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Post by axegas on Jun 4, 2020 12:36:21 GMT
I was thinking that. Of course the current training ground in Cribbs is soon to expire which could have forced our hand to start work on the colony but we could also have easily renewed our current deal with Cribbs. So maybe, something could be going on in the background regarding a stadium. I wonder if the fruit market are financially struggling due to the lockdown which may have meant they are up for talks for us to purchase the land. We couldn't. IIRC Red Maids school bought the land we train on and this was the last year we could train there so we had to find an alternative...which had all gone quiet, because of GC, BG and then CV. All in all I'm sceptical about what this means, there are more questions than answers until we are categorically told that this is a gift from Wael/DS. My mate was saying that all this really means is that the club has been forced out of Cribbs and rather then train in a leisure centre they're going to do some rudimentary work by painting some grass and putting up a few portacabins at an asset they once had greater plans for but have been long since abandoned. "We had that 50 years ago at Hambrook" were his words. Slightly cynical way of thinking, and I'm not sure that's entirely correct, I actually think this is a positive development but is there an element of truth in that? I mean if this isn't a gift from DS and the expense of this is going towards the debt, that would make me wary.
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Post by stuart1974 on Jun 4, 2020 12:37:56 GMT
Sorry Gasincider. Any news on a stadium mate? #neversatisfied. I’ve heard that we might be developing on a parcel of land at Cribbs. Anyone else heard that one? Funding to come from a fund linked to Tony Adams. Land swap with Clifton Rugby Club, we get land to develop, they get a stadium and the Mem stays a traditional rugby ground. You read it here first (and last 😊)
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Post by Big Jock on Jun 4, 2020 12:39:30 GMT
Th good news keeps coming . . . . .
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Post by warehamgas on Jun 4, 2020 12:42:47 GMT
The club is delighted to confirm that work will begin next week at The Colony to convert it into the training facility for the Bristol Rovers First team for the start of the 2020/21 season. Contractors have been appointed to start phase one of the project, with an initial installation of first-team pitches and training area, gym, medical area, changing facilities, staff offices and communal areas being concluded this year. MJ Abbott, who have worked with our ground staff to create the award-winning pitch at the Mem will also work on the two pitches at the Colony to ensure that they are of comparable industry-leading quality. www.bristolrovers.co.uk/news/2020/june/training-ground-statement/f**k me I never thought I’d see the day !! Good to see you socrates! Well to be fair we still haven’t seen the day (when it’s finished) but it’s great news and being officially announced seems very likely. I’ll celebrate when we’re training in it.😉 UTG!
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Post by readinggas on Jun 4, 2020 12:44:54 GMT
When work starts, I might raise an eyebrow.
When (if) it gets finished to a decent standard, I'll believe it.
We've been lead up the garden path multiple times over the last 20 years, so forgive me if I don't jump on the bandwagon just yet.
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Post by warehamgas on Jun 4, 2020 12:47:27 GMT
Th good news keeps coming . . . . .
After his last few pics quite right. Fish and chips every Friday. UTG!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2020 12:52:25 GMT
We couldn't. IIRC Red Maids school bought the land we train on and this was the last year we could train there so we had to find an alternative...which had all gone quiet, because of GC, BG and then CV. All in all I'm sceptical about what this means, there are more questions than answers until we are categorically told that this is a gift from Wael/DS. My mate was saying that all this really means is that the club has been forced out of Cribbs and rather then train in a leisure centre they're going to do some rudimentary work by painting some grass and putting up a few portacabins at an asset they once had greater plans for but have been long since abandoned. "We had that 50 years ago at Hambrook" were his words. Slightly cynical way of thinking, and I'm not sure that's entirely correct, I actually think this is a positive development but is there an element of truth in that? I mean if this isn't a gift from DS and the expense of this is going towards the debt, that would make me wary. We've seen too much (or is that too little?) under the AQ's now to take this at face value so I agree with your friend. We are under pressure to find a new training ground and the fact that they say initial work will be finished by next season suggests that it's going to be pitches and porta-cabins. The announcement also says "finished by the end of the year". Can they build a decent training facility in 6 months? If it's a highly modest build then perhaps it going on the debt is not so bad, however if it's actually something more state of the art and 10 million is going on the debt overnight then I would start to question how that gets paid off especially with a stadium needing to be built. So yeah, more questions than answers for me until we have some clarity on what the final build looks like and how that affects the club's finances.
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Post by Topper Gas on Jun 4, 2020 13:07:15 GMT
My mate was saying that all this really means is that the club has been forced out of Cribbs and rather then train in a leisure centre they're going to do some rudimentary work by painting some grass and putting up a few portacabins at an asset they once had greater plans for but have been long since abandoned. "We had that 50 years ago at Hambrook" were his words. Slightly cynical way of thinking, and I'm not sure that's entirely correct, I actually think this is a positive development but is there an element of truth in that? I mean if this isn't a gift from DS and the expense of this is going towards the debt, that would make me wary. We've seen too much (or is that too little?) under the AQ's now to take this at face value so I agree with your friend. We are under pressure to find a new training ground and the fact that they say initial work will be finished by next season suggests that it's going to be pitches and porta-cabins. The announcement also says "finished by the end of the year". Can they build a decent training facility in 6 months? If it's a highly modest build then perhaps it going on the debt is not so bad, however if it's actually something more state of the art and 10 million is going on the debt overnight then I would start to question how that gets paid off especially with a stadium needing to be built. So yeah, more questions than answers for me until we have some clarity on what the final build looks like and how that affects the club's finances. Then again for once we could look on the positives for change as a Gashead, we're finally getting our own training ground, even if it is only two pitches this summer, Wael/the ALQ's aren't about to pull funding and it's also sign we should survive CV19/this summer and also at least next season. As far as the finances given BRFC1883 doesn't actually own The Colony then you have to assume developing the site is going to be down to Wael/the ALQ's rather than adding to the club's own debts.
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Post by SleepyGas on Jun 4, 2020 13:08:07 GMT
"industry-leading quality" That is a bold claim! Love it (edit: although it looks like that is just in reference to the pitches.. so just a few pitches and some cones then? )
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Post by BrightonGas on Jun 4, 2020 13:08:46 GMT
Sorry to ask what seems a silly question but where is this being built please Really? Yes, really!!
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Post by axegas on Jun 4, 2020 13:11:08 GMT
"industry-leading quality" That is a bold claim! Love it (edit: although it looks like that is just in reference to the pitches.. so just a few pitches and some cones then? ) Well we’ve had industry leading quality from whoever’s worked on the pitch at the mem, probably the best pitch we’ve ever had.
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Post by gasandelectricity on Jun 4, 2020 13:14:19 GMT
Strange how the club has left it as a wasteland for about 3 years, and now have decided to go forward with the plans during an uncertain financial period. Maybe Wael has received his inheritance? While I won’t complain about him spending it all on us, I hope for his sake he doesn’t! He will never get it back.
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Post by SleepyGas on Jun 4, 2020 13:14:55 GMT
"industry-leading quality" That is a bold claim! Love it (edit: although it looks like that is just in reference to the pitches.. so just a few pitches and some cones then? ) Well we’ve had industry leading quality from whoever’s worked on the pitch at the mem, probably the best pitch we’ve ever had. Yep, sure.. and it would make sense to train on a pitch of similar quality to your home pitch! But my eyes were initially drawn to the "industry-leading quality" quote and assumed it meant to the whole training ground - which would have been quite something... and very spendy! $$$
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Post by CrispPusher on Jun 4, 2020 13:16:26 GMT
6 months should hopefully be ample time to turn the land into a facility at least comparable with the lawns. UTG
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Post by Antonio Fargas on Jun 4, 2020 13:30:44 GMT
The club is delighted to confirm that work will begin next week at The Colony to convert it into the training facility for the Bristol Rovers First team for the start of the 2020/21 season. Contractors have been appointed to start phase one of the project, with an initial installation of first-team pitches and training area, gym, medical area, changing facilities, staff offices and communal areas being concluded this year. MJ Abbott, who have worked with our ground staff to create the award-winning pitch at the Mem will also work on the two pitches at the Colony to ensure that they are of comparable industry-leading quality. www.bristolrovers.co.uk/news/2020/june/training-ground-statement/f**k me I never thought I’d see the day !! You still have to survive the weekend.
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Post by Jomo on Jun 4, 2020 13:34:49 GMT
Great news and a great statement by Wael and the club.
Can't help but remain a little cynical though. If it's two rectangles of well trimmed grass and a few portacabins, then I won't be surprised. Fingers crossed though that this will be the start of some genuine improvements to the infrastructure of the club.
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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Jun 4, 2020 13:35:47 GMT
Strange how the club has left it as a wasteland for about 3 years, and now have decided to go forward with the plans during an uncertain financial period. Uncertain finances from the outside. Conversely, this would appear to be the ideal time to build, restore, maintain and plan.... in hoping it's good to go before any competitive football returns.
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Post by cj on Jun 4, 2020 13:37:38 GMT
I was thinking that. Of course the current training ground in Cribbs is soon to expire which could have forced our hand to start work on the colony but we could also have easily renewed our current deal with Cribbs. So maybe, something could be going on in the background regarding a stadium. I wonder if the fruit market are financially struggling due to the lockdown which may have meant they are up for talks for us to purchase the land. We couldn't. IIRC Red Maids school bought the land we train on and this was the last year we could train there so we had to find an alternative... I didn't know that. Cheers for that info.
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Post by gregsy on Jun 4, 2020 13:38:14 GMT
6 months should hopefully be ample time to turn the land into a facility at least comparable with the lawns. UTG I think this where we're at, we need to initially be upgrading or at least matching what we've been used to.... I wouldn't expect much more than the lawns immediately, but isn't there some tax rule whereby new build stuff gets a better rates than expansion? Quite interesting all this....
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Post by swissgas on Jun 4, 2020 14:30:05 GMT
1)tHOUGHT IT WAS JUST A DUMPING GROUNS 2)wAEL GOT NO MONEY 3)eXTERNAL DEBT WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO PAY BACK 4)TAKEOVER I'm sure Swiss will be on later to tell us why, having added together all the numbers he could imagine off the top of his head, this is a bad idea. I said back in 2017 that if finances were limited and the job couldn't be done properly it was a bad idea for Rovers to attempt to develop our own training ground. Thorough planning is essential if a business is to be successful and that includes determining priorities and making sure cash resources are used wisely. Wael now has some cash to spare, I don't think he's using it wisely but let's wait and see.
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