Stan A. Einstein wrote:

Bangitintrnet wrote:
Oh and I really enjoyed the game tonight Stan, it was a cracker. Thank you for asking.
I trust you enjoyed Back to the Future, at the Sligo multiplex?[/color]

I didn't go to the pictures. At seven o'clock tonight I was three quarters of the way through a six mile run. The Newport half marathon in March is being run in aid of St David's hospice in Malpas where my beloved sister died in April. Since you're obviously obsessed by me no doubt you would wish to sponsor me.

I'll be the good looking fellow in the Leitrim GAA shirt. See you there.

Thank you for your very kind offer, but no thanks.
If you had been more generous when MY beloved Newport County needed financial support perhaps I would have had a different outlook.

wattsville_boy wrote:don't disagree with investing money into infrastructure but the problem is how to do it. The simple answer would be to put aside a percentage of the revenue each year for future projects, such as training facilities or a stadium fund.

The problem comes when you look at the figures generated by such a policy. For example if revenue were £1million a year even 20% taken for future projects is £200,000. That's a lot of years you'd need to even build a decent training facility, let alone a new stadium.

Yes, I agree it is going to be difficult. What should have happened, and I'm sure you will agree with me when I say this, should have been looked at a long time ago. When We got back into the football league, The directors should have looked at us having a stadium. For many years now, That I can remember, we have had some good directors and some Bad directors, Including the directors that are there this very day.

If and I repeat, If any directors are reading this forum now. We are not asking you to do this straight away. All we are asking you to do is call a meeting at the riverfront like you did when you needed our help to talk to us and tell us why it isn't possible to do some of the fundraisings now or even look into it at least.
Are we asking too much of you?

Stan A. Einstein wrote:When Whoareya suggested that nobody was interested in whether or not Newport County I thought it would be interesting to have a poll to find out.

45 people have voted, 5 more than voted for the Bradford man of the match, the thread has had 2,000 hits.

A few points.

Firstly it is only a snap shot of opinion, which seems fairly evenly split on what we should do. Which would suggest it is a topic worth examining.

Secondly it is regrettable that the usual suspects with their 'You all right. hun?' or those who choose to just ramp up insults and write in red ink, seem more interested in wrecking debate rather than engaging in a discussion. They do themselves or their arguments few favours. Indeed it is perhaps such behaviour which sometimes ruins this board. If as fans of Newport County we can't discuss our passion from different perspectives and agree to disagree whilst maintaining respect for each other then the essence of being a club which represents our club and community is lost.

Moving on for those who read the thread, I hope it proved informative, and for those who voted, however you voted my thanks for expressing your view.

So before the vote closes the wannabe judge issue's his summing up. Perhaps you should try debating rather than trying to shut down discussion. It seems that you think that you are still in court, a barrister asking questions, but never lowering yourself to answering any.

Torquay Exile wrote:

wattsville_boy wrote:don't disagree with investing money into infrastructure but the problem is how to do it. The simple answer would be to put aside a percentage of the revenue each year for future projects, such as training facilities or a stadium fund.

The problem comes when you look at the figures generated by such a policy. For example if revenue were £1million a year even 20% taken for future projects is £200,000. That's a lot of years you'd need to even build a decent training facility, let alone a new stadium.

Yes, I agree it is going to be difficult. What should have happened, and I'm sure you will agree with me when I say this, should have been looked at a long time ago. When We got back into the football league, The directors should have looked at us having a stadium. For many years now, That I can remember, we have had some good directors and some Bad directors, Including the directors that are there this very day.

If and I repeat, If any directors are reading this forum now. We are not asking you to do this straight away. All we are asking you to do is call a meeting at the riverfront like you did when you needed our help to talk to us and tell us why it isn't possible to do some of the fundraisings now or even look into it at least.
Are we asking too much of you?

You had the chance to stand as a director, and you shit out. You could have done it from Ireland, as has been proved by the board meetings during COVID.

What an unbelievable sense of entitlement you have Stan. Call a meeting at the Riverfront to discuss what exactly? That Stan believes the vast majority of clubs are wrong, and that they should join him back in the nineteen eighties.
Stan can't you see that in four days a pitiful amount of people have responded to your pointless vote?

In 2002 supporter owned AFC Wimbledon were reformed, in 2021 they are playing their first games in their brand new £30m stadium.

That was achieved through foresight, dogged determination, and a clear plan delivered by a very focused Trust.

With land and construction prices many multiples of those in Newport, if Wimbledon can do it, with the same amount of bloody minded determination, we could have done as well.

Unfortunately, seemingly due to its proximity to pubs, RP has proven to be the graveyard of our ambitions. That is until the WRU truly shaft us, which at some point they will, but then it could be too late.
The only way forward now, is a joint bid between County and Dragons on an equal share basis.

By the way, Wimbledon have just agreed to allow a Rugby League side to share their facilities.

Taunton Iron Cider wrote: By the way, Wimbledon have just agreed to allow a Rugby League side to share their facilities.

Fingers crossed they factored in that possibility when choosing a pitch. And RL's summer season means it would never get a complete rest for more than about a fortnight.

Taunton Iron Cider wrote:In 2002 supporter owned AFC Wimbledon were reformed, in 2021 they are playing their first games in their brand new £30m stadium.

That was achieved through foresight, dogged determination, and a clear plan delivered by a very focused Trust.

With land and construction prices many multiples of those in Newport, if Wimbledon can do it, with the same amount of bloody minded determination, we could have done as well.

Unfortunately, seemingly due to its proximity to pubs, RP has proven to be the graveyard of our ambitions. That is until the WRU truly shaft us, which at some point they will, but then it could be too late.
The only way forward now, is a joint bid between County and Dragons on an equal share basis.

By the way, Wimbledon have just agreed to allow a Rugby League side to share their facilities.

AFC Wimbledon have a larger fan base than Newport County, and of Course a legacy of being a former First Division team.

They also have a number of very rich supporters
backing them. They were therefore in a position to purchase Kings Meadow when Kingstonian went into liquidation. Kings Meadow was sold to Chelsea for a large sum, and Wimbledon's rich owners have been able to take out the loans necessary for the club.

Good luck to them, but we are not and never have been comparable to AFC Wimbledon.

As for the WRU shafting us, the Dragons play 10 games at Rodney Parade, County play 30 before adding any cup success. So who benefits the most from the Investment that the WRU have made, Dragons or County?

The WRU know that the Dragon's can't sustain the cost of maintaining Rodney Parade on there own. Divide the ever increasing cost by 10 games and it isn't viable. The WRU have a much better record with developing suitable stadia than our local authority.

At some point the WRU will want to offload the Dragon's and Rodney Parade, and making sure that Rodney Parade is viable will be part of the deal

Bangitintrnet wrote:

Taunton Iron Cider wrote:In 2002 supporter owned AFC Wimbledon were reformed, in 2021 they are playing their first games in their brand new £30m stadium.

That was achieved through foresight, dogged determination, and a clear plan delivered by a very focused Trust.

With land and construction prices many multiples of those in Newport, if Wimbledon can do it, with the same amount of bloody minded determination, we could have done as well.

Unfortunately, seemingly due to its proximity to pubs, RP has proven to be the graveyard of our ambitions. That is until the WRU truly shaft us, which at some point they will, but then it could be too late.
The only way forward now, is a joint bid between County and Dragons on an equal share basis.

By the way, Wimbledon have just agreed to allow a Rugby League side to share their facilities.

AFC Wimbledon have a larger fan base than Newport County, and of Course a legacy of being a former First Division team.

They also have a number of very rich supporters
backing them. Wimbledon's rich owners have been able to take out the loans necessary for the club.

Good luck to them, but we are not and never have been comparable to AFC Wimbledon.

As for the WRU shafting us, the Dragons play 10 games at Rodney Parade, County play 30 before adding any cup success. So who benefits the most from the Investment that the WRU have made, Dragons or County?

My Wimbledon supporting friend is far from rich but he and many others like him subscribed to the £5m bond. Interest is to be paid but subscribers could elect the rate that they wanted up to an agreed maximum, in his case he chose 3%.

Yes they have some wealthy supporters, but above that they have vision, we don’t! Our current mission it seems is just to survive each season. Arguably there is nothing wrong in that, but in business you can only do one of two things, grow or decline, there is no middle ground.

As for the WRU, I remember an infamous quote of theirs when trying to give Newport RFC reassurance of their intentions, it was ‘ RP is a rugby ground and will always remain a rugby ground’ , comments that should worry us. Based on that commitment where are NRFC now and what news on the renewal of our lease?
So if the WRU can shaft one of their own, why would County be immune from being left with bittersweet memories? Heaven forbid, but if we were to be relegated back to non league, then your idea of us being seen as a financial crutch for RP would quickly disappear into the ether.

The only way forward for us, is to co-own RP along with the Dragons, where hopefully a purchase price of less than £10m could secure. Better still the City Council purchase the ground, but again that would require vision, something they have lacked since the dawn of time.

Taunton Iron Cider wrote:In 2002 supporter owned AFC Wimbledon were reformed, in 2021 they are playing their first games in their brand new £30m stadium.

That was achieved through foresight, dogged determination, and a clear plan delivered by a very focused Trust.

With land and construction prices many multiples of those in Newport, if Wimbledon can do it, with the same amount of bloody minded determination, we could have done as well.

Unfortunately, seemingly due to its proximity to pubs, RP has proven to be the graveyard of our ambitions. That is until the WRU truly shaft us, which at some point they will, but then it could be too late.
The only way forward now, is a joint bid between County and Dragons on an equal share basis.

By the way, Wimbledon have just agreed to allow a Rugby League side to share their facilities.

I'd suggest you look at the financial mechanics of how their new stadium came to be, you are right that their Trust was very much more focused on the project, but they did not raise all the funding via the Trust and have subsequently relinquished overall Trust/fan ownership and also taken on a substantial loan that is secured against the stadium.

I believe the Wimbledon model would be similar to us acquiring Spytty from Newport City Council/Newport Live, then either redeveloping it, or selling it to develop elsewhere. The driver for Wimbledon's Trust was a pledge to return the club to the borough of Merton, hence the need to sell up and relocate.

There is plenty of information available that will confirm the details, but it was not the utopian dream of the Trust raising all the money, buying a plot of land in their home borough and building their own stadium on it.

yourfinalanswer wrote:

whoareya wrote:I'm more bemused that anyone would think this basketcase forum is in any way a snap shot of opinion.......

So why do you come on here and reply to the messages?

For my own titillation and to avoid the long list of DIY projects that I should be getting on with.

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

excessbee wrote:And, of course, 2000 'hits' may be just the regular 100 or so that might be expected to pay a visit over the length of time the thread has been running.

2,200 hits. If only 100 viewers then 22 visits per person in five days. I don't think so.

I would suggest that 100 individual viewers is optimistic.
I'd suggest its more like 50, some viewing occasionally to see what repetitive nonsense has been regurgitated, the others, possibly a dozen or so, viewing repeatedly to see if their repetitive nonsense has drawn any attention......

Taunton Iron Cider wrote:

Bangitintrnet wrote:

Taunton Iron Cider wrote:In 2002 supporter owned AFC Wimbledon were reformed, in 2021 they are playing their first games in their brand new £30m stadium.

That was achieved through foresight, dogged determination, and a clear plan delivered by a very focused Trust.

With land and construction prices many multiples of those in Newport, if Wimbledon can do it, with the same amount of bloody minded determination, we could have done as well.

Unfortunately, seemingly due to its proximity to pubs, RP has proven to be the graveyard of our ambitions. That is until the WRU truly shaft us, which at some point they will, but then it could be too late.
The only way forward now, is a joint bid between County and Dragons on an equal share basis.

By the way, Wimbledon have just agreed to allow a Rugby League side to share their facilities.

AFC Wimbledon have a larger fan base than Newport County, and of Course a legacy of being a former First Division team.

They also have a number of very rich supporters
backing them. Wimbledon's rich owners have been able to take out the loans necessary for the club.

Good luck to them, but we are not and never have been comparable to AFC Wimbledon.

As for the WRU shafting us, the Dragons play 10 games at Rodney Parade, County play 30 before adding any cup success. So who benefits the most from the Investment that the WRU have made, Dragons or County?

My Wimbledon supporting friend is far from rich but he and many others like him subscribed to the £5m bond. Interest is to be paid but subscribers could elect the rate that they wanted up to an agreed maximum, in his case he chose 3%.

Yes they have some wealthy supporters, but above that they have vision, we don’t! Our current mission it seems is just to survive each season. Arguably there is nothing wrong in that, but in business you can only do one of two things, grow or decline, there is no middle ground.

As for the WRU, I remember an infamous quote of theirs when trying to give Newport RFC reassurance of their intentions, it was ‘ RP is a rugby ground and will always remain a rugby ground’ , comments that should worry us. Based on that commitment where are NRFC now and what news on the renewal of our lease?
So if the WRU can shaft one of their own, why would County be immune from being left with bittersweet memories? Heaven forbid, but if we were to be relegated back to non league, then your idea of us being seen as a financial crutch for RP would quickly disappear into the ether.

The only way forward for us, is to co-own RP along with the Dragons, where hopefully a purchase price of less than £10m could secure. Better still the City Council purchase the ground, but again that would require vision, something they have lacked since the dawn of time.

You need to take the comment "RP is a Rugby ground and will always be a Rugby ground" in context.

The WRU had been trying to agree a way forward for the Rugby with outside investment. The week after the planning consent for the Student Flats/RP development lapsed, the WRU decided that selling without consent, wasn't a viable option.

The Student flats/Ground development was a linked consent. In other words a developer had to proceed in stages, so that the ground ended up fully developed, before the student tower blocks were built. It was these blocks that would provide the funds for the ground redevelopment.

However when the University merged with Glamorgan, it was decided that the campus sites would be away from Newport. The Student tower blocks were no longer required at the Rodney Parade cabbage patch.

Now the important bit. The Stadium development that was proposed with the flats included huge ends and small side stands. It was felt by the WRU that huge ends are put in a football stadium, and that in Rugby that no one would want to stand there.

It was a reassurance to the Rugby fans present in the meeting, that the WRU owning the ground would mean that it would be developed as a Rugby ground.

Personally I wouldn't want to see huge end terraces either.

You mentioned previously that AFC Wimbledon have agreed a ground share with Rugby at their brand new stadium. Have a little think as to why they may have done that?

Likewise Cardiff City Stadium, the Liberty Stadium and Ashton Gate, and most notably the Principality Stadium. All rich Club/Country owners.

whoareya wrote:

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

excessbee wrote:And, of course, 2000 'hits' may be just the regular 100 or so that might be expected to pay a visit over the length of time the thread has been running.

2,200 hits. If only 100 viewers then 22 visits per person in five days. I don't think so.

I would suggest that 100 individual viewers is optimistic.
I'd suggest its more like 50, some viewing occasionally to see what repetitive nonsense has been regurgitated, the others, possibly a dozen or so, viewing repeatedly to see if their repetitive nonsense has drawn any attention......

Wow, with 47 out of 50 voting a turnout of 94%.

Impressive.

Bangitintrnet wrote:

Taunton Iron Cider wrote:

Bangitintrnet wrote:

Taunton Iron Cider wrote:In 2002 supporter owned AFC Wimbledon were reformed, in 2021 they are playing their first games in their brand new £30m stadium.

That was achieved through foresight, dogged determination, and a clear plan delivered by a very focused Trust.

With land and construction prices many multiples of those in Newport, if Wimbledon can do it, with the same amount of bloody minded determination, we could have done as well.

Unfortunately, seemingly due to its proximity to pubs, RP has proven to be the graveyard of our ambitions. That is until the WRU truly shaft us, which at some point they will, but then it could be too late.
The only way forward now, is a joint bid between County and Dragons on an equal share basis.

By the way, Wimbledon have just agreed to allow a Rugby League side to share their facilities.

AFC Wimbledon have a larger fan base than Newport County, and of Course a legacy of being a former First Division team.

They also have a number of very rich supporters
backing them. Wimbledon's rich owners have been able to take out the loans necessary for the club.

Good luck to them, but we are not and never have been comparable to AFC Wimbledon.

As for the WRU shafting us, the Dragons play 10 games at Rodney Parade, County play 30 before adding any cup success. So who benefits the most from the Investment that the WRU have made, Dragons or County?

My Wimbledon supporting friend is far from rich but he and many others like him subscribed to the £5m bond. Interest is to be paid but subscribers could elect the rate that they wanted up to an agreed maximum, in his case he chose 3%.

Yes they have some wealthy supporters, but above that they have vision, we don’t! Our current mission it seems is just to survive each season. Arguably there is nothing wrong in that, but in business you can only do one of two things, grow or decline, there is no middle ground.

As for the WRU, I remember an infamous quote of theirs when trying to give Newport RFC reassurance of their intentions, it was ‘ RP is a rugby ground and will always remain a rugby ground’ , comments that should worry us. Based on that commitment where are NRFC now and what news on the renewal of our lease?
So if the WRU can shaft one of their own, why would County be immune from being left with bittersweet memories? Heaven forbid, but if we were to be relegated back to non league, then your idea of us being seen as a financial crutch for RP would quickly disappear into the ether.

The only way forward for us, is to co-own RP along with the Dragons, where hopefully a purchase price of less than £10m could secure. Better still the City Council purchase the ground, but again that would require vision, something they have lacked since the dawn of time.

You need to take the comment "RP is a Rugby ground and will always be a Rugby ground" in context.

The WRU had been trying to agree a way forward for the Rugby with outside investment. The week after the planning consent for the Student Flats/RP development lapsed, the WRU decided that selling without consent, wasn't a viable option.

The Student flats/Ground development was a linked consent. In other words a developer had to proceed in stages, so that the ground ended up fully developed, before the student tower blocks were built. It was these blocks that would provide the funds for the ground redevelopment.

However when the University merged with Glamorgan, it was decided that the campus sites would be away from Newport. The Student tower blocks were no longer required at the Rodney Parade cabbage patch.

Now the important bit. The Stadium development that was proposed with the flats included huge ends and small side stands. It was felt by the WRU that huge ends are put in a football stadium, and that in Rugby that no one would want to stand there.

It was a reassurance to the Rugby fans present in the meeting, that the WRU owning the ground would mean that it would be developed as a Rugby ground.

Personally I wouldn't want to see huge end terraces either.

You mentioned previously that AFC Wimbledon have agreed a ground share with Rugby at their brand new stadium. Have a little think as to why they may have done that?

Likewise Cardiff City Stadium, the Liberty Stadium and Ashton Gate, and most notably the Principality Stadium. All rich Club/Country owners.

Interesting and detailed comments, but perhaps unlike many I don’t wholly trust the suits at the WRU, some of who I believe still harbour the old antagonism towards football. Years ago I recall it was rugby league that was in their sights.
Rightly, the WRU only have one interest, and that is the financial stability and progression of rugby throughout the Principality and on the World stage.
So with the Dragon franchise transferable, if a golden opportunity was to arise where RP could be sold and their coffers topped up, then that would leave us exposed. As things stand we seemingly don’t even have the protection of a lease, let alone one with a decent unexpired term.
If we were given 12 months notice to vacate, where could we move to, as it even seems as though Spytty is no longer an option?

However I do believe that in Mr Buttress we have a golden opportunity to perhaps progress a joint bid for ownership at RP. For the sake of County’s future I believe that not doing anything is no longer a safe option, and would like to see some positive moves in that direction.

As for Wimbledon, their ground has been designed to accommodate many commercial opportunities, including a 500 seater conference centre. Multi use of any stadium has to be a consideration these days, otherwise a high value asset will be lying idle for a disproportionate amount of time and not generating revenue.

That said I was surprised at the rugby tenant, more because their use is during the summer when grounds are normally reseeded etc. At least Rugby League does not have turf destroying scrums. Spurs have the ideal answer, but that is something way beyond the financial ability of any club not firmly ensconced in the Premier League.

Finally, isn’t the Liberty Stadium owned by the Council, with both Swansea and Ospreys only paying a peppercorn rent?