Watch now, the EFL will now decide to expel us for the existing charges we face. I am joking of course, am I
"If properly maintained". So a deep refurbishment should be undertaken. Hygene facilities. Disabled facilities,catering facilities and a new roof . Also a better TV gantry too.
The first thing I’d do, is build a large 1st floor extension out of the back of the East Stand. No Car park would be lost, as it’d be on columns. This would make the executive area 3 times bigger, and enable a lot more events to be held including functions, auctions, weddings and bands etc. That would bring higher non-Matchday revenue in, which can be reinvested into the team etc. The John Smith’s Stadium has this - and I’ve been to many events where this works really well.
If you have a 30 year lease though, you can look at your options, with an asset that has allegedly 10 years left. An asset that is half shut & is doing very little for club revenues, as I reckon it is largely only 20% occupied on average & security & maintenance may mean it is in itself returning a loss, or break even at best to the club. What the plans are to improve this remain to be seen, but anyone with a brain would be looking at maximising revenues via improved facilities, be they on match days, or other events.
Sounds to me like a brilliant move but it does bring with it a lot of questions. Has the rent gone up, down, or stayed the same? The article mentions that the council will invest in the stadium from the rent. Does this mean the club won't be responsible for any maintenance or improvements and it will be solely funded from whatever the rent is minus the purchase cost? At the last meeting they mentioned a new fanzone which couldn't be done without the ownership of the ground being sorted. Obviously at the time they knew it was almost sorted so are any plans in place for an almost immediate project? How much did the council pay to buy the crynes 50%? And why was that felt to be a key step? Were the crynes unwilling to allow a 30 year lease? What's happened to the 3rd party claim over the land? Has that just disappeared or is it still hanging over our heads? It is mentioned about using Oakwell for other things. Has a licence been given or an agreement been put in place to formally allow that or is it just hopeful speculation? Questions I have out of curiosity really which I'm sure will be answered in time. The overriding feeling is that it's great news and means that unless something drastic happens I'll be able to buy my seat for years to come instead of looking for a new one in a soulless bowl somewhere or deciding which deedars seat to sit in at a ground share. Also seen someone above say or hint that they don't trust this mob in charge. I have very big concerns over their ability to run the club but it is clear from their constant investment that they either care a lot and want to see the club do we'll or they are complete imbeciles who are throwing money at something for a laugh. I don't think it's the latter
If they did that at the north end of the east stand it would create a lot of covered space for an absolutely brilliant fanzone too if they built the 1st floor area as a mezzanine essentially on stilts.
The first of the new fan engagement meetings is on Monday so maybe we will get some more info then. All 40+ fans who applied have been invited.
This is one of those things where I’ll just never understand the details of the deal, so I can’t really get very excited. I never saw a scenario where the lease would lapse and we’d be kicked out. We’ll only know over time, whether this deal has moved us forward or not.
To all the fowls blunts fans living in Barnsley, just think every time you pay your council tax bill you're subsidising Barnsley FC.
if conway and lee wre still running the club we would not have a club, look at what they have done to oostende, at least the present board are trying to build something whether we like it or not
I don't think all legalities can be put in a press release, unless you think it's a good idea for it to run to 200 plus pages? Needless to say, it must be worthwhile to all parties & I could not see the Crynes agreeing to anything other.
Cryne didn't sell the lower part of the car park. That land was owned by the person who owned the garage which was on the site.
will anything be published from these meetings @Gally just to keep everybody informed on stuff that can be talked about, obviously all the confidential stuff cant i suppose
Yeah - that work great. Although I’d just keep it central. But yeah, come out of the away stand by about 20-30m, have the car park unaffected (albeit a few columns) and have the fan zone below it when required.