All info regarding the Stadium Redevelopment

[General]

I work for an architectural recruitment/headhunting firm (although not for much longer) and a colleague has been tasked with finding people to work on the (re)development of Craven Cottage. He was under the impression though that it was more than just the riverside stand.

The architects are a firm called KSS.

If true, then my hope is that obviously we stay up, Khan increases the capacity of the stadium and as a result we have more incoming finances from match day to help us grow financially as a club.

Positive to hear and know things are moving forward.

Architect firms rarely ask to hire people if they're not going to actually do the work and normally do so last minute.

[dannyboi-ffc]

It's great news because it confirms our long term stay at the Cottage and that Khans intentions are good.

I don't think the increased capacity will benefit the club because we've already lost a good 8000 bums on seats because we're in the championship. So not sure how an extra 5000 empty seats will provide more revenue.

It will only benefit the club when we get back in the premier league and attract the tourists

[Berserker]

Ah the reason Dannyboi is the club can use the new facilities during non match days if they develope the Riverside. At the moment they can make no income unless the team are playing at home.

[FulhamStu]

What takes longer if you throw money at it..  Building a new ground/stand or building a new team ?

[Holders]

What General says is interesting and positive but it doesn't absolutely say to me that the job is going ahead or that KSS have been awarded it. Often if firms are bidding for work they use agencies to help put together a portfolio of CVs of suitably-experienced people to support their bid and whom (or their like) they would hope to use if awarded it. Thus, the same people can often appear in more than one bid!

It's positive in that it looks as if bids are now actually being sought for the detailed design phase (well short of construction) but maybe General could ask his colleague to find out what stage KSS are at - are they just bidding or have they actually been awarded the job? The former, I suspect.

[nose]

I don't see this as good news. last time we redeveloped the riverside we went backwards because no money was spent on team development.

This is chucking money away for no good reason! We should have purchased some players in the transfer window first, and then started building a new stand. This isn't securing our future it is adding to the burden of debt which if we fail on the field, and we are, then it spells economic suicide.

the time to build is when we have secured promotion to the prem!

[Baszab]

When you say "more than just the Riverside stand" -- did they specify the word STADIUM - or was it a residential application ??!

[fulhaman]

How about this being on there website should mean they have got it right?http://www.kssgroup.com/projects.php

[SuffolkWhite]

Just looked at KSS website and the redevelopment is on there! So good news that our owner is seeing this through. Hopefully team building will commence in the summer although a couple of loans would be good to see us stay up!

[Baszab]

How can it be logical to start spending millions on improving the infrastructure given the current state of the team?

Even if we got back to Premier, would we fill a 32,000 stadium ?

Or is there another ulterior motive to this rush into redevelopment ?

What about financing the team and populating the Board of directors with people who know what they're doing ?

Pathetic project and totally out of sync as to where FFC are now

I remember Darlington moving into a new stadium---just before they got relegated out of the Football League

[nose]

How can it be logical to start spending millions on improving the infrastructure given the current state of the team?

Even if we got back to Premier, would we fill a 32,000 stadium ?

Or is there another ulterior motive to this rush into redevelopment ?

What about financing the team and populating the Board of directors with people who know what they're doing ?

Pathetic project and totally out of sync as to where FFC are now

I remember Darlington moving into a new stadium---just before they got relegated out of the Football League

In the prem we would fill the stadium, that is hardly the issue.

But I have said elsewhere that the team needs to be improved first because this scale of development could cripple the clubs finances if we do not get promoted.

The board is a favourite subject of mine. they are demonstrably failing and have been for ages and need replacing.

The project is not 'pathetic' but the timing is completely wrong for our current state. It is the right project to start the second we get ourselves into the top division.

[MJG]

You cant stand still, you need to be planning for the future which of course you hope will be bright.
What do you do try and get promoted then spend two years planning again while you struggle again in the PL, put a fork in the ground and then you go down building a new stand.
There is never a good time to build the stand, but it has to be done at some stage and the sooner the better.
the money is accounted for and budgeted and has no relation to the finances of signings as we could not afford to spend 30M on players as its outside of FFP.

[Baszab]

pathetic TIMING of the project - OK ??!!

[MJG]

pathetic TIMING of the project - OK ??!!

So you wait till go up stuck with the same level of fans and one of the poorest matchday revenues in the top 2 divisions.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

You cant stand still, you need to be planning for the future which of course you hope will be bright.
What do you do try and get promoted then spend two years planning again while you struggle again in the PL, put a fork in the ground and then you go down building a new stand.
There is never a good time to build the stand, but it has to be done at some stage and the sooner the better.
the money is accounted for and budgeted and has no relation to the finances of signings as we could not afford to spend 30M on players as its outside of FFP.

The voice of reason again.

Building projects like this take years as this one has already in planning. Expanding the stadium is the right thing to do if we are ambitious and aiming for stability in the PL. For that, as MJG says, we need to invest in the redevelopment now, not wait until we are back in the PL.

Of course to get back in the PL then performances on the pitch need to improve. Whether that's through new players, a new manager, something else or a combination of these things is another matter.

[rweller86]

Does stadium development etc affect FFP?

I don't think it would. In which case, I would feel its irrelevant as Khan has the money for the development of the non-playing side of the business.

However, we need to be investing wisely in the transfer market to keep in line with FFP and also get all-round quality on the pitch

[nose]

pathetic TIMING of the project - OK ??!!

well said... do you think there is an ulterior motive... if so what would it be? I really do not believe this is the case because it isn't obvious what is going on and why a  successful man would get involved in a project like fulham unless he actually wants to make the team a success. I just think he is going about it the wrong way.

[Baszab]

Match-day revenue is almost irrelevant now if each Premier match TV license is worth £10m per game - and the TV rights will only increase over time

An extra 5000 fans generating, say £200k per game = £4m pa plus food/hospitality = say £5m per season - small beer

I am sorry to be argumentative but let's stick with what we've got on the stadium and put ALL OUR RESOURCES - i.e.  Khan's money (subject to FPP) into getting back up again.

[nose]

You cant stand still, you need to be planning for the future which of course you hope will be bright.
What do you do try and get promoted then spend two years planning again while you struggle again in the PL, put a fork in the ground and then you go down building a new stand.
There is never a good time to build the stand, but it has to be done at some stage and the sooner the better.
the money is accounted for and budgeted and has no relation to the finances of signings as we could not afford to spend 30M on players as its outside of FFP.

I recall when they built the riverside stand all those years ago. The same arguments were used then, and in fact the team was starved of resources in those days too, as  seems to be happening now, and the riverside stand sat almost entirely empty until we joined the Prem.

The team comes first, always. That is the core of the business.
If you take on a massive project with a vast debt that will need to be repaid at some point in the future, and it will, then we had have to be in the prem or when kahn gets fed up and walks away, and wants his money back, as MAF did too, and there is no buyer because we are a failing team in the wrong division with a massive liability, then our future would be in real doubt.

This is appalling timin if they are starting at the end of the season, unless mr kahn is going to share with us how all this is to be financed and that the team is not being compromised in any way whatsoever.

[nose]

You cant stand still, you need to be planning for the future which of course you hope will be bright.
What do you do try and get promoted then spend two years planning again while you struggle again in the PL, put a fork in the ground and then you go down building a new stand.
There is never a good time to build the stand, but it has to be done at some stage and the sooner the better.
the money is accounted for and budgeted and has no relation to the finances of signings as we could not afford to spend 30M on players as its outside of FFP.

The voice of reason again.

Building projects like this take years as this one has already in planning. Expanding the stadium is the right thing to do if we are ambitious and aiming for stability in the PL. For that, as MJG says, we need to invest in the redevelopment now, not wait until we are back in the PL.

Of course to get back in the PL then performances on the pitch need to improve. Whether that's through new players, a new manager, something else or a combination of these things is another matter.

There is nothing to suggest we are investing on the pitch for the future. Everything looks set for us to remain in the lower divisions for some time to come. If we were serious about improving two things would have happened by now
1. the board would have been changed either entirely or almost entirely
2. we would have brought in some talent in the last window to boost the first team's capability
A new project of this size with no realistic possibility of returning to the prem, and that is the only place we will be able to fill the stadium, will just saddle us with a crippling debbt that we would be unable to repay when Kahn gets fed up and walks away.

Sorry, that is just the way it is. If MAF would have done it when we were in the top flight, wonderful, but now it looks like economic maddness of the greek kind.