It does open up afterwards for some games. It also opens up before the turnstiles do.

We went in there for a while before the Challenge cup game last week.

It was open, but no food and only a couple of places for drinks when I was there.

I love re-proposing/restoring at older grounds.

The old club house is still fairly new and is a decent building so knocking it down would never have sat well with me.

I can’t imagine it will be cheap, but it will be way less than a new structure.

Put some seats back in front of the flats and hey presto you have a nice little hub at that end. I’d guess with the boxes and seats etc it’s a 1000 fans. Ok seats not so great in winter, but in summer, fantastic.

I’m only guessing but I recon in total it might cost 800k versus about 4 million for something new. And I bet it wouldn’t have the character.

Also leaves more for the tricky west stand.

Really promising all this work is in the pipeline. I hope it all comes together. Really creating a better culture at the club with higher standards. The drawings look excellent however they will change as I’m sure a floodlight is stood right where the balcony is so some changes needed. From what has been said, the new grill/ shop and improved areas in the north stand are planned to be done before 2025 season so far.That would leave only the west to do then we would have a really tidy unique stadium. Futures looking bright

Do you think it would be as high as 800k. I would have thought with his buying power and available trades people he would be able to do a lot of work for considerably reduced prices, which I’ve guessed is why so much is getting planned

If Morgan Swindles are the contractors then it will be nearer 8 million and the standard of work will be dire.

I guess we'll have to wait and see who Matt Ellis decides to use in order to see his take on MS.

That's not really accurate imho. It's not been a total success I agree, but "dire", come on.

Most post Brexit/Covid construction projects have struggled, and MS are no different to the rest. Please don't read anything political into my Brexit statement, but it has starved the construction industry of some of it's best and most willing workers. Whist post Covid a huge number of people seem reluctant to re-join the work force, especially in jobs like these, ones that offer no work from home options. Hence the massive rise in long term sickness due to alleged mental heath issues. The industry has lost a lot of it's skill base in the last five years and it's yet to be rectified.

Then there are the issues in the supply chain caused by the various conflicts around the globe. I know for a fact that MS struggled with the supply chain, despite them being a relatively large outfit. Items constantly failed to arrive on time, or worse, had to be substituted with inferior items or fitted at the wrong time in the process, to allow the build to remain even slightly on schedule.

You must know this to be the case, as you are primarily a businessman.

The 8 million was originally intended to do the full North Stand as well, and that's where I do think JM and MC fell down. I definitely believe that Ellis would have driven a harder bargain, and found a way to force MS into doing it all in budget. I may be wrong, but I suspect I'm not. MC and JM are accountants, Ellis is a businessman, and as you know there is a big difference.

So to answer your question, I think that whoever does it will have to do it within budget, and to the standard agreed, or they won't get paid.

That was a ballpark figure and I agree he could probably get it done for far less. Unfortunately it's easy to give cost for new builds, but not so much with existing ones, who knows what horrors they may find. Though tbf this is more of a cosmetic upgrades than structural. So I reckon you're right.

Seen the shop on Doncaster Road is now for sale. Wonder if Trinity will be making enquires.

Don’t think it would offer any sort of benefit tbh. There’s very little space there to do much with for what it may cost.

Was thinking some sort of cafe/bar/fan zone pre match.

We have those planned and having a car park between a fan zone and stadium wouldn’t be great.

We are having a new sports bar/restaraunt in south west corner this off season. Which will offer plenty of pre match space. Also there is the foyer areas which appear sufficient at the moment.

The other plans I’m sure showed some outdoor seating for a bit of an outdoor fan social area. This could be done at a fraction of what I’d imagine it would cost to buy the building and refurbish it.

For what it would cost and the size of it I can’t see it being a worthwhile investment.

I’m not sure how attractive it will be for prospective new tenants or owners, it’s now surrounded by the clubs car park and is in a strange location. If the club waits long enough the price is likely to fall and it maybe become more financially viable to aquire it.

At the very least it will offer a few more car parking spaces and give the club full control over the area

That would be an expensive 10 or so car park spaces. Money better spent elsewhere. You could probably build a multi storey section for the same price as purchase, demolisent or refurbishment.