Falmer Funding

[steward 433]

Costed approx £46 million TLO

 

[Tooting Gull]

Fair enough. Look, I'll be the first to admit to some impatience, but after 11 years and counting we're entitled to be.

 

[BensGrandad]

Football has now surpassed the days of a man or group of men with a 'few bob' running the club. The only way forward and for survival is man or group of men with mega bucks as has happened at QPR. Unless a similar scenario happens to us we will not survive or need Falmer we will be in the lower leagues of football for ever and needing a ground of similar capacity to Withdean, which we cannot fill. As TLO says that that will not happen in the forseeable future then I don't think that we will have a very rosy future.

I will still keep on supporting The Albion in the hope that somebody comes along with mega bucks not just a couple of million pounds.

In 1997 ish I went on SCR, when it was first said that we were going to Withdean for 3 years, and said that we would be there for nearer 10 years and that I would buy an oap ticket there and that Ben would never buy a junior ticket at Falmer. I am 65 in 2 months Ben was 14 in July. I look at these situations with experience of both BHA and their supporters.

 

[steward 433]

Fair enough. Look, I'll be the first to admit to some impatience, but after 11 years and counting we're entitled to be.

I admit these 11 years have dragged like a lifetime but now we have got the permission and all is on track for a December start.

There has been nothing i have seen so far that worries me!

 

[B.W.]

That report was a joke... a non-story of epic proportions...

Ignore the negative fools on here...

If we don't meet the club's own Sep, Dec deadlines then moan... otherwise, shut the fcuk up...

 

[Uter]

I will be accused of being a deafitist but I go along with the principal of 'no smoke without fire'.

I am certain in my own mind that unless 1 man comes up with mega bucks we will struggle to finance Falmer.

It is obvious to any long term supporters that the projected attendance figures needed to repay the debt are 'pie in the sky' hopes that will never be achieved unless we are at the top end of the Championship at least. If me , an ordinary supporter, can see this and form that opinion how must somebody whose job it is to investigate these loans etc see it.

I hope that I am wrong but I do not hold a lot of confidence for raising the money by other means other than 1 very wealthy man.

I am not sure what the projected attendance figures are, but whatever they are, why is it obvious they are pie in the sky? It's not obvious to me. If the club works hard to bring in supporters why shouldn't they be able to achieve large crowds at Falmer. Most clubs experience large rises in attendances when they move to new stadia. Why shouldn't we?

We have over 4 years left to start building Falmer. I really hope it won't take that long, but given that length of time I'm confident they can find all the necessary finance. And if finance did prove to be problematic I guess they could always return to their original plan of building the stadium in phases.

In my opinion the stadium WILL get built, it's just a question of when.

 

[BensGrandad]

I am not sure what the projected attendance figures are, but whatever they are, why is it obvious they are pie in the sky? It's not obvious to me. QUOTE]

When the first mention of costs was estimated at £30m the break even attendance figure was 14,500. The estimated cost has now risen to ,as suggested on here, £46m so obviously the break even attendance figure will have risen.

 

[Titanic]

I am not sure what the projected attendance figures are, but whatever they are, why is it obvious they are pie in the sky? It's not obvious to me. QUOTE]

When the first mention of costs was estimated at £30m the break even attendance figure was 14,500. The estimated cost has now risen to ,as suggested on here, £46m so obviously the break even attendance figure will have risen.

or the ticket price, or different/additional finance being available, etc... etc... it's not quite as simple as you appear to make it.

 

[steward 433]

When the first mention of costs was estimated at £30m the break even attendance figure was 14,500. The estimated cost has now risen to ,as suggested on here, £46m so obviously the break even attendance figure will have risen.

Why? Bank lending rates are a sight lower than when the building cost was £30 million. Revenue has also increased slightly above inflation

I think after the initial season of selling out pretty much then the "break even" attendance will have to be set

 

[Was not Was]

On the one hand, I agree with TLO that the club have been open about all these dates. And that is enough for me.

BUT - after 10 years of supporters being very involved and interested in off the pitch stuff , the club can't be surprised that the likes of Tooting want more information.

And - they should be managing relations with local and regional media well enough that a non-story like this doesn't make it to air, even on a slow news day.

 

[B.W.]

Cheer-up BG... as an experienced fan, you should know that:

If you can't be optimistic at the start of a new season, when can you be?

You are clearly a glass half-empty kinda guy... shame...

 

[Uter]

I am not sure what the projected attendance figures are, but whatever they are, why is it obvious they are pie in the sky? It's not obvious to me. QUOTE]

When the first mention of costs was estimated at £30m the break even attendance figure was 14,500. The estimated cost has now risen to ,as suggested on here, £46m so obviously the break even attendance figure will have risen.

Are you certain? I thought the original figure was 11000 and the last one I heard was 14000. Interesting! If you are right then achieving that figure will be a challenge... but not impossible. Look at Norwich for instance. They regularly sell out a 25k stadium and that is a city of 130,000 with few large towns nearby. Brighton is in a conurbation of 480,000. They have managed to get 20,000 season ticket holders primarily by targetting families.

The journey to Falmer has been glacial, but we will get there. I get frustrated and disillusioned sometimes; so much time has passed since we left the Goldstone. I've invested too much emotion into this club to give up on Falmer now.

 

[The Large One]

Cheer-up BG... as an experienced fan, you should know that:

If you can't be optimistic at the start of a new season, when can you be?

You are clearly a glass half-empty kinda guy... shame...

Quite, and as a landlord, host and victueller, he should undertstand more than most about the concept of re-filling your glass.

 

[Simster]

And - they should be managing relations with local and regional media well enough that a non-story like this doesn't make it to air, even on a slow news day.

How are they supposed to do that then? In the event, Perry agreed to the interview where he went *on record* saying that there are no foreseen problems. I thought it was handled quite well. Tooting's beef is with the board relaying more detailed information to an increasingly sceptical and concerned fan base.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Whether or not we sell out depends upon many factors, not least of all the brand of football we are playing and the Division we're playing it in.

We've got a good, mature squad of players and should be there or thereabouts in the play-off places, but it's still odds against promotion. The likelihood is we'll be playing League 1 football when Falmer is opened, and we know the demand for that has fallen.

The improved facilities and big-match experience will probably put 5,000 on gate numbers. A winning side will probably put another 5,000 on, and an attractive winning side maybe another 3,000.

 

[The Large One]

The break-even figures I have heard seem to vary between 11,000 and 15,000. However, as I said earlier, the club has very flexible formulae, and when the costs come in, a break-even figure can be ascertained.

But with BG's over-simplified maths, a figure of £30m may or may not have been mooted, but, in the time that the costs appear to have risen by 50 or 60%, so have ticket prices and shop goods in many instances.

 

[Was not Was]

How are they supposed to do that then? In the event, Perry agreed to the interview where he went *on record* saying that there are no foreseen problems. I thought it was handled quite well. Tooting's beef is with the board relaying more detailed information to an increasingly sceptical and concerned fan base.

It looked to me like he was on the defensive - like the Beeb had gone to him and said 'we hear there's a problem'. Managing relationships isn't about press releases and interviews, on the whole - it's what you do off the record and over a glass of red.

 

[The Large One]

It looked to me like he was on the defensive - like the Beeb had gone to him and said 'we hear there's a problem'. Managing relationships isn't about press releases and interviews, on the whole - it's what you do off the record and over a glass of red.

I thought he looked more irritated than defensive.

Along the lines of 'what the f*** am I answering this for again? You already know the answer...'

 

[steward 433]

It looked to me like he was on the defensive - like the Beeb had gone to him and said 'we hear there's a problem'. Managing relationships isn't about press releases and interviews, on the whole - it's what you do off the record and over a glass of red.

So the bloke isn't that comfortable in front of a camera!!! Neither am i.

 

[steward 433]

I thought he looked more irritated than defensive.

Along the lines of 'what the f*** am I answering this for again? You already know the answer...'

Very true as it has been said many times we knew all this anyway