League 1 General Chat Thread

[Super_horns]

Klopp is off so probably won't care and the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Man U need to win trophies so should actually want to take the cup seriously.

 

[denzel ecfc]

Klopp is off so probably won't care and the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Man U need to win trophies so should actually want to take the cup seriously.

Yes hence they want to get rid of replays as their multi millionaires should be better at taking penalties..

 

[Luke Imp]

We've announced a 12.6% (£2m) investment into our Holding Company by Ron Fowler, who is a friend and business partner of our other American family.

Their privately owned company distributes beverages/beers including Heineken and Coors over the pond. Was also in sport business with the O'Malley family, who owned the LA Dodgers by buying into the MLB side San Diego Padres with them (who the Jabara family are also involved in, so there's the link).

I don't think it'll change too much, it'll probably allow us to keep trying to buy and develop our own players rather than having too many loans each season.

 

[valefan16]

Mental to see Oli Arblaster go from league one to captain of Sheffield United at Old Trafford tonight!

 

[Bobbin']

Thus was posted on our message board - my favourite comment on this subject so far:

“To be fair though if it wasn't for the Scarborough v Forest Green or Charlton v Cray Valley Paper Mills replay in the first round we might have an English team in the semi final of the Champions league and Manchester United might have got out of the group stages.”

The most annoying part about this whole thing for me is the constant reminder of the Cray Valley replay, I was hoping it would just be lost in history forever.

 

[LordJord]

So we finally have some concrete plans for the embarrassment that is our East Stand.

https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/2024/april/east-stand_cgis_plans/

Its way better than we have now (which is basically nothing) and looks professional, definitely helps us generate more revenue, its still annoying that its taken 10 years and we missed out on so much better. But it will bring an end to the whole saga which is good news in itself.

The only issue is that it does not really increase the capacity by much at all, if anything I feel like the away capacity will be reduced as you would not want to have away fans underneath the boxes. The away end only holds 950 and we simply have to look at expanding it at some point. We still have one of the smallest capacity stadiums in the football league and missing out on so many extra away fans just seems such a wasted opportunity.

 

[valefan16]

So we finally have some concrete plans for the embarrassment that is our East Stand.

https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/2024/april/east-stand_cgis_plans/

Its way better than we have now (which is basically nothing) and looks professional, definitely helps us generate more revenue, its still annoying that its taken 10 years and we missed out on so much better. But it will bring an end to the whole saga which is good news in itself.

The only issue is that it does not really increase the capacity by much at all, if anything I feel like the away capacity will be reduced as you would not want to have away fans underneath the boxes. The away end only holds 950 and we simply have to look at expanding it at some point. We still have one of the smallest capacity stadiums in the football league and missing out on so many extra away fans just seems such a wasted opportunity.

10 years?! Thats nothing!

 

[Bar Carousel]

Seems good value (from this point in) to end up with a new stand generating corporate revenue.

In contrast we've spent around £15m in the last four years just to maintain our ground and retain the capacity, without any hospitality or corporate improvements.

 

[LordJord]

Seems good value (from this point in) to end up with a new stand generating corporate revenue.

In contrast we've spent around £15m in the last four years just to maintain our ground and retain the capacity, without any hospitality or corporate improvements.

Yeah cant disagree with that.

Out of curiosity why has yours been so much? Due to the poor state it was in prior to the works or is that the amount needed annually for up keep?

We have been running at around 90% attendance capacity this season. The new stand definitely helps us in getting to the next tier as a club, which should be a solid L1 team. Good news is that it should be done by early 2025 also.

At some point though we do need to expand to closer to 10k. Even now I have a lot of mates who support prem teams who will tag along semi regularly, its hard to get seats all together and definitely puts people off.

 

[Luke Imp]

Bit of a breakdown in this thread on L1 finances if you click in.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1783129775550181465

 

[longmover]

So we finally have some concrete plans for the embarrassment that is our East Stand.

https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/2024/april/east-stand_cgis_plans/

Its way better than we have now (which is basically nothing) and looks professional, definitely helps us generate more revenue, its still annoying that its taken 10 years and we missed out on so much better. But it will bring an end to the whole saga which is good news in itself.

The only issue is that it does not really increase the capacity by much at all, if anything I feel like the away capacity will be reduced as you would not want to have away fans underneath the boxes. The away end only holds 950 and we simply have to look at expanding it at some point. We still have one of the smallest capacity stadiums in the football league and missing out on so many extra away fans just seems such a wasted opportunity.

Do you know the cost of this new stand?

 

[Bar Carousel]

Yeah cant disagree with that.

Out of curiosity why has yours been so much? Due to the poor state it was in prior to the works or is that the amount needed annually for up keep?

We have been running at around 90% attendance capacity this season. The new stand definitely helps us in getting to the next tier as a club, which should be a solid L1 team. Good news is that it should be done by early 2025 also.

At some point though we do need to expand to closer to 10k. Even now I have a lot of mates who support prem teams who will tag along semi regularly, its hard to get seats all together and definitely puts people off.

We have the same capacity issues, and the extension of the North Stand is years away as it forms part of a greater redevelopment including conferencing, hotels, restaurants and housing. We could easily add and fill another 5k now. With increased away support next year most weeks we will only have approx 18k home seats available and 15-16k of those will be ST holders so little chance of getting more than one together. There are several thousand on a paid ST waiting list too.

Our ground had little maintenance done to it for two decades. Owners came and went and hid behind new stadium plans. Meanwhile Fratton's stadium certificate was dwindling down the capacity due to safety concerns. It was 15k at one point despite having 21k seats, and was a genuine risk of being cut to 10k before the improvement works to resolve structural issues, uneven stairs and cramped escape routes was carried out. To be fair to our owners now (and the trust who kick started them), Fratton is looking the best it has in my lifetime with a multi million pound improvement of the tv gantry being done this summer to complete the improvements for now.

 

[denzel ecfc]

Bit of a breakdown in this thread on L1 finances if you click in.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1783129775550181465

193mn loss by Bolton over the years. Still, it got them a Pizza Trophy win so not all wasted...

 

[EricSabin]

Yeah cant disagree with that.

Out of curiosity why has yours been so much? Due to the poor state it was in prior to the works or is that the amount needed annually for up keep?

We have been running at around 90% attendance capacity this season. The new stand definitely helps us in getting to the next tier as a club, which should be a solid L1 team. Good news is that it should be done by early 2025 also.

At some point though we do need to expand to closer to 10k. Even now I have a lot of mates who support prem teams who will tag along semi regularly, its hard to get seats all together and definitely puts people off.

The point about getting seats together is bang on. Got mates who want to come but can’t sit in the West or North due to availability and don’t want to sit in the East building site.

In the planning document it says there are plans to expand behind both goals but when that’ll happen god knows. Maybe by 2034.

 

[LordJord]

Do you know the cost of this new stand?

Not sure sadly, dont think it has been announced yet but imagine it will come out at some point / the accounts will make it clear eventually.

We have the same capacity issues, and the extension of the North Stand is years away as it forms part of a greater redevelopment including conferencing, hotels, restaurants and housing. We could easily add and fill another 5k now. With increased away support next year most weeks we will only have approx 18k home seats available and 15-16k of those will be ST holders so little chance of getting more than one together. There are several thousand on a paid ST waiting list too.

Our ground had little maintenance done to it for two decades. Owners came and went and hid behind new stadium plans. Meanwhile Fratton's stadium certificate was dwindling down the capacity due to safety concerns. It was 15k at one point despite having 21k seats, and was a genuine risk of being cut to 10k before the improvement works to resolve structural issues, uneven stairs and cramped escape routes was carried out. To be fair to our owners now (and the trust who kick started them), Fratton is looking the best it has in my lifetime with a multi million pound improvement of the tv gantry being done this summer to complete the improvements for now.

Ah ok makes sense. Still a way away from building up capacity then? Tbf its one game I always get to is Pompey away as im from the IOW and go and see family at the same time. The away end was looking a ton better than it has done in recent years.

The point about getting seats together is bang on. Got mates who want to come but can’t sit in the West or North due to availability and don’t want to sit in the East building site.

In the planning document it says there are plans to expand behind both goals but when that’ll happen god knows. Maybe by 2034.

Yeah its the same here mate. Although now that will hopefully be less of an issue as they (and I) will be more likely to go and sit in the east as a viable alternative.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Never understood why, for such a large town, Northampton's stadium is strangely small. I know it's a rugby town but the football club has always had solid attendances for a lower league club over the years.

 

[LordJord]

Never understood why, for such a large town, Northampton's stadium is strangely small. I know it's a rugby town but the football club has always had solid attendances for a lower league club over the years.

Completely agree. Although our attendances have never really pushed capacity on a week to week basis we can easily sell out for the bigger games.

We should have a big catchment area as the surrounding big towns like Kettering / Wellingborough / Rushden no longer have any sort of professional teams.

Under Wilder and Brady though we have seen a consistently larger attendance come through. Hopefully something that can be addressed soon enough. Its the sort of thing I would happily put some cash into with some sort of fan assisted project.

 

[longmover]

Completely agree. Although our attendances have never really pushed capacity on a week to week basis we can easily sell out for the bigger games.

We should have a big catchment area as the surrounding big towns like Kettering / Wellingborough / Rushden no longer have any sort of professional teams.

Under Wilder and Brady though we have seen a consistently larger attendance come through. Hopefully something that can be addressed soon enough. Its the sort of thing I would happily put some cash into with some sort of fan assisted project.

interesting comments, CTFC drastically (urgently) need to rebuild/build a new main stand and have a cost of £12m to fund the project, the board have (straight up) said there is no money to build this unless a third party comes in and assists with the finances.

 

[LordJord]

interesting comments, CTFC drastically (urgently) need to rebuild/build a new main stand and have a cost of £12m to fund the project, the board have (straight up) said there is no money to build this unless a third party comes in and assists with the finances.

I guess the cost of a main stand would be significantly higher because of all the additions that come with knocking it down and rebuilding.

The structure that we currently have (whilst being crap and extremely limiting) is already paid for, so no cost of the steel structure or demolition of an existing stand which saves a huge amount.

 

[chief]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1783485494929625505

 

[Si Robin]

Guess who's coming bottom of the pre-season league....

 

[White horse]

Bournemouth v Wrexham in Santa Barbera, will be the hottest ticket in town as it's sheer glamour, wonder if there will be a bigger crowd than the 1077 Wrexham got in 1986 as was posted on the away thread

 

[denzel ecfc]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1783485494929625505

Definitely fancy getting Wrexham in the first game then

 

[chief]

Definitely fancy getting Wrexham in the first game then

The best time to play us.

Can it be in Exeter? Quite fancy the idea of a Devon weekender in August.

 

[EricSabin]

Never understood why, for such a large town, Northampton's stadium is strangely small. I know it's a rugby town but the football club has always had solid attendances for a lower league club over the years.

I get the rugby town comment but I think the weekend just gone shows the potential we have in our own right.

Saturday 2pm Sixfields a crowd of 7,000 plus
Saturday 3pm a mile down the road at Franklins Gardens, 15,000+ sellout watching the Saints

So although the rugby team are flying (top of the prem, semi finals of the European cup) we’ve still pulled in 7,000. A 10k stadium would be perfect I think, crowds are on the rise and we need to capitalise.

 

[Throbber_for_Dunk]

crowds are on the rise and we need to capitalise.

A sentiment very much shared over here.

Kind of hard to gauge the whole 'rising tide lifts all boats' angle when we went up during lockdown, but we've averaged 6.7K with a functional maximum capacity of about a thousand more than that. Having been mostly shit and being left with a smattering of single tickets left available on a Tuesday night makes that extra space (and quality of that space) all the more valuable.

Or we bottle it spectacularly and end up with no issues in League Two, but the immediacy of needing to harness the strong gates has never felt more prescient and we're both in a similar moment in that regard!

 

[denzel ecfc]

The best time to play us.

Can it be in Exeter? Quite fancy the idea of a Devon weekender in August.

Let's hope so.

 

[EricSabin]

A sentiment very much shared over here.

Kind of hard to gauge the whole 'rising tide lifts all boats' angle when we went up during lockdown, but we've averaged 6.7K with a functional maximum capacity of about a thousand more than that. Having been mostly shit and being left with a smattering of single tickets left available on a Tuesday night makes that extra space (and quality of that space) all the more valuable.

Or we bottle it spectacularly and end up with no issues in League Two, but the immediacy of needing to harness the strong gates has never felt more prescient and we're both in a similar moment in that regard!

Yeah completely, it’s the quality of what’s left seat/ticket wise that’s the issue and we’re both hemmed in atm.

 

[Millerbri]

I get the rugby town comment but I think the weekend just gone shows the potential we have in our own right.

Saturday 2pm Sixfields a crowd of 7,000 plus
Saturday 3pm a mile down the road at Franklins Gardens, 15,000+ sellout watching the Saints

So although the rugby team are flying (top of the prem, semi finals of the European cup) we’ve still pulled in 7,000. A 10k stadium would be perfect I think, crowds are on the rise and we need to capitalise.

Although the 10,000 figure might seem enough, if you have any ambition of Championship football it's not enough.

Our new stadium was built while we were in the bottom league so they built it with a maximum capacity of just over 12,000 but with the ability to be uprated to 16,000 then 20,000, though obviously due to our amazing ability to achieve relegation from the Championship, it's never been extended.

Now, in Leagues 1 & 2 the 12,000 capacity is fine for all but a few matches as the away end rarely sells out so home fans can share it if we are doing well.

In the Championship most clubs take up the full allocation so suddenly you have lost 2,500 seats plus about 500 for segregation so 12,000 suddenly becomes 9,000 available for home fans.

With around 7000 to 7500 season tickets taken out of that it becomes quite difficult for the casual fan to get enough seats together to take the whole family, so you can lose out on potential long term fans. (we do).

So although 10,000 sounds ok, if you get any sort of success it may not be enough.

 

[SF_]

Although the 10,000 figure might seem enough, if you have any ambition of Championship football it's not enough.

Our new stadium was built while we were in the bottom league so they built it with a maximum capacity of just over 12,000 but with the ability to be uprated to 16,000 then 20,000, though obviously due to our amazing ability to achieve relegation from the Championship, it's never been extended.

Now, in Leagues 1 & 2 the 12,000 capacity is fine for all but a few matches as the away end rarely sells out so home fans can share it if we are doing well.

In the Championship most clubs take up the full allocation so suddenly you have lost 2,500 seats plus about 500 for segregation so 12,000 suddenly becomes 9,000 available for home fans.

With around 7000 to 7500 season tickets taken out of that it becomes quite difficult for the casual fan to get enough seats together to take the whole family, so you can lose out on potential long term fans. (we do).

So although 10,000 sounds ok, if you get any sort of success it may not be enough.

Yeah, maximising away crowds is important in the Championship. There are probably 4 or 5 times a season when a team brings 5,000+ to Deepdale. At £30 for adults, that's good income.

Crowds in the second tier seem higher than ever. You guys are the only club to average less than 15,000 this season. I guess it's no surprise that you struggle. Working on a much tighter budget.