Only one Roots Hall

[W4 Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Jai @ Sep. 15 2004,15:46)]Doubtless there will be some kind of sponsorship deal behind the name, but as it has been called Fossetts Farm for some years, IF it does ever get built, I will be calling it that and not the 'Martin Dawn PLC velodrome' or whatever.

I sincerely hope the rest of our fans will do the same. For example, Brisbane Road is officially 'The Matchroom Stadium' but nobody calls it that.

Depends how clever the sponsors are. For example, Bolton's ground is the "Reebok Stadium" - there's no other name for it.

But Southampton's is the "Friends Provident St Mary's" - and it only ever gets called "St Mary's".

As for Orient, as their ground already was already known as "Brisbane Road" - it'll always be known as that rather than the "Matchroom", thankfully.

 

[overseas shrimper]

Quote[/b] (rabbloke @ Sep. 15 2004,14:33)]If we are to have a new stadium, why?. Roots Hall is our ancestral home. As the South stand has already been done, the remaining three stands could be demolished and rebuilt in phases over the next few years...

Christ! If the South Stand were the blueprint for a re-modelled Roots Hall I'd hate to imagine the finished product!

 

[TrueBlue]

West Ham play the the Bolyn not upton park!

 

[footymad13]

Quote[/b] (Jai @ Sep. 15 2004,15:46)]Doubtless there will be some kind of sponsorship deal behind the name, but as it has been called Fossetts Farm for some years, IF it does ever get built, I will be calling it that and not the 'Martin Dawn PLC velodrome' or whatever.

I sincerely hope the rest of our fans will do the same. For example, Brisbane Road is officially 'The Matchroom Stadium' but nobody calls it that.

Thing is does it really matter, if it means the club getting more revenue then im all for it, the fans im sure will have a nickname for the ground but why shouldn't the club cash in on a possibly lurative source of revenue.


Now please someone tell me if im totally of the mark here but i always thought that we were owned by properly developers who want the assets of SUFC or should i say former assets, (the stadium, B&L) They build us a nice shiny new stadium the convient gets lifted on RH so they can make there money back and everyones happy not because RH is not good enough.

I certainly don't think its because RH isn't good enough anyway or we arn't making enough revenue from it, I believe it was shown that we earn quite a bit from our off field operations, certainly alot more than some other clubs in the division. Plus wouldnt it be possible to develop the North Bank and the East to a certain extent ?

Whils't we don't own our stadium or at least have a lengthy lease then our future will never be secure.

 

[TrueBlue]

Quote[/b] ]Now please someone tell me if im totally of the mark here

you off the mark - now to bed with you and no supper!

 

[TrueBlue]

Quote[/b] ]totally of the mark

Birthmark? of which mark are you?

 

[footymad13]

Quote[/b] (TrueBlue @ Sep. 15 2004,17:10)]

Quote[/b] ]Now please someone tell me if im totally of the mark here

you off the mark - now to bed with you and no supper!

No need for that ...

 

[TrueBlue]

ok you can have a packet of chrisps then bed

 

[tommytwoholes]

Apparently good old uncle VIC paid 4million for redeveloping roots hall (ie) All seater status and South Stand. Lets face it we could probably develop the whole ground for that . It is a bit tight in some parts west and southend but the East stand has plenty of room and a park and ride could be built elsewhere meaning we could use the car park for development.

 

[Gremlin]

Quote[/b] (Napster @ Sep. 15 2004,15:31)]

Quote[/b] (Gremlin @ Sep. 15 2004,13:54)]

Quote[/b] (rabbloke @ Sep. 15 2004,13:33)]Roots Hall is our ancestral home.

No it's not.  It's just our most recent home.

actually, it is our ancestral home. check the history records.

You're right, of course.

Not quite sure why I had it in my head that the original ground was on the site of The Blue Boar!

 

[rabbloke]

Whats all this talk of having to buy the ground back? MartinDawn own it and FF. They will own us whatever the venue. Its a bit like the rent they let us off. It was up to them how much it was levied at in the first place. It was set so high they created a debt for us and a further beholding to them. Its all smoke and mirrors and only a few people are realising the truth. Follow the scenario. If I purchased Piory park and got planning for it and then acquired Buckingham Palace, I could relocate the palace because it is a 'tired' old building and put it in priory park. It would have nothing to do with being a royalist, but would leave me with a huge piece of prime real estate in london. You don't honestly think I would rebuild like for like? NO. The queen would have to make do with that quaint two up, two down in Southend, but at least it would be new. Its a con. MartinDawn has acquired the Hall and is evicting the sitting tenants with the promise of better things. NUTZ!

 

[Javea Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Gremlin @ Sep. 15 2004,14:54)]

Quote[/b] (rabbloke @ Sep. 15 2004,13:33)]Roots Hall is our ancestral home.

No it's not.  It's just our most recent home.

Yes it is. We started playing at Roots Hall in 1906. Granted the pitch was about 50ft higher than it is now ...

WS

 

[Javea Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (TrueBlue @ Sep. 15 2004,16:53)]West Ham play the the Bolyn not upton park!

Or even the "Boleyn Ground" ...

WS

 

[Kent Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (rabbloke @ Sep. 15 2004,18:21)]Whats all this talk of having to buy the ground back? MartinDawn own it and FF. They will own us whatever the venue. Its a bit like the rent they let us off. It was up to them how much it was levied at in the first place. It was set so high they created a debt for us and a further beholding to them. Its all smoke and mirrors and only a few people are realising the truth. Follow the scenario. If I purchased Piory park and got planning for it and then acquired Buckingham Palace, I could relocate the palace because it is a 'tired' old building and put it in priory park. It would have nothing to do with being a royalist, but would leave me with a huge piece of prime real estate in london. You don't honestly think I would rebuild like for like? NO. The queen would have to make do with that quaint two up, two down in Southend, but at least it would be new. Its a con. MartinDawn has acquired the Hall and is evicting the sitting tenants with the promise of better things. NUTZ!

Surely you can only make this statement once we have seen the plans?

Roots Hall is unfortunatley a tired run down ground (Which i love). And would cost more to rebuild than a new stadium as it would involve turning RH on its Side as they only land available would be the car park and the study into this proved it wouldnt be viable.

A new stadium would have other facilities to enable us not to rely on match day income.

I really dont see peoples problem at this stage. As FBM has said else where why worry about things that we cannot change, Once the plans are out in the public domain then lets start bitching?

Or as i have suggested to FM123456789 call the club and speak to Uncle Ron.

 

[TrueBlue]

Quote[/b] ]Or even the "Boleyn Ground"

shows how well known the name is but then again my spellings there does not do me any good!

 

[stid]

The club recognised the need to do something radical about the ground situation long before Martin Dawn came on the scene - there was a plan hatched by Bill Rubin back in the 70's to build a supermarket on part of the car park to bring in much needed cash. And that was in the days when lower division clubs still got a reasonable cut of the money in the game.

Roots Hall market is about the only thing that makes money for the club currently and, like so many other clubs, the future will be insecure without finding other sources of income - hence the need for a new stadium.

But there are other factors:-

1) Roots Hall is not what it was due to the loss of the South Bank when the flats were built. This was the price of survival when Vic Jobson saved the club from the (honest) failings of those who succeeded Bill Rubin and the (downright dishonest) "activities" of a certain Anton Johnson. Those who remember those times will know that the current crisis is really quite bearable in comparison with those darkest of days, when even lifelong supporters turned their backs on a club that we all believed was effectively finished. If that hadn't happened, imagine how different Roots Hall would be with the old South Bank roofed and seated!

2) The financial problems that arose following our relegation from the First Division led not only to Ron Martin/Martin Dawn arriving on the scene but also the situation where the club is largely owned and financed by Delancey. Martin Dawn is a local firm which explains their involvement to some extent; Delancey can't quite work out how on earth they came to own a football club, which certainly wasn't their intention!

Delancey now want things permanently sorted so they no longer have to bankroll the club and so they can get out altogether without having to explain to their own shareholders how they came to make a massive loss through their involvement with SUFC! This can realistically ONLY be achieved by the building of a new stadium that will provide the club with the security of future extra income plus the profitable redevelopment of the Roots Hall site to make the venture worthwhile for Delancey. No-one can seriously blame them for that - after all, they could have forced the club out of business a long time ago and still ended up owning Roots Hall.

3) Roots Hall was never designed to be an all-seater stadium and when you look at the North and West stands with so many posts obstructing the view - something you can't avoid as you could when it was terracing - it's pretty obvious that we need something better if we're to achieve the hoped-for success (and thus bigger crowds) in the future.

4) Roots Hall is falling down - I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned that. The East Stand costs money regularly as it is subsiding alarmingly whilst no redevelopment of the North Bank is possible as the land is so unsuitable. The horrible truth is that building the ground on top of a rubbish tip was a serious mistake 50 years ago and the redevelopment of the site will need major preparatory work - not the sort of thing you can do whilst continuing to play football there. Add to that the "normal" maintenance costs of any 50 year old ground compared with the tiny cost of maintaining one built out of modern materials and the facts speak for themselves.

The conclusion has to be that staying at Roots Hall is barely an option at all, much as everyone will be sad to see it go. Think positive and think of the future, not just in 10 years but 50 or even 100 years time!

 

[rabbloke]

Quote[/b] (stid @ Sep. 16 2004,00:17)]The club recognised the need to do something radical about the ground situation long before Martin Dawn came on the scene - there was a plan hatched by Bill Rubin back in the 70's to build a supermarket on part of the car park to bring in much needed cash. And that was in the days when lower division clubs still got a reasonable cut of the money in the game.

Roots Hall market is about the only thing that makes money for the club currently and, like so many other clubs, the future will be insecure without finding other sources of income - hence the need for a new stadium.

But there are other factors:-

1) Roots Hall is not what it was due to the loss of the South Bank when the flats were built. This was the price of survival when Vic Jobson saved the club from the (honest) failings of those who succeeded Bill Rubin and the (downright dishonest) "activities" of a certain Anton Johnson. Those who remember those times will know that the current crisis is really quite bearable in comparison with those darkest of days, when even lifelong supporters turned their backs on a club that we all believed was effectively finished. If that hadn't happened, imagine how different Roots Hall would be with the old South Bank roofed and seated!

2) The financial problems that arose following our relegation from the First Division led not only to Ron Martin/Martin Dawn arriving on the scene but also the situation where the club is largely owned and financed by Delancey. Martin Dawn is a local firm which explains their involvement to some extent; Delancey can't quite work out how on earth they came to own a football club, which certainly wasn't their intention!

Delancey now want things permanently sorted so they no longer have to bankroll the club and so they can get out altogether without having to explain to their own shareholders how they came to make a massive loss through their involvement with SUFC! This can realistically ONLY be achieved by the building of a new stadium that will provide the club with the security of future extra income plus the profitable redevelopment of the Roots Hall site to make the venture worthwhile for Delancey. No-one can seriously blame them for that - after all, they could have forced the club out of business a long time ago and still ended up owning Roots Hall.

3) Roots Hall was never designed to be an all-seater stadium and when you look at the North and West stands with so many posts obstructing the view - something you can't avoid as you could when it was terracing - it's pretty obvious that we need something better if we're to achieve the hoped-for success (and thus bigger crowds) in the future.

4) Roots Hall is falling down - I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned that. The East Stand costs money regularly as it is subsiding alarmingly whilst no redevelopment of the North Bank is possible as the land is so unsuitable. The horrible truth is that building the ground on top of a rubbish tip was a serious mistake 50 years ago and the redevelopment of the site will need major preparatory work - not the sort of thing you can do whilst continuing to play football there. Add to that the "normal" maintenance costs of any 50 year old ground compared with the tiny cost of maintaining one built out of modern materials and the facts speak for themselves.

The conclusion has to be that staying at Roots Hall is barely an option at all, much as everyone will be sad to see it go. Think positive and think of the future, not just in 10 years but 50 or even 100 years time!

Well set out reply. You are right about Rubin and his idea of a supermarket at Roots Hall, but thats when the club owned the ground and the revenue would have ignited the prospect of a wonderful future. Even then the local council were a hindrance and ultimately so obstructive that they were considerably to blame for the subsequent SUFC misfortune. Now the club has no bargaining chip whatsoever. No ground and no money. As to the cost of redeveloping Roots Hall. I would be interested to see some genuine figures laid down in comparison to the cost of a new stadium. One thing is for sure. Roots Hall is more valuable as a development site than a football ground. But then so is FF. It makes me nrevous. Our landlords may play the game whilst battling within the confines of a covenant, but once they fulfil their obligation of relocation they are home free. With current gates and league status they could give us a white elephant like that at Yeovil. Brand new but only housing 8 - 9 thousand and with nowhere to significantly expand.

 

[Javea Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (stid @ Sep. 16 2004,00:17)]The club recognised the need to do something radical about the ground situation long before Martin Dawn came on the scene - there was a plan hatched by Bill Rubin back in the 70's to build a supermarket on part of the car park to bring in much needed cash.

IIRC that also included plans to replace the East Stand with a two-tier cantilever stand ... imagine if that had gone ahead ...

WS

 

[Napster]

Bill Rubin's the real shyster here....he was the one who persuaded the supporters to literally hand over the ground to the club.

 

[Hong Kong Blue]

Quote[/b] (Napster @ Sep. 16 2004,10:15)]Bill Rubin's the real shyster here....he was the one who persuaded the supporters to literally hand over the ground to the club.

Why? Skimming through no-one seems to have mentioned why Roots Hall was sold. It was to save the club. The club was £4m+ in debt (and losing money). By selling the ground we bought ourselves time. Had SUFC not the stadium to sell, I doubt there would be a club now to support.