St James' Park

[Bellis80]

32 minutes ago, Keegans Export said:

If they were going to do that regardless then why bother with the survey? What if the responses are overwhelmingly "I won't pay more than £700 for a season ticket"?

They had forums for home and away ticketing in the summer and came up with something that works for very few people so doubt they’re arsed about what the survey says. They can say they consulted the fans after though.

[SteV]

22 minutes ago, patrone said:

However, I've not seen one person say they have applied to be on the Fans board, which is strange considering how much the club was pushing it 

I’m not surprised tbh.

 

Being a ‘fan representative’ of whatever description, be it on the Trust, the Supporters Club, or whatever, inevitably ends up in other supporters questioning/abusing you one way or another.

 

We’ve seen it repeatedly with regard to the Trust. OK, maybe some of them have question marks over certain issues, but there’s a definite ’guilty by association’ that gets thrown around, obviously mainly driven by social media.

 

Whilst I have total respect for people like Greg, who are clearly just fans trying to do what they can to help the club, and fans of the club, you couldn’t pay me to get involved in all that.

[TheBrownBottle]

Hate to sound like a cynic, but I am so I’m bound to - but I don’t think that the ‘fan survey’ will have any impact on the PIF’s actions.  They’ll go for what meets their needs - though of course that’s easier if most are behind it.  
 

I can’t see any significant protest if the decision is to leave SJP.  Firstly, because we don’t really do protests as a support.  Secondly, I didn’t see much of that from Arsenal when they left Highbury, and nowt from Everton when they left Goodison - both grounds being as well-known as any in English football and tied intrinsically to the early histories of the clubs as much as SJP is to NUFC (Arsenal leaving Woolwich for Highbury meaning they were effectively an early franchise club, and Everton leaving Anfield for Goodison led to the creation of Liverpool FC).  Barely a peep from West Ham in moving to that soulless Olympic ground, Man City’s support said nowt about leaving Maine Road.  All big clubs, I’m sure plenty of them got a bit misty-eyed for the final game and then onwards and upwards. 

[SteV]

 

https://x.com/leemarshall9/status/1731983159372193836?s=46&t=OQLMckSuatbpqWF13Al4mQ

[Stifler]

52 minutes ago, Bellis80 said:

They could sell 10k season tickets now and choose not to.

They can’t.

You have to have a certain amount available on a match by match basis.

[The College Dropout]

Leaving SJP feels wrong but inevitable.

 

Evolution marches on. The scythe is remorseless. I hope the scythe's remorseless swing can bring us all some comfort.

[patrone]

12 minutes ago, SteV said:

I’m not surprised tbh.

 

Being a ‘fan representative’ of whatever description, be it on the Trust, the Supporters Club, or whatever, inevitably ends up in other supporters questioning/abusing you one way or another.

 

We’ve seen it repeatedly with regard to the Trust. OK, maybe some of them have question marks over certain issues, but there’s a definite ’guilty by association’ that gets thrown around, obviously mainly driven by social media.

 

Whilst I have total respect for people like Greg, who are clearly just fans trying to do what they can to help the club, and fans of the club, you couldn’t pay me to get involved in all that.

 

Yeh, I dont understand it

 

Fans wanted a "voice" and now those that are in place get nowt but grief 

[Wandy]

31 minutes ago, RS said:

At the beginning of the year a relation of mine was working directly with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who told him focus was on developing St James’ Park and not moving. That may have changed since but that was the stance at the time. 

 

"Redevelopment" probably meant a total rebuild though, ie a new stadium on the same site.

 

The more I think about it, the more I am of the opinion that this survey is an indirect way of the club telling the fanbase that a new stadium needs to have a large corporate presence. And they obviously know that the average Joe is going to respond to the survey questions by saying they won't pay a fortune for a ST. They can then present the findings by saying that if the fans want the club to fulfil it's potential, with increased capacity, more revenue & better atmosphere then SJP in it's current form won't be able to deliver that.

 

Interesting times. The fanbase' response to this could determine how much extra investment the Saudis will put in and how long they will stick around for.

[SteV]

3 minutes ago, Stifler said:

They can’t.

You have to have a certain amount available on a match by match basis.

West Ham have 55k ST holders out of a capacity of 62.5k

[patrone]

3 minutes ago, SteV said:

West Ham have 55k ST holders out of a capacity of 62.5k

 

 

Lot's of misinformation around ref ticketing, like how people were saying that every match a percentage has to be held back for general sale.

 

 

[Wandy]

9 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Hate to sound like a cynic, but I am so I’m bound to - but I don’t think that the ‘fan survey’ will have any impact on the PIF’s actions.  They’ll go for what meets their needs - though of course that’s easier if most are behind it.  
 

I can’t see any significant protest if the decision is to leave SJP.  Firstly, because we don’t really do protests as a support.  Secondly, I didn’t see much of that from Arsenal when they left Highbury, and nowt from Everton when they left Goodison - both grounds being as well-known as any in English football and tied intrinsically to the early histories of the clubs as much as SJP is to NUFC (Arsenal leaving Woolwich for Highbury meaning they were effectively an early franchise club, and Everton leaving Anfield for Goodison led to the creation of Liverpool FC).  Barely a peep from West Ham in moving to that soulless Olympic ground, Man City’s support said nowt about leaving Maine Road.  All big clubs, I’m sure plenty of them got a bit misty-eyed for the final game and then onwards and upwards. 

 

Agree. Although I can appreciate the effort made by the club, the simple fact is that fans left to their own devices will never agree on much and will usually act in their own self-interests. We can already see current ST holders have an I'm alright Jack attitude towards moving their seat, never mind moving to a new stadium.

 

The club should just put forward their plan, give the reasoning for it, and take it from there.

[J7]

50 minutes ago, patrone said:

If nothing else that survey has got everyone commenting and giving their opinions, there's quite a lot to digest to be fair.

 

However, I've not seen one person say they have applied to be on the Fans board, which is strange considering how much the club was pushing it 

It’s not really that appealing, especially when you see people’s reactions to things like this and the ticket issues. The amount of people who only seem to care about their own personal circumstances and then take absolutely nothing on board is staggering. You don’t get much ‘I don’t like whatever, but I can see why they’ve done it’ or really many practical suggestions to improve something. People will get called worse than shite regardless of what they do on there. 
 

The club have a difficult balance to get right in many areas, but change nothing isn’t going to be an option. Might as well ask them to sell up and watch our rivals progress instead. 

[patrone]

4 minutes ago, JJ7 said:

It’s not really that appealing, especially when you see people’s reactions to things like this and the ticket issues. The amount of people who only seem to care about their own personal circumstances and then take absolutely nothing on board is staggering. You don’t get much ‘I don’t like whatever, but I can see why they’ve done it’ or really many practical suggestions to improve something. People will get called worse than shite regardless of what they do on there. 
 

The club have a difficult balance to get right in many areas, but change nothing isn’t going to be an option. Might as well ask them to sell up and watch our rivals progress instead. 

 

An old manager of mine always used to come out with "there is ALWAYS at least two options on every decision, the first is to do nothing..." etc etc

 

I've applied, although I suspect they will have no plans to have an old moaning fkr there

 

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by patrone

[Paulinho]

Unfortunately, the snivelling, serf-like attitude of >50% of our fanbase makes moving from St James’ into a Corporate Bowl an inevitability. 
 

Wuh cannit do owt that upsets His Excellency and Mandy man!!

[Lush Vlad]

I do kind of agree with the sentiment above and also really wouldn't want us to move.  But The Emirates is a decent ground and the atmosphere has massively improved there recently.  Spurs' new stadium is hardly a corporate bowl, either.  

[Lush Vlad]

38 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Leaving SJP feels wrong but inevitable.

 

Evolution marches on. The scythe is remorseless. I hope the scythe's remorseless swing can bring us all some comfort.

 

An Alan Johnson quote.  

 

Best thing you've ever posted  

[RS]

32 minutes ago, Wandy said:

 

"Redevelopment" probably meant a total rebuild though, ie a new stadium on the same site.

 

The more I think about it, the more I am of the opinion that this survey is an indirect way of the club telling the fanbase that a new stadium needs to have a large corporate presence. And they obviously know that the average Joe is going to respond to the survey questions by saying they won't pay a fortune for a ST. They can then present the findings by saying that if the fans want the club to fulfil it's potential, with increased capacity, more revenue & better atmosphere then SJP in it's current form won't be able to deliver that.

 

Interesting times. The fanbase' response to this could determine how much extra investment the Saudis will put in and how long they will stick around for.

He said development though, not redevelopment. I’d expect the wrapping around of the Gallowgate/West stand and possibly reworking of the East stand within the existing envelope following.

[Yorkie]

1 minute ago, Paulinho said:

Unfortunately, the snivelling, serf-like attitude of >50% of our fanbase makes moving from St James’ into a Corporate Bowl an inevitability. 
 

Wuh cannit do owt that upsets His Excellency and Mandy man!!

 

Indeed. So you're living in a 'dream world' if you think Newcastle being good is only possible if fans are rinsed for cash/being replaced by wealthier fans, are you? Hey ho.

[Paulinho]

And lads, if you honestly think RS has a relative who works in a capacity where he speaks directly with Yassir Al-Rumayyan, I have some very interesting investment opportunities to speak to you about. 

[J7]

26 minutes ago, patrone said:

 

An old manager of mine always used to come out with "there is ALWAYS at least two options on every decision, the first is to do nothing..." etc etc

 

I've applied, although I suspect they will have no plans to have an old moaning fkr there

 

 

 

I’ve seen someone saying we should walk before we can run. They’ve been here two years and it would probably be another 5+ before any redevelopment or new stadium is complete. It’s hardly a big rush. 

[Wandy]

5 minutes ago, RS said:

He said development though, not redevelopment. I’d expect the wrapping around of the Gallowgate/West stand and possibly reworking of the East stand within the existing envelope following.

 

Doesn't really matter on how he was quoted. Redevelopment is still a form of development. Also, I doubt they had a plan set in stone when they first thought about this, They have been learning on the job.

 

All of the current stands in SJP are antiquated. I don't see any way in which they can be modified to meet the standards of the world's best stadiums and deliver high-end corporate facilities. The cost alone of extending the Gallowgate by 8k seats will probably be one third of the cost of building an entire new stadium with a 75k capacity on roughly the same site, or on Castle Leazes.

[patrone]

It was said that "one of the world experts on this type of project" had been employed to do a feasibility study and how we move forward, I'm no expert, but I'd guess that will take more than a few weeks to complete. 

[Danh1]

https://x.com/leemarshall9/status/1731999422085521774?s=46
 

For anyone not had the survey sent to them 

[Slim]

How would people feel about upping the prices so we can hit our FFP targets.  Then when we win everything and have a worldwide reach etc use that money for FFP and lower prices.

[Doctor Zaius]

I do wonder whether some people might be over estimating the reach/potential of our fanbase. I wonder how much of Man City is corporate? I'm sure they've thrown everything at it so they're probably a decent barometer. 

 

Most of the boxes are SJP are local companies aren't they? How much more could they squeeze?

 

We're on the crest of a wave at the moment. Absolutely everyone wants to be a part of it at the minute. That won't last forever though, eventually apathy will set in and there'll be less demand.