New Stadium update

[Whispering Bob]

As far as I know we have never had any embargoes.

one the court case is against Ron martin and his partner in crime .And 2 it has nothing to do with Southend united even if he is the so called chairman of the club .3Any loan is for the club to build the new stadium not to Ron

Does anyone know when and where said case is BTW?

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

It can be simultaneously true that there have been many false dawns and it isn't worth getting any hopes up until spades are in the ground, and that the current plans and recent signs are the most encouraging there has possibly ever been. Supplementing FF, and replacing RH, with housing gives a far more secure financial basis than shops/supermarkets, and gives the council a clear incentive to help us see it through. The plan seems workable. But then a p*** up in a brewery would seem workable and probably still elude Ron.

On a minor point, it's a bit odd that the "early visual" the club have attached to their statement which they hope "gives a feel of how the new stadium will look if the amendment is passed"...isn't new at all. StadiumDB.com has these images from 2017 - you can open them side by side and they're literally identical. It's fair enough if the club haven't got renderings of the new design yet (and presumably it won't look hugely different), but I don't know why they feel a need to lie about it.

And I still think I spotted Mark Oxley in the pic for the new training facilities on the fossetts website.

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

one the court case is against Ron martin and his partner in crime .And 2 it has nothing to do with Southend united even if he is the so called chairman of the club .3Any loan is for the club to build the new stadium not to Ron

2 It has everything to do with SUFC, IMO. He still pulls the strings and we are unaware of any contingency plans should he go inside 3 Are the loans in the clubs name ? I mean, who would lend our club that amount of money when we are £16m+ in debt ? Surely, any loans would be secured against the companies that hold the assets ?

 

[tommy tucker]

2 It has everything to do with SUFC, IMO. He still pulls the strings and we are unaware of any contingency plans should he go inside 3 Are the loans in the clubs name ? I mean, who would lend our club that amount of money when we are £16m+ in debt ? Surely, any loans would be secured against the companies that hold the assets ?

ApRATLY not Any loan by the goverment is for the ground and the housing .Which it seems that ron does not get a single penny .And any loan is to the clun and not Ron even if he is the chairman .I beleve i read that Ron has passed the reighns to some one eles .

 

[Rob1920]

It is the same at most clubs especially those in the lower divisions, Colchester United had so many grand plans for new stadiums, even one with it's own rail entrance direct from North station but of course it never happened! That was in the 80s but it took until August 2008 before our current one finally opened.

Well at least ours will be new when it finally arrives. Yours will be as old as Roots Hall by then, and I'll be a distant memory..

 

[Ghost of C.F.]

ApRATLY not Any loan by the goverment is for the ground and the housing .Which it seems that ron does not get a single penny .And any loan is to the clun and not Ron even if he is the chairman .I beleve i read that Ron has passed the reighns to some one eles .

I would just like to say that I don't believe Ron will agree to any deal where he fails to receive a single penny . He has to raise millions from property deals to repay his financiers .

 

[Colchester and proud!]

Well at least ours will be new when it finally arrives. Yours will be as old as Roots Hall by then, and I'll be a distant memory..

I hope for your sake it arrives a lot quicker than that!

 

[40yearsafan]

Does anyone else remember the graffiti in the town centre:

THE ONLY ONE MOVING TO BASILDON IS JOBSON

It was scrawled over some hoardings that went round what is now betting shop on the corner opposite WH Smiths at the top end of town. Must be about 30 years ago that went up, about 1991 I reckon when he announced plans to relocate the club to Basildon.

Yes that was around the old Barclays Bank. I took a photo of it at the time. I'll hunt through my old pictures and post a copy if I find it.

 

[tommy tucker]

I would just like to say that I don't believe Ron will agree to any deal where he fails to receive a single penny . He has to raise millions from property deals to repay his financiers .

Ithink we are getting our wires crossed .Iam talking about the 30 millon loan for he building of fossets farm .Ron does not sign anything off .He only benifits when the ground and houses are complet .SO he does not recive any moneys from any goverment loan .

 

[Ghost of C.F.]

I hope for your sake it arrives a lot quicker than that!

I like your stadium . A simple design but very effective at what it seeks to do when it comes to the hospitality and functions side of the business . And I am sure that at the time of opening I read that it had won some sort of top architectural award so you have every right to feel quite proud of it .

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Yes that was around the old Barclays Bank. I took a photo of it at the time. I'll hunt through my old pictures and post a copy if I find it.

Imagine there was social media in those days. Different times but it hurts that we’re still in the same place today, all these years later ..

 

[Colchester and proud!]

I like your stadium . A simple design but very effective at what it seeks to do when it comes to the hospitality and functions side of the business . And I am sure that at the time of opening I read that it had won some sort of top architectural award so you have every right to feel quite proud of it .

It has won several awards, it was a watered down version of what was originally planned because the budget stayed the same but several delays meant the money didn’t go as far as we would have liked. There have been lots of little improvements since we last played Southend and also the Northern Gateway project is finished in several places now with the leisure side of things now being built right beside the stadium.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

It has won several awards, it was a watered down version of what was originally planned because the budget stayed the same but several delays meant the money didn’t go as far as we would have liked. There have been lots of little improvements since we last played Southend and also the Northern Gateway project is finished in several places now with the leisure side of things now being built right beside the stadium.

How many Col U fans would go back to Layer Road, given the chance? I mean the place was a dive, but it was a “proper” football stadium and your new place just seems to me to be a Lego stadium devoid of all atmosphere. I know you couldn’t stay there but still ..

 

[overseas shrimper]

It has won several awards, it was a watered down version of what was originally planned because the budget stayed the same but several delays meant the money didn’t go as far as we would have liked. There have been lots of little improvements since we last played Southend and also the Northern Gateway project is finished in several places now with the leisure side of things now being built right beside the stadium.

No chance we'll do something as silly as that.

 

[Ramsdenblue]

Well at least ours will be new when it finally arrives. Yours will be as old as Roots Hall by then, and I'll be a distant memory..

And I bet you're only 25 still

 

[BTS]

2024/25 means it needs to start on site no later than the end of next season...

There is no way it could be built in 15 months

 

[Ghost of C.F.]

Ithink we are getting our wires crossed .Iam talking about the 30 millon loan for he building of fossets farm .Ron does not sign anything off .He only benifits when the ground and houses are complet .SO he does not recive any moneys from any goverment loan .

Well, ok then, lets assume that you have got that right and Ron hasn't earnt a penny from this loan of £30m - but the position is still not satisfactory, in my opinion, because he ends up owning the new stadium that the loan is financing . That is a very valuable asset and I want the club to own it and not him . Trust me , Tommy , it does not matter how you care to frame this matter the result always comes out the same . Ron earns a fortune and the football club gets screwed . The only way the club wins out is if he now sells up and leaves .

 

[Yer Blues]

There is no way it could be built in 15 months

Respectfully, the bloke you quoted builds stadiums for a living

 

[Jasrod]

There is no way it could be built in 15 months

DIY SOS

 

[ColinMorrisWalksOnWater]

Am I missing something? IIRC one of the things Ron used to say (I may genuinely be wrong here) is that the Southend conurbation is around the same size as Middlesborough so we should be aiming to be around where they are. That all makes sense to me, until you now see that we're developing a stadium that is half the capacity of The Riverside.

You are absolutely correct LB. The comparison was based on Middlesbro being dwarfed by, then, top division local sides, Newcastle and Sunderland with supporters from the area even travelling to Leeds and Manchester to follow teams there, rather than their local sides.

Also, the catchment area was 180 degrees sea. For two towns of similar size and a model that we should be able to compare ourself to, with how we should be able to sustain tier two football in Southend. (We nearly made that last year, but I bet none of us thought we would be looking over our shoulder at non league tier 2, when this comparison was being made).
That was when they were at Ayresome Park, another indicator, as if we needed one, of how long this has been dragging on. Middlesbro now have their shiny new stadium, whilst ours crumbles around us. And they are a sustainable tier 2 club, whilst we..............