Hello Peeps.
Yes, i know this is a re-invention, but it seems to have hijacked the Crystal Palace new ground thread , and there obviously appeared to be some mileage left in it (also, that i dont want anything with Palace on our threads).
Its sparked a healthy bollocking, sorry, debate on that thread, so , here we go again, feel free to castigate me in any way you wish - i wont take it personally !
The viewpoint that I have stated is that I am in favour of moving to a new stadium on the Greenwich Peninsula, if it allows us to progress, and would allow us to build on our fanbase , and obviously made financial sense.
What do you think?
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This alone shows that any such move should be dismissed straight away.
I agree but they are some very big ifs.
The historical and sentimental ties to the Valley are important and should not IMHO be dismissed out of hand. If we don't have our history then what are we?
A wish to retain the Club's history and tradition does not make someone "an ostrich". Nor does pointing out the many problems that a new stadium would bring make someone a "luddite".
On the other hand sometimes people and institutions need to move to move forward.
You said on the other thread that it was " a 40,000 stadium effectively given to us" but none of that is accurate.
There has been vague talk of an arena that might be built, funding, shape, capacity, roof, usage not specified. Nowhere has it officially been said it will have 40k seats or that anyone is going to be giving it to anyone.
Charlton, quite rightly, have taken an interest because they need to be aware of what is happening on their doorstep for both the opportunities (a new state of the art stadium perhaps) and the threats (another team moving in) such an arena might offer. That is because the Club have heard of negotiation and want to be round the table from the start to know about and influence what might happen.
Nothing is agreed and most likely the arena won't be built for many years, if ever.
Personally I have no problem moving to another stadium but there are certain caveats on that. The Stadium would have -
- to be owned or under our control,
- to be significantly better in size and facilities that is potentially available at the Valley
- have to have the potential to generate significantly more income than the Valley
- to be designed primarily for football (ie no running track and with proper ends)
- to have road and public transport links from SE London and Kent as good if not better than for the Valley
- Substantial and affordable parking available. Most likely this would have to be part of the planning application and may mean the cost of the stadium would be much higher. Just saying "negotiate with the car park owners to get free parking" is nonsense. To negotiate with the owners you have to have something to offer them. They give us £100,000s of free parking a season and we give them what exactly? A free executive box? No, they would want paying.
- pricing in a significant part of the stadium would have to be in line with current Valley pricing.
On every other level it is wrong.
We have a hardcore support of no more than 15k, if there was potential to even get to 32,000 let alone 38,000 at The Valley it would be more than enough.
Plus we only have one song and somehow "o2 the mist rollling in from the thames" just doesnt work for me.
All that effort to get back and we want to give it up after 20 years....
Register interest to keep franchisers away by all means, but The Valley is, and always will be, home.
Now get into the garden and enjoy the sunshiiiiiine.
We are never going to be good enough to consistently hit 32k+
Only 10 teams in the prem average over 30k per game, and they all either have cheating owners, or some sort of history.
We have, neither
But just to emphasise ..... if a football stadium is built at the O2, who will be playing there?
It might not be Charlton, so we don't want a Prem League QPR or Spurs playing on our doorstep.
The Board need to ensure that Charlton as a business is not compromised.
As for having no history! Really? If you mean no record of winning trophies then maybe but every club has history. Even Palace have history.
We don't know what is in the future. 10 years ago who would have predicted that we'd be in league 1.
20 years ago we still weren't sure if we were getting back to the Valley. And that was to an 8,000 capacity that some thought then would be enough. How many in 1992 would have predicted a 27k Valley full most weeks?
If you don't dream then you'll never have a dream come true.
2. Why would West Ham move South of the river to increase their capacity by 5k? I can't think of anything more absurd!
The proposed arena scheme is from the same people. It is an open venue on the Tunnel Refineries side of the A102. Being American they are looking at a baseball park with live music in mind.
The area along the riverside to the north of the Valley is the subject of a masterplan. The Wickes site is likely to be replaced by a very large Sainsbury's (as at Crayford). A Construction College has been added too. Good things proposed.
You have to remember that the Valley is landlocked. Big property development is not possible. This limits the value to re-invest in a new ground.
NEVER!!!!!!!!
I love that place we can upgrade whenever we want and id want us to sell out 40k average before contemplating leaving....
If some other teamed moved into the area then we can do whatever we need to do to stop it happening ie burn down the rival stadium in the dead of night so no one was injured...
But overall ... NO!
We don't even need to move away anyway The Valley is the perfect size for us at the moment.
We have a great stadium, slap bang in the middle of the community which the team is named after. That is becoming increasingly rare, and we must treasure it. I have to stop now as I am about to choke up.
My only desire is never to have to go to the Greenwich Peninsula for my Addick fix.
Things like:
- Participating in what is generally regarded as the best ever match at the old Wembley?
- The return to the Valley? What other club's fans have created a political party to fight their cause?
Or does history only mean trophies?