The word ‘sustainable’ has sadly been abused over recent years. When someone struggles to defend or oppose something they simply add ‘it is not sustainable’ or ‘only sustainable option’. It also sums up why the Old Common site is not ideal, but I will use it, rather then abuse it, by explaining why.
As a fan, football is all about skill and passion. That last minute wonder free kick winner. The moment that your ‘rock solid’ goal keeper took the almighty clearance ‘air’ kick as you watched the back pass trickle into the net and cost your team the game. The ‘against the odds’ cup upset, the young debutant scoring the winner, the rubbish player your team offloaded last year scoring the winner against you. And the referee, well just what was he thinking, how did he give/miss that. And all of the comical chants that ring round the stadium.
Football takes you through a roller coaster of emotions. Heroes become villains in 90 minutes and visa versa. And as a fan you can hurl abuse at your local rivals on a Saturday afternoon and meet up as work colleagues on Monday morning and laugh about it.
Whether we like it or not, football has another side, it’s a business and at the moment it’s is bloody awful business.
It was Rafi who reminded me of the Reading Chairman’s quote
“How do you make a fortune out of football? Start with a bigger fortune.”
Few football clubs make money and rely on wealthy supporters to write out cheques every year to keep the club going. Rangers are the latest victim and Portsmouth FC is making it a habit of running out of cheques. The amounts may be smaller, but the pressures down the leagues are no different and survival off the pitch means generating more revenue than just tickets and a shirt logo.
With any business, income generation means using every asset and football can’t afford to be different.
If you have a gym for part time players, you need to rent it out the rest of the week for a few extra quid. The social club needs to host conferences all day and wedding receptions on the nights you don’t use it. On match days advertising boards bring in a bit extra. The outside of the stadium needs to do the same all week. A stadium can’t sit empty for the whole of summer, you need to get money from it somehow. And in the evening boxing, pop concerts even Billy Graham style events need to be hosted to keep the flow of money coming in to cover the football business losses.
As you would have seen from part 1, if the football club got permission to move to the Old Common there will be restrictions. Will there be so many restrictions that prevent the club balancing the books?
The time restrictions rule out concerts and some sporting events. Basingstoke festival, the circus etc, rule out many weekends during the summer, the ground will be hidden from view by the trees, so no extra advertising money. The clubs alcohol licence will be limited.
It is for this reason that most new football stadiums are situated in business parks. Clubs need parking in the evening or weekend, the factories, offices and warehouses don’t, they can share it.
The roads that can cope with 10,000 workers on a Monday morning will have no problem accommodating the same number of supporters on a Saturday afternoon. An empty office block is never going to moan about noise. The hardly used gym provides a service to office workers and the club house can offer a service to businesses. The betting shop will happily pay more rent if it has potential punters 6 days a week rather than one.
The challenge for the club (and for me as some one who genuinely wants the best for the football club) is finding that site. Basing View would have been perfect, but regeneration is too far down the road and it doesn’t have the space (I have checked)
The next best is a site where the football stadium is the start of development rather than an unwelcome addition to an established community. Someone has already mentioned Manydown and junction 7 of the M3, feel free to add your own ideas.
As much I support the football club, its owner, supporters and their ambition, so far, most local residents have said, for good reason, they don’t want the club to move to the Old Common – and it is my job to be on their side.
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