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I find the comments that nothing has happened on a new stadium since before COVID fairly glib. Unfairly glib, maybe.
This is our FFP exit, we are told. That or expanding HQ. Nothing is happening on either front, bar a slim chance of expanding the School End should we stay.
Years continue to waste away.
"The opposite of love, after all, is not hate, but indifference."
I find the comments that nothing has happened on a new stadium since before COVID fairly glib. Unfairly glib, maybe.
This is our FFP exit, we are told. That or expanding HQ. Nothing is happening on either front, bar a slim chance of expanding the School End should we stay.
Years continue to waste away.
My view too. We are told we have no future without a move and, yet, here we still are.
We are told that the board would love to put their hands in their pocket but can't because of S&P rules and these rules don't include infrastructure spends like a new stadium.
Now, I am not for one minute insistent that they should spend, but the messaging coming out of the club is somewhat INCONSISTENT.
There seems to be very little short term gains on buying a new stadium and loads of short term financial pain, so I get it. But if that is the case, stop looking out, start looking in. Either we HAVE to move (and the owners are willing to pay), we HAVE to move (but they can't fund the move) or we can cope by improving what we have.
Not willing to moan whilst we remain competitive though. However, no promotion this season SURELY means a loss of a number of players, so what happens then? Not really worth worrying about that, this season could go either way right now...
My view too. We are told we have no future without a move and, yet, here we still are.
We are told that the board would love to put their hands in their pocket but can't because of S&P rules and these rules don't include infrastructure spends like a new stadium.
Now, I am not for one minute insistent that they should spend, but the messaging coming out of the club is somewhat INCONSISTENT.
There seems to be very little short term gains on buying a new stadium and loads of short term financial pain, so I get it. But if that is the case, stop looking out, start looking in. Either we HAVE to move (and the owners are willing to pay), we HAVE to move (but they can't fund the move) or we can cope by improving what we have.
Not willing to moan whilst we remain competitive though. However, no promotion this season SURELY means a loss of a number of players, so what happens then? Not really worth worrying about that, this season could go either way right now...
Developing LR into houses long term will far outweigh the costs of building a new stadium, it’s the only reason the owners are still here and the only way they will get their investment back.
favourite cheese mature Cheddar. FFS there is no such thing as the EPL
Its all do-able but how much will it cost and what returns does the club get for the money spent? SA Road Stand could be increased to justify it. I think the Stan Bowles would remain the same capacity unless the residents of Ellerslie Road accept a bigger stand with a potential overhang at the bottom of their gardens.
[Post edited 14 Oct 2022 10:52]
I don’t think we should expand Loftus Road. In the first instance we should look at lower cost options such as removing restricted views and getting the most out what we have. There’s so much wasted space and I find it hard to be believe that it’s not a cheaper option to redesign the roof and support structures to create a much better view from all areas of the ground.
I’m still not convinced we can generate a significant amount of money outside of match days to reduce the overall running costs. I think we have to accept that trading players and getting premiership money will be our best bet.
If the club decide that leaving LR won’t happen then we should seriously consider increasing the capacity.
The football has been excellent the past few seasons and we’re definitely going in the right direction. Our home game against Reading really felt like a special night. A lot had come together, the fans standing behind the goal, the Stanley Bowles stand and most importantly a win.
The big problem is the cost of land. If there is nowhere to buy in the area then we can't move. I am not sure how many fans think the owners can just magically buy something that doesn't exist. For now we are stuck here. I don't even think it is about money. It's purely down to there being nowhere near to actually buy. It would make more sense to redevelop LR as a 16-17,000 capacity stadium and create it so it can be used properly for other events when we aren't playing football. Only way to make a stadium profitable. It would probably mean the complete demolition of what's there and a total rethink. Or we move out the area, along motorway and build a stadium where the training ground is. Given where we are there is a real lack of places to go.
Other than that, immensely impressed with just about everything Mick says.
My hunch about the stadium move/redevelopment is the owners are just not interested in it atm. Simple as that. Too much money and time to be committed. We've got the new training ground underway and I never thought that would happen under our current owners watch but there it is, bricks and mortar, so there has been work going on to improve the club. We potentially could be in the Premier league next season. Are any of us really that interested to move out of Loftus Road atm?
Thanks for putting together the minutes Norf. What really frustrates me about the fans forum is that questions get asked but rarely do they get answered. See the betting related one, the question was how much are QPR benefitting from this or similar deals, Hoos doesn't answer and just says that the new deal with Sky is less incentivised.
An eclectic mix as always both in questions/issues raised and various ways of replying. Thought Beale was quite exceptional in terms of his outlook and philosophy about football where he wants people who want to get better and what sort of character personality they have because like every other workplace in the country there will be those who can influence for good or bad. Was surprised there was no questions regarding the fall out with Warburton and the whole philosophy of development to sell. I fully understand the parent mentioning his boy being let go football is a ruthless business but just like the treatment of Barbet and others we have let go there is a way of doing things and treating people properly and not treating them well. Lee Hoos' total dismissal of developing Loftus Road seems strange to me because he seems very pragmatic in most issues and I predict when he leaves this job QPR will still be playing home matches there. Not quite sure what exactly happens at Turf Moor raises Millions in non match days having been to the ground.
Not quite sure what exactly happens at Turf Moor raises Millions in non match days having been to the ground
Burnley is a small town, surrounded by open countryside and villages. I'm guessing that if you want to hire a "prestigious" space in that area for conferences or corporate events, then the football ground is an attractive option. QPR is surrounded by loads of other rentable space with good hospitality and parking - including other football grounds. I don't know what sort of market Hoos thinks he might attract to our ground.
Not sure if this often made point has been made in this thread yet but it is a salient one. We rarely fill the ground as it is so why build a bigger stadium? I know there are many that quote the "build it and they'll come" mantra and there's clearly some truth in that. However, there is no guarantee that would happen to us. If it didn't we'd incur the expense without that particular benefit, and no one wants to site in a half empty stadium, least of all us?
If we can buy the school and increase the capacity a bit, all well and good. But, improving our facilities for supporters, visitors, players and potential external users would, I believe, be even more important for long term stability.
My hunch about the stadium move/redevelopment is the owners are just not interested in it atm. Simple as that. Too much money and time to be committed. We've got the new training ground underway and I never thought that would happen under our current owners watch but there it is, bricks and mortar, so there has been work going on to improve the club. We potentially could be in the Premier league next season. Are any of us really that interested to move out of Loftus Road atm?
Throw in expected rises in costs of: borrowing; building materials; labour; and the uncertainty about the economy, now is a difficult time to be commiting to the biggest project in our history.
'Always In Motion' by John Honney available on amazon.co.uk
Not sure if this often made point has been made in this thread yet but it is a salient one. We rarely fill the ground as it is so why build a bigger stadium? I know there are many that quote the "build it and they'll come" mantra and there's clearly some truth in that. However, there is no guarantee that would happen to us. If it didn't we'd incur the expense without that particular benefit, and no one wants to site in a half empty stadium, least of all us?
If we can buy the school and increase the capacity a bit, all well and good. But, improving our facilities for supporters, visitors, players and potential external users would, I believe, be even more important for long term stability.
Yeh exactly. I think the safe standing thing is a good start.
Not quite sure what exactly happens at Turf Moor raises Millions in non match days having been to the ground
Burnley is a small town, surrounded by open countryside and villages. I'm guessing that if you want to hire a "prestigious" space in that area for conferences or corporate events, then the football ground is an attractive option. QPR is surrounded by loads of other rentable space with good hospitality and parking - including other football grounds. I don't know what sort of market Hoos thinks he might attract to our ground.
When you look at Spurs new stadium we are never in a million years going to compete with that. We would still be operating within the small scale events anyway.
Developing LR into houses long term will far outweigh the costs of building a new stadium, it’s the only reason the owners are still here and the only way they will get their investment back.
Accidentally up voted. Meant to hit reply.
It's all a bit uncertain at the moment. Building costs have increased many fold and interest rates make the housing market future unpredictable.
Not sure if this often made point has been made in this thread yet but it is a salient one. We rarely fill the ground as it is so why build a bigger stadium? I know there are many that quote the "build it and they'll come" mantra and there's clearly some truth in that. However, there is no guarantee that would happen to us. If it didn't we'd incur the expense without that particular benefit, and no one wants to site in a half empty stadium, least of all us?
If we can buy the school and increase the capacity a bit, all well and good. But, improving our facilities for supporters, visitors, players and potential external users would, I believe, be even more important for long term stability.
Main reason we don't sell out Loftus Rd is that it is not a nice place to watch football. Yes, it's our home. Yes, I love the old girl. Yes, I'd cry like a baby if we ever left.
But....at least 1/4 of seats have a restricted view of some sort. It can actually be painful to sit in the seats for 90 minutes. The queues for food, drink and toilets are a nightmare.Who wants to pay £40 to watch bang average Championship football (as we have been for *most* of the past 20 years in those conditions? The result is that people pick and choose games to attend.
Building on what a couple of others have said re the School End, we'd also have to buy a dozen properties on Imre Close, because they run about 20m behind the stand too. Realistically, you'd never be able to buy back all the Ellerslie Rd properties, so forget about that and focus elsewhere. The school is much more achievable.
Doing that allows you to re-think the entire site plan. Yes, a new SE stand twice the size, but also relocating existing facilities - offices, shop, the control rooms, etc - to that space. It would free up room in SAR but also in other parts of the ground. You could quite feasibly get the capacity up to 23-25,000.
Given what we've seen from the owners over the last few years, you'd probably need PL money to do any of it. If it was me - and I might be alone in this! - but we did find ourselves promoted, I'd use the £100m in central funding for this. Forget signing new players. Get the stadium done.
Main reason we don't sell out Loftus Rd is that it is not a nice place to watch football. Yes, it's our home. Yes, I love the old girl. Yes, I'd cry like a baby if we ever left.
But....at least 1/4 of seats have a restricted view of some sort. It can actually be painful to sit in the seats for 90 minutes. The queues for food, drink and toilets are a nightmare.Who wants to pay £40 to watch bang average Championship football (as we have been for *most* of the past 20 years in those conditions? The result is that people pick and choose games to attend.
Exactly right. LR is no longer fit for purpose. All the evidence from the last 20 years or more is that new stadiums do attract bigger crowds, the one possible exception being Coventry, a tutorial in how to get it wrong.