Potential New Ground

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So the same size as the Kassam Stadium then! I'd prefer 15k with potential of expansion built into the design to 20-25k.

Yes same size as Kassam but spread across four stands and much closer to the touchlines. That would just about do it for me. 15k would be my personal upper limit but again I don't see it as necessary.
 
I'd prefer 15k with potential of expansion built into the design to 20-25k.
This. As I always go on about, ill-fated Rushden & Diamonds had a stadium that was specifically designed so that extra 'levels' could be added onto the stands when and if they became needed. Obviously in that case they weren't (but equally obviously it was nothing to do with the stadium) - but that would make initial building costs cheaper, make incremental expansion possible (you wouldn't have to expand all the stands at one time), and make sure the stadium was not ridiculously large to start with. There must be other ways of building a 'modular' stadium to do a similar job as well.
 
Far being for me to be a spanner in the works @ Manorlounger but how does for example bringing a family of 4 to a new complex where only 1 goes to the game help the club?
You are also adding extra costs to the day and what time would people need to rock up to get a pre match meal? this would also be a virtual non runner for evening games what with peoples work schedules etc.

I also think it's a myth that folk did not return due to the area,facilities etc..They got to see Raheem Sterling and the like and then toodled off home and in all probability waited for Super Sunday and the like to see them again.
Agree that if only one out of a family of four attends the game, there is little for the club to celebrate however, if all four attend then it's a winner, surely?
That pre-match meal, by the way, might be a burger or a hot dog but served inside sheltered from the elements. The vendor would be paying OUFC for the privilege of being there as opposed to now where Firoka take the cut.
As for a proper sit down meal, did you know that at the Sunderland game, Frankie and Benny's took over £9000. Think how much that could be in terms of a sub let for OUFC in a restaurant within the stadium complex.
If attending a match becomes a proper social occasion for a family of four the club could be looking at some very good revenue streams. And, yes, not everyone can afford that but some will.
 
Agree that if only one out of a family of four attends the game, there is little for the club to celebrate however, if all four attend then it's a winner, surely?
That pre-match meal, by the way, might be a burger or a hot dog but served inside sheltered from the elements. The vendor would be paying OUFC for the privilege of being there as opposed to now where Firoka take the cut.
As for a proper sit down meal, did you know that at the Sunderland game, Frankie and Benny's took over £9000. Think how much that could be in terms of a sub let for OUFC in a restaurant within the stadium complex.
If attending a match becomes a proper social occasion for a family of four the club could be looking at some very good revenue streams. And, yes, not everyone can afford that but some will.

I do think you need to convert them to fans before the add on of meals etc, someone without an affinity to a club i don't see travelling to a football stadium complex for a meal when there's restaurants takeaways on their door step and even delivered nowadays.
This is the real issue as there are so many alternatives nowadays and many areas all seeking the same leisure pound.
 
Any discussion on the payback period if the club buy GR needs to factor in that the asset retains significant value even after the initial cost has been recouped from the rent savings and ancillary earnings from the conference centre etc. Potential income per seat never declines, unless the place started to fall down through neglect. The owners therefore have two means of making a financial return: the cashflow savings/earnings over the next 15 years or so plus the sale value/future earnings thereafter. It's not the same as paying for a car over 15 years which is worth next to nothing at the end.

This doesn't include potential net return from a fourth stand.

The more I think about this, the more I believe in the merits of staying where we are.

I also think a smaller/cheaper than discussed fourth stand to accommodate, say, 1500 seats would still vastly improve the atmosphere and be enough for away fans for most games giving us full access the the North Stand.
 
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Of all the things that irk me about the physical structure of Grenoble Road (including the poor/unfinished building, shonky loos, lack of hot water, missing stand etc) the distance from the pitch is oddly enough the one I find the most irritating!

Emergency service access................ was written in to one of many "stadia standards" many years ago.
 
I do think you need to convert them to fans before the add on of meals etc, someone without an affinity to a club i don't see travelling to a football stadium complex for a meal when there's restaurants takeaways on their door step and even delivered nowadays.
This is the real issue as there are so many alternatives nowadays and many areas all seeking the same leisure pound.
I might not have explained my thinking so well. I've got in mind making the whole deal of attending a game into something more attractive to the whole family. There may be one family member who likes the idea of a football match live and in the flesh, so to speak, but the rest of the family would rather skip sitting outside at a windy, cold and unappealing venue. If the venue can offer some basic creature comforts which make the whole deal more encompassing for the family, perhaps they would all go? I dragged my wife along to her first game at the breeze block and to make it more appealing, bought the most expensive tickets in the lounges. Half time tea/coffee (and biscuits) hot water and soap in the toilets, carpets(!) made sure that her preconceived notions of standing in a throng were dispelled. Then the football was exciting and gave opportunity to shout and holler and jump when we scored etc. She was sold on the idea by half time and we have now been season ticket holders for some time. I think it's easy to see what I am getting at with this. Now she knows how much fun attending can be, and with a moderate level of comfort built in, she's happy to go all over the place. (except Luton, didn't like the actions of the OB there who turned out in riot gear and were extremely intimidating with no grounds at all)
 
If the reports of the new Wimbledon stadium costing £30 million for 11000 seats are right, that works out as £2727 per seat.

If GR can be bought for £13 million that's £1040 per seat.

OK, GR isn't new and shiny but a pound earned there is worth the same as a pound earned anywhere else.
 
If the reports of the new Wimbledon stadium costing £30 million for 11000 seats are right, that works out as £2727 per seat.

If GR can be bought for £13 million that's £1040 per seat.

OK, GR isn't new and shiny but a pound earned there is worth the same as a pound earned anywhere else.
Can it be bought for £13 million?
 
My little boy is only 3 and has struggled with winter chest infections since birth. So as much as he loves football, and has been to a number of games, I tend to pick the games he comes to, as as a consequence, the games where Mrs Egg makes an appearance. If the stadium experience was better we would more than likely come to many more games as a family, generating not only income from the tickets but also food, drink and merchandise. So we won't need to attract thousands of fans who have never previously shown any interest in the club, but we can attract wider family members, friends, occasional fans and even tourists. There are no guarantees, and many clubs have got this wrong, but get it right and we could tap into a whole new generation of Oxford fans.
 
My little boy is only 3 and has struggled with winter chest infections since birth. So as much as he loves football, and has been to a number of games, I tend to pick the games he comes to, as as a consequence, the games where Mrs Egg makes an appearance. If the stadium experience was better we would more than likely come to many more games as a family, generating not only income from the tickets but also food, drink and merchandise. So we won't need to attract thousands of fans who have never previously shown any interest in the club, but we can attract wider family members, friends, occasional fans and even tourists. There are no guarantees, and many clubs have got this wrong, but get it right and we could tap into a whole new generation of Oxford fans.

This of course is very possible and is probably more feasible when you have Owners that either are fans (slim) or have a vision for the football club rather than other main criteria for being involved.
I am fairly sure that current fans would have suggested or brought their partners/Family to games which reflects in the gates already.
 
How would a new stadium make any difference to whether your lad gets chest infections or not? It's not going to be much warmer or drier. (Although some hot water so we could actually wash our hands properly might improve general hygiene I suppose!)
 
I still don’t buy in the 5000 newbies waiting for the new stadium and promoted to the championship to watch Oxford utd,it would be very interesting to find out what the uptake is on match days in the various food offerings, what percentage of home supporters buy something at each home game . Everybody is different match days for me is leaving home at 2 and hopefully home by 5.15 ,booze and food have never featured in my match days either at the manor or the Kassam, am I strange or not ?
 
How would a new stadium make any difference to whether your lad gets chest infections or not? It's not going to be much warmer or drier. (Although some hot water so we could actually wash our hands properly might improve general hygiene I suppose!)

Enclosed, warm, welcoming concourse, better facilities before and after games, toilets and changing facilities that were clean and hygienic, and having an enclosed stadium to reduce the wind and rain. All of these things would make games more attractive.
 
Wasn't that number mentioned a few times?

It does seem cheap I'll admit.

How much would have to be spent on it to make it anything other than basic? Are there any structural concerns that will require addressing in the next few years (it is nearly 20 years old)? If you take a mortgage out against it, what is it's value? What are the risks of ending up with negative equity. All things to be balanced.
 
How much would have to be spent on it to make it anything other than basic? Are there any structural concerns that will require addressing in the next few years (it is nearly 20 years old)? If you take a mortgage out against it, what is it's value? What are the risks of ending up with negative equity. All things to be balanced.

This is the thing. Would buying it and getting it up to scratch be any cheaper than building new? I don't know the answer - just wondering.
 
This is the thing. Would buying it and getting it up to scratch be any cheaper than building new? I don't know the answer - just wondering.

well if we foolishly gave 13m it would not cost another 27m + to bring up to scratch
 
well if we foolishly gave 13m it would not cost another 27m + to bring up to scratch

I think the £13 million is totally unrealistic. Weren't people bandying that figure about 15 years ago? I also think it would take more than £7 million to get it up to standard.
 
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