Falmer; The sequence of construction

[The Grockle]

Got a mortagage? It the same thing.

and if you think we've got worries, look at Liverpool trying to get to a new ground

Liverpool's problem with building their new ground has nothing to do with not being able to borrow from banks. The building of their new stadium depended entirly on the sale of Anfield to property developers, with the housing market nationwide hitting the rocks you can imagine how land prices have been effected in Liverpool.

 

[Albion Dan]

Got a mortagage? It the same thing.

and if you think we've got worries, look at Liverpool trying to get to a new ground

Yes but its not the biggest mortgage in the country, which wont be far sort of what ours will be outside the prem.

 

[Albion Dan]

Hull City spent much of the 2002/03 season struggling to avoid relegation into the Conference. I expect they thought that their brand new stadium was a complete waste of space.

This year, they managed to cram 24,924 in to watch a league game against Arsenal.

But Hull didnt pay any money for their ground. The council did.

 

[Albion Dan]

Short of employing Pricewaterhousecoopers to advise the Club on stadium funding issues, what more could they have done to plan for this investment?









Oh.

Brilliant. A load of those financial wizards that have got us all into such a wonderfull state of affairs for years to come.




Oh.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

How did they come up with their original 12,000 break even figure? Using the pricing structure they had when the break even figure came about? I.e. No student ticket prices etc.

 

[Caveman]

Brilliant. A load of those financial wizards that have got us all into such a wonderfull state of affairs for years to come.




Oh.

You seem very negative Dan?

 

[Albion Dan]

You seem very negative Dan?

I just get concerened when you see all these clubs in financial trouble with unmanagable debt, and I look at the costs of Falmer and get very nervous.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

But Hull didnt pay any money for their ground. The council did.

This money came from the selling of the rest of its stake in Kingston Communications which was originally the municipally owned Hull Telecom.

 

[Curious Orange]

Brilliant. A load of those financial wizards that have got us all into such a wonderfull state of affairs for years to come.

PriceWaterhouseCooper aren't bankers.

 

[Albion Dan]

PriceWaterhouseCooper aren't bankers.

They are financial advisors and auditors. Possibly worse.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

As you don’t build a shiny new stadium everyday I’m sure the board would have got the best consultants and advisors they could. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean anything when they have been pushed into a period (through no fault of their own) which has seen the worst economic conditions in the UK for years and a team which is criminally underperforming.

I’m sure the business case would have built in some contingencies for a rainy day but nowhere near what we are now experiencing. DK and the board are still putting on a brave face and the opening day is still another 2 years away but at the moment things are not looking good.

 

[Dave the OAP]

For a start land is much cheaper in Hull, Doncaster and Colchester!

forgive me Paul, but the land was free wasn't it from the council?

 

[The Grockle]

How did they come up with their original 12,000 break even figure? Using the pricing structure they had when the break even figure came about? I.e. No student ticket prices etc.

Has the club has ever said officially, that they would need 12,000 fans to break even?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Excellent, a whole bunch of people who know nothing about (a) large scale finance (b) stadium design (c) football economics and (d) industrial construction, offering doomsday predictions on (a) large scale finance, (b) stadium design, (c) football economics and (d) industrial construction.

I bet the people in charge of this project are listening VERY closely indeed...

 

[The Large One]

forgive me Paul, but the land was free wasn't it from the council?

Not from the University (the co-owners), it wasn't.

 

[junior]

Excellent, a whole bunch of people who know nothing about (a) large scale finance (b) stadium design (c) football economics and (d) industrial construction, offering doomsday predictions on (a) large scale finance, (b) stadium design, (c) football economics and (d) industrial construction.

I bet the people in charge of this project are listening VERY closely indeed...

I just love your posts,your so cool.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Not from the University (the co-owners), it wasn't.

Which in answer to a direct question to Mr Knight was not a sizable sum.
The land given to the club was not co-owned, only the land with University buildings on it.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Much as the pictures in the programme were nice, I couldn't help feeling on Saturday that the club thought that eight pages of stadium info were a handy way of detracting from the recent shambles on the pitch...although I suppose to be a little fairer, there's only so many times you can interview the same players and/or produce photo specials featuring Charlie Oatway at a kids club coaching sesson

 

[Curious Orange]

Which in answer to a direct question to Mr Knight was not a sizable sum.
The land given to the club was not co-owned, only the land with University buildings on it.

I remember a price of £5 million being mentioned.

 

[sully]

Excellent, a whole bunch of people who know nothing about (a) large scale finance (b) stadium design (c) football economics and (d) industrial construction, offering doomsday predictions on (a) large scale finance, (b) stadium design, (c) football economics and (d) industrial construction.

I bet the people in charge of this project are listening VERY closely indeed...

You beat me to it!

I've just read the last 3 pages wondering if I've been the only one listening for the last 10 years.

Much of the funding is coming from other sources. The club will not have a debt of £65M on the day the stadium opens. Nothing like. As most of the doomsday predictions started from this premise, they are all fatally flawed.

I seem to recall when I did a fag-packet calculation after an Argus story about the valuation of the University land, it had said that the gap between the valuations by the club and the Uni was £6M. That's the negotiating gap, not the total land price (though my conclusion was that it meant the Uni must have over-valued by approximately 100%!). I've no idea if it has ever been published as to what the agreed land price was. It was based mostly on the cost of replacing the educational space that the University were giving up.

I also remember that the original plan was to build in stages, but that along the way it was announced that the stadium would be built all at once as the business case stacked up to do it that way. Whilst that's possibly not as clear cut as it was when the decision was made, I'm sure it would have been considered to revert back to the phased consruction if it was necessary.

Personally, I'm trusting the board on this one and am just looking forward to seeing the new stadium take shape over the next two years. Even my daughter told me this morning that she "might" want to go to games again once we're there......