I stated on a similar thread that I thought we would end up with a breeze block stadium ala Haliwell Jones. Thats what you get when you go down the design and build route. But its great that we actually have something now, and I hope that the build carries on without any hitches.

Like people have said though, I am also worried about how the financial side of things will work. If we are just renting the stadium, and all ticket sales, car park, retail etc goes to the joint venture company to pay off the stadium. Can that be allocated to our salary cap?

Also if we are not receiving the revenue streams above, where do we make our money? If we recieve less income, and have to pay rent to play in the stadium, is it possible that our finances will be worse than they are now playing at the Willows?

This isnt a whinge this is just genuine concerns. May be worth getting someone in the know to the next Forever Reds meeting so they can be asked these questions directly.

I have a few issues with it apart from it being a bit of a let down on the design downgrade:
It is stated that it will be a £26m stadium yet its clearly a £12m-£15m design.
Looking at other stadia such as City of Manchester (also a AFL project) which is a £20m 48'000 capacity developement, ours is a rip-off! or how about Preston North End having a £7.1m 22,250 capacity very similar looking yet bigger stadium than us.

Also, the retail area will be used to pay off the loan? Who would want to visit our stadium to shop when just over the road there is The Traffold Centre!!?

And yes the choice is between 'New Stadium' or 'No Stadium' but come on, it seems like Peel have bent us over on this one!

Has anybody got a link to what the new design would like? Apart from on the reds.co.uk website as im having problems getting on it

if its on a par with the LSV it will do for me

Without Peel it would not have happened, I would have rather that we were not tied in with them but that is the way it is unfortunately.

As long as it has a standing area and they swap the green for Red it'll do for me.

Looking at it, if there's still a future option to upgrade further to 20,000 I would presume that the quads would get filled in, I can't see this being needed - but you never know!

Mr Wilky and the board should be thanked for getting this project to where it is, especially with all the past problems and in the current economic climate....

Yes it looks 'fine', That word sums up the whole thing not 'ICONIC' as the club said it would be.

And as i work in the industry i do know prices have gone up but believe me, not that much! I hope thats the cost of the training facilities too!

And now as i'm ever the diplomat,
On the plus side:

This stadium design has room for expansion which the 'iconic' design didnt really have.

It is in an very easily accessible area.

It can be seen from the Barton overpass increasing the clubs profile.

It will have training facilities right next door.

It should be a rather easy build as its straight out of the ATL brochure.

Also, as it is a new stadium the club should be able to attract better players and provide A grade training for the academy/youth sides.

Thats more like it


I would have also liked the iconic (what the hell does that really mean) design, but come on do you really everthink that was going to happen ?
This is Salford we are talking about here
It does look like the Stoop but If it ends up with facilities like theirs, especially the long bar then I will be more than happy.

I would suggest that the grounds you are talking about were built sometime ago as costs have rocketed over the past few years - you only have to look at the National Wendyball arena in London village to see that, think also the design on the clubs website is representation rrather than a blueprint as I think they would have made more of it if it were, can you honestly see us having green seats??. no more I think it is just an image of a stadium that will looking something like rather than a replica of.

Yes, my main point is that it isnt the 'iconic' stadium promised, its a bit of a let down after seeing the original rendering. The chances are that it will be a more than adequate stadium and have great on site facilities for both players, management and fans. But many fans will be a little dissapointed in the stadium design itself. Also, that stadium shown on the website will only be a representation of the final build but it will not change that much. Red seats and the facade of the main stand might change slightly, but i cant see it drastically changing.