5 year plan...

[StuRomseySaint]

Where do you dream / hope Saints will be in 5 years?

 

What I hope, and expect this time in 5 years is...

 

- We will have just finished around 8th in the Premiership.

- We will have been back to Wembley for a League / FA Cup Final ( and JPT 2011 )

- We will have a new 40,000 capacity stadium under construction.

- We will once again have the leading Academy in the country.

 

That is the best-case scenario and one which I think is very realistic.

[Big_Bald_Si]

Where do you dream / hope Saints will be in 5 years?

 

What I hope, and expect this time in 5 years is...

 

- We will have just finished around 8th in the Premiership.

- We will have been back to Wembley for a League / FA Cup Final ( and JPT 2011 )

- We will have a new 40,000 capacity stadium under construction.

- We will once again have the leading Academy in the country.

 

That is the best-case scenario and one which I think is very realistic.

 

Cortese was on the TV the other day suggesting he and Markus want us to compete with the likes of Utd and Arsenal - I reckon our proposed new stadium will be much more than 40,000. These boys are thinking big, and I love it!

[Avenue Saint]

Cortese was on the TV the other day suggesting he and Markus want us to compete with the likes of Utd and Arsenal - I reckon our proposed new stadium will be much more than 40,000. These boys are thinking big, and I love it!

 

what programme n channel?

[Danbert]

Cortese was on the TV the other day suggesting he and Markus want us to compete with the likes of Utd and Arsenal - I reckon our proposed new stadium will be much more than 40,000. These boys are thinking big, and I love it!

 

Keep dreaming

[scott_saints]

Mid table in league 2.

[stardustonmyfeet]

what programme n channel?

the pie in the sky channel

[StuRomseySaint]

Keep dreaming

 

Fanbase-wise it is not impossible, if Marcus spent big we would easily fill a 40k stadium and more than likely a 50k stadium... the fanbase is there, there is no question about that. So the turnover from gate reciepts could match the Chelsea and Tottenhams etc...

 

... the problem is the brand. It would take someone bloody amazing at marketing to turn Southampton into a brand like Chelsea / Man Utd etc and to be honest... it would never happen.

 

However with the right money spent, there is no reason whatsoever why we shouldn't be on a par with Everton, Tottenham and Villa... that is a very realistic target for Cortese to have.

[Charlie Wayman]

Where do you dream / hope Saints will be in 5 years?

 

What I hope, and expect this time in 5 years is...

 

- We will have just finished around 8th in the Premiership.

- We will have been back to Wembley for a League / FA Cup Final ( and JPT 2011 )

- We will have a new 40,000 capacity stadium under construction.

- We will once again have the leading Academy in the country.

 

That is the best-case scenario and one which I think is very realistic.

 

 

Obviously a quiet day Stu.

 

Even Liverpool's owners want out after only three years so the thing we should wish for most over 5 years is ownership and management stability. There are unfortunately far too many unforeseen hazards in football to feel easy about planning 5 years ahead.

 

What we must not do is get carried away by a couple of 5-1 results in the Third Division, where half the clubs are semi-pro, on the verge of being stony broke and just glad to survive from one year to another. Putting it bluntly, we shouldn't be down there in the first place and with our money, set-up and players we ought to win EVERY game 5-1.

 

Rather than worry about battles yet to come with the great and good of world football we should anguish over the fact that next season we will likely be entertaining Aldershot & Bournemouth (WHO TFAT?) teams that only a year or two back didn't even show up as a smudge on the radar of Saints fans.

[EastleighSoulBoy]

Fanbase-wise it is not impossible, if Marcus spent big we would easily fill a 40k stadium and more than likely a 50k stadium... the fanbase is there, there is no question about that. So the turnover from gate reciepts could match the Chelsea and Tottenhams etc...

 

... the problem is the brand. It would take someone bloody amazing at marketing to turn Southampton into a brand like Chelsea / Man Utd etc and to be honest... it would never happen.

 

However with the right money spent, there is no reason whatsoever why we shouldn't be on a par with Everton, Tottenham and Villa... that is a very realistic target for Cortese to have.

 

Competing with the likes of Villa, Spuds etc. sounds a realistic wish. I'd love us to be in that situation to be honest.

[StuRomseySaint]

Obviously a quiet day Stu.

 

Even Liverpool's owners want out after only three years so the thing we should wish for most over 5 years is ownership and management stability. There are unfortunately far too many unforeseen hazards in football to feel easy about planning 5 years ahead.

 

What we must not do is get carried away by a couple of 5-1 results in the Third Division, where half the clubs are semi-pro, on the verge of being stony broke and just glad to survive from one year to another. Putting it bluntly, we shouldn't be down there in the first place and with our money, set-up and players we ought to win EVERY game 5-1.

 

Rather than worry about battles yet to come with the great and good of world football we should anguish over the fact that next season we will likely be entertaining Aldershot & Bournemouth (WHO TFAT?) teams that only a year or two back didn't even show up as a smudge on the radar of Saints fans.

 

It is good to look forward, we have a 5 year plan and it is interesting to see where people see us at the end of the plan... as I said... good times ahead.

 

Oh yeah, and I am looking forward to a nice trip to Bournemouth and Aldershot next year.

 

2 derbies. WoOoOop

[Avenue Saint]

Obviously a quiet day Stu.

 

Even Liverpool's owners want out after only three years so the thing we should wish for most over 5 years is ownership and management stability. There are unfortunately far too many unforeseen hazards in football to feel easy about planning 5 years ahead.

 

What we must not do is get carried away by a couple of 5-1 results in the Third Division, where half the clubs are semi-pro, on the verge of being stony broke and just glad to survive from one year to another. Putting it bluntly, we shouldn't be down there in the first place and with our money, set-up and players we ought to win EVERY game 5-1.

 

Rather than worry about battles yet to come with the great and good of world football we should anguish over the fact that next season we will likely be entertaining Aldershot & Bournemouth (WHO TFAT?) teams that only a year or two back didn't even show up as a smudge on the radar of Saints fans.

 

 

 

u just carry on putting a negative twist at every available opportunity! at least alpine supports the club...

 

wasteman!

[Saint Lindford]

The thing is do we really want to be in the PL in its current guise? What is the point of being in a league when you cannot win it or have no real hope of getting into Europe via league position? The only thing the majority of teams in the PL are fighting for is survival.

 

IF we get there it will seriously test Mr Liebherr's bank account, does he have the necessary funds to a) get us there and b) keep us there?

[Tac-tics]

The thing is do we really want to be in the PL in its current guise? What is the point of being in a league when you cannot win it or have no real hope of getting into Europe via league position? The only thing the majority of teams in the PL are fighting for is survival.

 

IF we get there it will seriously test Mr Liebherr's bank account, does he have the necessary funds to a) get us there and b) keep us there?

 

Tell that to Fulham, Everton and Spuds.

[Thedelldays]

The thing is do we really want to be in the PL in its current guise? What is the point of being in a league when you cannot win it or have no real hope of getting into Europe via league position? ?

are you actually insane

 

forgive me..but little old fulham with bobby zamora and co are in the semi finals of the europa cup....

[corsacar saint]

We have one of the best owners in the entire league.[Just my opinion]

[Rebel]

I think in 5 years time we will be in the Premier League and looking to finish mid table.

 

It will take us 2 years to get back to the CCC - and 2 years from that to get back to the Premiership

 

But this is only if Cortese and Liebherr invest enough money in the squad to do it in this timescale (I reckon it would take £15 million on top of the £15 million they spent on buying the club)

 

(once back in the PL though it would take at least another £30 million spent on players in the first season to keep us there)

 

I also think we will be playing at an enlarged St Mary's with a capacity of somewhere between 40-45K

 

I've always thought Saints don't play enough on the fact that with Charlie Miller we gave football to Brazil

 

a pre-season friendly with Brazil at some point over the next couple of years should really be used to highlight this fact and we should play on it to position ourselves as a bigger club

 

also as probably the only Premiership club south and west of London (if we get there) we will have a huge potential catchment area for corporate hospitality, neutral watchers and future supporters

 

we should also focus on being the club of Wessex - not just of Hampshire proper! How about "the Saints, the spirit of Southampton, the Lords of the South Coast, the Kings of Wessex and the Pride of the South" as an unofficial strap line!

 

key to it all though is building the right squad - a good crop of home grown local boys brought through the academy with a sense of pride and place - added to with one or two big signings from abroad (Brazil, Argentina, etc) should do it!!

 

signing bright young players from Brazil and Argentina has certainly worked as a business model for clubs like Sporting Lisbon and Benfica in Portugal - so I don't see why it wouldn't work for us

 

there is no reason why - if we get the scouting network in place and play upon our connection with Brazilian football - we couldn't sign the next Kaka, Kerlon, Pato or Keirrison before he becomes a world star

[StuRomseySaint]

Rebel, I am going to agree with you. xxx

 

Southampton has a massive potential, the location, the fanbase and the business model.

 

IMO it needs to be marketed right though, as soon as Saints are back into the Premiership they need to really get back in to local communities across the South... I remember when we were in the PL watching a Saints game in a local boozer and being amazed at how many Saints fans jumped up when Saints scored... with Bristol City being back in the Championship maybe a tougher nut to crack this time.

 

However... Salisbury, Winchester, reclaim Basingstoke back off Reading, Bournemouth and most of the West Country all need to be hit again.

 

Soccer Schools in the half terms, player visits, free coaching at local schools etc...

 

Southampton could be a very marketable brand, there is a massive gap in the market for a 'big' Southern non-London club, out of all the teams in the PL and FL.... Southampton have the best potential to become that team.

 

You also need a few 'celebrity' players... your Gazza's or Vinnie Jones' of old, or your Jimmy Bullards of recent times... players which are characters and get people talking.

[Arizona]

I'd like to see us regularly competing with the likes of Spuds, Villa, 'pool and Everton for the Europa League spots. I think the big 3 plus Citeh will be forever out of reach. A couple of home grown lads in the England team would be nice, especially if one of them was Lallana.

[benjii]

Where do you dream / hope Saints will be in 5 years?

 

What I hope, and expect this time in 5 years is...

 

- We will have just finished around 8th in the Premiership.

- We will have been back to Wembley for a League / FA Cup Final ( and JPT 2011 )

- We will have a new 40,000 capacity stadium under construction.

- We will once again have the leading Academy in the country.

 

That is the best-case scenario and one which I think is very realistic.

 

Can't really see the point in that. If we're after a new stadium it should be 50k+ IMO.

 

TBH, I will be happy if we're in the Premier League (sort of), as getting out of the Championship is not easy.

 

Assuming we don't go up this year (although I think we might), your 5 years allows us:

 

promotion next year

two years in the CCC

then two years to become a top 8 Prem Team

 

That's quite a push.

[benjii]

Obviously a quiet day Stu.

 

Even Liverpool's owners want out after only three years so the thing we should wish for most over 5 years is ownership and management stability. There are unfortunately far too many unforeseen hazards in football to feel easy about planning 5 years ahead.

 

What we must not do is get carried away by a couple of 5-1 results in the Third Division, where half the clubs are semi-pro, on the verge of being stony broke and just glad to survive from one year to another. Putting it bluntly, we shouldn't be down there in the first place and with our money, set-up and players we ought to win EVERY game 5-1.

 

Rather than worry about battles yet to come with the great and good of world football we should anguish over the fact that next season we will likely be entertaining Aldershot & Bournemouth (WHO TFAT?) teams that only a year or two back didn't even show up as a smudge on the radar of Saints fans.

 

Yeah, I agree. We should all anguish. That'd be super-sweet.

[MarkSFC]

In 5 years time I expect us to be in the Premiership, possibly building on the first season back.

I hope that Pardew is still manager and I am convinced totally that Cortese and Leibherr will still be driving the club forward.

I expect our training facilities and academy to have gained a reputation for excellence around the country, if not further afield.

I hope that St Marys has either been expanded OR plans for a brand new 45-48000 seater state of the art stadium are in full flow!

I hope that within 5 years one of the BIG clubs have hit rocky ground, much like the skates, simply to refresh the order of things.

Clubs will always need money and big money at that and I hope within the next five years regulation is in place to limit the level of debt a club can rack up and in turn rely on turnover and benefactors.

In five years time I hope we are talking about the next five years with as much optimism, excitement as we are today!!

[Matthew Le God]

Yep, no point in a new stadium being 40,000. May as well do that to St Mary's.

 

Cortese saying in that interview that they may move to a new stadium would suggest they'd be looking for roughly 50,000 with better corporate and all round higher spec with better concourses and transport systems etc.

[tpbury]

SRS - I think you've started a positive thread. Is the Old Trafford effect getting to you? I think it's about where you pitch your dreams. We've got an opportunity here to shrug off all the depression and mediocreness that's surrounded the club, city, county and indeed the entire country. All the tawdriness at pompey. We can step away from that and be a 'big' club, bigger than we have ever been. It all relies on Markus' steady input of cash - I've never figured out the exact reasons for his involvement, it's almost impossible to believe there's a good-hearted billionaire willing to watch our club and community (including the diaspora) grow and be happy. Can it happen - ????

[SuperMikey]

In 5 years time I expect we'll be...

 

- In the Premiership, about mid-table (between 10th-15th) having won the CCC the season before, and lost in the play-off final the season before that.

- Still at St Mary's, but with an expansion planned depending on our Premiership safety in the first season, taking us to about 42,000 seats.

- Having a good cup run, getting to the semi finals of the FA Cup and League Cup (and having won the JPT again in 2010/2011).

- Bringing youngsters into the first team from our revamped academy, and hopefully developing players who can take England and the other home nations far in International competitions.

[mancsaint]

The thing is do we really want to be in the PL in its current guise? What is the point of being in a league when you cannot win it or have no real hope of getting into Europe via league position? The only thing the majority of teams in the PL are fighting for is survival.

 

IF we get there it will seriously test Mr Liebherr's bank account, does he have the necessary funds to a) get us there and b) keep us there?

 

ML has the funds, it's just a matter of IF he wants to spend the £60m+ every 2 or 3 years that would be necessary to get more than half way up the EPL and stay there. Taking into account the inflation of players wages AND transfer fees demanded by clubs.

There are a very limited number of really good, high ability players to go around, or be available to buy, the rest are journeymen or bog standard.

To be honest I really can't be bothered with the prima donnas in the EPL.

The Liverpool fans today think their club has sunk without trace by not qualifying for the CL and expect the new buyer to pour loads of dosh to feed their need for big success, the Championship is all I really want for the future, nothing more.

What has happened to Blackburn since their benefactor Jack Walker is not around. The same would happen if, God forbid, something should happen to ML.

 

Fireproof gear on.

[Tac-tics]

Does anyone have a link or a copy of this NC interview where he talks about the possibility of moving?

[StuRomseySaint]

SRS - I think you've started a positive thread. Is the Old Trafford effect getting to you? I think it's about where you pitch your dreams. We've got an opportunity here to shrug off all the depression and mediocreness that's surrounded the club, city, county and indeed the entire country. All the tawdriness at pompey. We can step away from that and be a 'big' club, bigger than we have ever been. It all relies on Markus' steady input of cash - I've never figured out the exact reasons for his involvement, it's almost impossible to believe there's a good-hearted billionaire willing to watch our club and community (including the diaspora) grow and be happy. Can it happen - ????

 

I don't think we will go up this year... haven't done since October. But I have always said that I believe Markus's view and plans for the club are different from when he saved us.

 

When he first bought us I think it was very much a business plan... he came to a few games and I fully believe he has now got the bug... and will start splashing the cash a bit more.

 

We have the infrastructure both in facilities and local fanbase to be competing with Villa, Everton and Spurs... and if Liebherr keeps his promises, that's where I expect us to be in 5 years.

[SuperMikey]

Does anyone have a link or a copy of this NC interview where he talks about the possibility of moving?

 

I think it was mentioned in the 45 minute interview with Solent a while back, i'll see if I can dig up the page on BBC.

 

EDIT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/8565161.stm

 

HTH

[Matthew Le God]

Does anyone have a link or a copy of this NC interview where he talks about the possibility of moving?

 

36:40 onwards

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/8565161.stm

 

I wouldn't exclude the possibility that we're gonna build a complete new stadium somewhere else.

Edited 16 April, 2010 by Matthew Le God

[Hatch]

Do we have to drink quite a few beers before posting on this thread?

 

Five years time - A Birmingham at best.

[Tac-tics]

Thanks guys.

[Matthew Le God]

Do we have to drink quite a few beers before posting on this thread?

 

Five years time - A Birmingham at best.

 

Listen to the interview above. They have much bigger plans and resources than that.

[Stuntman Mike]

 

However... Salisbury, Winchester, reclaim Basingstoke back off Reading, Bournemouth and most of the West Country all need to be hit again.

 

Soccer Schools in the half terms, player visits, free coaching at local schools etc...

.

 

Basingstoke is actually a Chelsea stronghold, not Reading.

[ThorpG]

I am all for positivity and I do think we will get back to the Premier League in time if Liebherr and Cortese are genuinely here for the long term (and there is no reason yet to think they are not).

 

However all this talk of 45,000 - 50,000 seater stadiums looks a bit far fetched. We have got a good support and this season has shown it but do people here really believe we could routinely exceed even 40,000 unless we were playing Man U, Arsenal etc...? Our support could maybe be as high as Sunderland at a push, but I can still see us playing in the Premier League against the likes of Fulham, Bolton etc... just touching 30,000 at best.

 

On that basis, how could the investment in increasing attendance be justified - it would be at a massive cost with little hope of a return on investment.

 

I will settle for being back in the Premier League battling it out with the big boys to get in the top half and having 32,000 sell outs for most games. Compared with where we are now, that sounds like the promised land to me...

[Saint Lindford]

are you actually insane

 

forgive me..but little old fulham with bobby zamora and co are in the semi finals of the europa cup....

 

Perfectly sane thank you very much.

 

And 'little old Fulham' are bankrolled by Al Fayed(sp) and have had the benefit of PL money now for a long time. They have done exceptionally well and I don't knock them for it but they are the exception to the general rule.

 

Now that Citeh are about to break into the top 4 monopoly and spuds and Villa are on the up the chances of a 'little old Fulham' doing it again are remote. By the time we reach the PL in say 5 years time the money in the PL will be extreme and we will not have had a slice of it for very nearly 10 years, that is a long way to catch up. To just stay in the PL will take in excess of £20m per year and for what, mere survival. To try and get to challenging for those coveted few European slots would take what? circa £60m a year. Pie in the sky figures I am afraid.

[Matthew Le God]

To just stay in the PL will take in excess of £20m per year and for what, mere survival. To try and get to challenging for those coveted few European slots would take what? circa £60m a year. Pie in the sky figures I am afraid.

 

Cortese has said in interview...

 

Nicola what are your hopes for Southampton?

 

NC: Obviously it's the Premier League, but not just to get into it and struggle for 27 years - that doesn't match my mentality. I'm not interested in doing things by halves. If you look at the top five or six clubs they're always the same ones and the reason why is because they have strong foundations - and we are now creating those.

 

Saints in those 27 years he is referring to averaged 12th in the top flight. From the quote above would it be right to assume he intends to make Saints a top 6 side and the investment that would take? Nicole and Markus are clearly ambitious and have also said they will completely restructure the academy with significant investment, create a new training ground and increase capacity at St Mary's or even relocate to a new larger, higher spec stadium.

 

They clearly have big ambitions, resources and the intention to fulfill those ambitions.

[SuperMikey]

I am all for positivity and I do think we will get back to the Premier League in time if Liebherr and Cortese are genuinely here for the long term (and there is no reason yet to think they are not).

 

However all this talk of 45,000 - 50,000 seater stadiums looks a bit far fetched. We have got a good support and this season has shown it but do people here really believe we could routinely exceed even 40,000 unless we were playing Man U, Arsenal etc...? Our support could maybe be as high as Sunderland at a push, but I can still see us playing in the Premier League against the likes of Fulham, Bolton etc... just touching 30,000 at best.

 

On that basis, how could the investment in increasing attendance be justified - it would be at a massive cost with little hope of a return on investment.

 

I will settle for being back in the Premier League battling it out with the big boys to get in the top half and having 32,000 sell outs for most games. Compared with where we are now, that sounds like the promised land to me...

 

I'm inclined to agree with you, but the attitude shown by ML and NC suggests that they really want to take us to the highest level. If we can sell out at this level against teams like Exeter, then i'm sure we'll have week-on-week sellouts in the Prem, even against teams like Wigan and Stoke (if they're still there). If we're selling out every week then we should definitely look at expansion, as imo there's no point in building a new stadium as St Mary's is still pretty new.

[ecuk268]

Markus didn't get to be a multi-millionaire by throwing his money around.

 

I think he'd need to be confident that we could stay in the Premiership before investing in new infrastructure.

 

Bearing in mind the problems in finding a site and then the battles with the nimbys for planning permission, maybe an extension to St Marys would be the better option.

 

So, hopefully the Premiership in 5 years, but increased capacity could take a bit longer.

[saintjinksie]

Where do you dream / hope Saints will be in 5 years?

 

What I hope, and expect this time in 5 years is...

 

- We will have just finished around 8th in the Premiership.

- We will have been back to Wembley for a League / FA Cup Final ( and JPT 2011 )

- We will have a new 40,000 capacity stadium under construction.

- We will once again have the leading Academy in the country.

 

That is the best-case scenario and one which I think is very realistic.

 

2010/2011 promoted to prem as champions of championship

2011/2012 consolidate in prem and finish mid table

2012/2013 finish 6th or 7th and win league cup

2013/2014 finish 4th and win fa cup and europa league

2013/2015 win league, fa cup and champions league in historic treble.

 

All IMHO of course...

[The Kraken]

Do we have to drink quite a few beers before posting on this thread?

 

Five years time - A Birmingham at best.

 

All we have to do is get back to the Premiership and we'd be on a par with Birmingham. they're having a bit of a one season wonder but in terms of size and potential they're still pretty limited. If you're saying it's take 5 years to get that far, then fair enough. But I think if/when we get back to the Prem we will see the type of backing that we never previously had with Lowe at the helm.

 

Think back; we used to sell over 30K to games against the likes of Fulham, Bllackburn etc. and that was with, lets face it, a quite average side who often punched above their weight. Against the likes of Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea etc tickets were like gold dust. For those games 40K would be an easily achievable target, something that Birmingham could only dream of.

 

The catchment area we are in is absolutely huge for the floating and corporate fans; we're seeing at the moment our core fanbase averaging above 20K in the 3rd tier of football. The potential for growth with the type of financial backing we've been seeing is really extremely encouraging.

 

I very much agree with SRS; it's a very exciting time to be a Saints fan right now.

[CB Fry]

We'll be a Birmingham or Fulham at best, a Sheff Utd at worst. In five years time we will be somewhere between 8th in the Prem down to 12th in the CCC. We may have had a season in the Prem.

 

I sincerely hope we won't be building a brand new stadium because five years will not be enough time to create the business case for building one.

 

A 40-45,000 seater stadium (probably about £80m worth of mortgage) would require us selling c26,000 season tickets a season with a waiting list. For at least three seasons. Then we might start thinking about it. So 2020 maybe.

[The Kraken]

A 40-45,000 seater stadium (probably about £80m worth of mortgage) would require us selling c26,000 season tickets a season with a waiting list. For at least three seasons. Then we might start thinking about it. So 2020 maybe.

 

That may be true, but to just take the ground to 40 - 45K it would be much more cost effective to just expand one stand at St. Mary's. From memory I believe we can add 8K new seats to the Kingland, 4K to the Northam and 4K to the Chapel, at a cost of £3k per new seat. So whacking in an extra 12K would take us to 44K capacity at a cost of £36M.

 

But I agree it's not something that should be rushed into; even at SMS we only got as high as 22 or 23K season ticket holders and for a stadium expansion like that I would expect to see that figure to have to rise quite significantly. Not beyond the realm of possibility though.

 

* Edited for poor adding up skills....

[Saint-Fred]

In 5 years time...

 

Liverpool and Man U have lost their current managers and with it their way on the field. Debt will have eaten up any opportunity to compete with the best on a regular basis.

 

Utd are owned by their supporters but half now wear grey scarfes (in memory of a famous game where they changed kit at half time) in protest at the other half who they say are ruining the club.

 

Liverpool were bought by a local lad who financed the deal through ocean direct. The club pay £6m interest per week on the loan. Somehow despite having a rubbish manager and rubbish team they still hover around the top 6 consistantly.

 

Chelski will be struggling to rebuild their side (again) after changing managers for the fourth time in a year.

 

Arsenal have lost their manager too having seen Mr Wenger retire to a castle in France in early 2012. With him went a string of (not so young, now) talent and they languish somewhere in mid table.

 

Leaving Jose Mourinio's Man City and Alan Pardews Southampton to compete for the premier league and Champions league double!

[Miltonaggro]

The best Saints could probably hope for as a provincial team in terms of potential attendance is par with Sunderland or (in the extreme) Newcastle - anything above 40K would be fantastic for the club. As Dav states BARR constructed the ground with the potential for add ons (as per the Stadium of Light) up to around 45K. If Marcus decided that this was desirable he could combine the re-construction with a redesign of the outside skin (cladding) of the building; and with some imagination the end result could be stunning.

 

Good to be a Saints fan at the moment...

[Panda]

Just a quickie! We are one year in to the 5 year plan so now its where do we want to be in four years. We are still in Div 3 (old money) so I would settle for 4 years time being our first back in the Prem! I may lack ambition according to some but, being pragmatic, could we hope for more? And why build a new 40k seater stadium when our current one is 32k and expandable. If Soton is to become the regional centre for top class football in central southern England it will need to be bigger and more accessible.

[Matthew Le God]

We'll be a Birmingham or Fulham at best, a Sheff Utd at worst. In five years time we will be somewhere between 8th in the Prem down to 12th in the CCC. We may have had a season in the Prem.

 

I sincerely hope we won't be building a brand new stadium because five years will not be enough time to create the business case for building one.

 

A 40-45,000 seater stadium (probably about £80m worth of mortgage) would require us selling c26,000 season tickets a season with a waiting list. For at least three seasons. Then we might start thinking about it. So 2020 maybe.

 

What does "being a Fulham" mean. They have an old ground that is smaller than St Mary's is currently and debts over £100 million. Read the quotes I posted earlier about how high Cortese and Liebherr's ambitions are.

 

Nicole Cortese has plans for the stadium improvement or relocation within his time at Saints so would be before 2020.

 

Every season in the Premiership at St Mary's Saints averaged over 30,000. That was without investment to the team to make it worth watching yet the crowds still turned up. If the team is improved in the Premiership so it is capable of competing then crowds will also go up.

Edited 16 April, 2010 by Matthew Le God

[CB Fry]

What does "being a Fulham" mean. They have an old ground that is smaller than St Mary's is currently and debts over £100 million. Read the quotes I posted earlier about how high Cortese and Liebherr's ambitions are.

 

Nicole Cortese has plans for the stadium improvement or relocation within his time at Saints so would be before 2020.

 

Every season in the Premiership at St Mary's Saints averaged over 30,000. That was without investment to the team to make it worth watching yet the crowds still turned up. If the team is improved in the Premiership so it is capable of competing then crowds will also go up.

 

 

I thought it was pretty clear that my references to the three clubs and then the sentence about their league positions suggests that I was talking about their current league position and performance on the pitch.

 

How on earth could you conclude that by "doing a Fulham" I was suggesting we move to a old ground smaller than St Mary's?

 

 

And I don't agree that by "investing in the team" we are suddenly going to pull in enough regulars to justify a 45,000 seater stadium and the gigantic costs that would entail.

 

Without investment in the team we finished eighth and got to the cup final and regardless of Cortese's ambition I don't think we can expect much better under this regime. Let's not kid ourselves we're destined for top four. We're not.

 

Like it or not year three or four in the Prem will see crowds settle at 30,000 week in week out. If we are selling out with a waiting list then lets look at a stadium. We got good gates previously in the Prem, but we didn't have a ST waiting list and that's the kind of demand we'd need to justify moving away from a stadium which is still essentially brand new.

 

But it is not as simple as more money > more success > more fans when we're back in the Premier League.

Edited 16 April, 2010 by CB Fry