Update from the Board of Directors

[divas]

The other option is to swallow the terms that DRFC are offering. Beggars can't be choosers.

Balls to that! A hurried bad deal will come back to haunt us.

I suspect we have reached our solid core who I don;t think will be as phased by a 5 year plan at Bishop. The attendances at the bank holiday game suggest Bishop may not be the obstacle first feared. I've never understood why given the distances people travel to work why travelling to Bishop is such a challenge .

I would agree with this.

Being at Bishop means many more miles clocked up for me (especially on mid week games) but I still enjoy it as the team is strong and the ground is quite nice.

What would knock attendances down from this point on, is a team that can't compete at the top end of the table - meaning the season starts to slip away.

I guess the two things pretty much go hand in hand. Crowds of 1,000 and limited commercial income are fine to compete at this level but I think we'll find that we may need more than that is the Conference North and that can only be achieved by getting back to the town.

[loan_star]

sorry didnt realise this was a facts board...

anyway the reason i say i think is because i havnt been there for about 4 years so the changing room entrance may have moved.

I didn't actually rule the college 'in' either. In fact I don't think it is viable...but from what I remember it has more in place than Eastbourne which for some reasons people feel can easily be converted.

The college changing rooms are still in the same place, however the pitches they use are now at .........




........Blackwell Meadows!!!

[Quakers1883]

It may well be that the often muted Eastbourne complex could once again be a viable solution. Easy links to outer ring road, available land for car parking on the eastside, slow development possible. On the downside the recent residential development a real drawback. Hindsight a wonderful thing.

There would be nothing slow about the development required at Eastbourne.

Look Eastbourne basically has a maintained rectangle of grass...that is all it has compared to any other field in town.

There are no changing facilities, there is no structure to the 'ground', there is no clubhouse, there is no perimeter fence, there is nothing there apart from a running track which makes it an even worse proposition than a blank canvas.

I would go as far as to say that Darlington College is better placed as at least the changing facilities are adjacent to the pitch (I think).

Eastbourne Complex also has floodlights (although I have no idea what standard)
Looking on the website it states as well as the main pitch which I believe Cleveland Bridge used to play on, there are also 3 six a-side pitches, with the mention of astro surface and a gym, also 4 eleven a-side and a number of junior pitches at the Hundens football pitches next to the complex.
Martin Gray's Football Academy is also based at Eastbourne complex.
It seems that the council are committed to this site as they already see this as the town's sports hub.
I know that the running track is an issue but I would see this site as plan C behind BM and the Arena.
As much as I would love to see us build our own ground somewhere within the town, I feel this is only ever going to be a pipe dream for the foreseeable future.

[m62exile]

I really struggle to see how Eastbourne is a contender. Access to the site is currently awful and the infrastructure for football is barely better than an empty field.

[al_quaker]

If we move somewhere with a running track around the pitch I would probably stop enjoying it very quickly. Watching football from behind a running track is awful.

If that's the only option that the club ends up with then it would have to go for it, but hopefully it would be the last resort.

[shawry]

I really struggle to see how Eastbourne is a contender. Access to the site is currently awful and the infrastructure for football is barely better than an empty field.

Probably because any infrastructure is better than no infrastructure, and if it transpires that we have no option but to develop our own ground, then we wont really be inundated with choices.

[My opinion]

If we move somewhere with a running track around the pitch I would probably stop enjoying it very quickly. Watching football from behind a running track is awful.

If that's the only option that the club ends up with then it would have to go for it, but hopefully it would be the last resort.

Agree with you 100%...
You lose the atmosphere for a start..From my point of view I would probably stop going as their would be little point, I struggle to see what is happening as it is.

[quaker4life]

Eastbourne would be a case of trial and error, although the infracture IS in place to deal with a large crowd, including a new overflow carpark behind the new housing estate where the school used to be, car access would still be very restrictive.

It could cause chaos around Yarm Road, Hundens Lane and Haughton road as it is hemmed in by a housing estate and narrow streets. There is plenty of room to put temporary stands up along the perimetre of the field but a move there would likely face strong opposition from those use who use the complex and nearby residents.

Although it wouldn't be totally out of the question the chances of anything being set up there are virtually zero.