It would seem so anyway with the latest noises coming out of the Recs.

519 seat temporary stand bought from, of all places, Glamorgan CCC. Should be up sometime around September. This one has a roof apparently. And a built in kiosk selling Pimms and cucumber sandwiches, dont't you know.

Brilliant...

Any chance you can get it done for mid august for the CC cup tie?

Always a bit wary until official confirmation comes from the club but with the official website promising news on ground upgrades this week and with Mike Mulraney quoted in the paper as saying the deal is done it looks very hopeful. Very encouraging to see once again (going by Mike's comments in the paper) that external funding has been found through a grant and sponsorship to pay for much of the development. Paper also reports that the club could move the new stand behind the goals at the Railway End in the future if a permanent stand was to be built on the Hilton Road side.

The decision to pull out of the Gretna deal looks like it will be vindicated .

Hope it doesn't spoil the character and atmosphere at the Recs.

Also enjoy being able to wander freely around the ground there - not a privilege widely extended these days

talking about the rec
now that the plastic pitch is there
can you hire the pitch for 11-a-side games ?

Dont know the exact details of how this will affect segregation. The ground is segregated at the moment when we have larger away supports. Possibly away supports will have the whole of the Hilton Road side and also the Railway End if need be.

Yes

Thats one of the main reasons it's there, to generate money for the club

If you call 01259 722695 they should be able to tell you how to go about hiring it

i said on here last year that mike would do wonders with alloa and he has faier play to him. in the next couple of seasons the recs will be one of the best small grounds in scotland. if only alloa could get the attendances up. but with so many leaving for glasgow every wek will be hard {including myself in this as i go to ibrox everyweek brought up that way}

We have brought over 600* to the Recs in the past- would we get access to behind one of the goals as well?

*TBH, I cant see us bringing more than 300-350 if we aren't doing well.

Most probably yes. Against Raith Rovers in the 1st game last season we got the railway end and que massive complaints from the Rovers fans, next time Rovers got the railay end and everybody (well mostly everybody) was happy

except a few complaining they couldnt see when it was 3 people deep cant please everyone

Where would the stand be? Behind the goal without the shelter or up the side opposite the main stand?

Opposite the main stand mate.

Corrected it for you. It's fuds from Alloa, Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline, Stirling etc travelling to the Old Firm that have ruined football from the 60s. Home team supports used to be very good, till the glory hunting bigots 'evolved' (probably the worst word to use when talking of the old firm 'fans', as they are still sub human.)

That's bad enough but at least they go to the game I suppose. What really grates are the tubes who parade around in Old Firm tops, never having been to a game in their life and will never go and watch their local team even once.

if you're old enough to think on your own two feet there is no excuse to travel from *insert place you live that is outside Glasgow* to Glasgow and support Rangers. You can see the problem yourself, so why don't you change?

So you can't think for yourself then?

u cant change the team u support if u do not a real fan

no since iv nbeen going to ibrox since i was 6 cant wont want to change now

Looking at your spelling, grammar and punctuation; you cannot have been following Rangers for any more than two and a half years.

Why not go support East Fife if its that easy?

I have some sympathy for the guy. My wee brother is from Arbroath like me, but his dad is a Celtic fan, and so my wee brother grew up a die hard hoop. He's 15 and has a Celtic season ticket. Although he comes to some Arbroath games with me, theres nothing that will make him change his club. He supports Celtic, same as I support Arbroath. And I wouldnt turn round and suddenly decide to support Stirling instead of Arbroath, even though they are my local team now.

Give the guy a break!

Not worth it for your pitiful support - they'll wait to Peterhead are due to visit.

Top drawer stuff there. Morton fan in crowd size jibe. Never thought I'd see that day.

You are a credit to your team.

Now, now. Leave the poor Greenockians alone GC.


Massive club. Huge, they are.

Where can i find the new written rules of supporting football teams? Of course you can change. Just it is too hard for many old firm fans to understand the idea that you won't win a title every year which makes it difficult to change.

What?

Right, so if Raith ever went under, you would happily wander along and support East Fife instead?

already happening just ask steven

No, i'd happily wander along to watch Cowdenbeath which is closer to where i live.

I used to support the Arbroath Vics but i changed to Arbroath FC to hunt the glory of 0 league titles in 130 years.

which means?

I support the most unsuccessful club in Scottish Football i guess

Rather you than me. Im like the OF poster in this thread. I couldnt change my team. If Arbroath went under, I wouldn't change my allegience to anyone else, I would just give it up.

But do you really want grade A tw@ts supporting your club just to put up the numbers. It's the normal folks you want supporting your club not the sub-human kind.

I'd obviously be gutted if Rovers ever went bust but i'd go to support a local team. A lot of what makes football the experience is going to the game itself for me and having a good day out.

If Ayr ever went bust (not that it's likely under the current very competent and professional owners benevolent and competent guiding hand) I might go and support a better football team, like say......Maybole Girls under 9's or something.....

I agree with you. Surely for just about all of us, the football team we support is something that is unlikely to change, whatever the circumstances. Of course for some people who move away they might start to watch the new local team, but surely it's pretty much impossible for most folk to just completely forget the team you grew up supporting? I know it does happen in some instances and I play 5s with someone who used to support Killie but got into watching the Pars when he moved to Fife because of work - it is the exception though.

If you analysed it closely enough, I bet you'd find that quite a number of fans of all teams have little or no direct connection to the town of the team that they support - I'm sure I mind a while ago reading on these forums of one of the Arbroath fans who was from somewhere around Dundee and randomly went to an Arbroath game, taking it up from there - I don't think many folk were critical of that, and nor should they have been. Similarly I used to get the pish ripped out of me for being a Pars fan growing up in Kirkcaldy while the Rovers were having their wee glory spell between 92 and 96, but that was just too bad because it was already established that the Pars were my team. As long as the person has a genuine feeling for their club and can say honestly that their allegiance wouldn't change to another club regardless of how bad their chosen team became, I don't really see why anyone should be criticised for it.

I think part of the feeling might be, however, that supporting one of the Old Firm is a really lazy thing to do. Often mentally and physically. There's not the deep-seated bond, or the emotional investment that's involved in supporting a local side. Being an OF supporter often looks like quite a shallow or empty experience.

I don't think there's any shame in an Old Firm fan looking to their local team, to enjoy a more realistic sense of what being an attendee is all about.

As someone else said, however, the people who do attend the OF games I have a bit more sympathy for and I don't suppose OF fans who don't go to their games are going to decide to go to somebody else's game.

As stated in a previous thread I think it's unlikely to change, but too many disparage or ridicule those who follow their local team. I hate that type of glory hunter!

I like to suffer so I would be off to the Emperor's New Stadium.

With East Fife scarf and bob hat on.your worse than Steven

At least I pay full whack
mature student my arse

Or just an auld looking cnut

Good to hear that a ground is going to be upgraded - might take a wee trip alone one day , no been to alloa in years!

New Stand - latest news from the Official Alloa Athletic website

'The club can now confirm that the funding for our new stand for visiting fans has now been secured. The stand will be in place by mid September. The stand will seat 519 seats and will have a 30 year minimum lifespan, although it should last considerably longer than this. It will be constructed in such a way to allow it to be moved to elsewhere in the ground should an alternative project be implemented on the East side of the ground. This could allow it to be moved to the Railway End at some point in the future.

The coming season will see the club use this stand exclusively for visiting fans with more of our games being segregated. We understand that this will change the way the ground has traditionally been used with fans no longer being able to move around the ground at will, but to meet the requirements of our safety certificate and to effectively manage the crowd we feel that this will be necessary in many more games in the future. We hope that you will agree that this will be a small price to pay to see further improvements in the ground and to see us move forward with our long term plans.

This development will see us more than double our seated capacity and will allow the existing stand to be used for home fans only.

This development will be achieved without the club having to increase our debt profile and should strengthen the club over the long term. We believe that this is a very positive step to again improve the ground in a sustainable and positive manner.

We anticipate the next stage of facility improvement will take place next summer in line with our 5 year plan to improve the ground which began last July. Planning for this is already taking place.'

i agree not too keen on the folk who parade about with strips on and dont go best one is cant get a ticket. i run a supporters bus and whenever i have spare tickets i sell them for a £10 to folk if anyone refuses one they go back to bottom of list for big game tickets. best one is when u meet someone new get talking about football tell them i run a bus then they say can u get me a ticket i reply aye nae bother what games then it comes o just the celtic one nearly piss myself everytime

I'm with you all the way. If Rovers went under I couldnt support EF or the Parthetics.

I view these scumbags who travel from Fife to see the Old Firm with contempt too. Was nice to see the Rangers Fifers recieve the derision due them when they were moved from the South Stand a fortnight ago.

I'm impressed- what do you think the next stage will be for the Recs- I presume it will be modernising the terracing at the Railway End or maybe adding some modern terracing next to the stand on that side (maybe either side if it is in the middle)?

So away fans will be exclusively in the temporary stand - no option?

These temporary things tend to be designed for midgets, and I'm nigh on 6 foot 3.

Not sure but there has been a lot of talk about a permanent stand with offices which could be rented out being built on the Hilton Road side (where the new temporary stand is going). Given the official site makes a point of saying that the new stand could be moved to the Railway End in the future Id guess thats still the long term plan for that part of the ground, although it obviously wont be the next phase of development for next summer mentioned on the official Alloa site.

All in all excellent news for Alloa. Im not sure if it was the Gretna administrator or East Fife who told the press we had been outbid for the Raydale Stand but it was complete nonsense. Heard from an Alloa director that they had a lot of concerns about that stand - not just the lack of a roof - and as such turned their attention elsewhere. He said they then sourced a better stand at a better price. A further example of Mike Mulraney's business acumen that most of the cost for the new stand will come from a grant and sponsorship, he has been superb in finding cash to pay for the improvements at the Recs. Onwards and upwards .

I bet your mum says you're handsome as well!