He’s putting it out there to encourage more gullible knobheads to subscribe to his speculative drivel. If anyone on here scrutinised social media for long enough they could generate enough rumours for a reasonable hit rate.
To me that looks like they dont want to interact with the community.
I've never understood why you wouldn't want to tap into the commercial opportunities a ' sports village ' in Blackpool would bring.To me that looks like they dont want to interact with the community.
Yes was very suprised when I got told it would not be open to the public ,a lost opportunity to connect with fans present and future and bring some coffers in .
Totally agree with what been said on this. I wonder if the permissions wouldn't be granted, otherwise it seems sensible to me.
How do our covid losses factor into it I wonder? Looks like about 7m over 2 seasons with covid... Are they effectively written off? I suppose if you factor them in, 12m after they are taken off could be far closer to a valuation. BM did say SS us putting 7 figures in each season. I think we'll be far closer to break even than the previous accounts on the next released ones.
As said before, isn't it built on greenbelt land, which might affect whether its allowed to have the other side, bar, restaurant, commercial opportunities side?
www.lancs.live
That's nothing like Poolfoot and mainly as I understand for use by the Community TrustThey don't need to open the training ground to the public when there is literally a £6.5m scheme opening adjacent to the stadium for community use.
Blackpool FC £6.5m community sports village gets go-ahead
"I think this will be used to the nth degree"
Poolfoot isn’t a suitable facility for elite footballers. Could you imagine a top Championship or Premier league club training alongside a pizza restaurant and bar ??
PNE bought back the ground from the council years ago.
I understand the benefits of an exclusive facility however having that stand idle for large periods of time comes at significant cost
Totally agree, I hate to say it but Poolfoot is amazing, my grandson plays for Thornton u13s and they train at Poolfoot, it’s always packed, parking is a nightmare and Blackpool is a massive town in comparison with many more schools.
It’s a good facility. It’s absolutely brilliant for Fleetwood and is miles better than what we have.I understand the benefits of an exclusive facility however having that stands idle for large periods of time comes at significant cost
If Simon wants to fund that for no return then fine but the costs of building something suitable are huge
The way you mitigate against that is to open at least part up for public use
Players only train part of the day and I have already highlighted how you can maintain privacy for them by only opening up when they aren't there or by ringfencing areas
How can you say Poolfoot isn't suitable for elite footballers ?
They have elite pitches reserved for the first team and a large number of training pitches for the development sides
They have gyms / meeting rooms / physio facilities / places to feed the players etc etc
Oh and no wacky warehouse
Just to add - a while ago I believe BFC were looking into operating the play football site.
At the last SDM they said they had no plans for the disposal of the site.
BFCCT are taking that over for their community provision
As I said above I get the advantages of exclusivity
I’m glad it’s not going unused (I went to Collegiate and spent pretty much my entire teenage life on those pitches) but it is a shame it won’t be open to the public.
I don’t think the training ground is being looked at as an asset in the same way Piley looked at Poolfoot. Garstang Road will make money from developing players and selling them - hopefully. But ultimately it will be the base of the football side of the club for the next 50-100 years. A facility most clubs take for granted ! It should free up existing facilities at BR for greater commercial use and I get the feeling whatever the plans are for the East will give a better insight into how the club plans on becoming sustainable financially.
Houses I would imagine after BFC get outline planning permission and sell it on to a builder. The money received will probably be used to offset some of the cost of building the new training ground.
I’m not aware of any Premier League or Championship club who open their Training Ground to the general public. When we consider under utilised BFC assets, what about the Bloomfield Road Stadium which is played on once every two weeks on average and apart from the odd Concert there is very little non football related revenue earned. I think the Club will have enough problems getting the previously published Training Ground plans approved by Blackpool & Wyre Councils and this will become far more difficult, in terms of the number of local objections, if there is extensive use allowed in the evenings with floodlights, plus a bar, takeaways and other non football related facilities.
The £6.5 million isn’t for just the pitches. My understanding was that money was to fund the land clearance and enablement of both the community pitches / facilities AND the later clearance of the land for the East stand and enabling the plot that the club will ultimately use for that development.
Planning permission. Availability of appropriate site. Insurance risks. If it was feasible at larger clubs I’m sure they’d be doing it. Piley is a good businessman but he’s not reinventing the wheel. Fleetwood need the revenue from every available resource and that allows them to have a facility better than their respective size allows. BUT that same facility and business model doesn’t necessarily work for clubs of a larger size.
You’re probably not wrong.
The Poolfoot figures are about right I think however I am fairly sure the land came free
TITD I'd say the adult leagues have fallen away however in part that is because many now play on 4G in midweek leagues that weren't an option ' back in the day '
Agree with better organised but still feel the sport is less popular to play, as is with most sports.
What do you think the BFC Training Ground land cost? A friend of mine in Devon sold a smaller parcel of land without any planning permission last year for £10,000 an acre, if it is 100 acres that Sadler has bought for the new TG that would be no more than £1M he will have paid for the land. Then there is the sale of the Squires Gate TG land presumably to be sold with outline planning permission for new houses, this money will surely be used to offset the cost of the new training ground and bring the net cost down to well below £10M.
Are we sure the 2 smaller pitches won't be available to the public?
My understanding is that it will be focused provision for the girls and schools and possibly some of the other BFCCT projectsAre we sure the 2 smaller pitches won't be available to the public?
Ed Harvey, agent for the applicant Blackpool FC, said: “The facility will be available for local use and also by Blackpool Football Club’s women’s and girls’ teams. The application forms part of the Revoe Sports Village project which has successfully secured funding from the government’s Town Deal initiative.
"Permission was granted by the Planning Committee for an enclosed full-size 11-a-side artificial grass pitch and an enclosed five-a-side artificial grass pitch, both with floodlighting, a single storey changing pavilion and a storage building."
Although on the picture it shows them as split into the smaller pitches.
Also that picture doesn't cover the whole of the cleared land, the area north of it (partly seen it the top left of that pic) near the taco bell being built, I wonder whats to become of that bit.....
Well just thinking about it, how often will thr girls team be playing? Also how many schools will use it and how often.
Maybe a starting point, but things develop and change!
You are right about the cost of the land (it was a nominal fee of £1) however AP has spent over £10 million to develop Poolfoot
Would agree with the £50 million figure as well that you and TAM have quoted to develop the East and build a training ground from scratch. It would definitely be a problem for me if I had Simon’s wealth as to whether I would want to get deeper into the financial black hole that is what owning a Championship football club has become.
