General New Stadium Plans - Stratfield Brake

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unification said:
It wasn't 'designed' under Kassam's stewardship though. Robin Herd et al would have recruited the architects (ACP Architecture Ltd) and the contractor (Taylor Woodrow).

It is a s**t, mid-90s design though. Too open and too cold and sterile. Plenty of teams don't learn from it either and create unlovable new grounds. Bland offerings I've visited in recent years include Chesterfield, Shrewsbury, Wimbledon's new identikit ground and Doncaster's ho-hum bowl. You'd never to seek to build a Kenilworth Road or Underhill nowadays but a bit of imagination to show that you're in a ground that could only belong to one club from the moment you're in it is needed. Brighton's Falmer Stadium, Rotherham's New York Stadium and Stadium: MK are three I'd cite as being new but more memorable than your average four single tier stands new builds that exist nowadays.

Make the design memorable and the day out memorable and more will come.
Click to expand...
AFC Wimbledon though only has the main stand properly finished to full height with three "temporary" stands. Hence no proper away ticket barriers, concourses etc.
 
AbsoluteZero said:
All positive news, but not sure how happy the club owners are about the information leak since there has been no response from the club so far?

Relations with the Council must be at an all time high to even get this considered. But the County Council make up now is very different to what it was 12 months ago, and with an anti-car campaigner in Tim Bearder somehow and rather illogically in charge of the county's traffic he could easily scupper plans on his own with his lack of foresight to develop the County and instead try and ban the car. Bit concerned that the final planning permission decision will come from Cherwell District Council as this seems to be way out of their league who are used to just dealing with market towns in the north of the County and I don't think it is within their capabilities of seeing the bigger picture especially as the main benefits will be felt more in Oxford city itself rather than traditional Cherwell.

Couple of questions for those more in the know than all of us, so please Scotchegg.

Is there a plan for the stadium itself to be used for something other than football so that it gets used for more than 23 league games per season. It makes financial sense to use it for some of the other 342 days in the year but how and what. Another sport? Concerts?

The development itself whilst dominated by the football arena needs to stand on it's own two feet outside of match day, and needs to bring people into the commercial development specifically. Done well it could thrive week by week, although that will probably be to the detriment of other Oxford areas that would offer the same sort of thing. So could there be something different brought in? Maybe a top quality casino or entertainment hall to go alongside the ground?

Finally, how does this affect the already 6 figure investment OUFC has made on the existing training ground facilities, already done with the super support from the Council? Sounds like with this new ground also incorporating community facilities and sports pitches as well we could have the training ground there instead, which means a waste on the current training ground?
Click to expand...

Of course, any PR plans would have rather broke this information on their terms but that is the risk of making others aware before you have the opportunity to go public. I'm sure the club will still present this professionally in their own time, and we shouldn't have long to wait.

The club have worked closely with OCC and CDC to help smooth the planning application process. One of the key points is having a stadium perfectly placed for all public transport routes and helping to keep cars from the city centre. Alongside plans to make the stadium ecologically sustainable will help get the green vote.

I'm not aware of any plans for the stadium to be used for other sports, but wouldn't entirely rule this out. I'd certainly think that we'd put ourselves forward as hosts to England's women's games, or the u21's etc. As for concerts, I'd certainly hope that happens from a personal perspective but it may depend on how close the actual ground is to housing. I suspect that noise limitations may be a barrier.

As for the wider complex, then the hope will be for it to be used daily in order to maximise income. I don't know how much revenue is generated around stadium MK, but there will be a similar plan to make it a community hub outside of matchdays.

Finally, the training ground was taken on with a lease arrangement where the club committed to maintain it for the wider community throughout the duration of the lease. So there won't be any immediate plans to close up shop, and it's probably more practical to keep the training facilities separate to the ground.
 
AbsoluteZero said:
All positive news, but not sure how happy the club owners are about the information leak since there has been no response from the club so far?

Relations with the Council must be at an all time high to even get this considered. But the County Council make up now is very different to what it was 12 months ago, and with an anti-car campaigner in Tim Bearder somehow and rather illogically in charge of the county's traffic he could easily scupper plans on his own with his lack of foresight to develop the County and instead try and ban the car. Bit concerned that the final planning permission decision will come from Cherwell District Council as this seems to be way out of their league who are used to just dealing with market towns in the north of the County and I don't think it is within their capabilities of seeing the bigger picture especially as the main benefits will be felt more in Oxford city itself rather than traditional Cherwell.

Couple of questions for those more in the know than all of us, so please Scotchegg.

Is there a plan for the stadium itself to be used for something other than football so that it gets used for more than 23 league games per season. It makes financial sense to use it for some of the other 342 days in the year but how and what. Another sport? Concerts?

The development itself whilst dominated by the football arena needs to stand on it's own two feet outside of match day, and needs to bring people into the commercial development specifically. Done well it could thrive week by week, although that will probably be to the detriment of other Oxford areas that would offer the same sort of thing. So could there be something different brought in? Maybe a top quality casino or entertainment hall to go alongside the ground?

Finally, how does this affect the already 6 figure investment OUFC has made on the existing training ground facilities, already done with the super support from the Council? Sounds like with this new ground also incorporating community facilities and sports pitches as well we could have the training ground there instead, which means a waste on the current training ground?
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if we moved the training ground considering the investment that has gone into it and we have an agreement to maintain community facilities at the current site for the length of the lease. Whether the new potential site would have the space anyway considering the size of the existing training ground and we'll have to incorporate/replicate what Gosford All Blacks and Kidlington CC already have.
 
unification said:
It wasn't 'designed' under Kassam's stewardship though. Robin Herd et al would have recruited the architects (ACP Architecture Ltd) and the contractor (Taylor Woodrow).

It is a s**t, mid-90s design though. Too open and too cold and sterile. Plenty of teams don't learn from it either and create unlovable new grounds. Bland offerings I've visited in recent years include Chesterfield, Shrewsbury, Wimbledon's new identikit ground and Doncaster's ho-hum bowl. You'd never to seek to build a Kenilworth Road or Underhill nowadays but a bit of imagination to show that you're in a ground that could only belong to one club from the moment you're in it is needed. Brighton's Falmer Stadium, Rotherham's New York Stadium and Stadium: MK are three I'd cite as being new but more memorable than your average four single tier stands new builds that exist nowadays.

Make the design memorable and the day out memorable and more will come.
Click to expand...


Agree. I hope it isn't a stereotypical bowl type design though, they are so boring and unimaginative. Why not a design with a more foreign twist, a bit more German or Dutch in it's design, steep sided.
 
Scotchegg said:
Of course, any PR plans would have rather broke this information on their terms but that is the risk of making others aware before you have the opportunity to go public. I'm sure the club will still present this professionally in their own time, and we shouldn't have long to wait.

The club have worked closely with OCC and CDC to help smooth the planning application process. One of the key points is having a stadium perfectly placed for all public transport routes and helping to keep cars from the city centre. Alongside plans to make the stadium ecologically sustainable will help get the green vote.

I'm not aware of any plans for the stadium to be used for other sports, but wouldn't entirely rule this out. I'd certainly think that we'd put ourselves forward as hosts to England's women's games, or the u21's etc. As for concerts, I'd certainly hope that happens from a personal perspective but it may depend on how close the actual ground is to housing. I suspect that noise limitations may be a barrier.

As for the wider complex, then the hope will be for it to be used daily in order to maximise income. I don't know how much revenue is generated around stadium MK, but there will be a similar plan to make it a community hub outside of matchdays.

Finally, the training ground was taken on with a lease arrangement where the club committed to maintain it for the wider community throughout the duration of the lease. So there won't be any immediate plans to close up shop, and it's probably more practical to keep the training facilities separate to the ground.
Click to expand...

I think the training facility is a credit to Oxford United

if it ain't broke don't fix it
 
unification said:
It wasn't 'designed' under Kassam's stewardship though. Robin Herd et al would have recruited the architects (ACP Architecture Ltd) and the contractor (Taylor Woodrow).

It is a s**t, mid-90s design though. Too open and too cold and sterile. Plenty of teams don't learn from it either and create unlovable new grounds. Bland offerings I've visited in recent years include Chesterfield, Shrewsbury, Wimbledon's new identikit ground and Doncaster's ho-hum bowl. You'd never to seek to build a Kenilworth Road or Underhill nowadays but a bit of imagination to show that you're in a ground that could only belong to one club from the moment you're in it is needed. Brighton's Falmer Stadium, Rotherham's New York Stadium and Stadium: MK are three I'd cite as being new but more memorable than your average four single tier stands new builds that exist nowadays.

Make the design memorable and the day out memorable and more will come.
Click to expand...
I have to say that on the one occasion I visited Chesterfield in their new stadium, I quite liked it. Whereas I dislike the MK stadium quite a lot. Agree with your like of Rotherham's place though.

I am sure they are considering all aspects, but just a quick plea for us exiles who *have* to drive to the stadium. While there are a whole lot of things wrong with Grenoble Road at least there is enough parking on all but exceptional match days. (The exits are another matter of course!) While I have no real hopes that I will be able to park within 100m of my turnstile entrance as I can at present in the East car park, exiles and away fans *do* need a place to park. Presumably the park and ride is going to be the place - so let's have lots of coaches/busses running between there and the stadium (and consideration given to safe walking routes from there as well).
 
dickwalton1964 said:
Agree. I hope it isn't a stereotypical bowl type design though, they are so boring and unimaginative. Why not a design with a more foreign twist, a bit more German or Dutch in it's design, steep sided.
Click to expand...
FC Utrecht in the Netherlands is a ground I've been to a lot. It is a very steep sided stadium and taking my age into consideration I no longer go there. Okay for young folk, but us oldies aren't keen on looking down into the Grand Canyon while trying to get to a seat.

Maybe the safe-standing section(s) could be steep, but not where we older folk hang out.
 
unification said:
It wasn't 'designed' under Kassam's stewardship though. Robin Herd et al would have recruited the architects (ACP Architecture Ltd) and the contractor (Taylor Woodrow).

It is a s**t, mid-90s design though. Too open and too cold and sterile. Plenty of teams don't learn from it either and create unlovable new grounds. Bland offerings I've visited in recent years include Chesterfield, Shrewsbury, Wimbledon's new identikit ground and Doncaster's ho-hum bowl. You'd never to seek to build a Kenilworth Road or Underhill nowadays but a bit of imagination to show that you're in a ground that could only belong to one club from the moment you're in it is needed. Brighton's Falmer Stadium, Rotherham's New York Stadium and Stadium: MK are three I'd cite as being new but more memorable than your average four single tier stands new builds that exist nowadays.

Make the design memorable and the day out memorable and more will come.
Click to expand...
I meant what HE made from it/us rather than the design. Having said that, I bet he cut corners (even ends) to get the shell of a building up so he could progress with his real ventures!
 
Malc said:
FC Utrecht in the Netherlands is a ground I've been to a lot. It is a very steep sided stadium and taking my age into consideration I no longer go there. Okay for young folk, but us oldies aren't keen on looking down into the Grand Canyon while trying to get to a seat.

Maybe the safe-standing section(s) could be steep, but not where we older folk hang out.
Click to expand...
Malc,
Can’t you just book a seat lower down? I’ve got a pretty bad heights phobia so tend to plan my visits to other stadiums quite carefully.
 
theWizard said:
I think the training facility is a credit to Oxford United

if it ain't broke don't fix it
Click to expand...

Didn't I read somewhere oufc were going to invest in one of them massive tents like they have at spires school and King Alfred school so they can train indoors.

You wouldn't also fit the training ground as it Is and the stadium all on Stratfield Brake.
 
On another thread, I`m sure the ITK folk mooted that Spurs stadium architects were on board from that aspect?
Maybe we could get one of those "sunk" pitches with a circular surround and actually reduce the number of stands to one continuous one....... :)

"The Eternal Circle".....
 
Why don't we try and build the worlds first completely vertical stand.
 
With regards to the so called North Oxford nimbys, just include some decent tennis facilities to keep them happy.🎾🎾
 
Tomox said:
Why don't we try and build the worlds first completely vertical stand.
Click to expand...

Cos of the old people. Could be a goer if we build a horizontal stand too though.
 
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