General New Stadium Plans - Stratfield Brake

[DannyW]

Since my post suggesting the Friends of Stratfield Brake group is run by members of Kidlington Parish Council and/or Gosford and Water Eaton Parish council and thus making their claim to be impartial a load of lies, they have now deleted that post from Facebook. Got 'em.

Its clear to me that Kidlington Parish Council and Gosford and Water Eaton Parish Council can not act impartially on this matter and should not be involved in the decision making process at all. Oxfordshire County Council and/or Cherwell DC need to take it out of their hands with immediate effect.

But they are involved they hold the lease and they have to agree to give them up. You might not like it but that's how it is.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

But they are involved they hold the lease and they have to agree to give them up. You might not like it but that's how it is.

And if they were impartial I'd have no issues with that but as we've seen over the past few days they clearly have several agendas and their minds are already made up. Because of this they can not be trusted to make an informed decision like they've said and the decision on the cancellation of their lease should now be taken by the landowner. I'm tempted to email my County Councillor highlighting my concerns and asking for KPC's and GWEPC's decision making powers in this matter to be removed to be discussed at the next cabinet meeting.

 

[MarkG]

I find your "outside" comments uncomfortable and unhelpful. The motives for owning Oxford have been done to death and not worth repeating.

Tell me the motives for them owning Oxford then. I don’t remember it being done to death. Just shut down by people.

 

[Scotchegg]

Tell me the motives for them owning Oxford then. I don’t remember it being done to death. Just shut down by people.

Business venture. Building a stadium and surrounding businesses in order to offset the cost of running a football club and eventually repay the initial outlay. Develop the Oxford brand in the far East, including lucrative TV deals. Get Oxford into the Championship and maybe higher to benefit from greater revenue and also to maximise the player development model. We've seen with McNally that buying for 100k and selling for 2m is nice, but buying for 2m and selling for 15m is so much nicer! And maybe along the way, they might just enjoy the opportunity of running and supporting a brilliant football club.

It's not charity, but it's equally not underhanded and their country of origin and ethnicity is nothing to fear.

 

[MarkG]

Business venture. Building a stadium and surrounding businesses in order to offset the cost of running a football club and eventually repay the initial outlay. Develop the Oxford brand in the far East, including lucrative TV deals. Get Oxford into the Championship and maybe higher to benefit from greater revenue and also to maximise the player development model. We've seen with McNally that buying for 100k and selling for 2m is nice, but buying for 2m and selling for 15m is so much nicer! And maybe along the way, they might just enjoy the opportunity of running and supporting a brilliant football club.

It's not charity, but it's equally not underhanded and their country of origin and ethnicity is nothing to fear.

Like Tiger did with Reading ?

 

[Scotchegg]

Like Tiger did with Reading ?

No.

 

[DannyW]

And if they were impartial I'd have no issues with that but as we've seen over the past few days they clearly have several agendas and their minds are already made up. Because of this they can not be trusted to make an informed decision like they've said and the decision on the cancellation of their lease should now be taken by the landowner. I'm tempted to email my County Councillor highlighting my concerns and asking for KPC's and GWEPC's decision making powers in this matter to be removed to be discussed at the next cabinet meeting.

You seem to be taking comments on a Twitter site as the Parish Councils position and I don't think this is the case. To accuse them of not making an informed decision is not helpful to our cause IMO

 

[MC Yellow]

Business venture. Building a stadium and surrounding businesses in order to offset the cost of running a football club and eventually repay the initial outlay. Develop the Oxford brand in the far East, including lucrative TV deals. Get Oxford into the Championship and maybe higher to benefit from greater revenue and also to maximise the player development model. We've seen with McNally that buying for 100k and selling for 2m is nice, but buying for 2m and selling for 15m is so much nicer! And maybe along the way, they might just enjoy the opportunity of running and supporting a brilliant football club.

It's not charity, but it's equally not underhanded and their country of origin and ethnicity is nothing to fear.

Business venture = intention for a return of capital and the generation of profit.

If all this money being generated goes to Oxford, it really hasn’t explained their own motive.

They are not from around these parts or life long Oxford fans who just want to give something back, so what is their end goal?

Please don’t say they are doing it for the “opportunity” of running a football club.

 

[Coffin dodger]

As I suspected its Victoria that's behind FoSB, and no shock that it's people that indulge themselves in snobbish attitudes towards football fan's that she is rounding up, imagine my shock!

I'm offended by that I've got a BMI of 23.5 so not overweight and I don't tend to wear colours, I also still play football and cricket so can consider myself a sportsman if only a not very good one.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Business venture = intention for a return of capital and the generation of profit.

If all this money being generated goes to Oxford, it really hasn’t explained their own motive.

They are not from around these parts or life long Oxford fans who just want to give something back, so what is their end goal?

Well they’ll own Oxford United. Presumably they get revenue from associated developments plus the the value of the stadium on their balance sheet.

 

[MC Yellow]

Well they’ll own Oxford United. Presumably they get revenue from associated developments plus the the value of the stadium on their balance sheet.

Their Balance Sheet? I thought this was for the benefit of Oxford United.

Hence my point. This is about making money.

I don’t have a problem with that, provided OUFC is protected and benefits from the relationship.

But to dress it up as investors who just want an opportunity to run a club is a bit naive of Egg.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

You seem to be taking comments on a Twitter site as the Parish Councils position and I don't think this is the case. To accuse them of not making an informed decision is not helpful to our cause IMO

There was a post of the Friends of Stratfield Brake Facebook group that read like it was written by KPC and/or G&WEPC and pretty soon after I highlighted that that post was hastily deleted. What are we to take from that?

 

[werthersoriginal]

Their Balance Sheet? I thought this was for the benefit of Oxford United.

Hence my point.

Apparently we’ll get the right to play there for 200 years or whatever. They own the club so I’m not sure how much you can see OUFC as a distinct financial entity.

 

[Grumpy Git]

If OUFC fail to get the ground built at Stratfield Brake, then I expect the local councils will be submitting applications for housing. Good luck Kidlington, your schools, GP Surgeries, local roads Etc. will be fkd.

 

[MC Yellow]

Apparently we’ll get the right to play there for 200 years or whatever. They own the club so I’m not sure how much you can see OUFC as a distinct financial entity.

As long as OUFC are protected, I have no issue with someone taking the gamble by investing their time and money and risking failure for the objective of making this club successful, marketable and ultimately, saleable.

Undoubtedly their comes a point where investors want to see a return.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Businesses don't have to screw over a community to make a profit, it can and is done in a mutually beneficial way all over the world. But that doesn't fit KPC's/FoSB's narrative:



Let's not bite to on social media.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Whilst it's tempting to call them out on social media and debate this is always going to be their response when things are going against them.

 

[Scotchegg]

Their Balance Sheet? I thought this was for the benefit of Oxford United.

Hence my point. This is about making money.

I don’t have a problem with that, provided OUFC is protected and benefits from the relationship.

But to dress it up as investors who just want an opportunity to run a club is a bit naive of Egg.

I've never said that they just want to be involved in a football club, only that this is a byproduct of their business venture. This is very much about making a return on their investment. And this will be achieved far quicker if Oxford United as a club are more successful. As I said before, the opportunity for revenue increases as you progress through the leagues. TV rights equate to a token payment in league 1, sponsorship also has it's limits. Move to the Championship and both of these significantly increase along with the opportunity to increase attendance, merchandise and everything associated with the match day experience. Add into that the increased gains from our player development model a league higher and theres no reason why we couldn't mirror the likes of Brentford and others in a few years.

Away from the actual football cluc, there is huge money to gain from having a hotel complex and other businesses within the stadium footprint. I don't have any acocunts immediately at hand, but I would bet that (outside of covid) hotels in and around Oxford are extremely profitable. Bicester Village itself accounts for a huge chuck of tourism which is why a number of hotels have popped up around Bicester. Add in Oxford city centre, Blenheim, the Cotswolds and everything in between and you could likely sell out a decent sized hotel most days of the year. Conference Centre, retail, leisure, entertainment, and a social hub for North Oxford, and the returns are likely to be in to the millions per year.

That is where this makes sense as a business venture, and why the Kassam was never an option. And no one has ever suggested otherwise.

 

[MC Yellow]

I've never said that they just want to be involved in a football club, only that this is a byproduct of their business venture. This is very much about making a return on their investment. And this will be achieved far quicker if Oxford United as a club are more successful. As I said before, the opportunity for revenue increases as you progress through the leagues. TV rights equate to a token payment in league 1, sponsorship also has it's limits. Move to the Championship and both of these significantly increase along with the opportunity to increase attendance, merchandise and everything associated with the match day experience. Add into that the increased gains from our player development model a league higher and theres no reason why we couldn't mirror the likes of Brentford and others in a few years.

Away from the actual football cluc, there is huge money to gain from having a hotel complex and other businesses within the stadium footprint. I don't have any acocunts immediately at hand, but I would bet that (outside of covid) hotels in and around Oxford are extremely profitable. Bicester Village itself accounts for a huge chuck of tourism which is why a number of hotels have popped up around Bicester. Add in Oxford city centre, Blenheim, the Cotswolds and everything in between and you could likely sell out a decent sized hotel most days of the year. Conference Centre, retail, leisure, entertainment, and a social hub for North Oxford, and the returns are likely to be in to the millions per year.

That is where this makes sense as a business venture, and why the Kassam was never an option. And no one has ever suggested otherwise.

You might not be comfortable with people referring to outside owners. Similarly, I am not comfortable with OUFC being referred to as a byproduct of their business venture.

But, I am sure we all want the same thing, no disagreement there.

 

[Followtheox1]

Just saying that “outside” owners of football clubs should be questioned as to their motives. As well as “local” owners.

Rich trainset owners who are fans like Brighton , the new Derby owner, Stoke, you don’t need to worry about until they run out of money, or die and their relatives don’t want to keep running the train.

Yep, went well when Robin Herd owned us.