St Mary's Stadium

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:16, Whitey Grandad said:

It's sold for this season but what about the next?

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We averaged over 29k in the Championship last season. A lot of the empty seats were due to the 3k away end not selling out in the Championship. If we go down this season I don't see why the attendances would drop below our last Championship season. We'd be big favourites for promotion again.

Edited 13 December, 2024 by Matthew Le God

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:17, Weston Super Saint said:

We don't all hate our friends and family as much as you clearly do 😉

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You avoided the question

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:17, Matthew Le God said:

We averaged 29k+ in the Championship last season. Were they there for the opposition? Often the away end in the Championship wasn't full, that is why it is 29k out of 32k.

Plus in any case even if what you said was true... so what? It is providing increased revenue.

 

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Ah. So the secret is revealed at last. We let the opposition thrash us every game because we want to attract more of their supporters. 

Genius!

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:20, Whitey Grandad said:

Ah. So the secret is revealed at last. We let the opposition thrash us every game because we want to attract more of their supporters. 

Genius!

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You avoided the two questions

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:19, Matthew Le God said:

We averaged over 29k in the Championship last season. A lot of the empty seats were due to the 3k away end not selling out in the Championship. If we go down thos season I don't see why the attendances would drop below our last Championship season. We'd be big favourites for promotion again.

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Because we won't be winning as many games. 

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:21, Matthew Le God said:

You avoided the two questions

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What questions?

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:21, Whitey Grandad said:

Because we won't be winning as many games. 

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We have a squad full of top level Championship players. Why wouldn't they be winning as many games?

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:22, Whitey Grandad said:

What questions?

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The ones in the post you replied to but avoided

Edited 13 December, 2024 by Matthew Le God

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:23, Matthew Le God said:

The ones in the post you replied to but avoided

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They were statements. 

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:22, Matthew Le God said:

We have a squad full of top level Championship players. Why wouldn't they be winning as many games?

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Why? 

Two words. Russell and Martin.

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:15, Whitey Grandad said:

It will be a longtime before we see any increased revenue.  Certainly not in my lifetime. And we probably won't be in the Premier league for much of what I've got left.

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Nonsense. As soon as it is built and more tickets are sold it would be increased revenue vs now. That then allows for increased spending and hopefully a better squad to keep us in the PL.

[Weston Super Saint]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:20, Matthew Le God said:

You avoided the question

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So what?

[tttdcs]

I agree

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:16, Weston Super Saint said:

As you've already pointed out we've already spent many millions but to what effect?

A bigger income for us is like leaving a key of coke unattended at an NA meeting, bound to be abused.

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That is a very negative way to look at it. Sure they've messed up on some transfers. But many Saints fans are looking for ambition. Doing capital projects like this to increase revenue and the opportunity for bigger spending is ambition. Of course you then need to hope for the increased revenue to be reinvested well in players. But not looking to increase revenue is unambitious and will see Saints falling behind to rivals that are.

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:27, Matthew Le God said:

Nonsense. As soon as it is built and more tickets are sold it would be increased revenue vs now. That then allows for increased spending and hopefully a better squad to keep us in the PL.

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You're not very good at this business thing are you?

"As soon as it is built"

What timescale are you thinking of here?

"More tickets are sold"

In the Championship or lower?

But more importantly,  how long before we would see a positive return on investment?

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:26, Whitey Grandad said:

Why? 

Two words. Russell and Martin.

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Are you saying Russell Martin wouldn’t win as many games as Russell Martin? Please explain that one?

[RedArmy]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:27, Matthew Le God said:

Nonsense. As soon as it is built and more tickets are sold it would be increased revenue vs now. That then allows for increased spending and hopefully a better squad to keep us in the PL.

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Do you think we’re building it for free? 

[Football Special]

Anyone got the picture of the old plans with the chicken petting zoo or whatever it was? 

[LGTL]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:13, Matthew Le God said:

Why is increasing revenue 'utter bollocks'? Bigger income from a development allows for bigger spending under financial rules and hopefully better players.

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It’s utter bollocks because it will never, ever happen. And if it does, it’ll probably be 20 years +

By all means, come and say told you so in 2040 when we’re completing the double thanks to our new cinema on the river. 

[Weston Super Saint]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:33, RedArmy said:

Do you think we’re building it for free? 

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Once everyone's donated their spare Lego we can crack on for little cost.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:32, Matthew Le God said:

Are you saying Russell Martin wouldn’t win as many games as Russell Martin? Please explain that one?

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I think he's asking what makes us favourites to come straight back up with Martin still in charge? 

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:31, Whitey Grandad said:

You're not very good at this business thing are you?

"As soon as it is built"

What timescale are you thinking of here?

"More tickets are sold"

In the Championship or lower?

But more importantly,  how long before we would see a positive return on investment?

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1) I did not just say 'as soon as it is built'. Read the second part of that line! That says 'and more tickets are sold'. You took the first bit out of context!

2) A profit on investment is irrelevant to the purpose of the investment. The purpose is to increase revenue to allow for bigger spending under financhial rules.

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:32, Matthew Le God said:

Are you saying Russell Martin wouldn’t win as many games as Russell Martin? Please explain that one?

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Yes. He's a busted flush. He's been found out. Do you really think he would have as good a season as last? 

If you do, it would explain a lot, but have you forgotten the losing spells that he had?

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:34, LGTL said:

It’s utter bollocks because it will never, ever happen. And if it does, it’ll probably be 20 years +

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On what is that claim based?

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:36, Matthew Le God said:

1) I did not just say 'as soon as it is built'. Read the second part of that line! That says 'and more tickets are sold'. You took the first bit out of context!

2) A profit on investment is irrelevant to the purpose of the investment. The purpose is to increase revenue to allow for bigger spending under financhial rules.

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I included bit conditions in my reply.

Item 2 reveals your lack of business understanding. Without profit there is no extra revenue. 

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:33, RedArmy said:

Do you think we’re building it for free? 

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Of course not. But infrastructure projects like this are excluded from the financial rules. Building it is with the purpose of being able to spend more on transfers/wages than we are currently allowed to with spending tied to % of turnover.

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:37, Matthew Le God said:

On what is that claim based?

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Large infrastructure projects have a long timescale. 

[warsash saint]

Merry Christmas - what a bunch of miserable c***s on here!!

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:39, Whitey Grandad said:

I included bit conditions in my reply.

Item 2 reveals your lack of business understanding. Without profit there is no extra revenue. 

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Nonsense. The new financial spending rules are based on spending a % of turnover. Increasing ticket sales increases revenue and increases turnover. Profit doesn't matter in that sense.

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:40, Whitey Grandad said:

Large infrastructure projects have a long timescale. 

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Not 20 years for an expansion of a stadium.

[RedArmy]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:39, Matthew Le God said:

Of course not. But infrastructure projects like this are excluded from the financial rules. Building it is with the purpose of being able to spend more on transfers/wages than we are currently allowed to with spending tied to % of turnover.

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Just because we CAN spend more money doesn’t mean the money is AVAILABLE to spend. 

[LGTL]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:37, Matthew Le God said:

On what is that claim based?

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Have you seen the city of Southampton recently? You reckon the entire riverside is going to be transformed in what? 3 years? 5? 10?

Good luck with that. Like I said, feel free to laugh when it’s completed oh so soon. 

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:36, Whitey Grandad said:

Yes. He's a busted flush. He's been found out. Do you really think he would have as good a season as last? 

If you do, it would explain a lot, but have you forgotten the losing spells that he had?

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Not working with these players in the PL does not mean it wouldn't vs Championship teams. Our squad is packed full of top level Championship players who are in the gap between too good for one league but not good enough for the next league. If we go down with Martin we'd be big favourites for promotion. Especially given we'd be a year 1 parachute money team.

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:35, Lee On Solent Saint said:

I think he's asking what makes us favourites to come straight back up with Martin still in charge? 

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See answer above

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:42, Matthew Le God said:

Not 20 years for an expansion of a stadium.

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These plans were much more ambitious that that.

Besides,  have you considered when the break even point might be reached for a stadium expansion?

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:45, Matthew Le God said:

Not working with these players in the PL does not mean it wouldn't vs Championship teams. Our squad is packed full of top level Championship players who are in the gap between too good for one league but not good enough for the next league. If we go down with Martin we'd be big favourites for promotion. Especially given we'd be a year 1 parachute money team.

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Oh dear. We might be favourites for the playoffs but promotion is a long way above that. I think you may have got carried away by last season. It wasn't as great as you might think.

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:43, LGTL said:

Have you seen the city of Southampton recently? You reckon the entire riverside is going to be transformed in what? 3 years? 5? 10?

Good luck with that. Like I said, feel free to laugh when it’s completed oh so soon. 

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It does not require the whole project along the riverside to be complete for Saints to start benefitting from it. A stadium expansion can be relatively quick.

[die Mannyschaft]

I can't see any ground increases happening. If the desperately needs more revenue whrn they already get £120m in TV money a bolt on 3k seats won't come from fans eating 1,000s of pies and hot dogs and litres of beer. You would think 29k attendance per match plus shop sales is already filing a room full of cash. Better off paying for a platform stop for rubbish SWT. 

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:49, Matthew Le God said:

It does not require the whole project along the riverside to be complete for Saints to start benefitting from it. A stadium expansion can be relatively quick.

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There is a lot more to expanding a stadium than just adding some extra seats. There are many planning hoops to jump through. 

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:46, Whitey Grandad said:

These plans were much more ambitious that that.

Besides,  have you considered when the break even point might be reached for a stadium expansion?

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You keep overlooking the purpose of the expansion. 

The key reason is for new financhial rules in football. Breaking even isn't the key point... the key point to help with these rules is that higher turnover allows under the rules for bigger spending. Spending is restricted to a % of turnover.

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:51, Whitey Grandad said:

There is a lot more to expanding a stadium than just adding some extra seats. There are many planning hoops to jump through. 

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Which is why they have been working closely with the council planning department for a long time.

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:50, die Mannyschaft said:

I can't see any ground increases happening. If the desperately needs more revenue whrn they already get £120m in TV money a bolt on 3k seats won't come from fans eating 1,000s of pies and hot dogs and litres of beer. You would think 29k attendance per match plus shop sales is already filing a room full of cash. Better off paying for a platform stop for rubbish SWT. 

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It won't be 3k

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:53, Matthew Le God said:

Which is why they have been working closely with the council planning department for a long time.

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That does nothing to reduce the timescales. 

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:55, Whitey Grandad said:

That does nothing to reduce the timescales. 

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Today isn't day one, this has been in the works for a long time and lots of groundwork already done. So in terms of time from today it is reduced compared to if today was day one of looking into this.

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:55, Matthew Le God said:

It won't be 3k

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So let's say 10k seats at a net £400 a year, if that (don't forget VAT). That's a whopping extra £4m a year.

[Whitey Grandad]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:57, Matthew Le God said:

Today isn't day one, this has been in the works for a long time and lots of groundwork already done. So in terms of time from today it is reduced compared to if today was day one of looking into this.

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What about the planning enquiry? 

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:58, Whitey Grandad said:

So let's say 10k seats at a net £400 a year, if that (don't forget VAT). That's a whopping extra £4m a year.

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Have you decided to ignore extra corporate revenue, refreshment revenue, merchandise revenue, non football event revenue, sponsorship increase due to extra spaces etc etc?

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:58, Whitey Grandad said:

What about the planning enquiry? 

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Crystal Palace announced plans to redevelop Selhurst Park, and were given planning permission 4 months later!

4 months for planning! Hardly a long time. 

Edited 13 December, 2024 by Matthew Le God

[It's There]

I think it’s great! 40000 plus on a good day… it will happen folks…the good day that is.

[Matthew Le God]

  On 13/12/2024 at 18:49, Whitey Grandad said:

Oh dear. We might be favourites for the playoffs but promotion is a long way above that. I think you may have got carried away by last season. It wasn't as great as you might think.

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Apart from the other two relegated clubs, who in the Championship would have a better squad than us?

Edited 13 December, 2024 by Matthew Le God