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Leaving St Mary's?

Pilchards

By Pilchards,
in The Saints

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Things you would want at a new stadium  

562 members have voted

  1. 1. Things you would want at a new stadium

    • Increased Capacity
      167
    • Multi storey car park
      35
    • Hotel
      10
    • Indoor Ski Slope
      26
    • Monorail
      29
    • Petting zoo
      63
    • MASSIVE Wetherspoons
      83
    • Argos
      9
    • The original Ted Bates statue
      94
    • Rollercoasters
      46

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Saint 76er

Saint 76er

Posted
Posted

IIRC Cortese met some time ago at SMS with Mawhinney who is apparently connected with the World Cup bid and Mawhinney was quoted as saying it was the only time he had visited a club to speak to a chairman.

 

Logic suggests NC made a play for a berth if the WC was secured. Previous to this some ITK on here had claimed knowledge that several redevelopment options were being considered including a fully roofed stadium at the top end of things. Seems like Cortese does like to think big and this may be his plan if we are endorsed as a WC venue. If the bid is won next December it would not surprise if an announcement from NC were to follow.

 

Also another ITK recently claimed that ML was in the process of purchasing (or attempting to purchase) the industrial land between SMS and the river and it was also mentioned a while back that ML was looking for further investment opportunities in Southampton. He really seems to like the place and seems like he wants to put his stamp on the local area!

 

Now if all of this is true (perhaps a big if) then a big, new, state of the art WC stadium would put ML's Football club into the world spotlight and no doubt increase it's value accordingly and think of the players Saints might attract to play in it!

 

In which case does a redeveloped SMS tie in with a new waterfront project, or does the SMS land become required for the new project (hotel/casino maybe) and a new super stadium is then built elsewhere?

 

Pie in the sky perhaps, but ML does have the money to make it happen if he wishes and projects of this scale could earn a fortune for anyone with enough liquidity and foresight to see it through, and yes they would need to start planning now for completion before World Cup time...

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Ken Tone

Ken Tone

Posted
Posted

This is all very well, but where would we put the away fans and the northam? Imagine the arguments if we had a whole new stadium to consider!

 

In fact come to think of it maybe Cortese has come up with this idea because too many people said not to move the away fans at St Mary's? ;-)

 

Btw anyone know how that consultation ended up? Any news on what the majority view was?

 

K.

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Arizona

Arizona

Posted
Posted

Hate to sound all modest, but I think this plan is all because of me. I emailed Cortese asking when he is going to build the theme park and petting zoo I wanted at SMS. He said there wasn't enough room, but Markus loves ducks and piglets so much he is going to build us a new stadium.

 

I may or may not be lying.

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Ken Tone

Ken Tone

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Posted
IIRC Cortese met some time ago at SMS with Mawhinney who is apparently connected with the World Cup bid and Mawhinney was quoted as saying it was the only time he had visited a club to speak to a chairman.

 

Logic suggests NC made a play for a berth if the WC was secured. Previous to this some ITK on here had claimed knowledge that several redevelopment options were being considered including a fully roofed stadium at the top end of things. Seems like Cortese does like to think big and this may be his plan if we are endorsed as a WC venue. If the bid is won next December it would not surprise if an announcement from NC were to follow.

 

Also another ITK recently claimed that ML was in the process of purchasing (or attempting to purchase) the industrial land between SMS and the river and it was also mentioned a while back that ML was looking for further investment opportunities in Southampton. He really seems to like the place and seems like he wants to put his stamp on the local area!

 

Now if all of this is true (perhaps a big if) then a big, new, state of the art WC stadium would put ML's Football club into the world spotlight and no doubt increase it's value accordingly and think of the players Saints might attract to play in it!

 

In which case does a redeveloped SMS tie in with a new waterfront project, or does the SMS land become required for the new project (hotel/casino maybe) and a new super stadium is then built elsewhere?

 

Pie in the sky perhaps, but ML does have the money to make it happen if he wishes and projects of this scale could earn a fortune for anyone with enough liquidity and foresight to see it through, and yes they would need to start planning now for completion before World Cup time...

 

I know Markus is a billionaire, but surely even for him this would be a fairly major investment? Could be well into the hundreds of millions.

 

K.

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RedAndWhite91

RedAndWhite91

Posted
Posted
Why? If it's near a station like Parkway it would be convenient. Any expansion of SMS would make it very difficult leaving the stadium, make town traffic, policing etc impossible.

 

I just feel that the current location is good. It's in the part of town where the club was formed all those years ago, there is a plethora of pubs not too far away and yes the station is a mile away, but it doesn't take that long to walk there does it. Traffic is just part and parcel of a Saturday afternoon

 

I don't know if you go to any away games, but going to places like stadium:mk and Colchester's ground, which are both in the arse end of nowhere, is not very pleasant. There are no pubs, and the only things nearby is a field, a McDonald's, and a motorway. There's no atmosphere or culture, unlike a stadium which is slap bang in the middle of the city in which it's based.

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70's Mike

70's Mike

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Yeah, but once a stadium gets to a certain size, it's very hard to have it in the town centre, so the more transport links the better. They wouldn't consider it unless it's substantially bigger, which they likewise, wouldn't consider unless they plan considerable team investment and long term success. So difficult to be negative about it.

 

i agree it is difficult to be negative about this but knowing the transport links , both road and rail , around Southampton at the present St Mary's is actually one of the better locations.

personally i cannot see this happening because of footballs image with NIMBY fever striking in local communities

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CanadaSaint

CanadaSaint

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I'm wondering if this is more a tactic to put pressure on city council and/or the landowners around SMS because Cortese's not seeing the cooperation he wants to see. We know he plays hardball.

 

I don't see the logic of it, given the expansion potential of - and around - SMS.

 

And I certainly don't understand the rationale behind diving into exactly the same kind of sh*tpile we've just managed to escape from - throttling stadium debt. Even with Markus's money there still needs to be financial sense attached.

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so22saint

so22saint

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Posted
I know Markus is a billionaire, but surely even for him this would be a fairly major investment? Could be well into the hundreds of millions.

 

K.

 

It depends on the cost of the land I guess. But imagine if we buy the land up the water and created a new stadium on the current site, expanded - road next door in a tunnel underneath, waterfront bars and cafe's, new railway station built.

 

Frankly, as I've said on here before, Southampton is a **** hole really (and I'm from Totton so know all about **** holes), but it has a fantastic location / harbour and maybe Marcus wants to leave a legacy as the guy who transformed it into something special.

 

Monaco of the UK? :-)

 

It's nice to dream...

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solentstars

solentstars

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Posted
Yeah, but once a stadium gets to a certain size, it's very hard to have it in the town centre, so the more transport links the better. They wouldn't consider it unless it's substantially bigger, which they likewise, wouldn't consider unless they plan considerable team investment and long term success. So difficult to be negative about it.

 

i agree plus if their is a new stadium,it may be used more often for other purposes ,then than just for football matches and 4 pop concerts a year.

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Saint 76er

Saint 76er

Posted
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I know Markus is a billionaire, but surely even for him this would be a fairly major investment? Could be well into the hundreds of millions.

 

K.

 

Exactly Ken, but the profits could be into the billions. I don't think these people think like you and I, and we may all be surprised at the scale of project they will want to get involved with. They won't think small, and I know this is a new concept for us, but we might have to start getting used to it ... :D

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Arizona

Arizona

Posted
Posted

We could rent out SMS to some local egg chasers or something. Doubt there would be much money in that though. Does seem like a very odd development though. Surely it would be a lot cheaper just to buy out all those warehouses by the Chapel End ( no idea what's in there) if they want hotels etc.

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Junior Mullet

Junior Mullet

Posted
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This is the first warning bell I have heard coming from the new management team. Something like this has to be approached with real caution and a whole number of questions have to be answered such as what would happen if Marcus died mi-move. There are some obvious risks to our club with ambition, as well as the obvious excitement. I just hope we don't lose sight of the fundamentals in the way Poopey have.

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SO16_Saint

SO16_Saint

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Posted
This is the first warning bell I have heard coming from the new management team. Something like this has to be approached with real caution and a whole number of questions have to be answered such as what would happen if Marcus died mi-move. There are some obvious risks to our club with ambition, as well as the obvious excitement. I just hope we don't lose sight of the fundamentals in the way Poopey have.

 

down negative man, down ;)

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spyinthesky

spyinthesky

Posted
Posted

I tend to agree.

 

NC is a cute business man

 

Better to spend out on players and reach the Prem before spending big on a stadium.

 

Think Liverpool's planned 70,000 seater will cost £360m (and can't be financed at the moment). So a 50,000 seater will cost, pro rata, £250m and where will it go?

 

It would be extremely difficult to keep such a plan secret in this area and, as far I as know (and I have a reasonable amount of contacts in the Soton business world and at City Council level) nothing has been mooted.

 

Thats not to say discussions could be going on with Eastleigh BC for example.

 

32,500 is a reasonable capacity for the moment and I really can't see a business case for expansion..

 

btw £30 odd million to build St Mary's seems a hell of a deal in retrospect so fair play to Andrew Cowans, Rupert and the ex Director (whose name escapes me who supervised the building contract)

 

When

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RedAndWhite91

RedAndWhite91

Posted
Posted
yes...but world war 2 put a stop to that..

 

Haha :D but I am being serious..

 

You can find loads of articles on Echo website about the council pondering over the idea of returning the tram network (which incidentally ended after the second world war ;)). Personally I think it would be good to have a tram network. Manchester and Sheffield have them, and the one in Sheffield is very efficient.

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Thedelldays

Thedelldays

Posted
Posted
Haha :D but I am being serious..

 

You can find loads of articles on Echo website about the council pondering over the idea of returning the tram network (which incidentally ended after the second world war ;)). Personally I think it would be good to have a tram network. Manchester and Sheffield have them, and the one in Sheffield is very efficient.

i think a monorail would be better

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Guided Missile

Guided Missile

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Posted
yes...but world war 2 put a stop to that..

During World War II, Markus Liebherr's father served in the engineering corps of the German army, specifically in a unit that built bridges for the German troops in Russia.

 

As such, I guess he owes us, due to the fact that most of the area along the river by St. Marys, was flattened by the Luftwaffe.

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exit2

exit2

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Posted

I for one would not be happy about a super dooper stadium on the outskirts of the City.

I think we would lose the heart of the club. If they wanted to knock down SMS and build on or around the ground then fine.

 

Call me a moany old git but "boys with their toys" came to mind when I heard about this.

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Thedelldays

Thedelldays

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Posted
I for one would not be happy about a super dooper stadium on the outskirts of the City.

I think we would lose the heart of the club. If they wanted to knock down SMS and build on or around the ground then fine.

 

Call me a moany old git but "boys with their toys" came to mind when I heard about this.

 

i swear some people will just moan for the sake of it

 

 

 

:o

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Arizona

Arizona

Posted
Posted
During World War II, Markus Liebherr's father served in the engineering corps of the German army, specifically in a unit that built bridges for the German troops in Russia.

 

As such, I guess he owes us, due to the fact that most of the area along the river by St. Marys, was flattened by the Luftwaffe.

 

I'd probably not repeat that oppinion at the next fans forum if I were you.

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StuRomseySaint

StuRomseySaint

Posted
Posted

They won't build a new stadium purely to increase capacity.

 

They will be looking at SFC as a revenue stream... so I have no doubt that the new stadium will have things such as ice rink/indoor arena, hotels, offices, etc etc as part of the development... which will be used to pay for the stadium running costs etc.

 

Whilst they are at it they may as well build for 40,000... when we finally make it back to the Premier League, then there is no doubt in my mind that our support should command a 40k stadium.

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Guided Missile

Guided Missile

Posted
Posted
They will be looking at SFC as a revenue stream... so I have no doubt that the new stadium will have things such as ice rink/indoor arena, hotels, offices, etc etc as part of the development... which will be used to pay for the stadium running costs etc.

If there's no monkey/chicken petting zoo, I'm going to be well p!$$ed off..

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