SUFC: The Future The regeneration of Roots Hall

[Sherif H]

Cantilever stand roofs all round the ground to get rid of the limited-view seating behind pillars. In the East Stand (in the Greens at least) there is the ridiculous system of going through the turnstiles, then down some steps, then across the bridge then up some steps then down the steps in the stand to get to your seat. It is no good if you have mobility issues and can be dangerous for those individuals when leaving the ground with a rush of people behind them. Level access needed to both main stands, at least, for those with mobility issues (and carers) and alternative entrance/exit facilities into the stands for the mobile. I'd extend the East Stand back to the wire fence between it and the car park to give potential space for a relocated Far Post/Shrimpers bar and potentially increase capacity for boxes as a result. Only Home fans to occupy East, West and North stands. Away fans get the Upper Tier of the South Stand with the lower left empty unless ticket demand dictated a need for its use by massive Home support. In that case, Away fans go Lower and Blues get top tier. Suitable screening to protect away fans from rocket attack obviously. Sounds solid to me and I've got a builder mate who'll do the lot for eight and a half grand (and he'll tarmac the car par park AND check for any roof damage and overgrown trees!!) In the past I would have written to my favourite Radio One DJ and he would have Fixed It for me, but he seems to have dropped off the radar. Oh yeah, and Nick Alliker and Chris Philips to get a new luxury media suite.

If you are going to provide cantilevered roof structures to every stand, then you will need to demolish most of every stand and spend many millions in the ground.
This is going to have to be done on a budget, so it will be a case of picking out the priorities and developing proposals to cut our cloth accordingly.

 

[Sherif H]

@Sherif H Is there anything that can be done in the short/medium term that could improve the income streams to the club at Roots Hall? Especially on non match days?

The aforementioned surge bar in the form of a large marquee structure to be sited in the car park - that is fairly modest outlay for major returns. Something like that could be ordered and built within a month.

 

[Holy Joe]

The aforementioned surge bar in the form of a large marquee structure to be sited in the car park - that is fairly modest outlay for major returns. Something like that could be ordered and built within a month.

But are people going to attend a marquee in a car park on non match days?

 

[Sherif H]

But are people going to attend a marquee in a car park on non match days?

If you see some of the marquees we build and fit out for events like the Ryder Cup and World Title fights, then you'd probably have a different view of what a marquee is/can be.

If you developed it in to a comfortable sports bar with SUFC memorabilia everywhere, then I'm certain you'd capture punters on a daily basis.

 

[CornishShrimper]

But are people going to attend a marquee in a car park on non match days?

Organise a SZ meet up on a Thursday afternoon there and I'll come from Cornwall for it!

I may have had a few tonight already but that's not relevant...

 

[Shrimper95]

If you see some of the marquees we build and fit out for events like the Ryder Cup and World Title fights, then you'd probably have a different view of what a marquee is/can be.

If you developed it in to a comfortable sports bar with SUFC memorabilia everywhere, then I'm certain you'd capture punters on a daily basis.

Have you got any examples? Because all I’m thinking is a big white tent with a couple of people pulling pints.

 

[in the know]

I do like the Wycombe wanderers set up. Drinks tents\marquees at opposite ends of their car park including big roast bbq for home and away fans on match days

 

[Holy Joe]

If you see some of the marquees we build and fit out for events like the Ryder Cup and World Title fights, then you'd probably have a different view of what a marquee is/can be.

If you developed it in to a comfortable sports bar with SUFC memorabilia everywhere, then I'm certain you'd capture punters on a daily basis.

I hope so. TBH I'm sceptical on it - but you'll always get naysayers on every idea, some ideas will work some won't. I'm not sure the pubs in the area do great business so not sure the demand is there from people in the immeadiate vicinity, and hence I guess you're going to need to offer something different for people to travel to it.

 

[Sherif H]

Have you got any examples? Because all I’m thinking is a big white tent with a couple of people pulling pints.

This is much larger than we would be talking, but to give you an idea of what a hard-walled marquee structure can look like...

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I do like the Wycombe wanderers set up. Drinks tents\marquees at opposite ends of their car park including big roast bbq for home and away fans on match days

Seconded. It’s excellent: good fare at reasonable prices, pretty quick queuing too.

 

[CornishShrimper]

This is much larger than we would be talking, but to give you an idea of what a hard-walled marquee structure can look like...

View attachment 29280

That could easily be the new East Stand, to be honest.

 

[Sherif H]

I hope so. TBH I'm sceptical on it - but you'll always get naysayers on every idea, some ideas will work some won't. I'm not sure the pubs in the area do great business so not sure the demand is there from people in the immeadiate vicinity, and hence I guess you're going to need to offer something different for people to travel to it.

This is where someone like @Crawliano comes in - he specialises in helping Clubs maximise the functionality of their spaces and activate revenue generation opportunities.

The first thing I'm sure he'd suggest would be regular beam-backs of Southend away games in the marquee, with special drink and snack deals throughout the week.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

This is much larger than we would be talking, but to give you an idea of what a hard-walled marquee structure can look like...

View attachment 29280

Looks impressive - it might be a bit embarrassing if we got that one though, and the pub tent in the car park towers over the stadium

 

[Sherif H]

Looks impressive - it might be a bit embarrassing if we got that one though, and the pub tent in the car park towers over the stadium

Imagine a small version of this...

 

[Cricko]

Imagine a small version of this...

I said that to the Mrs last night,she replied...."is that possible!"

 

[Scamps]

Wouldn’t be good for the local pubs though. East stand needs knocking down and re-built. We can do without it for a season.

 

[The Original Tribal Chief]

I want something that looks like this. If this new consortium can't deliver, then I'm going to quickly lose faith

 

[kentblues]

Looking at the full RH development site is there not the opportunity to create an access for away fans? There is room behind the North Bank so that could be replaced and we can have a real top drawer away end?

To me it’s the East and North that should be replaced.

South you can’t do a great deal with and would be great if it could be away end.

West new seating, new roof, facilities but beyond that it is as it is?

From my amateur eye…

 

[Rooster79]

So, I've had a very crude play with scaling on my lunch hour....this is the result...

Move the pitch 5m toward the East - this improves the sightlines from the existing West Stand without touching anything.

North Stand re-developed to provide a mild uplift from circa 2k to 2.5k, and incoporating safe-standing.

East Stand rebuilt, with dimensions very crudely estimated to provide a capacity of around 5,500 and a couple of floors of mixed-use/hospitality space.

NE corner is optional, but might be more for architectural merit than any great increase in useful real estate.

View attachment 29264

Could some form of multi-storey car park be build on the existing car park so the space could be used for other things?

 

[Strykr]

Why do we need a car park that big for one day a week. Its an absurd waste of space

Do a park n ride with someone that owns a field or one of the schools, have a smaller car park for people that have mobility issues.