QPR to get 50 million

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

i lived in shep bush/hammersmith for 3 years and they are THE west london team, i have lot of friends from up harrow way and they're all QPR ... i didn't realise until speaking to a rangers fan how small Fulham really are - also even though they are pretty close to each other QPR don't regard fulham as the big derby, more Chelsea which is pretty fierce.

don't think they need anything bigger than 25k though - i beleive they struggled to fill the massive white city stadium when they lived there for a while.

Nah. Three of the richeast men on the non-oil-producing bit of the planet decide to buy your no-mark club, they have an agenda. Which will become public in due course. Who knows, maybe they struck OIL under there!

 

[BensGrandad]

I would think that the agenda is reasonably clear build a new ground out near Heathrow and pay for it by selling the land at Loftus Road.

 

[BensGrandad]

You do talk some hogwash.

2 questions:

Do you not wish that one day we will be a force in the Premiership.
Do you think a ground capacity of 22500 will provide that.

 

[dougdeep]

2 questions:

Do you not wish that one day we will be a force in the Premiership.
Do you think a ground capacity of 22500 will provide that.

1) No, I hope the prem crashes and burns.
2) It is the biggest that we could hope to get permission to build. Also at the moment it is the absolute limit of what we can afford.

 

[BensGrandad]

1. Will not happen.
2. The design should have had the facility to extend if the need arose, like remove the roof and go up a couple of tiers etc. The granting of planning permission and funding and financial criteria may have changed by the time that we are in a position to warrant a larger stadium. At the least it would have shown ambition by the board.

 

[Bry Nylon]

The Prem will not crash and burn, but I confidently predict that Brighton will never form part of it. In our 100+ year history we have spent less than 2% of that in the top flight, and that was 25 years ago! With the introduction of parachute payments to relegated clubs the Prem is now a closed shop in all but name to maybe 30 clubs.

The fact that we plan to build a 22500 capacity stadium is irrelevent. What matters is how many people choose to sit in it every other week. Apart from the first few games when hopefully it will sell out, I should imagine gates of 10-12k, max, probably lower.
The demographics of Brighton are changing massively, plus the lure of live football - especially at a ground that is out of town, can only be accessed by wonky public transport and won't be 'pay cash on the gate' gives plenty of reasons for not going.

 

[BensGrandad]

I fully accept that Falmer will probably have less than 10k in week in week out, but I am not into engineering or stadium design, but would assume that designing it so that another tier could be added if needed would not have made a great difference to the cost that we are going to face.

 

[dougdeep]

I fully accept that Falmer will probably have less than 10k in week in week out, but I am not into engineering or stadium design, but would assume that designing it so that another tier could be added if needed would not have made a great difference to the cost that we are going to face.

That would have sounded great at the inquiries, "The stadium will not intrude on Falmer village or cause traffic problems" (EXCEPT WHEN WE ADD ANOTHER TEIR WHEN NOBODY IS LOOKING)

 

[SussexHoop]

Its a bizarre investment whatever way you look at it, QPR would really struggle to get 30k thorugh the turnstiles even if they were top 6 premiership and very little marketing opportunity from abroad. So I fail to see where they think they are going to get their return on Investment if they spend really large.

Football club's these days seem to be the rich man's latest accessory so I'm not sure they're looking for a return on their investment. There were rumours Ecclestone was looking to get involved at Arsenal but developments there put the mockers on that so he joined Briatore at QPR and let's be honest, it's cost him less than it would have at Arsenal and they've bought overall control of the club.

The Dairy Crest site which I believe is just up the road is seen as ripe for development so perhaps the plan is to build a new ground there. I'm sure we won't have any trouble getting the steel at a reasonable price. As for filling it, if it's Premier League football at a reasonable cost with the kind of players that sort of money will interest, people will go ... assuming of course we can still get tickets.

It's wonderful knowing after the problems we've had in recent years, we are currently financially secure but what worries me is what happens if & when these people get bored with it and decide to move on?

 

[El Presidente]

Football club's these days seem to be the rich man's latest accessory so I'm not sure they're looking for a return on their investment. There were rumours Ecclestone was looking to get involved at Arsenal but developments there put the mockers on that so he joined Briatore at QPR and let's be honest, it's cost him less than it would have at Arsenal and they've bought overall control of the club.

The Dairy Crest site which I believe is just up the road is seen as ripe for development so perhaps the plan is to build a new ground there. I'm sure we won't have any trouble getting the steel at a reasonable price. As for filling it, if it's Premier League football at a reasonable cost with the kind of players that sort of money will interest, people will go ... assuming of course we can still get tickets.

It's wonderful knowing after the problems we've had in recent years, we are currently financially secure but what worries me is what happens if & when these people get bored with it and decide to move on?

Good luck to the R's, they are a proper football team.

If the new owners do get bored then the chances are they will walk away and leave the money behind as little/no chance of recouping it. There is no profit in investing in football unless you are a Champions League outfit or a franchise (MUFC satisfy on both counts.)

 

[SussexHoop]

Good luck to the R's, they are a proper football team.

Cheers ... much appreciated and the good wishes are reciprocated.

 

[BensGrandad]

That would have sounded great at the inquiries, "The stadium will not intrude on Falmer village or cause traffic problems" (EXCEPT WHEN WE ADD ANOTHER TEIR WHEN NOBODY IS LOOKING)

I am sure that the designers could have designed a stadium that had the facility to be made larger without bring the fact to everybodys attention.

 

[Titanic]

I am sure that the designers could have designed a stadium that had the facility to be made larger without bring the fact to everybodys attention.

Do you KNOW that they haven't?

 

[BensGrandad]

Do you KNOW that they haven't?

I am basing this on the fact that MP has said many times that it cannot be extended. Lets hope that he is telling 'porkies'.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

This QPR business is very strange.

Two of the richest men on the entire planet- Ecclestone is worth about £5 billion, last time I heard, and Mittal £50 billion, while Briatore isn't short of a bob or two.

Obviously there's a connection between Ecclestone and Briatore, but I cannot see what's in it for Mittal.

People tend to invest in football clubs for the following reasons:

1) Because they think there's cash to be made
2) Because they're lifelong fans, typically with more money than sense
3) Because they're local, and the people in the area begged them to before the club went to the wall
4) Because they want to be associated with the perceived glamour
5) Because they fancy a bit of a challenge, ie taking a relatively small club and making it bigger.

In QPR's case, I can't see anyone making much money out of them, none of the investors are lifelong fans, nor local heroes, there's chuff all glamourous about Loftus Road, and frankly if you're looking for a challenge, there are more likely clubs to bung money than QPR.

Taking the Albion out of the equation, if I had a few billion and wanted some fun with a football club, just to see how big you could make them, there are plenty of small-medium teams I'd look at before QPR. Carlisle, Plymouth, Bristol City, Cardiff, Swansea etc, any one of those could be great fun if you absolutely chucked money in their direction. I'm sure there are others.

QPR have one of the worst grounds in the Championship, little prospect for expansion unless they move miles away, and are no great shakes in terms of crowds. Unfathomable, unless there's more to this than meets the eye.

 

[BensGrandad]

I would think that the sale of the ground/land would more than cover the cost of a new gound out towards Heathrow. That then leaves them with the plaything of strengthening the team to get into the Premiership.

Or as feeder club to one of the Italian giants.

 

[Collar Feeler]

They should sign this fella:

 

[SussexHoop]

Obviously there's a connection between Ecclestone and Briatore, but I cannot see what's in it for Mittal.

Ecclestone & Mittal are friends

People tend to invest in football clubs for the following reasons:

1) Because they think there's cash to be made

Doesn't apply to us unless they're seriously ambitious!

4) Because they want to be associated with the perceived glamour

The one thing we have over other clubs when it comes to 'glamour' is we're a London club

5) Because they fancy a bit of a challenge, ie taking a relatively small club and making it bigger.

I think perhaps yes and it was a cheap way of getting a London club.

there's chuff all glamourous about Loftus Road, and frankly if you're looking for a challenge, there are more likely clubs to bung money than QPR. Carlisle, Plymouth, Bristol City, Cardiff, Swansea etc,

but they're not in London

QPR have one of the worst grounds in the Championship

How very dare you! I know the ground's a bit tired but I love it ... very compact, very close to the pitch.