Potential players in (loan or transfer or free)

[GeorgeCarrExcavation]

I remember some discussion that there were fire risks before the stand refurbishment.

[Redrobe fan]

I’ve often wondered about the quoted cost of the works to the stand.

[Formula Port]

Was there not a big issue of Asbestos in there? If so, could that have added extra costs to get it sorted?

[Ralphy Rylance]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR ... e=youtu.be from 14:45

Original budget for full refurb of stand £500,000
Then issues including collapsed drains, asbestos, lack of fireproofing pushed the budget up to £1,800,000 though the full refurb was never completed. £800,000 spent on 1st phase.
Enlarging the changing rooms, exterior cladding and shuttering of every door , window and tunnel never took place.

IIRC the original intention was to do the entire ground in 18 months which was, as mentioned here, soon scaled back to doing the stand in 2 phases and the rest over 3-5 years.

[DanHayes]

Between 5th October 2017 and 14th May 2019 there were 1,793,705 of new shares issued.
The current number of shares issued is at 2,529,505.

[loyal jay]

The eye watering amount quoted was a result of getting the grandstand to modern day standards after years of neglect / unwillingness to invest in the infrastructure.

I can concede this to a point, I'm genuinely not trying to make out our recent history was all sunshine and rainbows and the ground was palacial. But we can't verify your point either. To my knowledge the breakdown of the quote has never been made public so both you and I don't know that for sure. Yes, I do still wince every time I hear the word "floodlights" but work that needed to be done was usually done. I'm not fully convinced that the cost of the refurb was so high because that was the price to bring the place up to code, I suspect the majority of the cost was due to Phil's vanity. We'll probably never know for sure.

Spending copious amounts of money relieving crocked /disinterested "ex pro's" from their contracts and bringing in the Dan Cockerline's of the football world were arguably the biggest mistakes during the Phil era, we never had a spine.

Quite.

a long-term progressive plan on how we can develop the ground and the club would give us a tangible vision that we can incrementally work to.

That I could support. "Slap a roof on the away end" isn't that. There should be a broad range of items much higher on the agenda.

It would be interesting to know how much it would cost to embed some posts behind central sections of each stand to support a basic metal sheeting roof. I'm not against it per se, and it's genuinely brilliant there are fans wanting to investigate how they could help. I'm just of the personal opinion that there are loads of things that would be more beneficial.

I seem to think, though my memory is hazy, that we encountered Asbestos and the stand had to be completely re-wired? I don't doubt Phil's vanity and ego would allow for anything other than the best. I personally follow a company called StadiumSolutions, they've been responsible for the work carried out at Stanley, South Shields, Cambridge United and Sutton. For reference, Stanley's new stand cost in the region of 1 million, its 5 rows deep and runs down the length of the pitch. Looking at the Premier league stadium fund, Step 2 can apply for a five-year cumulative grant of £250,000, 70% of the grant can be used towards 'Spectator accommodation - covered seating or terracing'. The grant stands at £400,000 at National Level, which is significant.

Interestingly, an away fans perspective of Haig Ave recorded on footballgroundguide.com, most predate the grandstand work.

What are your thoughts on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

AFC Wimbledon (2010)
Ground very nice – much the same as a few in this league – large uncovered away end – perfect for August not sure about Winter!

Grimsby (2015)
Haig Avenue is a very old ground, from the same era as ours. There is a large all seater Main Stand along one side, covered terrace at the home end, then open terraces down the remaining side and away end. Fortunately, it was a cracking day, so no problem standing on the open terrace. The only problem was the sun was right in our faces, so we spent most of the match with hands shielding our eyes. Never happy with the British weather, are we?

Neutral (2015)
As mentioned, I'd been before and with the wind/rain/mist, it had the feeling of a "proper day out" at a football game. We sat in the Grandstand and had a great view – the only slight criticism was water dripping from the roof, but a quick change of seats soon remedied that.

Wrexham (2016)
With this being the second time I'd visited Haig Avenue I wasn't really surprised with what I saw. The stadium is dated however doesn't stand out in this league which now contains a number of ex-Football League grounds. The away fans were behind the goal to the left of the Grandstand with the lucky home fans being under cover as it began to rain. The Southport fans behind the other goal in the standing terrace seemingly made all the noise and had a good atmosphere. The final part of the ground running opposite the Grandstand is a basic standing terrace which was only 2/3 open and sparse in attendance. The facilities were poor however his was due to good following Wrexham brought ,6 toilets for those in the Grandstand resulted in a long queues and a lot of moaning from the Wrexham fans but this was more than likely because of the match. Overall I wouldn't criticise Haig Avenue, I felt it met the needs of the club, we as Wrexham fans are spoilt by our facilities and (naively) expect the same standard everywhere.

Halifax (2016)
The ground is is in an odd location hidden inside a residential area you wouldn't realise there was a football ground there until you get close to it. Haigh Avenue is tidy but undeveloped. The away end being like the rest of the ground is very open to the elements and it was a cold day.

Fleetwood (2016)
I wasn't overly impressed when I saw the now called Merseyrail Community Stadium, it was an average conference ground i.e. mostly terraces and one seating stand. The away end was quite spacious but was just a standard open terrace. The covered stand behind the goal occupied by the Southport fans was almost full.

Blyth (2017)
I love Haig Avenue although the open terrace for away fans would be bleak in the rain. A steward told us there were plans to cover the away end and Poplar Terrace. *SIGH*

Kettering (2019)
Got to Haig Avenue at around 2:20pm. As an away fan, compared to our ground Southport was typical of what you would see at National League level, although the open away terracing wouldn’t be very nice especially in wet or wintery weather!

[Pirate Jim]

By the way, are there any experts and knowledgeable people regarding our floodlighting system ? I am not entirely convinced that they are any brighter than our original lights and they are certainly very temperamental particularly on the right of the Jack Carr. I think there is a small amount of room for adding further lamps to the pylons to give us further lux rating. Any comments ?

[portexileinbath]

Lovely discussion this. Well played, chaps.

Waiting for Gloucester Man to say, "Well at Leamington they do this...". Haha.

Their fans are very friendly and welcoming. The shuttle bus is excellent. How many Port fans would willingly get into a minibus full of Fylde fans ?.

[Redrobe fan]

I’ve often wondered about the quoted cost of the works to the stand.

Perhaps my post was too subtle.

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

I think it generally pays to believe the opposite of whatever PHIL said about anything. You'll rarely be wrong.

[Swedes]

Lovely discussion this. Well played, chaps.

Waiting for Gloucester Man to say, "Well at Leamington they do this...". Haha.

Their fans are very friendly and welcoming. The shuttle bus is excellent. How many Port fans would willingly get into a minibus full of Fylde fans ?.

I would gladly do it if I was suffering from rancid flatulence.

[portexileinbath]

Lovely discussion this. Well played, chaps.

Waiting for Gloucester Man to say, "Well at Leamington they do this...". Haha.

Their fans are very friendly and welcoming. The shuttle bus is excellent. How many Port fans would willingly get into a minibus full of Fylde fans ?.

I would gladly do it if I was suffering from rancid flatulence.

Should the chance ever arise, I would suggest a light lunch of, Pork pie, 2 pickled eggs, and a packet of cheese & onion crisps, all washed down with a pint of Somerset farmhouse (rough) cider..... Trust me you will not be disappointed, all very tasty and effective.
.….......Sorry big mac !

[Alan Spences Pupil]

I see that Vassallo's loan to Warrington has been extended again, hard to understand what this lad has done wrong here, in my view a more valuable & gifted player than Walton who tries hard but inevitably fails to deliver a match winning performance.....

[Paulisi]

No point bringing him back if he will not be a regular starter.
A couple of injuries or suspensions ,then recall him.

On his day he can be very good, but performances were very inconsistent.

[Michael]

I think it generally pays to believe the opposite of whatever PHIL said about anything. You'll rarely be wrong.

Very true but it's not what the 400 odd who supported the bid believed.

[PortInTheSouth]

I'm not surprised with the extension myself - Walton I've always been very impressed with, and while he does have poor games (at this level who doesn't), I still feel he more of a starter.

As posters above have said, if we do run lower on players than we have due to workload or injury, there is the option to bring him back

[BlankPort]

Very interesting read since my opening statement on this thread.

I have wondered recently why we haven't been able to bring anyone in on loan? Since Doug last season was a vital part to the team and how we played.

I know we have links with other clubs in higher divisions, like Accrington etc but just wonder why we can't tap into the Liverpool or Everton Academies (not being over realistic). We have the likes of Bolton, Preston, Wigan, Blackburn, Burnley, Fleetwood and many more in a commutable area, surely we could bring some more quality and add a few more players to the squad.

I have noted quite a lot of North/South teams get players in on loan regularly from the same higher up clubs. I understand we want to develop younger players and generally sell them on and just repeat this over and over again, but let's be honest it's not getting us anywhere. It's time to go back to the drawing board about squad management and our recruitment processes.

If we can get 2/3 players in a season on loan, tell the parent club they will play nearly or if not all the games possible and potentially save money on wages by cutting contracted players back. Then we could afford better players or improve certain elements of the club.....

I may be barking up the wrong tree or totally unrealistic.... Maybe championship manager and football manager has ruined my thought process, but I just wonder.... If....

[BlankPort]

Very interesting read since my opening statement on this thread.

I have wondered recently why we haven't been able to bring anyone in on loan? Since Doug last season was a vital part to the team and how we played.

I know we have links with other clubs in higher divisions, like Accrington etc but just wonder why we can't tap into the Liverpool or Everton Academies (not being over realistic). We have the likes of Bolton, Preston, Wigan, Blackburn, Burnley, Fleetwood and many more in a commutable area, surely we could bring some more quality and add a few more players to the squad.

I have noted quite a lot of North/South teams get players in on loan regularly from the same higher up clubs. I understand we want to develop younger players and generally sell them on and just repeat this over and over again, but let's be honest it's not getting us anywhere. It's time to go back to the drawing board about squad management and our recruitment processes.

If we can get 2/3 players in a season on loan, tell the parent club they will play nearly or if not all the games possible and potentially save money on wages by cutting contracted players back. Then we could afford better players or improve certain elements of the club.....

I may be barking up the wrong tree or totally unrealistic.... Maybe championship manager and football manager has ruined my thought process, but I just wonder.... If....

I have spoken with the chairman of my local Southern League Premier Division team regarding loans etc, they are able to get players in from the likes of Aston Villa, Birmingham, Walsall, Coventry, Cheltenham, Wolves and both Bristol teams. The clubs even offer the club players on a season long loan at the 'start' of each season.

I know it will limit the develop of a whole squad because you may get a player in one season and never see them again, but what it would enable is the squad to get in and around a player from a higher division, hopefully develop mentally. Then you can get some more experience into the team whilst also developing a core of younger players.

The fact that my local team had a goalkeeper who played for Aston Villa Vs Liverpool in a cup game, play for them on loan for the entire season last year was beyond my comprehension until I spoke with the chariman and he has built a sense of trust with the bigger clubs regarding loans.