League 2 General Chat Thread

[The Jovial Forester]

That’s all the oldest professional football stadium in the world requires, until we get to L1 anyway!

With this new effort, there's every chance it might not work at all as a football stadium but have to say the design looks great and I'd rather stuff like that got built, something might even become iconic on a small local scale and especially in a development that adds a bit of economic value to the town, than another load of shoddy Barratt boxes on a flood plain like we usually get. fucking up our nice green part of the country.

 

[Indian Dan]

Looks like we’re finally getting the CG purchase sorted out in March. Be interesting to see what the Joint Venture has in mind in upgrading the old girl.

 

[The Jovial Forester]

Looks like we’re finally getting the CG purchase sorted out in March. Be interesting to see what the Joint Venture has in mind in upgrading the old girl.

Have you got the room to do what you want with it or are the roads a bit close?

 

[Indian Dan]

The perceived wisdom is the Town End will be flattened (hoorah!) and rebuilt using some of the car park behind it. Slap a roof on the Bank - similar to what Pompey have done at Fratton Park. The Arkells is ancient but I reckon that’ll stay as is for a while. Ditto for the Don Rogers.

Apart from the seats the TE hadn’t changed a jot since I first stood behind the bog wall in 1968!

 

[Chris FGR]

I didn’t think it was possible but I think FGR will move to a stadium with even less atmosphere and character than the current one!

In terms of atmosphere it will definitely be noisier then our current ground, even if the crowd goes quiet you’ll still be able hear the motorway traffic.

 

[Agombar stool]

Oldham are selling some retro merchandise including an apron, face mask, cushion etc based around 1987, but the sponsor at the time was Robert Maxwell (I never knew he was involved at Oldham) and so all the items are 'adorned' with the Maxwell logo!

Edit - the club have been selling the merchandise prior to Ghislaine Maxwell's sentence FWIW

 

[Indian Dan]

Ah, good ol’ Capn. Bob. Another criminal owner in the long list of criminal owners.

Football does attract em’

 

[Kauto Star]

Oldham are selling some retro merchandise including an apron, face mask, cushion etc based around 1987, but the sponsor at the time was Robert Maxwell (I never knew he was involved at Oldham) and so all the items are 'adorned' with the Maxwell logo!

Edit - the club have been selling the merchandise prior to Ghislaine Maxwell's sentence FWIW

Robert Maxwell's link to Oldham was that he built a printing press in Oldham to print the Daily Mirror in the 80's which lead to a shirt sponsorship deal in 1988-89.

Oldham fans might correct me, but other than the shirt sponsorship, I don't think he had anything else to do with the club.

Given that Maxwell stole the pension funds of employees of the newspaper group, its an extraordinary and shocking decision for the club to launch this retro merchandise. Shame on the owners, and hopefully no fans are daft enough to buy any of it

 

[Agombar stool]

Robert Maxwell's link to Oldham was that he built a printing press in Oldham to print the Daily Mirror in the 80's which lead to a shirt sponsorship deal in 1988-89.

Oldham fans might correct me, but other than the shirt sponsorship, I don't think he had anything else to do with the club.

Given that Maxwell stole the pension funds of employees of the newspaper group, its an extraordinary and shocking decision for the club to launch this retro merchandise. Shame on the owners, and hopefully no fans are daft enough to buy any of it

I've always thought of Oldham and Bovis Homes as their sponsor from way back when!

 

[Agombar stool]

Ex striker Steve Finney has sadly died aged 48. Superb little striker that was influential as part of our title winning campaign in 95/96. Hopefully 'walking in a Finney wonderland' gets a good airing tomorrow. RIP fella.

 

[chipmunx]

Ex striker Steve Finney has sadly died aged 48. Superb little striker that was influential as part of our title winning campaign in 95/96. Hopefully 'walking in a Finney wonderland' gets a good airing tomorrow. RIP fella.

Played 10 times for us in the 1999-2000 season. The club tweeted about his death a few hours ago. There's talk of a minutes silence tomorrow, but nothing confirmed yet.

 

[FGR Stroud]

what's the round building above the stadium?
and where are the McDonalds, Burger King and KFC?

Good news on that point.
Currently no pub or fast food stalls near TNL but near new site there is a long established mobile fast food stall on a layby.
Two or three pubs are relatively nearby [within reasonable walking distance], although perhaps a bit posh and expensive.

 

[kieran_vale]

Does look a good development the new FGR stadium on the face of it.

In truth I think we are a club that could do with a new stadium. From our supporters club meeting in midweek we are having to shell out up to £250k to completely replace the PA system in the stadium and some of the turnstiles can’t be used at present as they are pretty much condemned. It’s not a widespread view among Vale fans but I do think add on our pitch which has needed relaying for about 10 years the sheer state of disrepair it was left in by the previous owner maybe a new purpose built site would be the way to go.

 

[Koumas’Right-Boot]

Can’t wait for Tranmere to unveil the full scope of our new stadium complex, which is essentially like a larger version of what FGR are planning in the sense it will be a community hub with various community facilities, alongside a large events arena, restaurants, bars and hotel along a renovated dock lands area, with much better transport links than Prenton Park.

Unclear whether any stadium would have any character or just be another bowl, but it’s supposed to be a 15k seater with much larger corporate area and expansion capacity of up to 22,500.

 

[BarraMatt]

I really don't think there is much you can do with Holker Street as it is at the moment other than putting in some of those temporary stands that eventually become permanent. Unless we get some owner who provides off the scale investment to what we currently have, the only option in the long term would be a community stadium/leisure complex setup, similar to what York have done, which hosts both the football and rugby teams.

Barrow Raiders are a bottom half team in the second tier of Rugby League, and their ground is a crumbling wreck which I'd be tempted to say is worse than ours. If they have any ambition to become a Super League club one day they'd need some serious work done on their ground, it's more open terrace than ours is. Locally the ground share debate has been done to the death but I think it's the only way forward to secure the future of both clubs at the level they want to be at. We have one massive employer in the town in BAE Systems too so you'd imagine they'd have to have some input.

 

[valefan16]

Does look a good development the new FGR stadium on the face of it.

In truth I think we are a club that could do with a new stadium. From our supporters club meeting in midweek we are having to shell out up to £250k to completely replace the PA system in the stadium and some of the turnstiles can’t be used at present as they are pretty much condemned. It’s not a widespread view among Vale fans but I do think add on our pitch which has needed relaying for about 10 years the sheer state of disrepair it was left in by the previous owner maybe a new purpose built site would be the way to go.

Cost would be prohibitive I imagine. Plus where do you put it? Take it away from Burslem and it kills that town.

Would be nice to have a slightly smaller stadium, similar to Rotherham maybe but don’t see it happening.

If they sort the relaying of the pitch though and redevelop the railway for a start to be closer to the pitch with a steeper rake that would be a good start.

Depends if the underground issues still exist though which cause the costs to spiral on the Lorne Street side. If you built an identical stand height wise the Lorne Street but with no boxes just seats going right up to the top it would be decent.

 

[Robshep]

Can’t wait for Tranmere to unveil the full scope of our new stadium complex, which is essentially like a larger version of what FGR are planning in the sense it will be a community hub with various community facilities, alongside a large events arena, restaurants, bars and hotel along a renovated dock lands area, with much better transport links than Prenton Park.

Unclear whether any stadium would have any character or just be another bowl, but it’s supposed to be a 15k seater with much larger corporate area and expansion capacity of up to 22,500.

Mark Palios is a big fan of Rotherham's new stadium so its probably going to be similar.

 

[Ninety Per Cent]

We’re getting Flats built in 12 months… handy for the Retail Park, M181 and there’s pubs and food outlets nearby

And there’s a ready made big car park

 

[denzel ecfc]

I'd like to think we're in a good position in that we don't need to move and there doesn't seem to be any inclination to.
We actually have a newer stadium than Scunthorpe, given that all four stands are less than 25 years old, and the newest two just a couple of seasons.

We do have a big new scoreboard going up though, about as exciting as it gets

 

[Grumpy Grecian]

We’re getting Flats built in 12 months… handy for the Retail Park, M181 and there’s pubs and food outlets nearby

And there’s a ready made big car park

So will the new ground be ready in time? Or are you just passing a long-term (non League) groundshare in Cleethorpes?

 

[Ninety Per Cent]

So will the new ground be ready in time? Or are you just passing a long-term (non League) groundshare in Cleethorpes?

New Ground? Yer sure?

Probably be at Bottesford or Brigg, depending on status. MKM Stadium is the only reasonable alternative if National League I’d think.

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

The perceived wisdom is the Town End will be flattened (hoorah!) and rebuilt using some of the car park behind it. Slap a roof on the Bank - similar to what Pompey have done at Fratton Park. The Arkells is ancient but I reckon that’ll stay as is for a while. Ditto for the Don Rogers.

Apart from the seats the TE hadn’t changed a jot since I first stood behind the bog wall in 1968!

Put a roof on the Bank End and it'll be a good away stand, as you say similar to what Pompey have done.

 

[Back in the DHSS]

I don’t like these motorway junction football stadiums, they are soulless. Scunthorpe,Stevenage and Notlob being prime examples.

Would be absolute sacrilege if Port Vale moved away from Burslem !

 

[chipmunx]

I don’t like these motorway junction football stadiums, they are soulless. Scunthorpe,Stevenage and Notlob being prime examples.

Would be absolute sacrilege if Port Vale moved away from Burslem !

I agree - and there's not a chance in hell we'll build a new stadium near the motorway...

 

[FGR Stroud]

I agree - and there's not a chance in hell we'll build a new stadium near the motorway...

As a matter of interest how far is Barrow from nearest Motorway?
I was led to believe Barrow was at the end of the longest cul-de-sac in England.

 

[chipmunx]

As a matter of interest how far is Barrow from nearest Motorway?
I was led to believe Barrow was at the end of the longest cul-de-sac in England.

the nearest motorway is 33 or 34 miles away... so yes it is.

 

[Robshep]

I don’t like these motorway junction football stadiums, they are soulless. Scunthorpe,Stevenage and Notlob being prime examples.

Would be absolute sacrilege if Port Vale moved away from Burslem !

Not sure Bidston Moss would qualify for motorway junction. Its between Birkenhead and Wallasey about 5 minutes walk from a railway station. Admittedly the area is sparse for alehouses unless you want to risk The Bidston but Liscard isnt that far. I live there and its about 15 minutes and all downhill getting there.

 

[Casey]

Huh! Crawley built their stadium near a motorway junction and....er.

It’s the style of building not where it is that matters. To my mind the new builds should be steeper, include terracing (or safe standing) and should think about acoustics. The concrete bowls seem to deaden all sound and suck the life out of grounds. Imagine a ground where the chants went across the pitch?

Then start thinking about ease of access and provision for the local community.

Casey

 

[Trapdoor]

It’s the style of building not where it is that matters.

I guess you don't do many away games then?

Location is everything.
Good stadiums should have at least a couple of good boozers nearby or even better be in the middle of a town with loads of food/drink/late night options.

 

[denzel ecfc]

the nearest motorway is 33 or 34 miles away... so yes it is.

Well, Lands End is 100 miles from the M5, so...