Pompey postpone new stadium plan

[Robot Chicken]

Oh deary me

Portsmouth have postponed plans to build a new stadium and will focus instead on redeveloping their existing home at Fratton Park.

Last year, the club unveiled ambitious plans for a new 36,000-capacity ground overlooking Portsmouth harbour.

But the project has been hit by several problems, including the credit crunch.

In the short term, the club has now decided to renovate Fratton Park, building two new stands to increase capacity by 10,000 to 30,000.

In a statement on the club's official website, Portsmouth insist the new stadium remains part of their ambitions, but "with a view to completion in line with the Football Association's World Cup bid for 2018/2022".

The first phase of the Fratton Park redevelopment, which will bring capacity up to 25,000, is scheduled for completion in time for the 2010-11 season.

The remaining work will be completed the following year.

Portsmouth announced plans for their new stadium in June 2008, with the club riding high having achieved their highest ever Premier League finish and won the FA Cup, but since then they have suffered a dramatic dip in fortunes.

With Pompey a reported £80m in debt, owner Alexandre Gaydamak put the club up for sale in December.

He had already seen manager Harry Redknapp leave for Tottenham, and in January, star players Jermain Defoe and Lassana Diarra followed him out of the door.

Redknapp's replacement, Tony Adams, stepped down from his post in February after managing just two wins in his 16 Premier League games.

However, the club maintain that it is not only financial considerations that have forced them to postpone the building of their new stadium. They also cite the need for new motorway exits and the building of a new bridge as well as difficulties with planning permission.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

groundshare at Falmer ?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Definitely shit creek. Why does Redknapp leave a trail of destruction when he departs from a club?

 

[Robot Chicken]

Definitely shit creek. Why does Redknapp leave a trail of destruction when he departs from a club?

He always seems to make a difference whenever he joins a club, Spurs were in dead trouble but will now be staying up...

 

[murraymints4brighton]

ground share at southampton...

 

[Tooting Gull]

Not sure how I feel about that. With the doom-monger hat on, it doesn't look good for our own stadium financing plans.

On the other hand, maybe we've done all the hard yards. They (and their banks) perhaps had a look at all our planning battles and didn't fancy embarking on a similar fight in the current climate.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Can't say I shed a tear when I heard this, they've got a ground which they can redevelop to a decent capacity and they've hardly had it tough these last four or five seasons. A couple of relegations would also be too good for them.

 

[Easy 10]

"In a statement on the club's official website, Portsmouth insist the new stadium remains part of their ambitions, but "with a view to completion in line with the Football Association's World Cup bid for 2018/2022".


What the f*** has the World Cup bid got to do with anything ?
(a) There's no guarantee England will get it
(b) Even if we did, there's at least 20 stadiums capable of hosting games right now, so what makes Pompey think their back-of-an-envelope scribbled out fictional plans will bear any relevance by then anyway ?

They might as well just say "look - its gone tits up for now, but we might have sumfink in 10 or 15 years, maybe for the World Cup and that."

durr.

 

[Falmer Flutter ©]

Also, don't World Cup stadiums have to have a minimum capacity of 40,000? Someone needs to do their sums again.

 

[Billy the Fish]

Not sure how I feel about that. With the doom-monger hat on, it doesn't look good for our own stadium financing plans.

On the other hand, maybe we've done all the hard yards. They (and their banks) perhaps had a look at all our planning battles and didn't fancy embarking on a similar fight in the current climate.

I don't think you can really compare the two. They are massively in debt for a start, not sure if that £80m is accurate but that would have a bearing on weather a bank would lend them money.
Their plans were very expensive, I'm not sure of the figure but remember it being a shit load more than the £60m we're paying for Falmer.

 

[Curious Orange]

The thing is, will Pompey ever do anything with regards to their stadium - they have persistently tried to get permission for new grounds in places where they are blatantly not going to get permission... and then when they get permission to redevelop their existing ground they choose not to - apart from putting a roof on the away end that made the North Stand roof at the Goldstone look like the height of technology. I can't help thinking that this is just yet another fantasy to divert their fans attention away from the fact that they are broke.

 

[strings]

I have an exclusive picture of the design for an improved Fratton park:

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

The thing is, will Pompey ever do anything with regards to their stadium - they have persistently tried to get permission for new grounds in places where they are blatantly not going to get permission... and then when they get permission to redevelop their existing ground they choose not to - apart from putting a roof on the away end that made the North Stand roof at the Goldstone look like the height of technology. I can't help thinking that this is just yet another fantasy to divert their fans attention away from the fact that they are broke.

That's exactly what most of the Portsmouth fans, particularly the STH's, I know around Rudgwick/Cranleigh have been saying - all the re-development/ new stadium plans are bullshit and always have been.

 

[Austrian Gull]

Sounds like pretty much what they planned to do about 10 years ago. The Portsmouth Harbour idea was a non-starter - about as believable as Luton's plans to build a stadium with a Formula 1 track.

If they go down this season, they will be in serious financial trouble.

Mind you, if they go down, they won't have to increase the size of their ground because the bandwaggon jumpers will disappear!

 

[Curious Orange]

I had a quick look on the Pompey site at what they are 'planning' for Fratton Park, and they look similar to the ones they actually had permission for. I still can't help thinking that this has the David Bellotti school of design whiff around it though...

 

[Simster]

Has anyone got that "HA HA!" jpeg handy? You know, the one featuring that Simpsons character?

Cheers.

 

[strings]

I had a quick look on the Pompey site at what they are 'planning' for Fratton Park, and they look similar to the ones they actually had permission for. I still can't help thinking that this has the David Bellotti school of design whiff around it though...

Portsmouth Football Club :: News - click on the fourth story down - it won't provide a direct link.

Just had a look myself - the plans are almost identical to the ones they scrapped - involving rotating the pitch 90 degrees. Pics are next to the article above if interested.

 

[Jam The Man]

Not sure how I feel about that. With the doom-monger hat on, it doesn't look good for our own stadium financing plans.

On the other hand, maybe we've done all the hard yards. They (and their banks) perhaps had a look at all our planning battles and didn't fancy embarking on a similar fight in the current climate.

I would imagine our funds will be sourced from something more secure than theirs...

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

Has anyone got that "HA HA!" jpeg handy? You know, the one featuring that Simpsons character?

Cheers.

 

[Simster]

Cheers for that Tom. Smashing effort.