of extra seats, as at the moment the Main Stand has a wide walkway behind it, which could have extra seating added, whereas the walkways would then all be undercover, without the need to extend the footprint of the owned land. Saying that, I'm guessing the neighbours would all complain about the extra size of the stand and the loss of a certain amount of sunlight etc etc

The same could be done with the Pontoon AND Osmond Stands if it was looking for a relatively easy option to add extra seating throughout.

does anyone know what the capacity of Blundell Park is?

Quoted from forza ivano

does anyone know what the capacity of Blundell Park is?

Post of the week is won 🥇😂😂

Quoted from WOZOFGRIMSBY

Hang on. So you are suggesting there are actual supporters that, ironically, don’t support the club because of the ground? That’s a bit like saying that those supporters only go to certain games, such as ……play off finals, games against premier league teams etc.

I know of someone who was a season ticket holder for over 20 years that can no longer attend games because of the parking issue, blue badge holder but still cant get parked close enough to the ground

Quoted from Simon

I know of someone who was a season ticket holder for over 20 years that can no longer attend games because of the parking issue, blue badge holder but still cant get parked close enough to the ground

I'm sure anomalies like this sad case will be among those things addressed as we go forward.  Like I said earlier perhaps a park and ride scheme to be dropped next to the ground.

Lots and lots of stuff will be in the mix. Personally I love the idea of a revamped BP, at whatever level. I am excited to see how smart the stadium looks like on Saturday.

Quoted from WayneBurnettsJockstrap

I agree about extending it to the perimeter with seating would add a justifiable number of extra seats, as at the moment the Main Stand has a wide walkway behind it, which could have extra seating added, whereas the walkways would then all be undercover, without the need to extend the footprint of the owned land. Saying that, I'm guessing the neighbours would all complain about the extra size of the stand and the loss of a certain amount of sunlight etc etc

The same could be done with the Pontoon AND Osmond Stands if it was looking for a relatively easy option to add extra seating throughout.

Don't think that is the case with those two stands. The walkways in both are beneath the seating, so can't be extended backwards.

The main stand has the most scope to be extended back and lengthened toward the Ponny. A clever design could add a lot of seats.

Quoted from ginnywings

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Don't think that is the case with those two stands. The walkways in both are beneath the seating, so can't be extended backwards.

The main stand has the most scope to be extended back and lengthened toward the Ponny. A clever design could add a lot of seats.

People seem to be adamant that we can change the height of the gradient of a possible new Main stand .
It doesn’t seem to ever stop bungalows being able to build higher dormers etc when seeking planning permission.
I’m sure they could easily rebuild something holding 5000 seats plus all the amenities needed underneath

Quoted from forza ivano

does anyone know what the capacity of Blundell Park is?

I dont think anybody does. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

Retaining regulars is crucial and providing non impeded views throughout the ground , I suppose taking away those even with just a slightly higher capacity would be good in the short to medium term and then you could work out if there is an increase in demand with the improved facility .

Thorough toilet refurb throughout the ground , a new PA system and some modern disabled facilities ; with added areas for children /adults with learning difficulties , sensory disorders and autism etc would be a good start with some improved and larger bars added somewhere .

All that would be a good whack though just to start .