I went into the "Halifax" yesterday and the cashier was wearing a poppy, disgraceful, how can you trust a bank oficial that wears a poppy?
I withdrew all my money and will never set foot in that organisation again!
Forgive my grumpy mood all that money made my mattress very uncomfortable.

The simple fact is the Shay is costing the Council several hundreds of thousands of pounds a year which they cannot afford to keep spending.

The costs associated with the Shay will only increase.

That's why they have considered selling the place which would make financial sense, the motive has nothing to do with any private individual.

If they go ahead then the only question remaining is who they sell it to and what constraints if any are put on it's future use.

If they cap the use of it then the people interested in buying would be less and so would the value.

If they do not cap it's future use then there may be more buyers with possibly more value but the chance of it remaining a sports stadium would be vastly reduced and left to chance.


Also this value thing is missleading as neither sports club would receive any of the money or benefit it would go to the Council.
The higher the money involved in the purchase will eat into what will be available to improving the place if it was someone like TA that bought it.

It they decide to sell it will come down to options and at the moment the TA option is the only one on the table that offers anything that will keep both clubs in place and the other local and commercial benefits as well.

If they decide to sell and you think that an unknown outsider would be a better option well as the saying goes be carefull for what you wish for.
How would we be placed and feel then.

A simple question. Not asking to be abused as I primarily am a town fan, and your opinions of us aren't very high. But do any of You regular posters on this forum have ANY concerns with a tony Abbott owned shay? If you do have any concerns what are they?

I'd rather the council keep hold of it and improve its running efficiency before holding out to a highly scrutinized public bidder. The fact that TA has not revealed how much money has been offered (rumoured to be way way below it's net realisable value) combined with him dealing in a quick buck industry has helped fuel fear amongst football fans, and understandably so.

I have no concerns.
I believe it will benefit, Town, Fax and the community.
I believe Mr Abbott is in for the long haul.
I believe it is the only option as,
I believe there is more danger to our Stadium if it stays in Council hands because
I believe that sooner rather than later they will pull the plug.
I do not believe that pigs can fly.

Rumours and conjecture are not permissible evidence.

These people think there are no risks with a Council owned Shay. They need to get their head out of the sand and face reality. They also need to get a whiff of ambition. They're riddled with the disease of failure having watched a club win zip for eternity before liquidating and then watching them crawl out of the toilet basin ever since. They reek of doom.

There are risks to Tony Abbott's plans. There are risks from sitting on the toilet and taking a dump. What these football fans can't reconcile with is that it's a rugby man that's proposing the investment. It's clouding their judgment and they can't move past it. Look at his plans for the Shay. They ooze ambition and they relieve the Council of the burden and the millstone around the taxpayers neck.

What's not to love? Get some ambition you life force sucking zombies!!

An honest answer, well here's a couple.

The Shay is at risk now.

If it sells I would have less concerns if TA bought it than an unknown person.

If Reactiv bought it my concerns would be.

What would happen if Reactiv hit a downward trend in the buisness, could the Shay be maintained.

Next, extreme I know but it has to be asked. What would the consquences be if anything happened to TA such as an accident or sudden illness and he died, if he is the major or only benefactor.

What is the state of the old Skircoat Road stand, are there any Health and Safety concerns with the steel work which has been mentioned in the past which could be a real liability with serious finacial implications if it needs major structural works or even pulling down.

Once something passes from state or local authority control into private hands then you are relying on the private company or individual, gauge for yourselves if that is a good or bad thing but as said before if the Council decide to sell the Shay it will go into private hands.

Question again for SDU and everyone else.

Of the options as they stand who other or better than TA at the moment

But it isn`t just about improving it`s running efficiency (which will never happen anyway) It`s about producing something that other people apart from rugby and football fans can use . At the meeting the Town fans were saying "we don`t need that kind of stadium" well as a rate payer in Halifax I want to know how come we never have the facilities other Towns have . Someone has offered to finish the stadium and make it more commercial and save ratepayers money ,I say let him do it. This council sold blocks of flats at Wheatley and the sum bandied about was a £1 a block ,with the community safeguard on the stadium I reckon the Halifax Shay is worth even less than it was before.

It is not a matter of if the Council sell ,it`s a matter of when and to whom they sell it to ,and as long as a process of due diligence is observed then let the people of Calderdale have something they all feel is theres .
Also much has been said by Town fans about Tony not saying how much his offer was well it just goes to show they didn`t listen to him he said he was not allowed to say .

I couldn't have phrased it more succinctly myself. More power to your elbow old chap.

CORRECT.But no shilling from me!

Tony has laid out his plans for all to see. Less of a risk than some investment group rolling into town, full of promise and charisma but 2 years down the line wanting to raise everyone's rent, not allow them to see any of the bar/food take. And neglected the place in the mean time.

Of course there's a risk. But it's an educated one. Left in the councils hands the skircoat will be left to rot, much like the north stand was, until eventually it becomes condemned. Do we want a return to the days of the Shay Stadium Trust where despite some hard workng folk been involved, lack of cash meant little could be done. How many posts did we see on here moaning about rusting crush barriers, lack of paint on metal, the state of the actual Skircoat Rd boundary, list goes on.