Revenue St Marys

[Horton Heath Saint]

With all the massive TV payments coming in, is our ground still too small now to cover increased revenue...salaries, signings etc

Do we need to step up another gear i.e increase seating, build up seating areas or is ground too small now?

One thing is that it is in a horrible location.

A last resort for Rupert at the time.

[Dig Dig]

Great question on a topic which seldom gets raised on here.

 

Yes, I think we should double it.

[John Boy Saint]

The one thing that can be said despite the location, and snipes about SMS being a flat packed stadium, the design does allow additional tiers to be added without the need for most of the grief the club went through to get a new stadium.

When the demand is such then is the time but when the Stadium is not full for the first game of the season why blow 3 good players ticket price for a few empty seats. When the queues are down the street for a few available tickets like in the latter days at the Dell then the question of extension should seriously be asked. The way we have gone in recent years that might not be too far away with a good tide and a fair wind.

[DuncanRG]

We will expand to around 40,000 if the club secures European football and regular top half finishes.

 

The current capacity is sufficient for the current outlay of the club.

[leithsaint]

And that is the end of that.

[Torres]

One thing is that it is in a horrible location.

A last resort for Rupert at the time.

 

Agreed.

 

A smaller ground at Stoneham, accessible only by car, would be infinitely preferable to St Mary's with it's greater capacity and easy access via public transport and the city centre.

 

I just wish more people could see this obvious point.

[swannymere]

I think its a great location, although not very pretty at the moment it's about as near to the city centre as you can get and it has reasonable transport links. If you've ever been to Reading or Derby you'll know that being stuck on an industrial estate on the outskirts of town is much worse.

[Saint_clark]

Current stadium is just about perfect size wise, a few sell outs a season and only a thousand or two below capacity for most others.

Location is also perfect, we definitely don't want to be on the outskirts - the surrounding area can always be done up, which has been hinted at in the past from the club.

In all honesty we won't even need to think about expanding for about another 5 years, and during that time we'd need to finish in the top 10 every season as bare minimum. An FA cup win and a couple of europa league place finishes and we may well need some more seats.

[Noodles34]

Why don't you give your opinion HS?

Can you also explain why you start every thread in some sort of 'market research' type of way.

And can you explain why you always start a thread but never return to it, unless someone accuses you of being a Skate etc.

And when that happens, can you explain why you always resort to a list of supposed affirmatives to SFC, not least your involvement with Duncan Holley?

Can you explain your agenda on this forum please?

 

Thanks, look forward to hearing back from you but feel sure I won't

[Mouldy Coat]

I think we should increase the capacity to 400,000 to cater for all of our Shirley based Polish Saints fans

[Bucks Saint]

"Is our stadium still too small now to cover increased revenue?"

 

"do we need to....increase seating....or is the ground too small now"

 

Unfailable logic which is too much for me

[Mattio]

The only better location I could imagine would be around the area of the central station (this would have been before Ikea and maybe west quay too?) The roads there could have capacity increased easier and better public transport links so less cars, but this area obviously wasn't available at the time, just hypothetical.

[BILLY]

I think we should increase the capacity to 400,000 to cater for all of our Shirley based Polish Saints fans

 

Racist

[SaintRichmond]

Agreed.

 

A smaller ground at Stoneham, accessible only by car, would be infinitely preferable to St Mary's with it's greater capacity and easy access via public transport and the city centre.

 

I just wish more people could see this obvious point.

 

Talking about obvious points re Stoneham

Easily accessible by Railway Station (already there). Choice of 2, Parkway or Swaythling. Road ? Motorways (already there)

Both would allow easy accessibility to the Stadium (by foot) Certainly no greater distance than at present (all round the houses at Chapel.and a Bridge over the River Kwai system at Northam end. )

Much better than walking over a Railway sytem, which although still parking it's trains by the Stadium, is of no benefit to it.

As you say, Infinitely preferable.

I do wish people would see these obvious points.

 

PS Where do you get the idea that a Stadium at Stoneham would be smaller than St Mary's ?

[Miltonaggro]

The only better location I could imagine would be around the area of the central station (this would have been before Ikea and maybe west quay too?) The roads there could have capacity increased easier and better public transport links so less cars, but this area obviously wasn't available at the time, just hypothetical.

 

The 'Leisure World' site would be nice. About as central as you could get...

[Snozzler]

A bigger capacity would just mean more wallies leaving early to avoid the full-time congestion and missing the last minute equaliser/winner. I'm all for that extra giggle so let's build.

My first post on here btw. Been a lurker for a little while and finally plucked up the courage to dive in.

[Tokyo-Saint]

I read an interesting post before on the Jonas Bros forum that said we were looking to take the capacity up to 40k and add a sand crawler to catch up all the droids wandering round town on a sat.

[suewhistle]

PS Where do you get the idea that a Stadium at Stoneham would be smaller than St Mary's ?

 

The plans, possibly? It was proposed at 24000..

[trousers]

[Whitey Grandad]

Talking about obvious points re Stoneham

Easily accessible by Railway Station (already there). Choice of 2, Parkway or Swaythling. Road ? Motorways (already there)

Both would allow easy accessibility to the Stadium (by foot) Certainly no greater distance than at present (all round the houses at Chapel.and a Bridge over the River Kwai system at Northam end. )

Much better than walking over a Railway sytem, which although still parking it's trains by the Stadium, is of no benefit to it.

As you say, Infinitely preferable.

I do wish people would see these obvious points.

 

PS Where do you get the idea that a Stadium at Stoneham would be smaller than St Mary's ?

 

Studies showed that it would take over one and a half hours to clear the (modest) car park.

[VectisSaint]

The only better location I could imagine would be around the area of the central station (this would have been before Ikea and maybe west quay too?) The roads there could have capacity increased easier and better public transport links so less cars, but this area obviously wasn't available at the time, just hypothetical.

Don't you think it would have been better to have built the stadium to incorporate Royal Pier, including docking facilities for Red Funnel and Hythe Ferries, it could also include a new terminus for the railway. The main stadium could have been built out over Southampton Water. I've seen mockups for this it must be feasible. Oh wait.

[The9]

Agreed.

 

A smaller ground at Stoneham, accessible only by car, would be infinitely preferable to St Mary's with it's greater capacity and easy access via public transport and the city centre.

 

I just wish more people could see this obvious point.

 

But we could have had a big empty shopping centre crippled by the credit crunch as well... and loads more traffic problems.

[doubleonothing]

I'm hopeful that the plans that show the redevelopment of the Itchen waterfront take place - MLG if you are reading this can you post them?

 

This is the way to go for me. The city needs it, the club will have revenue from elsewhere coming in, but will the council allow it?

 

The big question and one that has not been addressed yet on this thread, is the lack of our own radio station and MonkeyChicken petting zoo.

[The9]

Talking about obvious points re Stoneham

Easily accessible by Railway Station (already there). Choice of 2, Parkway or Swaythling. Road ? Motorways (already there)

Both would allow easy accessibility to the Stadium (by foot)

 

Good luck walking from Airport Parkway to the Stoneham site on the existing complete lack of pavements, on a busy main road and across a motorway roundabout... not even sure there's the room to put pavement in under the motorway, in this hypothetical example. And I can see how easy it would be for 10,000 people to walk across two motorway slip roads on a Saturday afternoon...

[SaintRichmond]

But we could have had a big empty shopping centre crippled by the credit crunch as well... and loads more traffic problems.

 

We have that already in Southampton, and traffic problems on Match days. Stoneham would have been so much easier on all counts IMHO

[SaintBobby]

With all the massive TV payments coming in, is our ground still too small now to cover increased revenue...salaries, signings etc

Do we need to step up another gear i.e increase seating, build up seating areas or is ground too small now?

One thing is that it is in a horrible location.

A last resort for Rupert at the time.

 

I can't understand what the hell this is about. Is the problem that our safety deposit box is too small to store all the cash coming in from Sky?

 

Bizarre stuff. Is the guy a skate? Or is he just thick? Or both?

[The9]

I'm hopeful that the plans that show the redevelopment of the Itchen waterfront take place - MLG if you are reading this can you post them?

 

This is the way to go for me. The city needs it, the club will have revenue from elsewhere coming in, but will the council allow it?

 

The big question and one that has not been addressed yet on this thread, is the lack of our own radio station and MonkeyChicken petting zoo.

 

I would like a giant Saints balloon as well, to help people find the place. And a log flume.

[The9]

I can't understand what the hell this is about. Is the problem that our safety deposit box is too small to store all the cash coming in from Sky?

 

Bizarre stuff. Is the guy a skate? Or is he just thick? Or both?

 

I'm just pleased that the forum has taken this tedious repetitive stadium thread in a new direction with a bit of Stoneham love rather than the usual endless Bigger Than Everton and Flexible Pricing entrenchments.

[SaintRichmond]

Good luck walking from Airport Parkway to the Stoneham site on the existing complete lack of pavements, on a busy main road and across a motorway roundabout... not even sure there's the room to put pavement in under the motorway, in this hypothetical example. And I can see how easy it would be for 10,000 people to walk across two motorway slip roads on a Saturday afternoon...

 

And of course things like that would not be addressed and catered for at the Design/Development stage ? Bit like a New Housing estate, Access Drainage Services etc etc are all planned well before building commences.

Dispersal of 10,000 people ?? (or 30,000 for that matter ) No harder a logistics nightmare than exiting from Northam end over that rickety old bottleneck of a bridge.

[SaintRichmond]

Studies showed that it would take over one and a half hours to clear the (modest) car park.

 

Would the Car Park be the same as the current one at St Mary's. I think not. It would be bigger, so I would contend that like for like comparisons are fruitless

As a matter of interest, how long does it take for ALL Football related traffic to clear Southampton on match days ?

[Whitey Grandad]

Would the Car Park be the same as the current one at St Mary's. I think not. It would be bigger, so I would contend that like for like comparisons are fruitless

As a matter of interest, how long does it take for ALL Football related traffic to clear Southampton on match days ?

 

I was involved with EBC at the time, although not on this project, but I took an interest in it. I think the car park started off at 6000 places and was then reduced to 3000, but my memory is not what it was. The present car traffic is dissipated over a large area which must be better than concentrating it all on a motorway junction. Can you imagine the queues on the motorway to get into the car park? There was a lot of opposition locally, filling up the strategic gap was a big concern, and Lowe was very keen on more than just a stadium. The Pirelli site in Eastleigh became available to the club, if they wanted it. But that was then and this is now. A large-scale redevelopment of the entire Itchen waterfront would be wonderful for the city.

[saintadjg]

If we were to up sticks and move the stadium.Then surely Fords is the ideal place.Air ,rail and motorway all close by.

[Torres]

But we could have had a big empty shopping centre crippled by the credit crunch as well... and loads more traffic problems.

 

And a cinema! That's what we really need next to the ground, a cinema. Or, even better, a bowling alley! Remember how brilliant it is to drink in the bar of the bowling alley at Northampton before a game rather than any the real pubs in the city centre.

[70's Mike]

I think its a great location, although not very pretty at the moment it's about as near to the city centre as you can get and it has reasonable transport links. If you've ever been to Reading or Derby you'll know that being stuck on an industrial estate on the outskirts of town is much worse.

 

Agreed

[kpturner]

It is that "Stadium Capacity thread" time again

[The9]

And a cinema! That's what we really need next to the ground, a cinema. Or, even better, a bowling alley! Remember how brilliant it is to drink in the bar of the bowling alley at Northampton before a game rather than any the real pubs in the city centre.

 

I drank at pubs in the town centre AND in the Frankie and Benny's across the road from the stadium at Northampton. It was... wow ! Two taxi journeys and massively out of the way, great stuff.

[70's Mike]

And of course things like that would not be addressed and catered for at the Design/Development stage ? Bit like a New Housing estate, Access Drainage Services etc etc are all planned well before building commences.

Dispersal of 10,000 people ?? (or 30,000 for that matter ) No harder a logistics nightmare than exiting from Northam end over that rickety old bottleneck of a bridge.

 

Difference is there are alternatives at SMS, Whereas Stoneham Car Parks were all going to exit onto the same road with very limited other parking within walking distance

[The9]

And of course things like that would not be addressed and catered for at the Design/Development stage ? Bit like a New Housing estate, Access Drainage Services etc etc are all planned well before building commences.

Dispersal of 10,000 people ?? (or 30,000 for that matter ) No harder a logistics nightmare than exiting from Northam end over that rickety old bottleneck of a bridge.

 

...the current ground has three open sides to disperse people from - people can exit via the roads at the Chapel end or Britannia Road/Northam as well. There's also an underpass which is much quicker than the bridge when it's busy.

 

The fact remains that the route from the airport station to the "ground" would need significant development and is currently a very hazardous route for pedestrians.

[The9]

It is that "Stadium Capacity thread" time again

 

Not this thread it isn't. This is a hypothetical argument about where to put the Log Flume.

[Torres]

If you've ever been to Reading....

 

...you know how amazing it is to arrive into the middle of town by train and then have to queue for ages to get a shuttle bus to and from the stadium. It's always the highlight of the trip.

[StDunko]

Not this thread it isn't. This is a hypothetical argument about where to put the Log Flume.

 

And not to forget the monkey-chicken petting zoo.

[Patrick Bateman]

With all the massive TV payments coming in, is our ground still too small now to cover increased revenue...salaries, signings etc

Do we need to step up another gear i.e increase seating, build up seating areas or is ground too small now?

One thing is that it is in a horrible location.

A last resort for Rupert at the time.

 

What the hell??

 

It's a great location, it's in the city, short walk from the main station, great pubs on the way, great atmosphere on the walk to/from ... have you been to Reading (to name the obvious one)? Rubbish, stale experiences when not in the centre of town.

[Noodles34]

I have to say......

[SaintRichmond]

The plans, possibly? It was proposed at 24000..

 

That was under Lowe-Life. And he managed to F**k up the negotiations big time. We got St Mary's with the Council's blessing, not Lowe-Life's

 

As of now, the capacity would be 40000 minimum I reckon

[hasper57saint]

My thoughts exactly.Easy access from rail,Airport and Motorway.

[Torres]

My thoughts exactly.Easy access from rail,Airport and Motorway.

 

 

Useful for the thousands of fans who fly to home games.

[SaintRichmond]

Useful for the thousands of fans who fly to home games.

 

 

Surely you've been on Cloud Nine lately, like the rest of us ???

[Noodles34]

if only we'd signed Didiga Drogba

[Torres]

forum faf.

[orchardsaint]

I think its a great location, although not very pretty at the moment it's about as near to the city centre as you can get and it has reasonable transport links. If you've ever been to Reading or Derby you'll know that being stuck on an industrial estate on the outskirts of town is much worse.

 

or the fantastic riverside in the north east!!! nowhere near anything, deriliction all around, and the closest pub/bar/drinking facility is the amazing boat. Sh1thole. it was a few years ago when i went up there so i hope it has got better!