jaggybunnet Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Well, that depends. How much do the club spend on training facilities and USH over a season? Add on the potential income from pitch hire and I think we'd be doing alright. We could also ask the SRU to help out (they'll benefit from lower chance of called off games and home advantage in rugby from plastic pitches will be bigger, since footballers train often on artificial surfaces whereas I imagine it is rare in rugby). what about lower leauge teams or even cowdenbeath with there 800 crowds i just dont think it is viable at that cost. you mentioned the cost of trg facilites and income from pitch hire, how does that work? surely if we are useing the ground to trg on (and poss GW as well) when do we hire it out? if you could (by magic it seems) get all clubs to get it then great but i just cant see it happining due to money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinny Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 what about lower leauge teams or even cowdenbeath with there 800 crowds i just dont think it is viable at that cost. you mentioned the cost of trg facilites and income from pitch hire, how does that work? surely if we are useing the ground to trg on (and poss GW as well) when do we hire it out? if you could (by magic it seems) get all clubs to get it then great but i just cant see it happining due to money. I'm not talking about magically getting all clubs to play on it, I'm talking about us playing on it. The club doesn't train 24/7. The first team will train during the daytime Monday to Friday, probably only for a few hours on the pitch at most, meaning there will be time local schools could have PE lessons on it. I don't know how often the youth teams train, but I imagine it'll only be a couple of nights a week, and on other nights and before and after youth teams play/train it could be booked I'm sure. Hamilton managed to make money from this alright, so I'm sure it's possible for us when we're so close to the centre of Glasgow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediocre Pundit Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 I'm not talking about magically getting all clubs to play on it, I'm talking about us playing on it. The club doesn't train 24/7. The first team will train during the daytime Monday to Friday, probably only for a few hours on the pitch at most, meaning there will be time local schools could have PE lessons on it. I don't know how often the youth teams train, but I imagine it'll only be a couple of nights a week, and on other nights and before and after youth teams play/train it could be booked I'm sure. Hamilton managed to make money from this alright, so I'm sure it's possible for us when we're so close to the centre of Glasgow. Let's assume we never rent it out (totally conservative view) - we'll still save on training facilities for all our teams, both Thistle and potentially Warriors, and allow all matches to take place on it - first team, reserves and youth. And there will be less cancellations. Minimal cost to maintain/prepare for matches. All this combined must make it reasonably cost effective, assuming some government support on cost, no? The add an ability to rent it out and...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willjag Posted March 28, 2011 Members Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 I believe the Warriors have purpose built facilities at Scotstoun that other local Rugby Clubs are allowed to use also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggybunnet Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 I'm not talking about magically getting all clubs to play on it, I'm talking about us playing on it. The club doesn't train 24/7. The first team will train during the daytime Monday to Friday, probably only for a few hours on the pitch at most, meaning there will be time local schools could have PE lessons on it. I don't know how often the youth teams train, but I imagine it'll only be a couple of nights a week, and on other nights and before and after youth teams play/train it could be booked I'm sure. Hamilton managed to make money from this alright, so I'm sure it's possible for us when we're so close to the centre of Glasgow. sorry twinny, that bit was ment for HJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinny Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 sorry twinny, that bit was ment for HJ Ah, no worries, JB. Makes more sense now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hebridean jag Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 sorry twinny, that bit was ment for HJ Well at a stroke you would have the all weather training and playing surfaces so urgently needed in this country. That`s if we are to proceed with the improvements in the national game as outlined in the last two reports sponsored by the SFA, SPL and SFL. Only last week the SFL announced that £1.5m was to be spent on another youth development initiative. How many pitches would that go towards? You are obviously working on the assumption that the money would have to be paid up front, why? With the SFL as guarantor, companys would be fighting for a contract that required the laying of 20+ artificial pitches. If it was done under the auspices of Holyrood a number of finance initiatives are possible. It would probably be one of the few projects actualy suitable for PFI. The buyers would have a fair bit of clout so the asking price would be considerably less than the cost quoted for one pitch. It is also not unreasonable to assume that assistance would come from the Scottish Government as they were co-sponsors of Henry McLeish`s latest report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggybunnet Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Well at a stroke you would have the all weather training and playing surfaces so urgently needed in this country. That`s if we are to proceed with the improvements in the national game as outlined in the last two reports sponsored by the SFA, SPL and SFL. Only last week the SFL announced that £1.5m was to be spent on another youth development initiative. How many pitches would that go towards? You are obviously working on the assumption that the money would have to be paid up front, why? With the SFL as guarantor, companys would be fighting for a contract that required the laying of 20+ artificial pitches. If it was done under the auspices of Holyrood a number of finance initiatives are possible. It would probably be one of the few projects actualy suitable for PFI. The buyers would have a fair bit of clout so the asking price would be considerably less than the cost quoted for one pitch. It is also not unreasonable to assume that assistance would come from the Scottish Government as they were co-sponsors of Henry McLeish`s latest report. in football grounds, not all of whom might want others to use it and even if they pay it off as a loan its still a big debt for smaller clubs that they cant afford think you are asking a lot, why would the government spend millions to do this with things as they are??? and not everyone likes football so I could see a fair bit of opposition to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Off on a tangent here but hardly worth a thread of its own....... I don't consider the SFL helps itself enough. One of the biggest bugbears this season is the number of midweek winter games due to postponements. I'm not sure of the actual logistics but I'm fairly certain this could be alleviated in a couple of ways. Firstly by freeing up two or three weekends. It's the loss of home weekend league games that threaten season ticket sales and have a major effect on club turnover. So play all the Challenge Cup ties midweek up until the final. If for instance Scotland have a home game on a Saturday play a league match on the Sunday or kick off earlier to avoid clashing with the international. That's usually what happens with Challenge Cup games as it is. Secondly if a Saturday game is postponed don't rearrange the match for midweek in December/January/February. The only reason as I see for these winter midweek games going ahead is cashflow. This is where the SFL and SFA can step in and help. At present if crisis payments are made I believe every club receives the same cash. Instead they should divvy out the cash as loans to the clubs who have had home weekend games postponed. A home crowd will be larger midweek in March and April than in winter so it's self financing in theory at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hebridean jag Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 in football grounds, not all of whom might want others to use it and even if they pay it off as a loan its still a big debt for smaller clubs that they cant afford think you are asking a lot, why would the government spend millions to do this with things as they are??? and not everyone likes football so I could see a fair bit of opposition to it. Not asking for more than the sport`s due. It`s also worth adding that it`s the Scottish Govenrment who seem determined to get themselves involved with the development of the game. Let`s look at the finance though. These pitches will last a long time if maintained. A reasonable term loan can therefore be considered. If Holyrood/SFA/SPL/SFL took this on board and determined on replacing the majority of the SFL`s pitches with a community asset, how much would it cost? Let`s say 30 pitches at £350K a pop....£10.5m. A lot of money but hardly a deal breaker given the will. Buttons compared to other marque projects. I refuse to take the opinions of people who don`t like football into account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bunny Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Off on a tangent here but hardly worth a thread of its own....... I don't consider the SFL helps itself enough. One of the biggest bugbears this season is the number of midweek winter games due to postponements. I'm not sure of the actual logistics but I'm fairly certain this could be alleviated in a couple of ways. Firstly by freeing up two or three weekends. It's the loss of home weekend league games that threaten season ticket sales and have a major effect on club turnover. So play all the Challenge Cup ties midweek up until the final. If for instance Scotland have a home game on a Saturday play a league match on the Sunday or kick off earlier to avoid clashing with the international. That's usually what happens with Challenge Cup games as it is. Secondly if a Saturday game is postponed don't rearrange the match for midweek in December/January/February. The only reason as I see for these winter midweek games going ahead is cashflow. This is where the SFL and SFA can step in and help. At present if crisis payments are made I believe every club receives the same cash. Instead they should divvy out the cash as loans to the clubs who have had home weekend games postponed. A home crowd will be larger midweek in March and April than in winter so it's self financing in theory at least. Unfortunately all that makes perfect sense so I don't think we'll ever see it happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberteeb Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Summer football won’t save Firhill because the Warriors will still be playing on it throughout the winter and it is them that cause the majority of damage to the pitch. And I don’t think eggby on an artificial pitch is much of a goer, as someone who spent the majority of his time chasing eggs in amongst rucks, mauls and scrums it would be a nightmare doing that on an artificial pitch no matter how much this 4G thing simulates grass. There must be serious injury concerns about it. Artificial pitches being used for football is light years ahead of what it is for egg and like it or no we are stuck with the Warriors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuthejag Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Don't know if it's been mentioned but some of our clubs biggest shareholders where checking out the Stenhousemuir game last saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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