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When (if) St Marys is extended


Jeff Le Taxi

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Which stand will be extended first? I think im right in saying only three stands have the capacity to be upgraded (Northam Kingsland and Chapel?) my money would be on the Kingsland!

Before everyone starts slating me for daring to mention it, let me just say it was Cortese that mentioned Champions League, and there is no way that will happen to a club in a 32k stadium.

Five year plan means we would HAVE to be promoted to the Premier League this season coming to stay on target, so development MUST be being looked at by the powers that be at the moment.

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there is no way that will happen to a club in a 32k stadium..

 

White Hart Lane is only 36k and they got Champions League football this season.

 

Of course an expanded St Mary's above 32k would help achieve any ambitions a little easier. It is too small at the moment should the club return to the top flight as shown by 30k+ averages last time Saints were there.

Edited by Matthew Le God
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so by your reckoning we will be promoted to the premiership then be top 3 the very next season?

 

I dont recall Cortese or anybody else saying the five year plan would culminate in a top 3 spot, only that we are supposed to be back in the prem by then.

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I took it as 5 years til Champions League, but then it may have been wishful thinking, apologise if im wrong, misery guts.

 

You are confusing being a misery guts with a realist. We've had talk this week of signing players like Micheal Owen, current England internationals and top 4 PL players, expanding the stadium, champions league football, copying Barcelona etc yet we have on average at St Marys we had 10,000 empty seats on average last season and we've yet to kick a ball in the championship. Lets take one step at a time shall we rather than getting ourselves at it with dreams of hosting champions league semi finals against the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona at a sold out 55k capacity SMS. FFS.

Edited by Turkish
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Unless we're extending SMS for 10,000 plus, it really isn't worth it for Champions League Football. I mean, sure, an extra 4,000 on the gate would help but in reality, the real money is from the TV revenue, not the gate revenue.

 

Assuming we ever realise those lofty ambitions!

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Unless we're extending SMS for 10,000 plus, it really isn't worth it for Champions League Football. I mean, sure, an extra 4,000 on the gate would help but in reality, the real money is from the TV revenue, not the gate revenue.

 

Assuming we ever realise those lofty ambitions!

 

Who was it on here who said we would get crowds of 45k if we were in the premier league because Liverpool do and they aren't very good at the moment? I am sure it was Le God Third Coming.

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You are confusing being a misery guts with a realist. We've had talk this week of signing players like Micheal Owen, current England internationals and top 4 PL players, expanding the stadium, champions league football, copying Barcelona etc yet we have on average at St Marys we had 10,000 empty seats on average last season and we've yet to kick a ball in the championship. Lets take on step at a time shall we rather than getting ourselves at it with dreams of hosting champions league semi finals against the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona at a sold out 55k capacity SMS. FFS.

 

Perhaps its because maybe im from a different generation than you? i remember extending the Milton and signing the european player of the year! Kevin Keegan!

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Perhaps its because maybe im from a different generation than you? i remember extending the Milton and signing the european player of the year! Kevin Keegan!

 

Unfortunately football isn't like that any longer. Unfortunately i did miss that era, my earliest saints memories at the 03/04 season. Football will have to change dramatically even for a repeat of what Blackburn did in the mid ninties. Sad, but true.

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Unfortunately football isn't like that any longer. Unfortunately i did miss that era, my earliest saints memories at the 03/04 season. Football will have to change dramatically even for a repeat of what Blackburn did in the mid ninties. Sad, but true.

 

Football wasn't 'like that' then either, we had a good financial team and a visionary manager in Sir Lawrie!

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Unfortunately football isn't like that any longer. Unfortunately i did miss that era, my earliest saints memories at the 03/04 season. Football will have to change dramatically even for a repeat of what Blackburn did in the mid ninties. Sad, but true.

 

F**ks sake, just checked and they haven't announced where the 2014 Champions League Final is yet, damn UEFA, was looking forward to gettting my plans sorted for that soon.

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F**ks sake, just checked and they haven't announced where the 2014 Champions League Final is yet, damn UEFA, was looking forward to gettting my plans sorted for that soon.

 

They'll probably chose the newly extended 100,000 capacity St Marys Stadium mate played in by the English Barcelona, so we wont have far to travel.

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They'll probably chose the newly extended 100,000 capacity St Marys Stadium mate played in by the English Barcelona, so we wont have far to travel.

 

Good shout. You reckon 100,000 would be big enough by then though? Think you're being pessimistic again mate, stop bringing this thread down.

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Football wasn't 'like that' then either, we had a good financial team and a visionary manager in Sir Lawrie!

 

But you had clubs like Saints, Ipswich, Watford who finished in the top 2 of the First Division, since then only Blackburn in the mid ninties are a smaller club who have challenged the big clubs for honours and even they were back by a wealthy owner.

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But you had clubs like Saints, Ipswich, Watford who finished in the top 2 of the First Division, since then only Blackburn in the mid ninties are a smaller club who have challenged the big clubs for honours and even they were back by a wealthy owner.

 

He wouldnt seem wealthy in todays context though, not compared to the likes of abramovich. And they smashed the transfer record for Shearer as I recall it with a mammoth £3m + dixon and speedie. Worked out well for us, that did. We started calling Saints "Blackburn reserves", anytime they wanted another player along to the Dell theyd trot and there went Flowers, Kenna, etc etc. The talk at the time was dalglish wanted MLT but he was already a rich man in his own right and wasnt interested in moving away from Southampton airport.

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St.Marys wont be extended - ever. If it is I will eat a turd (I get to pick the size of turd).

 

What is that hunch based on?

 

Cortese has already stated publicly and privately they are looking into it, the new scout has mentioned the club are looking into it and the owners have already showed a willingness to put their money where their mouth is by investing in infrastructure with a multi million pound upgrade to the training ground. I think a turd sandwich is coming your way relatively soon.

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Which stand will be extended first? I think im right in saying only three stands have the capacity to be upgraded (Northam Kingsland and Chapel?) my money would be on the Kingsland!

Before everyone starts slating me for daring to mention it, let me just say it was Cortese that mentioned Champions League, and there is no way that will happen to a club in a 32k stadium.

Five year plan means we would HAVE to be promoted to the Premier League this season coming to stay on target, so development MUST be being looked at by the powers that be at the moment.

 

If I remember correctly, it would be the Kingsland, capable of 8k. With the Northam and Chapel capable of 5k each. the Itchen cannot be expanded. The council has indicated that it will bend over backwards to keep the stadium within the city, so I believe the planning issues can be smoothed over. I would imagine the club could just do one side first and see how demand settles out, then do the other/s should gates indicate a further demand. Personally I would guess that 40k would be ideal if we are successful. The club will require planning guarantees that an option for further stands will be nailed on should the first be successful, otherwise you could be far better off building a new purpose built stadium elsewhere.

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Re opening Northam Rd after games is in my opinion Cortese showing the council we will not disrupt city traffic too much if we expand.

 

I suspect it's more likely that either Cortese won't pay for what are probably additional policing costs for closing Northam Rd (not unreasonable), or maybe the council is forcing the club's arm regarding this, given that the original St Mary's plans included a green commitment.

 

That was the need to provide fans with alternative methods of getting to the ground for as long as the crowds were above a certain level, and we're starting to look like we may have those kind of crowds again next season.

 

When it was obvious we weren't going to get big enough crowds after barely staying up in 2007/8 and Lowe closed the corners as a cost cutting measure the club got rid of the FREE bus tickets that used to be on STs and match tickets. If I remember correctly it was 25,000 crowds which had to happen a certain number of times (maybe 5 or 10) in order for the club to have to provide free bus transport, though I'm not sure if the "green" responsibility was dropped altogether by the Council to help the club out.

 

I will be interested to see if anything happens with that in the next season or so, and in the event of any expansion there will certainly be new carbon neutral demands for the club to meet. Maybe we'll get that train station... :D

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If I remember correctly, it would be the Kingsland, capable of 8k. With the Northam and Chapel capable of 5k each. the Itchen cannot be expanded. The council has indicated that it will bend over backwards to keep the stadium within the city, so I believe the planning issues can be smoothed over. I would imagine the club could just do one side first and see how demand settles out, then do the other/s should gates indicate a further demand. Personally I would guess that 40k would be ideal if we are successful. The club will require planning guarantees that an option for further stands will be nailed on should the first be successful, otherwise you could be far better off building a new purpose built stadium elsewhere.

 

As Manchester United have proved in the last 30 years, there's no stand that "can't be extended". Just because the offices and changing rooms etc are there doesn't mean they can't be temporarily relocated, and putting aside the big walking area outside the main entrance where Ted is, there are plenty of clubs with stands which pass above roads and railways. Even if there are properties behind, they can be bought out and developed over.

 

There's always a way if there's enough money - unless you happen to be a certain team 20 miles away, channelling all the funds into the team for a short term gain without a thought for developing the infrastructure.

 

Though we're a LONG way from needing to develop the Itchen anyway.

Edited by The9
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As Manchester United have proved in the last 30 years, there's no stand that "can't be extended". Just because the offices and changing rooms etc are there doesn't mean they can't be temporarily relocated, and putting aside the big walking area outside the main entrance where Ted is, there are plenty of clubs with stands which pass above roads and railways. Even if there are properties behind, they can be bought out and developed over.

 

There's always a way if there's enough money - unless you happen to be a certain team 20 miles away, channelling all the funds into the team for a short term gain without a thought for developing the infrastructure.

 

Though we're a LONG way from needing to develop the Itchen anyway.

 

Actually you're wrong. One side of Old Trafford is too near the railway line and can't be extended/developed.

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Every time I see this, I can't help but think how much more faith I'd have in it if the people who made it had been able to spell 'extension' correctly. And even more if they knew how to use capital letters and apostrophes.

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I took it as 5 years til Champions League, but then it may have been wishful thinking, apologise if im wrong, misery guts.

 

Apart from anything else, when Cortese refers to the 5 year plan he is referring to the club as a whole, not just it's position in the 92 club tier.

This is highlighted by him saying that we are "ahead of schedule" in the interview posted above - despite us missing out on promotion last season.

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