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| Dean Court is large enough for the moment. |
The season ticket news is especially welcome seeing that prices have gone up for those seats and that some of the new signings have only just been announced. Some of those who were sitting on the fence may also now decide to commit to another season watching the Cherries, while it will be refreshing to see some new faces who can add to the buzz around the ground. AFCB are still going to be one of the smallest home crowds in the division but that in itself can be an advantage as the larger teams are used to playing in front of huge crowds and it can be unsettling to have a smaller crowd virtually on top of you at venues like ours. The wall of sound that greeted players last season was tremendous for many of the home games and the more energy that is transmitted to the players the better.
The increased numbers will help club finances and the growth should translate into higher merchandise sales as well. What will also be on the minds of the board is how quickly the club is growing and what needs to be done for the club to stay at Dean Court and what this all means for the long term future of the club. I am sure we will hear about plans for the South End before the end of next season and if season tickets can rise to around 8000 by this time next year the club will start to get closer to one or two of the other clubs in the Championship in terms of season ticket holders. That may then force some consideration about a new stadium especially with ensuring access and safety to see AFCB is a priority, but Premiership money may be required to bring that to fruition. Stadiums also take a couple of years to build once all the planning applications have been approved and finances are in place.
On the World Cup Chimes Fans Fantasy league front, it is Mark-C that continues to lead the way with 430pts, Chimes is second on 374pts, then come AdamJS on 276 and AFCB-Tay close behind on 273pts.
Pick out the player you think will score the most goals in pre-season in our poll on the side panel and let us know what you think of the new away kit today and I'll post your comments from Twitter on the blog.
In the main I completely agree with you, but tweaking it, I see it like this!!
ReplyDeleteIt's very much chicken and egg, we were close to the play off's last season, and yes, I realise it will be harder, but who's to say we can't reach them this season, even go up. Crackers maybe, but it is what Uncle Maxim is heading towards after all, and you can never judge, if indeed, when it may happen. So potentially we would have the smallest ground ever in The Premier League, or so I believe!! I agree, it would certainly take a good couple of years to build a ground, by which time (heaven forbid), we may of gone up, and come back down again. The one good thing is of course is, we'd have a wonderful new stadium, parachute payments, and can build for the future. Although in all honesty, as Eddie walks on water, I suspect he'd keep us up!!
So then you have the siting of a ground. I've seen Chapel Gate mentioned many times, I'm really not convinced it's the right place, for a start, wouldn't it be too close to the airport?? not to mention the huge job of putting in the infrastructure to get 20,000+ people in and out on match day. The only other site on any note for me, would be Matchams, easy to put slip roads off and on to the Spur Road, distance is without doubt the one draw back. Which then leaves the athletics stadium in Kings Park. Would the area around it be big enough for a start?? we would at least have the car parks, and the training pitches already there. The athletics track would have to be re-sited not too far away, as it's well used, and why should those people be put to any great inconvenience, plus, the council would have to bend over backwards to help the club push that through, or lose it from the borough completely. All this is assuming we don't buy back DC, although now the housing is behind the East Stand, I would imagine that rules out enlarging that particular stand, it may well be that it has passed it's sell by date with regards it's use to the club now The one thing is though, I don't feel DC is adequate NOW, there is no way you will sell out week on week, it just doesn't happen like that, unless your Arsenal, or Manure. There will always be seats that no one particularly wants, unless it's another Liverpool tie, and then there's the actual rush for tickets, people are going to get fed up having to get in queues for most games, and before someone says, well they should get season tickets, many simply can not afford it!! So I believe the necessity for a new ground is quite pressing, if Uncle Maxim is serious about the club hitting the big time. I'm certain it is forefront in the minds of the board, I do wish they would share it with the fans a little, even if, because of some negotiating somewhere, it is delicate to say too much, it would be good to know something, unless they feel by doing that, they're opening up a can of worms, and silence is best right now. Hmmmm, it's like trying to work out who Eddie will sign next!! UTCIAD
Have just seen, that there is to be new improved access to the airport, this would quite probably be a massive help were Chapel Gate chosen as the siting of the new ground, perhaps THAT answers quite a few of my own questions, although, I still think it's the wrong place, being too close to the airport, but we'll have to wait and see!!
ReplyDeleteI dint know how well the Rugby Club are doing but do recall them having ambitions, while hard on the groundstaff an extra income might be useful, in terms of massaging ffp if nothing else
ReplyDeletecockbeard. the egg chasers will not want to ground share.
ReplyDeleteFootie teams need the grass cut shorter than rugby teams do, that and some rugby games leave the grass in utter turmoil.
DeleteFootball teams also attract much larger gates than rugby teams do - all other things being equal - and things are not even even close to being equal in this case. "National League 3 South West"? I went to their site and they don't even mention attendance figures.
We're planning on becoming a Premier League club one day, not a struggling Lge1 side that needs to share. Perhaps the rugby team could share with Poole town.
ReplyDelete