Would be fantastic news if we were to hear suddenly that work is commencing.
Developing our stadium doesn't effect FFP, and would seem to secure our tenancy at the cottage. And if we did go up, we'd possibly have it ready to bring in extra revenue to compete amongst the middle pack of the division. Khan believed that the revenue brought in from the new riverside stand hospitality suits, would be a substantial amount to help sustain Fulham.
Extra emphasis on the fact it doesn't effect FFP.. I'm sure we'll still get some idiots commenting "I'd rather see the money invested in the squad" lol.
Sadly, along with the BS "Whatever it takes" messages. It'll probably never happen.
+
Even if we were to remain in the championship, by have better facilities we'd attract larger crowds. In my opinion. Improving the acoustics in the Hammersmith Stand would greatly enhance the atmosphere and match day experience for newcomers and long term supports alike.
I went to 15 games last season.
1 at home. I'd definitely attend more home games myself if we actually carried out this work. Tired of everyone thinking we have terrible fans. When in reality. The support up the top of the Hammersmith stand can be fantastic. When the crowd gets going up there, if you stand underneath the concourse (where all the sound is deflected down to) its bloody noisy. I wouldn't be surprised to find that more that half the sound is absorbed and deflected.
I can understand why Khan would postpone the redevelopment given our situation over the last two or three seasons, but hopefully now that we appear to be making progress again, he'll be more inclined to restart this project as well as be a bit more adventurous in the transfer market. We shall see.
Would like to see the entire stadium exterior renovated in the style of the Stevenage Road end. Ie red brick with the black and white beams. If done tastefully would look very smart!
If you build it they will come. Many supporters worldwide would enjoy coming to the redeveloped Cottage. Keep the classic ambiance with those modern touches. If Fulham aspire to the top flight, we need a top flight stadium. Time to see real commitment to the facility. We have heard that all the approvals have been granted. Hopefully, they will not expire. Mr. Khan will be richly rewarded by starting the work this year.
There is something to be said about mixing new and old so I don't think it's necessary to add brick cladding to the three other stands
There is though nothing to be said about mixing new with tat and I'd be sure the delay is because the Heatherwick report has picked up on this.
The "Louis Saha" funded stands that were put up at the Putney and Hammersmith ends, to get us out of Loftus Road, are carbuncles with absolutely no architectural merit.
Heatherwick must have noticed this and I hope the lack of public action is because our owners wants to come up with his own Grand Design so as to integrate all three sides of the ground.
To this end he has some history in Jacksonville and I hope he has the same desire to put up a landmark development at the Cottage.
1 Better atmosphere at the Hammy, remove the clappers from the coming season.
2 To replace present Riverstand with the approved then hopefully still valid plans.. Is that doable start tomorrow done to the next kick off? Probably needs to be handle over two seasons or half time the next coming. Can we survive without the Riverside stand that time? (Not my area of expertise)
3 Hammersmith and Putney. Over time projects, yes.
4 All in for the Craven Cottage, but of course!
Please spend the money on the team
Quote from: Baszab on May 18, 2017, 10:12:27 PM
Please spend the money on the team
I know it has been said before - THEY CAN'T SPEND THE MONEY ON THE TEAM
Spending on the team and operation is limited by the FFP rules
Spending on capital projects falls outside FFP rules so he can spend as much as he wants
Performance on the pitch is what mainly brings in punters. Do well and crowds will increase, do badly and they'll get poorer.
A new stand wouldn't make much difference imo, but obviously good for Fulham in the long term - if/when we return to Prem, and can also be used for other things on non match days to improve club income.
I must admit that I feel little interest in a new stand at the moment, and my main concern is the team's performance, and spending on that. Our present crowd capacity is perfectly adequate for the Championship, though I see the point that you need to plan for the future in the present.
We really need new corporate facilities on 3 sides of the ground especially the riverside which is a really missing out on matchday income. If you provide good facilities for people to eat and drink before and after a game people will use them, who wants to stand outside with a beer freezing their bits off in the winter when you could be inside in the warm talking with your friends, in the summer fully retractable doors with balconies that overlook the riverside with it's amazing views. This would also be a special place for non football related income weddings and large parties as well as conference rooms .
The Hammersmith and Putney ends need to have toilets and facilities on multi levels, half times are a ridiculous scrum with most people not bothering to venture from their seats. Craven Cottage has a small footprint as a ground compared to others but with modern building techniques things could really improve under the stands and in those large empty corners of the ground. At brighton they have the 1901 clubs on 3 sides of the ground we could have our 1879 clubs with good food and drink, information , meet the players, ex players etc.
Money needs to be generated in order to move forward as a club, these things will happen sooner rather than later otherwise our club will go backwards.
Quote from: RaySmith on May 19, 2017, 07:21:48 AM
Performance on the pitch is what mainly brings in punters. Do well and crowds will increase, do badly and they'll get poorer.
+1
The tried and tested philosophy always works.
Quote from: toshes mate on May 19, 2017, 09:01:08 AM
Quote from: RaySmith on May 19, 2017, 07:21:48 AM
Performance on the pitch is what mainly brings in punters. Do well and crowds will increase, do badly and they'll get poorer.
+1
The tried and tested philosophy always works.
Yes and work on the stadium is completely outside FFP so doesnt affect how much we could spend on the team. Up to the chairman but look around. West ham 56k already looking to increase. Spurs 61k, Chelsea rumoured to be tweaking plans to go even bigger, Arsenal 60k, Palace looking at 40k & QPR 35k, even Charlton had outline planning permission for 40k for crying out loud.
This has to get done if we want to have any hope of competing in the future, yes I said future, its called foresight & ambition something we as a club historically lack. Just staggers me when I read all this stuff about spend it on the team, its not needed, cant even fill it at the moment blah blah blah, makes me want to bang my head against the wall.
So we shelve this and have to resubmit another load of plans & go through potentially years of jumping through hoops to start all over again somewhere down the line?
Ali Mac & Tony Khan said the stand will definitely happen last night so I for one am keeping my fingers crossed
I don't disagree with investment in the future either, HillingdonFFC. Perhaps it should have been done years ago even before the Riverside Stand was put up. A little more 'future' thought and investment expenditure may have got the original plan absolutely right by considering how much better the ground would have been for everybody with full enclosure on three sides save for the constraints of planning permission and consent which also has to take into account the views of local residents. Craven Cottage is unique which is both its charisma and its challenge. It isn't simply about having loads of seats - it is how you get the bums on those seats.
Quote from: toshes mate on May 19, 2017, 09:41:27 AM
I don't disagree with investment in the future either, HillingdonFFC. Perhaps it should have been done years ago even before the Riverside Stand was put up. A little more 'future' thought and investment expenditure may have got the original plan absolutely right by considering how much better the ground would have been for everybody with full enclosure on three sides save for the constraints of planning permission and consent which also has to take into account the views of local residents. Craven Cottage is unique which is both its charisma and its challenge. It isn't simply about having loads of seats - it is how you get the bums on those seats.
Years before the Riverside was put up Fulham were offered Blakes Woodyard for a pittance, my dads uncle was a foreman there for 30years. Trinder said no, even the woodyard people were saying to him about parking, training facilities, offices etc but still ,in a criminal lack of foresight he wasnt interested.
In my opinion its easier to put bums on seats than build them ,especially for a club situated where we are. We've spent the last three soon to be four seasons outside the premier league & our crowds have held up pretty well, think we've just had more attendances in excess of 20k for a season outside the top flight since the 50s.
Plan ahead , we've got a chairman who is worth billions, if hes truly committed, this stand & even further potential expansions down the line are an absolute necessity .
Or we just sit back & meander along content with our lot as weve done for long periods of our history
Last I remember reading was that Thomas Heatherwick was being lined up to look at the design. I think this is a double-edged sword. He did a good job on the Olympics cauldron and a cafe in Littlehampton and could potentially design a fantastic new stand, but if he redesigns the outside of the proposed stand, we might have to apply for planning permission all over again (probably another 2 years and loads of expense) whereas we have already started technically implementing the one we have got planning permission for. I'd rather he confined himself to the inside and we crack on to the one we have consent for.
More important we get the right qualiity development which is on cost and on time than get it quick - so if the Heatherwick intervention causes a delay for the right reasons so be it.
However would be good if the Board would reiterate their intentions now otherwise all sorts of rumours will inevitably proliferate.
After this season's near miss the Board must be aware that with the right support to SJ the Premiership is a realistic and achievable ambition for the club.
As supporters we can expect the similarly realistic, timely and ambitious vision and direction from the Board for the club's future.
For the last season there were 5 clubs with smaller capacities than ours.
Hull 25,586
Burnley 21,401
Watford 21,368
Swansea 21,088
Bournemouth 11,464
Two others are onle slightly higher
Size isn´t everything , it is what you do with it.
Quote from: grandad on May 19, 2017, 06:00:49 PM
For the last season there were 5 clubs with smaller capacities than ours.
Hull 25,586
Burnley 21,401
Watford 21,368
Swansea 21,088
Bournemouth 11,464
Two others are onle slightly higher
Size isn´t everything , it is what you do with it.
That's what she said last night.
Folks, please, It ain't gonna happen. Never was.
The fact of the matter is, if you're a big club in the Prem then redevelopment is never really a risk as you're never going to be in danger on the field, or in financial difficulties off it. Whereas for a club that is a) either a Prem side at risk of relegation or b) a C'ship side fighting for promotion, it's a big risk to take allocating a large amount of money to something that isn't ultimately going to improve your on the field performance. If you're at any risk of relegation, if it does happen and you're doing developing, all of a sudden you have a much lower disposable income due to lower revenues, partly due to less TV money and partly due to lower gates, a large portion of which must be allocated to investing in the squad. If you're fighting for promotion, yes a bigger capacity would pay off if you got to the Prem. However, if you failed to go up and you'd already started pumping money into this new development, which could require a reduced capacity while it's built therefore less ticket revenue, and your best players leave and require replacing, suddenly you're in the financial mire. So it's a moderate risk to take at this stage, when, let's face it, we're not averaging much more than 20000 a game, part of which is away fans.