The Infrastructure Projects

[Salvatore Matrecano]

So what do we do about the fans who can't get tickets. For 29000 people it's very easy to sit on the side of the city ground. For all those who can't get seats.... Those people need something to change. 5000 extra seats hits about a third of the waiting list.

City ground or no city ground something needs to change and the sooner the better

I think we are now looking at the possibility of finding a way to increase the CG by a further 15,000.

If that indeed is the case then I am all for stopping where we are thank you very much.

Where does the idea come from that if we move into a new 50,000 seater stadium then we are all of a sudden going to turn into a top six club?

Nothing is guaranteed in life but you can make decisions which improve the probability of outcomes. The changing picture as a result of P&S is going to even more equalize league position with income. The owner is ambitious for the club and I share that. Do we want to be a yo yo club at best or do we want to be a force in English football. Do we want to be like a Preston North End or more like a Spurs or Villa. Do we want to say we were once contenders or still be. We did win the European Cup twice in living memory.

This is what i keep getting at.

How does a new stadium guarantee that we will be a force in English football? We are a million miles behind Manchester City, Manchester Unitrd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham etc. There is no magic wand with a new stadium. We could just as easily fall out of the PL than suddenly become a force. 

It will be on the pitch that will make us a top side again not a new stadium. You don't get any points for building a new ground, points are earned out on the pitch.

But we will continue to be a million miles behind those Clubs without the non match day income, and I do not think EM will stand for that.

The issue of falling out of the PL is a complete red herring.

Once built the stadium becomes self financing; it would not matter which Division we are in because the non match day income would dwarf that raised on match days.

The CBS hosted a Rugby Club which went under and a Football Club which entered admin and then plummeted through the leagues, and still continued to coin it.

A new Stadium guarantees nothing on the pitch, but it would give the Club considerably more resource and a far better chance of succeeding

Yet more hyperbole which unfortunately is becoming entrenched on both sides of the argument and will probably get worse.

No we wont be a million miles behind that’s ridiculous. Doing nothing is not an option. Therefore a new stadium complex may well generate £10m a year more than a redevelopment of the CG, maybe a bit more still but not by a huge amount. But that remains a very small percentage of our overall revenue. As other have said get basic stuff better, recruitment, sponsorship etc and we can do more with less. 

A new stadium does make a lot of sense if its the right move. If its the wrong move then for a relatively small gain it simply isnt worth it. A new build could also backfire spectacularly, debt for decades, endless delays, having to sell the ground etc. my biggest fear is being back in the Championship in a home we no longer own 7 miles from the city, 20k in a 50k stadium while Peterborough fans sing “your ground s too big for you” at us.

Besides when did everyone here start behaving so hard headed and rationally? NFFC has never been run like that before either in the recent or distant past. Your football team comes from the heart and dont forget that.