Most liked posts in thread: Ryan Sparks On How The Cost Of Living Crisis Is Impacting On Bradford City

And I thought it was his PIN number...!!

 

Back on topic; Ryan does raise some pertinent questions that won't go away in the short to medium term.
Like the OPEC crises in the early 70's, this one will drive solutions. Back then it was to cut reliance on middle eastern oil and develop the gas and oil fields in the North Sea (formerly called the German Sea before WW1)
In the 21st century we need to look at green alternatives to reduce running costs.
Solar power would be one. We have a tremendous amount of roof space that could be used to generate energy. It might not totally solve the problem but it would go a massive way to slashing the bill.
Using the rainwater from the stand roofs to flush toilets and water the pitch is another option to reduce costs.
Moving kick offs forward by an hour on a weekend in the darker months of the season could also help reduce energy consumption.
Sometimes it takes a crises to drive forward change.

 

Agree…Summer football would be a win win imho.

 

I’ve always been a massive advocate for moving it to summer myself Kev, maybe in some countries it would be to much though I’m not sure. But a Tuesday night game in June/July has much more appeal than a December night against someone like Crawley and needing hours to thaw out when you get home.

 

Kevin1954, if the numbers are your date of birth then surely you remember the 3 day week in the 1970's. All cup matches, both domestic and European were switched to midweek afternoon kick-off's as no floodlights could be used.

 

Good for them. I'm sure it gives their fans a lot of comfort knowing the club own the stadium when they are sat watching their team get beaten by Dorking or Aldershot.

 

Couldn't be bothered with a new thread, but looks like Mansfield are the first club to blink, they've switched their home game Oct 15 against Walsall to a 1pm KO due to not wanting to use the floodlights. Trial game, if all goes well from a clubs standpoint, they will look to continue it going forward.

 

He’s not an idiot and hats off to him to get the ball rolling.

Saturdays it can be done with a lunchtime kick off, but night games are a completely different animal.

I can’t see football being played midweek with a noon kick off!

Any ideas?

 

Problem with lunchtime kick offs, is all the logistics that surrounds it. I’d also say a fair few pubs and eating places would miss out on a lot of pre match trade.

 

Buy the ground or move then you don’t have rent to pay for and bills on top of that, Own things!!

 

Well it is but carry on.

 

Hasn't it been stated before that the current main stand (only one recieving full sunlight) hasn't got a strong enough support to hold a full solar panel system?

I think @wetherbywhaler has touched on the feasibility and costs previously

 

your point seems fair enough to me. Without government support to ease energy cost then I don’t see how the club is that different to a family household, in principle albeit on a bigger scale.

Without government support, you have to either find ways to reduce your usage in the face of massive price hikes, maybe generate some of your own power that you can use to reduce reliance on the suppliers (though that requires investment) or find ways to reduce your outgoings in other areas. So yes, in principle, our rent along with other outgoings would be an area you would consider looking at to see if you can reduce your costs in those areas to help pay the very high energy costs. How feasible that is, is another discussion but I think your point was fair enough.

 

I was broadly agreeing with the premis of saving money in other areas - as I said, it might not be feasible with specifically rent etc, but in the absence of government assistance, if we struggle to meet soaring energy costs, the companies won’t give a toss, so you have to explore ways of either saving money in other areas or try to generate some of your own energy to reduce your reliance on their supply (and that’s not straightforward either but it is going to be what some people will do). I don’t know the ins and outs of our rent agreement but it’s a discussion that can be had. We’ll have no choice but to look at all our costs to see where savings can be made - same as many families will be having to.

 

You say that, and not to kick off again the stadium move or not questions that seem to go every few months or so.... but if we were to move, we'd be hearing about plans rather soonish, probably in the next 12 months. Had a look at the new-ish stadiums to see how long they took to get off the ground.

Rotherham submitted planning in May 2008, planning permission wasn't approved until Nov 2010, opened Summer 2012. Brentford in March 2017 had their plan approved, work didn't begin until April 2018 with it being ready in Summer 2020. For grounds bigger than VP built in relatively recent times, as we probably wouldn't want to move to a smaller ground. MKs ground didn't get approval until early 2004, didn't break ground until Feb 2005 and finished for summer 2007. Brighton, approval in July 2007, construction started Nov 2008 and finished May 2011. Coventry's final plans for their ground were approved summer 2002, opened summer 2005.

So you're talking a 3 to 4 year plan based on previous work around the country. Also, found there were other clubs in L1/2 also with a stadium lease ending in 2028. Some have already got going, other are in our unknown boat.
Stockport and Swindon, who both this summer have purchased their grounds with plans to improve.
Hartlepool and Oxford, both grounds privately owned and both clubs are now in talks with their councils regarding moving as they cant justify the asking prices.
Barnsley and Orient leases both also ending 2028, but no news on their plans as of yet.

 

I tend to agree, so as posted in loyalty points thread, I've just amended my train times to Orient in December to arrive in the capital at 11.31

It makes sense for clubs to make savings. It's right and fair. But boy, it causes headaches around forward planning.

Communication will be ABSOLUTE key here, from football clubs

 

Start the season in April?, well you did ask for ideas!!

 

Not relevant.