Sounds like it to me and if it is won’t we have the same problems with the drainage and dog walkers.
Exactly that. The place Mr Evans described as a championship standard facility......that is now about half the size in land space than it was in 2011. A bog land when I used to attempt kicking a football in the 80’s/90’s.
And what thoughts - if a new training ground is forthcoming - on the next step being starting up an academy or similar structured youth set-up?
This is a tricky one because to do it properly requires a lot of investment for almost certainly little short term return.
Think of Crewe with one of the best lower football league youth set-ups around but there they are stuck more or less in the same spot as the table as us with next to nothing.
It’s almost as if the benefit is to the wider community rather than the club itself
From what I understand is if crawley Town dont get the land it will go to a developer and yet more houses and flats will be built on whats left of the land
Surely it would be best used as a CTFC and community space rather than make a developer millions?
A point of note though is that I believe there's already a covenant attached to that land for a new developer, in that they have to provide a permanent community sporting facility as part of their development. I would suggest though that space for CTFC needs to be a dedicated space and not one that would serve a joint purpose as a community space.
I'd be interested to understand what community initiatives (affordable housing or community sporting facilities for example) giving this to CTFC would curtail. I'm all for CTFC having their own, dedicated training facility and I agree wholeheartedly that it's one of the top (if not the top) priorities, but I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with CTFC effectively blocking a socially more worthwhile initiative from a community perspective.
Also, buying (or leasing) the land is one thing, but I'd want to understand what the long-term financial implications would be for the club. Having a benefactor stroll up today and stump up the initial outlay is great, but we need to be 100% sure that any longer term financial commitment is sustainable when no such benefactor remains (we've been here before).
In principle I think it's a great opportunity for the club and I'd love to see it come to fruition, but some more detail would be nice to allow people to fully get behind whatever is being proposed.
Who actually owns the land,if it's Crawley Council the money from the sale would surely go to the local community fund, if it's the County Council I doubt CTFC would see a penny.I did hear a whisper a couple of months ago that there was a consortium interested in developing the land around Broadfield Stadium for a hotel and leisure complex which incorporated the Stadium, anyone else heard about it.I was writing this post as Matt was posting his informative comments but I'll leave it up for any comments.
Who actually owns the land,if it's Crawley Council the money from the sale would surely go to the local community fund, if it's the County Council I doubt CTFC would see a penny.I did hear a whisper a couple of months ago that there was a consortium interested in developing the land around Broadfield Stadium for a hotel and leisure complex which incorporated the Stadium, anyone else heard about it.I was writing this post as Matt was posting his informative comments but I'll leave it up for any comments.
yes I remember this, talk of a McDonald’s wasn’t there?😂
McDondalds was a part of a localish consortia that reached a preliminary stage before being knocked back...
...the interesting aspect was that the local authority gave signals that they were keen to cooperate, as they prefer "visible" owners, that they can establish a close working partnership with...
...don't forget that they are scrutinised closely & have had to write off monies owed by the club on a few occasions. CBC actually have a great track record of supporting the club & the stadium itself is a brilliant example of where they have gone above & beyond.
I'm still interested to see what other initiatives it's up against from a social and community perspective, but the provision of a 3G pitch to be rented out as a revenue stream and the additional tie-up with Crawley Wasps is a brilliant hook. Definitely a cause worth championing.
Sounds positives, I just hope the usual suspects don't get the knives out again for HKP.
He is more at risk of damage from tongue on arse action, from anyone who has problems seeing the differences between:
- a named & known benefactor, helping the club through significant financial contributions to the future training ground & the funzone...
And:
- an unknown overseas investor/owner fronted by secrecy & dubious shareholdings, who may or may not be an individual named in salacious - but poorly verified - online articles, related to irregular & improper fiscal activities.
Don't let them get too close to the sensitive parts Paul...!