[Albion] Stadium Upgrades

[rogersix]

Interesting. All I would say if a clubs has £150m income and £160m plus in transfer income something very wrong with football if still lose money. Goodness knows how much other clubs are losing that have not had our transfer income.

there is something very wrong with football

 

[The Albion Roar]

Woah, hang on a minute. If you remember, the club sent out a very badly worded and misleading survey way before safe standing was a thing at other clubs and has used the outcome of the survey as evidence for not having safe standing ever since.

Much like Brexit, I suspect if they were to send out another survey asking for people's opinions the feedback would be very different now

The survey may or may not have been loaded or misleading. From memory, it wasn't. Even if it was, that would have made fans MORE determined to have safe standing.

But that changes nothing towards the ambivalence the fans showed towards the issue. Similarly, nothing the club did influenced the fans' attitude at the time. I was at the meeting earlier referred to above. The lack of interest from Brighton fans was very real.

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

The survey may or may not have been loaded or misleading. From memory, it wasn't. Even if it was, that would have made fans MORE determined to have safe standing.

But that changes nothing towards the ambivalence the fans showed towards the issue. Similarly, nothing the club did influenced the fans' attitude at the time. I was at the meeting earlier referred to above. The lack of interest from Brighton fans was very real.

At the time, Safe Standing wasn't allowed anywhere.

"Ambivalence the fans showed" or "Ambivalence of some fans"

Let's face it, it will always be a minority of people safe standing appeals to rather than the massive amount of over 50s with great views in the West Lower.

When the club inevitably stops turning a blind eye to the current unsafe standing, I'm sure there will be a lot more demand for it. Not sure there's any money in it for them though so can't imagine it's high on the agenda

 

[Springal]

When the club inevitably stops turning a blind eye to the current unsafe standing, I'm sure there will be a lot more demand for it. Not sure there's any money in it for them though so can't imagine it's high on the agenda

Not sure many businesses in the world make major investment decisions without using ROI as a key metric

 

[The Albion Roar]

At the time, Safe Standing wasn't allowed anywhere.

"Ambivalence the fans showed" or "Ambivalence of some fans"

Let's face it, it will always be a minority of people safe standing appeals to rather than the massive amount of over 50s with great views in the West Lower.

When the club inevitably stops turning a blind eye to the current unsafe standing, I'm sure there will be a lot more demand for it. Not sure there's any money in it for them though so can't imagine it's high on the agenda

No-one had been calling for safe standing in the WSL. If it was going to happen, it was understood to have been in the North Stand.

The ambivalence was shown by the majority, not just 'some fans'. Fans had been calling for it, and when the club responded, asking for opinions, nearly all fell silent.

Since then, it has been on the backburner, not - as you say - a high priority. Why spend millions when people aren't bothered by what it will produce?

 

[El Presidente]

The money comes from TB, of course. But it isn’t written off. It’s secured as a loan. What’s so generous is that there is no payback timetable. But, assuming the valuation of the club matches the loans (which I doubt it does at this stage), then if sold, TB would get that money back. It’s a balance sheet at the end of the day.

On North Stand, I’d say that 70% stand and 30% don’t. That should make it easy to shuffle round and improve fan experience without putting people out too much.

TB has also put money into the club via shares, his total commitment is £427m per the most recent accounts. Newcastle were sold last year for £305m, Bournemouth a few months ago for £120m.

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Not sure many businesses in the world make major investment decisions without using ROI as a key metric

I agree - but this is a business who also like to play by the rules. Turning a blind eye to the standing in the North Stand, effectively to save money is, well, not very 2023 Brighton & Hove Albion.

 

[Springal]

I agree - but this is a business who also like to play by the rules. Turning a blind eye to the standing in the North Stand, effectively to save money is, well, not very 2023 Brighton & Hove Albion.

Agreed. It’d be cheaper to hire more stewards and get stricter in the north stand

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Agreed. It’d be cheaper to hire more stewards and get stricter in the north stand

Yes. And that will be the day there's slightly less 'ambivalence' towards SS.

 

[Hamilton]

TB has also put money into the club via shares, his total commitment is £427m per the most recent accounts. Newcastle were sold last year for £305m, Bournemouth a few months ago for £120m. View attachment 155340

So if we were sold for £270m (plucking a figure from thin air) he'd still be around £160m out of pocket.

Or he brings a Yank in to invest megabucks and retains a minority share.

 

[SAC]

So if we were sold for £270m (plucking a figure from thin air) he'd still be around £160m out of pocket.

Or he brings a Yank in to invest megabucks and retains a minority share.

Only if he wrote off his loans. He could sell the club for £1 (for his shares) but would still be entitled to £337 million back, subject to the T&Cs of the loan. I would imagine that the loans are only interest free if he is the owner.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Since then, it has been on the backburner, not - as you say - a high priority. Why spend millions when people aren't bothered by what it will produce?

I'm pretty sure that the cost of installing the rails falls some way short of "millions", the cost I've seen quoted for Celtic Park's safe standing section is around £500,000.

 

[El Presidente]

So if we were sold for £270m (plucking a figure from thin air) he'd still be around £160m out of pocket.

Or he brings a Yank in to invest megabucks and retains a minority share.

I don't fancy an Ellis Short, Randy Lerner or that clown at Crawley running the Albion!

 

[fly high]

When the club inevitably stops turning a blind eye to the current unsafe standing, I'm sure there will be a lot more demand for it. Not sure there's any money in it for them though so can't imagine it's high on the agenda

The stewards gave up a long time ago trying to make the North Stand sit down, since then what accidents have happened, none as far as I know, so how can you call the current standing unsafe?

 

[Bold Seagull]

TB has also put money into the club via shares, his total commitment is £427m per the most recent accounts. Newcastle were sold last year for £305m, Bournemouth a few months ago for £120m.

Would I be right in saying Newcastle was bought for £305m, with the new owners immediately putting £168m to cover the already made transfer spend and debt? And has it been assumed the £100m or so Ashley had in owed in loans was repaid within the £305m?

While it was bought for £305m - is that actually an accurate reflection of the market value of the club given how shady Ashley is and the whole deal was?

 

[drew]

The stewards gave up a long time ago trying to make the North Stand sit down, since then what accidents have happened, none as far as I know, so how can you call the current standing unsafe?

And that's the rub. If there were numerous serious injuries then the club would have to do something about it. The fact there isn't suggests these injuries are fiction. Furthermore, safe standing with rail seating won't eliminate any risk. There will still be people falling only this time they have a metal rail at waist height to hit their head on as they tumble.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

You actually haven't been able to move into the North Stand for the last two summers. No movement into allowed.

On a full season ticket no, but bizarrely available on the half season ticket

 

[drew]

Interesting. All I would say if a clubs has £150m income and £160m plus in transfer income something very wrong with football if still lose money. Goodness knows how much other clubs are losing that have not had our transfer income.

Still big numbers but the sales receipt may well be spread over a number of payments.

 

[El Presidente]

Would I be right in saying Newcastle was bought for £305m, with the new owners immediately putting £168m to cover the already made transfer spend and debt? And has it been assumed the £100m or so Ashley had in owed in loans was repaid within the £305m?

While it was bought for £305m - is that actually an accurate reflection of the market value of the club given how shady Ashley is and the whole deal was?

It's fairly transparent. The new co has issued shares to cover the £305m

 

[matski_98]

The survey may or may not have been loaded or misleading. From memory, it wasn't. Even if it was, that would have made fans MORE determined to have safe standing.

But that changes nothing towards the ambivalence the fans showed towards the issue. Similarly, nothing the club did influenced the fans' attitude at the time. I was at the meeting earlier referred to above. The lack of interest from Brighton fans was very real.

The survey was sent to all season ticket holders and asked the question of whether or not they wanted Safe Standing. No mention was made of where in the stadium it might be or who it might affect. Given that the majority already sit it was no real surprise that the response was ambivalent at best. Had they just asked the season ticket holders in the North Stand then the response could have been different but I suspect that wasn't the answer they were after when they sent the survey.