Blackwell Meadows Update

[Darlo Till I Die]

...can be found here...
http://www.darlington1883.co.uk/?p=7406

[quakerste]

Some points from tonight

Debt now down to £60,000 from £229,000.
Decrease in average attendance of over 100 over the season equated to £36,000 loss of income.
So far only 350 tickets sold to Darlo fans for Sunderland friendly. Emphasised it will be Sunderlands first team.

[Quakerz]

Looks good from the pics.

It looks like the temporary seating will be installed along the pitchside, and it looks like the Tin Shed could be the roof over it.

The terraced end also looks to have a roof - which I didn't expect, so that's a bonus - and judging by the crush barriers in the illustration it looks like the terrace will have more than the originally planned 4 steps. Again that would be an unexpected upgrade, but really I'd say it's necessary if we want to get the capacity anywhere near 3,000.

[dickdarlington]

Think the plan was altered to be 8 steps. Same as Bish. But full width.

Wondering why the seats are so far apart. Thought the idea was to move the subs benches.

Doesn't look too bad overall though.

[lo36789]

Just excited to get further details now. If it is going to be end of September by the time we get costs finalised I can't see us back in there for the new year. It would need all the fund raising and work to be done inside 8weeks.

[Robbie Painter]

Think the plans look excellent.

Talk of 3k capacity is really pie in the sky when we can only sell 350 tickets for a game against Sunderland's first team & season ticket sales are well down on last season.

Debt - was that net of cash?

[bga]

Let's hope DRC are as "savvy" as DMPRC when it comes to funding their part of the development. Apparently DMPRC applied for, and obtained £50,000 from the Rugby Football Union to build new changing rooms at the Arena. I am sure their proposal made sense bearing in mind the number of teams they have, and a boys and girls section. Hope DRC make as strong a proposal if they are seeking these funds also!

[super_les_mcjannet]

Debt - was that net of cash?

Not 100% Robbie but from my understanding that is what is left to physically pay, we should still have cash in the bank although I don't know what this figure looks like currently.

Largely the TUPE left to pay which no point paying it all off or faster than normal better off having money still in the bank to help balance cash flow.

[Sidarlo]

First time ive been to a fans forum tonight, few positives and negatives as expected.

Season ticket sales and sunderland tickets worrying

Ground proposals look great
Hopefully get the full go ahead from the council soon so the costing can be agreed and work can start
Debt down to 60k

[HarrytheQuaker]

It's just so annoying we are throwing money away to somewhere which is NOT our ground , I no we need a few million and somewhere to build one but surely that's the way to go and not throw money away. I do no we need to be back in darlo and very great full to have a team and somewhere to play. I'm not been negative it's just annoying..


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[lo36789]

It's just so annoying we are throwing money away to somewhere which is NOT our ground , I no we need a few million and somewhere to build one but surely that's the way to go and not throw money away. I do no we need to be back in darlo and very great full to have a team and somewhere to play. I'm not been negative it's just annoying..


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I'd be more bothered if we were paying for stuff beyond what we need. Sounds like we are not. I don't think the ownership matters that much just as long as we have some protection from being booted. I'd have thought that is there before we start paying for upgrades.

[HarrytheQuaker]

It's just so annoying we are throwing money away to somewhere which is NOT our ground , I no we need a few million and somewhere to build one but surely that's the way to go and not throw money away. I do no we need to be back in darlo and very great full to have a team and somewhere to play. I'm not been negative it's just annoying..


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I'd be more bothered if we were paying for stuff beyond what we need. Sounds like we are not. I don't think the ownership matters that much just as long as we have some protection from being booted. I'd have thought that is there before we start paying for upgrades.

I hope so but we are Darlo so probably not gave it a thought...


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[Quakerz]

Think the plans look excellent.

Talk of 3k capacity is really pie in the sky when we can only sell 350 tickets for a game against Sunderland's first team & season ticket sales are well down on last season.

Debt - was that net of cash?

Robbie, the need for 3k is not actually about the size of our fanbase, but is actually a common sense aim.

Let's say we get promoted this coming season and move to Blackwell. It would mean we kick off next season in the Evo Prem with an Evo Prem graded ground. But what if we were in the hunt for promotion again? We'd ideally need a BSN graded ground so we'd know we could step up to the next level. It's better to be one step ahead if possible rather than having a panic on about having to upgrade the ground again, so soon after moving in.

And a BSN graded ground is similar to an Evo Prem ground, with one major exception - it needs a minimum 3,000 capacity rather than 1,950. Hence the talk of 3,000.

Also, despite the current lack of interest, I'm sure crowds would initially be well above 2,000 in the first few matches after moving back, so having a 3,000 capacity enables us to cash in.

[divas]

It's just so annoying we are throwing money away to somewhere which is NOT our ground , I no we need a few million and somewhere to build one but surely that's the way to go and not throw money away. I do no we need to be back in darlo and very great full to have a team and somewhere to play. I'm not been negative it's just annoying..


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Feethams was not our ground either but we lasted there far longer than we did for the very short period we owned the arena

[coppedout]

Maybe the APATHY that was spoken about widely at the meeting eminates largely
from this forum.

Remember; YOUR CLUB NEEDS YOU. Otherwise you can kiss it good bye.

Jesper Martin said "ASK NOT WHAT YOUR CLUB CAN DO FOR YOU. ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR CLUB." Then get in touch and do it.

Without a continued push from the fans, who are the owners anyway & continued investment, the club will wilt away.

[HarrytheQuaker]

Think the plans look excellent.

Talk of 3k capacity is really pie in the sky when we can only sell 350 tickets for a game against Sunderland's first team & season ticket sales are well down on last season.

Debt - was that net of cash?

Robbie, the need for 3k is not actually about the size of our fanbase, but is actually a common sense aim.

Let's say we get promoted this coming season and move to Blackwell. It would mean we kick off next season in the Evo Prem with an Evo Prem graded ground. But what if we were in the hunt for promotion again? We'd ideally need a BSN graded ground so we'd know we could step up to the next level. It's better to be one step ahead if possible rather than having a panic on about having to upgrade the ground again, so soon after moving in.

And a BSN graded ground is similar to an Evo Prem ground, with one major exception - it needs a minimum 3,000 capacity rather than 1,950. Hence the talk of 3,000.

Also, despite the current lack of interest, I'm sure crowds would initially be well above 2,000 in the first few matches after moving back, so having a 3,000 capacity enables us to cash in.

That is my worry if we want to progress higher we need a better graded ground that's why I'm worried about throwing more money after more money and not having our own ground..


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[Twintowers]

We are spending money on the only realistic chance we have of playing in town by a club that has been very welcoming and are spending a fair bit of money themselves to make this happen.Harry,unless you can s*** a £10 note every 10 seconds to give to the club to buy your pipe dream of a ground I suggest you go with what we've got.

[HarrytheQuaker]

I've been bloody going with what we've got for 30yrs now and will continue for life as a darlo fan. It's just a worry that's all.


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[Sidarlo]

https://simonhahn89.wordpress.com/2014/ ... -9th-july/

The general key points i took from the other night

Overall positive but the hard work will continue for a while

[loan_star]

https://simonhahn89.wordpress.com/2014/ ... -9th-july/

The general key points i took from the other night

Overall positive but the hard work will continue for a while

So the car park is the hold up. What a surprise that DBC is making parking awkward for football fans again whilst letting rugby fans park for free wherever the hell they like, either at the arena or in neighbouring streets!!

[dickdarlington]

I don't necessarily think it's the council stopping football fans parking this time. I think it's more to do with the single track access to the site from the main road. And the limited number if spaces. Just 180 by some estimations. Not sure how many will be needed to be created. But in order to get the capacity increase we need to provide a % of spaces related to the capacity