Ground Development ideas ?

[TheRovers1994]

As most of us realise ewood needs to be cleaned up and certain developments to be constructed I'm curious to see others thoughts ? 

The Riverside is becoming more and more tired by the year and I've spoken to waggot on a couple of occasions and he's mentioned the will to build a new stand, featuring facility's that can make money even on none matchday, woukd be ideal to build around a 4k seater brought to the pitch with disabled facility's, a club museum and cafe. Last time I looked round tbe back of the stand there was old advertising boards just dumped there which is something I expect to see in non league not at a former Premier league club with what was a state of the art stadium.

I know also there was plans for a new 4g pitch ti be installed on the Darwen end car park next to the indoor centre as part of the new developments that have took place there but it seems them plans have been shelved 

I will like to add also the idea of a mini ground at Brockhall for the academy teams and maybe the ladies, seems to be a modern thing now clubs having smaller grounds for their academy especially, all it takes is a little stand with seats and floodlights ans certain matchday facility's, obviously it couldn't be like what city have done or even Chelsea when they have a FL standard ground for their youth teams and ladies but something like what Fulham and Leicester have would be very ideal to host under 18s and 23s games, only thing is is that Brockhall is a bit awkward to get too at that time of night, no public transport after a certain time but would be a nice idea none the less, saves us paying rent elsewhere. In hindsight rovers could have bought the old great Harewood town ground and brought it to standards and used it for the development team and ladies 

[Gone to seed]

Some interesting ideas there, but the reality is that until the current game-changing conditions for everyone are resolved, there is no point speculating on possibilities, as an endemic pandemic means ongoing uncertainty over facilities where groups of people gather together. It makes me wonder what the future of the game is, when I watch teams playing in massive but conspicuously empty stadia (including Ewood). Ceteris paribus (all things being equal) a return to some kind of normality would be great, and there does seem to be the space to develop the ground adjacent to the Darwen end perhaps for an Academy facility, but in my mind that is a loooonnnngg way off.

[Mattyblue]

Waggott says a lot of things, but in reality he’s spent his tenure downsizing.

Get out of this pandemic and see how it all settles down, employ a forward thinking leadership team that actually understand the fanbase - coupled with owners that love signing those cheques (infrastructure doesn’t impact FFP, remember), and who knows. But I won’t be holding my breath.

[tomphil]

The pitch has to be sorted first i think is an absolute priority now so the stand and even the fabled 'deep clean' might have to wait. Get the pitch done then surely this fantastic football it's stopping us from playing will see us promoted.

Then get the Riverside done and it'd be like the dawn of a new era hopefully so lets just pull out all the stops for a season in top flight again. Its so vital for this club and then we should be able to see if all the talk is just that.

Sadly i think sitting in upper mid in this division is very comfortable for quite a few down there.

Edited February 2, 2021 by tomphil

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Waggott says a lot of things, but in reality he’s spent his tenure downsizing.

Get out of this pandemic and see how it all settles down, employ a forward thinking leadership team that actually understand the fanbase - coupled with owners that love signing those cheques (infrastructure doesn’t impact FFP, remember), and who knows. But I won’t be holding my breath.

The owners are signing the cheques. It’s the only good thing they’ve done. Why they keep doing it is the mystery when we’ve had little to no progression over the last 10 years. It’s easy to find sticks to beat them with but you can’t argue that they’ve kept funding the club. They could always spend more money but considering they’ve already thrown in well over £150m, it’s hardly like they’ve turned the taps off.

Redeveloping a part of the stadium isn’t a priority simply because, I assume, the lack of demand. We could close the Riverside and easily accommodate the displaced fans elsewhere in Ewood. I know there’s talk of a hotel but would that turn a profit??

Edited February 2, 2021 by magicalmortensleftpeg

[TheRovers1994]

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Waggott says a lot of things, but in reality he’s spent his tenure downsizing.

Get out of this pandemic and see how it all settles down, employ a forward thinking leadership team that actually understand the fanbase - coupled with owners that love signing those cheques (infrastructure doesn’t impact FFP, remember), and who knows. But I won’t be holding my breath.

Tbf to him him he's done a good job,plans have already been drawn up for a new stand 

[TheRovers1994]

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Waggott says a lot of things, but in reality he’s spent his tenure downsizing.

Get out of this pandemic and see how it all settles down, employ a forward thinking leadership team that actually understand the fanbase - coupled with owners that love signing those cheques (infrastructure doesn’t impact FFP, remember), and who knows. But I won’t be holding my breath.

Stadium development has no impact on ffp

[TheRovers1994]

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

The pitch has to be sorted first i think is an absolute priority now so the stand and even the fabled 'deep clean' might have to wait. Get the pitch done then surely this fantastic football it's stopping us from playing will see us promoted.

Then get the Riverside done and it'd be like the dawn of a new era hopefully so lets just pull out all the stops for a season in top flight again. Its so vital for this club and then we should be able to see if all the talk is just that.

Sadly i think sitting in upper mid in this division is very comfortable for quite a few down there.

The pitch is being replaced in the summer, 2m its costing 

[TheRovers1994]

2 hours ago, WIR Second Coming said:

Some interesting ideas there, but the reality is that until the current game-changing conditions for everyone are resolved, there is no point speculating on possibilities, as an endemic pandemic means ongoing uncertainty over facilities where groups of people gather together. It makes me wonder what the future of the game is, when I watch teams playing in massive but conspicuously empty stadia (including Ewood). Ceteris paribus (all things being equal) a return to some kind of normality would be great, and there does seem to be the space to develop the ground adjacent to the Darwen end perhaps for an Academy facility, but in my mind that is a loooonnnngg way off.

I thought before its an idea for an academy facility there 

[rigger]

Before development, I would try to engage with the supporters to encourage them back to Ewood.

[Mattyblue]

1 hour ago, TheRovers1994 said:

Stadium development has no impact on ffp

I know, that’s what my post says.

To answer Morten, I’ve no particular pressing desire for the Riverside to be developed, more importantly, as rigger says, we need to re-engage a fanbase that has become ever more detached from the club in this lost decade - but let’s be realistic, it is ultimately success on the pitch that drives that. You can have all the fancy infrastructure and marketing plans you want, but an east Lancs town club still won’t pull in the punters whilst bobbing along in second division mid table.

[arbitro]

1 hour ago, TheRovers1994 said:

Tbf to him him he's done a good job,plans have already been drawn up for a new stand 

Do you have any evidence to back up that claim?

Waggotts main brief was to grow the fan base - how has that one worked out? I can't think of one positive benefit he has brought during his time here. If you can I'd be glad to hear them.

[Mattyblue]

27 minutes ago, arbitro said:

Do you have any evidence to back up that claim?

Waggotts main brief was to grow the fan base - how has that one worked out? I can't think of one positive benefit he has brought during his time here. If you can I'd be glad to hear them.

Was it? Or was it to increase revenue by squeezing the hardcore? Must be the latter as I don’t see how 15/20% rises in ST prices year on year, surcharges and £45 Category A+ pricing for mid table second division football is going to grow the fanbase...

Edited February 2, 2021 by Mattyblue

[arbitro]

Just now, Mattyblue said:

Was it? Or was it to increase revenue? Must be the latter as I don’t see how 15/20% rises in ST prices year on year, surcharges and £45 Category A pricing for mid table second division football is going to grow the fanbase...

Growing the fan base would have increased the revenue and the two are intrinsically linked. I think it was too much for him, beyond his capabilities and the easy hit was screwing the loyal fans. Closing stands and the Waggott tax are other examples of picking the low hanging fruit for Swag.

[Mattyblue]

Of course growing the fanbase would have increased revenue, but how did he think he’d get more bums on seats in an area like this with hefty price rises on match day and season tickets?

Just points to the fact he just hasn’t got to grips with the socio-economics of the area.

[tomphil]

3 hours ago, TheRovers1994 said:

The pitch is being replaced in the summer, 2m its costing 

Has that got anywhere past rumour stage though ?

[Herbie6590]

4 hours ago, TheRovers1994 said:

The pitch is being replaced in the summer, 2m its costing 

Surprised we aren’t looking at bringing one in on loan TBH...or on lawn...? 😁

[TheRovers1994]

4 hours ago, arbitro said:

Do you have any evidence to back up that claim?

Waggotts main brief was to grow the fan base - how has that one worked out? I can't think of one positive benefit he has brought during his time here. If you can I'd be glad to hear them.

He told me in person, he's been at the clubsjop on match days talking to fans a few times so I've spoken to him on 1 or 2 occasions 

[only2garners]

4 hours ago, tomphil said:

Has that got anywhere past rumour stage though ?

Steve Waggott told us in confidence at the last Fans Forum on 18/1 and since then Mowbray and the Sky commentator have both mentioned it.

[only2garners]

Sorry - the Forum was on 11/1 not 18/1.

[roversfan99]

https://www.rovers.co.uk/siteassets/fans/fans-forum/ff-zoom-minutes-11.1.21.pdf

I noticed that the latest minutes are up, they dont tend to be posted as an article from what I can see so people can know that they have been uploaded.

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Waggott says a lot of things, but in reality he’s spent his tenure downsizing.

In some areas... but in other areas massively upgrading. The facilities at Brockhall have seen huge investment during his tenure.

[Beafo]

I'd like to replace the Riverside in a way that reduces the current capacity. The ground is too big as it is. I seem to recall Preston's new stand is around 3.5k.

I'd like to see it right up against the pitch.

Also I would like to see the corners filled in, in some way (not by seats) as the gaps have a big negative effect in atmosphere.

I know that the open corners is supposed to help with the health of the pitch (!!!!), but  I'm sure in this day and age there are ways of somehow opening and closing any barrier that fills the corners in.

Given that we would only average 25k in the Prem or 15k in Champ, out of a 30k stadium, we need to do all we can to help the atmosphere and the feeling of a fuller ground.

Edited February 2, 2021 by Beafo

[Mattyblue]

1 hour ago, JoeH said:

In some areas... but in other areas massively upgrading. The facilities at Brockhall have seen huge investment during his tenure.

Data wise, yes, but has there been substantial investment in facilities away from that?

The 100 Club had to fund nets, gym equipment, a new canteen and a minibus for the Academy. Pretty basic stuff I wouldn’t expect a fans group to be having to put their hands in their pockets for...

Edited February 2, 2021 by Mattyblue

[Ossydave]

Not really an ideal time to be planning the things as we don't really know how life may change post pandemic, if the damn thing ever ends.

Obvious additions to a revamped stand would be a hotel first of all. The close m65 links still mean it would be a great spot for business travel, more so than leisure. You would also get people staying over in rooms with a pitch view like they can at Norwich etc though. That said, is business travel going to be the same? The relative success of Zoom and team calls and virtual conferences etc will no doubt see companies looking at budgets. I've also found the conferencing facilities to be rather poor so I'd be looking at making them more enticing. 

Gym facilities. Obviously not right now but gyms will be back booming eventually and some reasonably priced facilities would definitely attract members. Tie in some deals for members on tickets and training gear perhaps that sort of thing.

Restaurant facilities. Well I say restaurant but I think a family pub serving food suits the area much better. There isn't THAT many in the area but the ones there are usually seem busy. Throw in an area with a little indoor pitch, few PlayStations etc, get the odd player appearance to entice folk in on a Tuesday night. 15% discount for season ticket holders. There's loads of possibilities and that's just a few off the top of my head.