Fenty said now the entire area is blue ( conservative ) and supportive of the new stadium theirs political will to get it done ... whose paying for it is my question and if public funds are used all be it just a small portion does the club have to pay it back ?

Think this was mentioned at the IH press conference. Set a deadline of mid jan for parties (wanting to form takeover) or club will progress with new stadium

I'm led to believe that the new "community" stadium can be constructed using part of the Grimsby Town Regeneration fund.
The club won't own the ground, it will come under local government control and be available to all for conference facilities ect.
Someone please step in to correct me but this is how it was explained to me yesterday.

Now there is a Conservative MP in town taxpayers will be funding a vanity project for a multi-millionaire rather than schools, hospitals and public services...is one way you could look at it.

It’ll be interesting to see how far they can make £30m stretch in redeveloping the entirety of Freeman Street, already agreed in 2018, unless Boris turns up with a handout from his bread & circuses fund.

Can we stop this becoming a political thread before it even starts (unless it's actually how it relates to GTFC).

And yes I do know that JF started it.  

Now there is a Conservative MP in town taxpayers will be funding a vanity project for a multi-millionaire rather than schools, hospitals and public services...is one way you could look at it.

It’ll be interesting to see how far they can make £30m stretch in redeveloping the entirety of Freeman Street, already agreed in 2018, unless Boris turns up with a handout from his bread & circuses fund.

We need to take maximum advantage now we have a 'Blue' Council and Govenment who actually care and want to do the Country proud. Just watch as Britian become Great Britian again when we leave those EU scroungers to find their own money. Still believe that Corbyn(Steptoe) is still the best thing ever to happen to the Tories for years. It's a joy to watch!  
:) :) :) :) :)

Quoted from Civvy at last

Can we stop this becoming a political thread before it even starts (unless it's actually how it relates to GTFC).

And yes I do know that JF started it.  

Politics is involved but all I wanted to know is whose paying for it and who will own it at the end but Northbank reply tells me abit more than I knew

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

Politics is involved but all I wanted to know is whose paying for it and who will own it at the end but Northbank reply tells me abit more than I knew

Exactly my point.  When it comes to funding, no doubt politics will be involved and is open to discussion. But we both know that it normally ends up with a 'Brexit/Election'  p1ssing contest all over again.

I was kind of hoping that the 'Footie' section of the site could move on from that !!

Quoted from Tradjazz

Now there is a Conservative MP in town taxpayers will be funding a vanity project for a multi-millionaire rather than schools, hospitals and public services...is one way you could look at it.

It’ll be interesting to see how far they can make £30m stretch in redeveloping the entirety of Freeman Street, already agreed in 2018, unless Boris turns up with a handout from his bread & circuses fund.

We need to take maximum advantage now we have a 'Blue' Council and Govenment who actually care and want to do the Country proud. Just watch as Britian become Great Britian again when we leave those EU scroungers to find their own money. Still believe that Corbyn(Steptoe) is still the best thing ever to happen to the Tories for years. It's a joy to watch!  
:) :) :) :) :)

Time will tell. How you can have so much faith in a party which has a vast track record in cutting public spending is beyond me, but we’ll see now they have no one else to blame.

don't shoot me down I want to move grounds as much as everybody else but I still think freeman street not the best idea for a stadium, doesn't look big enough for a start and with all the football traffic its going to be a nightmare around there, yes you got parking for fans down the side streets, would be nice to move to new stadium after all the years of going on and on about it

I mean it’s great if people think there’s a big pot of money that appeared on 13th Dec that the club are just going to dip into, but the reality is a bit more complicated. The majority of the Town Deal funding is already earmarked for specific areas -

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751513/final_town_deal_agreement.pdf


Shutes is already involved in the second phase of the Town Deal (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/grimsby-regeneration-kickstarted-with-multi-million-pound-boost) but how that focus on reimagining heritage assets links into a club relocation remains to be seen. Think it’s too much of a stretch personally. Even the much-feted Future High Streets fund evaporates quite quickly when you get into the detail.

So it comes back to the question of private investment. It’ll be great if some materialises, nobody has a clue one way or another if there’s anything happening but you’d hope that the portfolio holder for regeneration would be well placed in this regard. If private funding doesn’t materialise then expect any plans to be heavily contested locally, you only have to look at the comments on the Grimsby Live pages to see that not everyone in the town shares our enthusiasm for the club so if people are seeing their council tax going to build the Fentydome you can expect some significant pushback and we as fans will be expected to fight the club’s corner locally.

Quoted from gtfcmd

don't shoot me down I want to move grounds as much as everybody else but I still think freeman street not the best idea for a stadium, doesn't look big enough for a start and with all the football traffic its going to be a nightmare around there, yes you got parking for fans down the side streets, would be nice to move to new stadium after all the years of going on and on about it

With a little bit more demolition it will be big enough , it’s the ideal site imo it could possibly rejuvenate the east marsh beyond belief

JF himself acknowledges that the previous Red council leader backed the relocation (or relo as he put it, being involved in it over three decades now...).

Impossible to have this discussion without it becoming politically charged.

Freeman St is the best area, plenty of clubs around the world have built stadia in those sorts of places, regenerating the areas and encouraging businesses to open and flourish.

We’re not planning on building Wembley so the space is plenty big enough and throughout the development, the council and the club should be working with travel companies and actively encouraging public transport use. Worrying about parking etc shouldn’t even be worth the time.

The overall value of the area would increase and a new stadium provides much more than simply a nice place to play football. Sadly, my fear is that I genuinely don’t believe there’s anyone at the club who could deliver on a project like this.

So many missed opportunities so far regarding the promotion of such a stadium, coupled with the poor relationship with local media and amateur events and presentations (remember the PowerPoint presentations with the phrase Dull City) to promote the idea. Similarly, the club are woeful at promoting the wider benefits of such a project, the impact on the community in terms of jobs, hosting corporate events and providing learning opportunities and education support...which personally are far more impactful than saying it provides a good place to play football.

Locally we have an issue with plenty in the community with an insular view, a view and opinion developed through falsified information online and on social media. Limited knowledge or desire to find out about developments of this magnitude elsewhere in the country and the world. Christ, look at the flipping female dog fit people had when they suggested, and rightly so, sea view street.

The club also needs to have some balderdash to a point and state some facts. GTFC is the only reason every fortnight a large gathering of folk descend on one place, other than armed forces day this never happens locally. The club can be and should be the heart of the community and Freemo can be the site to do that.

How it will be funded, god only knows...

Tory government needs to win votes in NELincs so promises regeneration money. I get that, albeit somewhat cynically. It’s what the council do with it that’s crucial- whether it’s East Marsh regeneration or a flipping 70 metre palm tree at the end of the prom.

I’m addition to what I’ve just said, I honestly believe some wider involvement with marketing professionals would help promote the idea and vision.

Relying on the fans should not even be an option, I mean this is the same club that generally holds its fans in contempt but fans simply aren’t enough.

Let’s not forget, at the ill fated public meetings for PP local folk were pulling out copies of the sports telegraph from yesteryear referring to stories based on zero fact about rock concerts etc.

Towns like Grimsby have high proportions of folk who worry about change (they moan the place is dying but don’t want change), they believe the click bait nonsense they read on pointless Facebook groups and the excrement telegraph website. They believe that all football fans are hooligans and this will simply be a scourge on the town.

Some of that has been caused by the clubs lack of forethought and commercial ability, some simply by people who are frightened by this sort of thing.

Let’s not forget, this is a town that cry arsed because they changed some paving in town, moaned about pedestrianisation of a street that should’ve been done years ago. A town where the bus station was moved. People moaned. They’re moving it back. People moaned.

Fact is, if the magic money tree doesn’t appear, which it won’t, then the council is likely to want to invest, folk will need convincing especially when all people moan about is bin collections and blue badges. There needs to be clarity and vision that is understandable, sustainable and evidence based to show the wider impact it can and will have.  

Freemo is THE site.  It's almost too good to be true.  An area that needs regenerating, no NIMBYs at all (which is a miraculous scenario when looking at new build projects), a council that is all for it......

It cannot be denied that the previous red council did NOTHING to push this along, in fact they derailed it time and time again (I'm mainly talking Great Coates and Peaks Parkway here).

As for the argument earlier that parking and access would be a nightmare, the only solution to this is to have an out-of-town ground, like Great Coates, but that option is DEAD, and actually has (or had) nowhere near the support that the Freemo one has.

Where the money comes from, I simply do not know, but this is a better position than we've had before.

After years of nothing I still cannot help but think this whole thing is still a pipedream, but dream we must.  It's crucial for the survival of the club, and the much needed progress we've lacked for decades.

If we ever move into a nice new ground with character (his last item is a must, I feel), I don't mind telling you that I will probably cry tears of joy at the first game!  It would mean so much to me and to so many others.

Quoted from Civvy at last

Can we stop this becoming a political thread before it even starts (unless it's actually how it relates to GTFC).

And yes I do know that JF started it.  

While I do agree that this has to stop being a political thread, the very nature of the proposed ground and JF being a Conservative Councillor make it impossible to avoid it. Every time JF speaks publicly about the new ground he has to declare his involvement with the club and his political position by being involved in NE Lincs regeneration. The statement he made concerning "a blue Lincolnshire, with a blue Central Government" is very relevant. If both are pulling together to get more investment into Northern areas, like NE Lincs, that have been left behind by previous administrations then that must be a good thing.

I don't like the reference to that Notts County bloke being one of the two possible takeover options mentioned by Fenty in the article in todays Telewag,
I thought he had killed that rumour off in his last message to us all.
I hope he sticks to his date of mid-January to cut off both the Dodds and Shute's plans and decides somehow to go it alone on the new ground
I was happy that Fenty wouldn't hand the club over to anyone not satisfying his conditions, but even mentioning the Notts County geezer worries me

Half the problem is people living in a fantasy world, like one of the posts above, it’s just absolutely deluded - why does anything think it’s helpful?

I’m not arsed what “colour” NE Lincs council is, I’ve not lived there for 13 years and won’t be back, but it’s bizarre to say that the last administration hadn’t been at least some help in helping the club relocate. They handed over a massive site at PP essentially for free and gave the club years of exclusivity for them to get themselves together and put something feasible on the table.

Claiming that the current Council are “all for it”...all for what? A broad agreement that the area needs regenerating? The idea of putting a stadium there? Based on what? Fantasy land.

People need to get real if this ground is ever going to happen, and blaming NIMBYs, the council, Henry Boot, great crested newts, Tom Shutes and whoever else for the club’s failings will not do that. We can’t live in this state of perpetual victimhood.

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

With a little bit more demolition it will be big enough , it’s the ideal site imo it could possibly rejuvenate the east marsh beyond belief

First time I've seen an acceptance that there is the need for further demolition. I've walked that area and it is criss-crossed with rows of town houses/maisonettes. I've never heard anyone talk about that as a consequence. Without that level of demolition the proposed site is not a regular shape.

If it becomes a community stadium owned by the council, apart from match day revenue where does the club get the additional revenue Mr Fenty says we need to progress.

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

With a little bit more demolition it will be big enough , it’s the ideal site imo it could possibly rejuvenate the east marsh beyond belief

Only if the 'little bit more demolition' covers the entire East Marsh area, now that would be a real boost for the town after all who in their right mind is going to want to park a car anywhere near there while they're at the match

Plenty of folk park around there...have done for years...and again, sort of proves the point about lack of vision or forethought.

People should be encouraged to use public transport etc.

I’m aware of a owner of a property in freemo hanging on hoping for a windfall , he’s waiting patiently I suspect many others are this could become a real financial headache

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

I’m aware of a owner of a property in freemo hanging on hoping for a windfall , he’s waiting patiently I suspect many others are this could become a real financial headache

Heard the same about a run down pub in the area that the brewery/owner are demanding nowhere near its actual worth

Quoted from aldi_01

Plenty of folk park around there...have done for years...and again, sort of proves the point about lack of vision or forethought.

People should be encouraged to use public transport etc.

Exactly remember this would be an infrastructure project as well so I'd expect to see some form of bus terminus around there somewhere. Lets hope we can land it, I grew up around there and when I go back for games and to visit relatives every 2nd weekend it's certainly evident something.needs to happen.

Quoted from gtfcmd

don't shoot me down I want to move grounds as much as everybody else but I still think freeman street not the best idea for a stadium, doesn't look big enough for a start and with all the football traffic its going to be a nightmare around there, yes you got parking for fans down the side streets, would be nice to move to new stadium after all the years of going on and on about it

Ffs where ever the ground goes the traffic will be a nightmare for 30 minutes after a match

If folk get their knickers in a twist over traffic then we may as well just give up and not redevelop anything.

Out of town stadiums are dead. They don’t work and promoting public transport and more sustainable and environmental ways to arrive at the stadium should be encouraged.

It's to be hoped that having someone of Ian Holloway's character as an investor might make others think the same too. Regardless of what political persuasion anybody is, the only way it will work is with full political co-operation. Let's hope that grandstanding and willy waving don't stand in the way of progress.

Quoted from Ipswin

I don't like the reference to that Notts County bloke being one of the two possible takeover options mentioned by Fenty in the article in todays Telewag,
I thought he had killed that rumour off in his last message to us all.
I hope he sticks to his date of mid-January to cut off both the Dodds and Shute's plans and decides somehow to go it alone on the new ground
I was happy that Fenty wouldn't hand the club over to anyone not satisfying his conditions, but even mentioning the Notts County geezer worries me

i don't think there is any Hardy/Dodd involvement. if you read the article it's the Telegraph who's provided a link to their old story about Dodds rename of one of his companies. fenty doesn't mention it himself, and your are right, he specifically denied that they were involved in his interview a couple of weeks ago.
i understand that Shutes is almost certainly out of the story, but nobody knows who the second consortium is, although i'm pretty sure Mr holloway does!

Quoted from forza ivano

i don't think there is any Hardy/Dodd involvement. if you read the article it's the Telegraph who's provided a link to their old story about Dodds rename of one of his companies. fenty doesn't mention it himself, and your are right, he specifically denied that they were involved in his interview a couple of weeks ago.
i understand that Shutes is almost certainly out of the story, but nobody knows who the second consortium is, although i'm pretty sure Mr holloway does!

I'm sure you're right about IH being privy to info not yet in the public domain. This would help to explain why he's buying/acquiring shares in the club, why he's moving to the area and why he's here in the first place even though he is giving up a lucrative media income.

Just a few observations of my own.

First about the last council. It is wrong to say they didn't do enough to support Great Coates. Many of them were season ticket holders and weren't allowed to take part in any discussions.  The labour leader even went down to Westminster to plead his case but his argument fell on deaf ears.

Freeman Street is surrounded by roads which after the game will allow traffic to leave the area like the streets around Blundell Park do now. It's certainly better than Peaks Parkway in that respect.


The new stadium will include facilities for thing like wedding receptions, conferences,  that's lacking since the demise of the Winter Gardens, which will significantly increase revenue. Maybe they could even relocate the Fishing and Heritage centre and include the Doughty collection and the Ross Tiger.  This would increase funding for the stadium project.

As for Town raising the funds, how do you think Spurs and Arsenal payed for their shiny new stadium? They did the same as you and I when buying a house, they got a mortgage over 25 or 30 years to pay for it.

The more I think about it the more I am convinced that this has got to happen and that this is the best (and last!) chance we have of relocating.  If this doesn't happen then GTFC is doomed to die a very slow painful death.

Quoted from forza ivano

i don't think there is any Hardy/Dodd involvement. if you read the article it's the Telegraph who's provided a link to their old story about Dodds rename of one of his companies. fenty doesn't mention it himself, and your are right, he specifically denied that they were involved in his interview a couple of weeks ago.
i understand that Shutes is almost certainly out of the story, but nobody knows who the second consortium is, although i'm pretty sure Mr holloway does!

Hardy's main business is currently in Administration and it's a mess so I doubt he'd be involved.  

Regarding the funding of the stadium there are grants available for some of the cost,

If it is owned by the council we can rent the stadium at mates rates then rent it out for functions apart from the footy side and make a profit on that.

Plus it has been said  we have a mortgage for 30/40 or even 50 years to pay our bit off if we own the building.

What I can not understand is I spent 3 years of my youth working on those flats only for them to be  pulled down before I have kicked the bucket.!!!!

Disgraceful !!!!!! :B

If you built them better in the first place Pete they wouldn't have needed to be demolished 😁😁😁

Quoted from barralad

First time I've seen an acceptance that there is the need for further demolition. I've walked that area and it is criss-crossed with rows of town houses/maisonettes. I've never heard anyone talk about that as a consequence. Without that level of demolition the proposed site is not a regular shape.

Does that matter? Take a look at Brentford's new ground and the shape of land they have squeezed it into.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Regarding the funding of the stadium there are grants available for some of the cost,

If it is owned by the council we can rent the stadium at mates rates then rent it out for functions apart from the footy side and make a profit on that.

Plus it has been said  we have a mortgage for 30/40 or even 50 years to pay our bit off if we own the building.

What I can not understand is I spent 3 years of my youth working on those flats only for them to be  pulled down before I have kicked the bucket.!!!!

Disgraceful !!!!!! :B

It's not the council's fault that you haven't dropped dead yet.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Does that matter? Take a look at Brentford's new ground and the shape of land they have squeezed it into.

Interestingly Ollie referred to Brentford as a role model to follow by gtfc!

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Does that matter? Take a look at Brentford's new ground and the shape of land they have squeezed it into.

Interestingly Ollie referred to Brentford as a role model to follow by gtfc!

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Does that matter? Take a look at Brentford's new ground and the shape of land they have squeezed it into.

When you drive past it looks like some great work.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Does that matter? Take a look at Brentford's new ground and the shape of land they have squeezed it into.

Was just about to post this as an example. By no means does the patch of land in yellow below look like a prime location for a 17,500 all seater stadium, and yet there she is...

[img]https://i-imgur-com.cdn.ampproject.org/ii/w1200/i.imgur.com/ME5Dtua.jpg[/img]
[youtube]cgK5ywc41-I[/youtube]

What’s nice about it is how it enforces character upon the stadium as it conforms to its pre-existing environment - a generic bowl simply wouldn’t have been possible.

In terms of how it gets funded, I have no idea. My worry about a community stadium is that it takes a degree of control out of the club’s hands going forward. We’d not only miss out on the ancillary income streams a modern stadium can provide, it also prevents us borrowing money against it should we ever need to.

All that said, if it’s that way or nothing, it’s probably the better option.

Quoted from rancido

I'm sure you're right about IH being privy to info not yet in the public domain. This would help to explain why he's buying/acquiring shares in the club, why he's moving to the area and why he's here in the first place even though he is giving up a lucrative media income.

If that is correct, and it does make sense, then surely from IH's musings it also still involves Fenty?

The reason I say that is IH has made reference to Mr Fenty being someone he could work with, and they did hug each other at the Press Conference.

If we are likely to get investment and investors but with JF as an integral part of it then so be it if it moves the club forward.

Quoted from Poojah

Was just about to post this as an example. By no means does the patch of land in yellow below look like a prime location for a 17,500 all seater stadium, and yet there she is...

[img]https://i-imgur-com.cdn.ampproject.org/ii/w1200/i.imgur.com/ME5Dtua.jpg[/img]
[youtube]cgK5ywc41-I[/youtube]

What’s nice about it is how it enforces character upon the stadium as it conforms to its pre-existing environment - a generic bowl simply wouldn’t have been possible.

In terms of how it gets funded, I have no idea. My worry about a community stadium is that it takes a degree of control out of the club’s hands going forward. We’d not only miss out on the ancillary income streams a modern stadium can provide, it also prevents us borrowing money against it should we ever need to.

The plus side of things there's minimal maintenance costs, no loans, no rental, and things like public liability insurance would also be taken up by the Council (I assume) Isn't our catering outsourced anyway inside the ground? There's absolutely no reason at all for the club not to purchase a retail outlet nearby if it wants to sell it's memorabilia etc on matchday, and a simple cost benefit analysis would soon indicate whether or not it would be successful. I think a member's social club nearby would be venture well worth looking at for obvious reasons, but the potential for freeing up all that cash that would otherwise just slip through the club's fingers can not be discounted?

All that said, if it’s that way or nothing, it’s probably the better option.

Quoted from Tradjazz

Now there is a Conservative MP in town taxpayers will be funding a vanity project for a multi-millionaire rather than schools, hospitals and public services...is one way you could look at it.

It’ll be interesting to see how far they can make £30m stretch in redeveloping the entirety of Freeman Street, already agreed in 2018, unless Boris turns up with a handout from his bread & circuses fund.

We need to take maximum advantage now we have a 'Blue' Council and Govenment who actually care and want to do the Country proud. Just watch as Britian become Great Britian again when we leave those EU scroungers to find their own money. Still believe that Corbyn(Steptoe) is still the best thing ever to happen to the Tories for years. It's a joy to watch!  
:) :) :) :) :)

Hahaha wow. That'll be the same government that has destroyed working class towns and cities for the last 9 years then. I have mates who voted Tory and all have their reasons but none are naive enough to believe they actually care about the average person in this country.