FGR stadium plans unveiled

[Football Purist]

They were getting good crowds though. But the fact is you have to balance the running of a club to the income generated, they paid the price for overspending. First club to pay a six figure fee in non league. Carl Alford !

Hasn't "cheapened" it at all, what it's done is remove clubs who seem to have a divine right to football league status and given up and coming clubs the right opportunity to move up. I take it you favour the "old guard" approach where your status would be guaranteed if you got opposing chairman pissed up at the AGM.
You are where you are in any league, history, big grounds and gates mean nothing thankfully.

Rushden's crowds,at about 4,000 were never likely to get much bigger,and would most likely have dipped considerably once their ptogress had been checked.
It was,fundamentally,a barmpot idea by Mad Max to site an ambitious club in Irthlingborough (!!!!!) and he really should have stuck to making bovver boots,the loon.

 

[Southern Shayman]

Once (and if) the planning permission goes through and FGR move to new site, it is inevitable that they will have the potential to become the biggest club in Gloucestershire. FGR will have a bigger catchment area than Cheltenham and a ground a lot easier to reach than at TNL or even World of Smiles. Unlike some other clubs who have relocated to industrial estates, the new ground will not be in the middle of a maze. Okay it will be a outside a housing area and a steady walk to reach but it's well within a comfortable short bike ride. There will be plenty of car parking spaces plus I believe that Eco-Park might be put on a bus route.

And yes FGR is probably the very best advertising tool for Ecotricity, which bodes well for its future.

But all this will be a gradual process, perhaps even taking up to a decade. This year FGR and Cheltenham have been good for each other, with best attended games for both home and away matches.

Also another poster asks if the club will lose its historic name and when asked Dale Vince has stated that the Forest Green name will remain.

There are some pretty reasonable posts from FGR fans on the stadium issue and a few that are a little rose tinted. This however takes the optimistic to the borderline delusional. How on earth is a "comfortable bike ride" to a housing state in any way better than an industrial estate?

 

[Joe.]

They'll be plenty of room. They were planning on buying surrounding companies last I heard.

 

[ROBH]

There are some pretty reasonable posts from FGR fans on the stadium issue and a few that are a little rose tinted. This however takes the optimistic to the borderline delusional. How on earth is a "comfortable bike ride" to a housing state in any way better than an industrial estate?

Yes the word "potential & decade" pops up a lot.
Really dependant on the sugar daddy maintaining his enthusiasm.
A ground built in the middle of an industrial estate can easily be smacked down, just look at Rushdens, lovely ground pounded into brick dust and twisted girders.

 

[ROBH]

Because the area is growing nothing to say they will flood to FGR on a Saturday afternoon.
An away following of 40 says to me that the crowds which have built up will quickly dwindle.
Pretty paltry for a club on the verge of the Football league riding on a crest of a wave,

 

[Chris FGR]

Because the area is growing nothing to say they will flood to FGR on a Saturday afternoon.
An away following of 40 says to me that the crowds which have built up will quickly dwindle.
Pretty paltry for a club on the verge of the Football league riding on a crest of a wave,

I agree, there is no guarantee whatsoever I'm just trying to put forward the counter argument that those keen on the move have. The only cause for real optimism on that front imo is how well members of our supporters trust have done in encouraging links with local schools via the Ambassadors scheme etc, (35+ schools now involved) which is working well as our average attendances and the average age of our support have significantly improved. If this sort of good work were to continue at a new more accessible stadium with a growing local population then there is a chance we could continue to increase our fanbase. This will only work if success is maintained on the pitch though, which is a big if.

In terms of our away support, I agree that Saturday was pretty poor but it isn't the best time of year for a lot of fans to fork out on a long away trip. At the moment although our support has grown, our core support hasn't as much. That takes a lot longer and is key for us to have any chance of becoming a sustainable football league club.

The club are rightly focusing heavily on building up our home support at the moment which is where the income comes in. Hopefully this will eventually translate to better away followings as some of the hundreds of kids who now regularly attend and have free shirts get old enough and keen enough to travel away more regularly.

This plan might all fall apart and turn to shit, but in some ways it's better to have a go then just settle for mediocrity. My main hope is that I'll still have a club to follow in 10-20 years time. If it's a successful one even better.

 

[EnglishRed]

Once (and if) the planning permission goes through and FGR move to new site, it is inevitable that they will have the potential to become the biggest club in Gloucestershire. FGR will have a bigger catchment area than Cheltenham and a ground a lot easier to reach than at TNL or even World of Smiles. Unlike some other clubs who have relocated to industrial estates, the new ground will not be in the middle of a maze. Okay it will be a outside a housing area and a steady walk to reach but it's well within a comfortable short bike ride. There will be plenty of car parking spaces plus I believe that Eco-Park might be put on a bus route.

And yes FGR is probably the very best advertising tool for Ecotricity, which bodes well for its future.

But all this will be a gradual process, perhaps even taking up to a decade. This year FGR and Cheltenham have been good for each other, with best attended games for both home and away matches.

Also another poster asks if the club will lose its historic name and when asked Dale Vince has stated that the Forest Green name will remain.

The problem is that noone in Gloucestershire likes football.

 

[Football Purist]

The problem is that noone in Gloucestershire likes football.

That's not entirely true...there's a fella in Cirencester.

 

[Si Robin]

The problem is that noone in Gloucestershire likes football.

Loads of people in Gloucestershire love football, but only if it's on Sky, or if they have to travel to Liverpool, Birmingham or Manchester to watch it.

 

[Chris FGR]

New Stadium designs shortlisted.
http://www.forestgreenroversfc.com/news/events-news/2016/new-stadium-designs-shortlisted

Imagine we end up with this!

 

[T.A]

Looks like a new home for the Teletubbies.

 

[LeWhites]

Surely that's too close to the road? A Richard Orlu through ball will end up putting somebody's windscreen through if you put it there

 

[Chris FGR]

Surely that's too close to the road? A Richard Orlu through ball will end up putting somebody's windscreen through if you put it there

If you look at the modified site plan, it seems that whichever stadium is chosen it will be built right next to the dual carriageway, as will some of the other facilties. Not ideal.

 

[LeWhites]

If you look at site plan, it seems that whichever stadium is chosen it will be built right next to the dual carriageway, as will some of the other facilties. Not ideal.

Not ideal but not the end of the world as long as there are decent connections to somewhere with a pub and train station and maybe a retail park nearby with a few pubs/restaurants. Has nobody actually considered the fact that the ball will inevitably end up on the road at some point with the pitch being about 10 metres away?

Can't be any worse than where you are now anyway, a few mates of mine missed the last train home from Stroud after the play-off semi final!

 

[LeWhites]

New Stadium designs shortlisted.
http://www.forestgreenroversfc.com/news/events-news/2016/new-stadium-designs-shortlisted

Imagine we end up with this!

I can't get my head around this at all - where are the stands and where is the pitch?

 

[FrankTheTank]

I can't get my head around this at all - where are the stands and where is the pitch?

Yeah I can only assume that's the bonkers left-field option that will be discarded to prove to fans and local communtiy that we are listening to their input!

 

[Chris FGR]

I can't get my head around this at all - where are the stands and where is the pitch?

No idea mate, sorry. Maybe underground somewhere?

 

[Flaxman's Alibi]

Those designs aren't football stadiums; they're what you walk your dog around on Sunday mornings in the drizzle.

Football stadiums should be industrial and grimey and surrounded by terrace houses lived in by eastern Europeans. You'll never cut the mustard in League 5 with that greenery nonsense.

 

[rudebwoyben]

Those designs aren't football stadiums; they're what you walk your dog around on Sunday mornings in the drizzle.

Football stadiums should be industrial and grimey and surrounded by terrace houses lived in by eastern Europeans. You'll never cut the mustard in League 5 with that greenery nonsense.

These designs are for football stadia in our post-industrial world, that's how it is nowadays.

 

[Raymondo316]

Imagine we end up with this!

To think someone was paid good money to come up with whatever monstrosity that is

 

[FrankTheTank]

To think someone was paid good money to come up with whatever monstrosity that is

It's a competition, so they didn't get any money.

 

[FGRJC]

To think someone was paid good money to come up with whatever monstrosity that is

I'm still not sure what I'm looking at with this one -_- Where's the pitch supposed to be

 

[EnglishRed]

Some good looking designs there. Pushing the green credentials in stadium design is a good thing too (and I'd expect nothing less, obviously) I always liked Dartford ground, which is a bit different than the normal concrete carbuncle or collection of lego sheds that most modern grinds consist of.

That one Chris posted the pic of though. ...too much. Great if Vince jack in the football and becomes full of Bond villain but prbably a bit much as a football ground.

 

[Chris FGR]

Football stadiums should be industrial and grimey and surrounded by terrace houses lived in by eastern Europeans. You'll never cut the mustard in League 5 with that greenery nonsense.

How many new stadiums are being built in town centres though? Most are out in industrial estates next to major roads. Like this will be, with a business/technology park on the other side of the complex.

Nice to have a bit of greenery, but this will still be flanked by the M5 and A419 on two sides, so lots of grime and traffic noise for you to enjoy.

Lots of housing going up in the area in the next few years as well, so you might even get a few more eastern Europeans living nearby if your lucky and we stay in the EU.

 

[LeWhites]

I'm still not sure what I'm looking at with this one -_- Where's the pitch supposed to be

Just zoomed in an I can see the pitch. You can see a faint outline of the halfway line/centre circle underneath whatever that wooden wall thing is supposed to be.

 

[Pliny Harris]

Great set of designs. When Vince pulls the plug, all you have to do is fill it in with a bit of soil.




Sorry.

 

[The Jovial Forester]

Where's the safe standing?

 

[The Jovial Forester]

They'd have to go some to do a better grassy bank than The Meadow at Brimscombe and Thrupp with a pint from the brewery next door.

 

[Liam_SWFC]

New Stadium designs shortlisted.
http://www.forestgreenroversfc.com/news/events-news/2016/new-stadium-designs-shortlisted

Imagine we end up with this!

What the fook is that, looks like where the hobbits live.

 

[The_Boss]

I'm still not sure what I'm looking at with this one -_- Where's the pitch supposed to be

They're just waiting for Pennock to come back and sort it.