Sons' sorrow

[Nowhereman]

1 minute ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

6 minutes ago, Nowhereman said:

Given that the vote against the stadium was only 10-9 i don't think they threw it out because it was ridiculous

Thankfully the 9 idiots who supported building a stadium on a floodplain, with limited access and pie in the sky commercial spaces that would lie empty were outvoted by the 10 who quite rightly thought it was fucking ridiculous.

The current stadium is built on what used to be water and has limited access.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

The current stadium is built on what used to be water and has limited access.

The current stadium can only house 2000 supporters, is within walking distance of 2 train stations and a number of bus stops, doesn't have numerous training pitches, doesn't have numerous commercial spaces and isn't accessed via a slip road from one of the busiest roads in Scotland.

Given the issues we've had at our current place with the sinking pitch and the access to the stadium when playing larger teams it reaffirms the notion that the proposal to move to Youngs Farm was stupid. That's before we start on the capacity and the ridiculously ambitious commerical shite.

[cremola foam]

Opinions are obviously divided on the Young Farm proposal. A 9-10 vote is close. Our current home cannot continue. We are boxed in, capacity is limited, investment is compromised and atmosphere could be better. It is just not good enough for a club with Championship ambitions.

I am touched by some people's faith in the Council.  My paranoia, on the other hand, is wholly justified ;).

[super-son]

40 minutes ago, cremola foam said:

Opinions are obviously divided on the Young Farm proposal. A 9-10 vote is close. Our current home cannot continue. We are boxed in, capacity is limited, investment is compromised and atmosphere could be better. It is just not good enough for a club with Championship ambitions.

I am touched by some people's faith in the Council.  My paranoia, on the other hand, is wholly justified ;).

How on earth is building a new stadium going to change the atmosphere? There is only an atmosphere if the fans create one.

We don't need a bigger capacity. I see us as an established League 1 side who might have the odd venture into the championship. League 1 sides are never going to fill the away end of our current stadium. Yes extra capacity helps bring more money in when playing sides with a large fan base. However, we do not play those kind of clubs anywhere near enough to warrant spending milions on a bigger capacity stadium.

And compromised investment?

The only benefit that I was really looking forward to with the new stadium was the 4G training pitches which could bring in some revenue and provide a full park for the team to train on instead of renting a half pitch elsewhere.

[Jan Vojáček]

49 minutes ago, cremola foam said:

Opinions are obviously divided on the Young Farm proposal. A 9-10 vote is close. Our current home cannot continue. We are boxed in, capacity is limited, investment is compromised and atmosphere could be better. It is just not good enough for a club with Championship ambitions.

I am touched by some people's faith in the Council.  My paranoia, on the other hand, is wholly justified ;).

They aren't. The fans can see Brabco for what they are; a bunch of self-interested charlatans, and most wouldn't trust them as far as they could throw Iain Wilson - let alone trust them to rehome the club. 

The sooner we rid DFC of the Cancer that is Brabco the better. Our current home would be absolutely perfect if it hadn't been neglected by owners focused on chasing a pie-in-the-sky dream. 

[George Parr]

1 hour ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

The current stadium can only house 2000 supporters, is within walking distance of 2 train stations and a number of bus stops, doesn't have numerous training pitches, doesn't have numerous commercial spaces and isn't accessed via a slip road from one of the busiest roads in Scotland.

Given the issues we've had at our current place with the sinking pitch and the access to the stadium when playing larger teams it reaffirms the notion that the proposal to move to Youngs Farm was stupid. That's before we start on the capacity and the ridiculously ambitious commerical shite.

And, most importantly, the fact a move to Young’s would have seen us cede ownership of the asset to the very rump of jokers who evidently don’t care a fig about the football club.

Madness.

[BallochSonsFan]

Brabco are what they are - a group of investors who were sold a potential land deal with the complication of a football club attached. I wouldn't criticise them because they're not Dumbarton fans with the club's best interests at heart. If there was a solution that delivered for both Brabco and Dumbarton FC then I wouldn't grudge them their profit if it also gave something worthwhile to the club. Thats the nature of modern football club ownership: the days of local philanthropists reliving their youth spent following a team are over and it's why fan ownership - either full or at least partial - is an important aim. It's telling that it took at least 6 years for Brabco to go to the fans with their first plan for moving and almost another 3 years for them to try again with the second Youngs Farm plan. They tend not to interfere with the day to day running of the club, except when it suits them to do so, and have largely left the club board to get on with things.

Which is part of the problem.

They've been absentee owners for much of their tenure at a time when previous club boards were mismanaging the club. Income was limited. Maintenance at the current ground was minimal. It was laying the foundations for the very problems that they tried to use to justify the move. Brabco spoke of the current ground as being unfit for purpose. It was in poor repair and didnt generate income. They warned of a spiral of decline.  As much as the message came from Brabco, we can't shoot them for being right. The stadium is in a state of disrepair and for years we weren't doing enough from a commercial point of view. Much of that was down to previous boards. Those legacy problems are issues that the current board have worked tirelessly to try to overcome and it's incredible just how much they've had to deal with since John Steele was confirmed as chairman and the current board was convened. 

Youngs Farm was never going to solve any of the problems Brabco identified (and through their negligence undoubtedly contributed to) but it would have given the club the option of new sources of income. The figures for the 3g/4g pitches were deeply questionable. They did a bit of work in pulling together various reports but the numbers never seemed to have any basis in reality. Similarly a major concern for the planners was access to the site. Plan A was an absolute bust as the retail side of things was never going to provide the money needed to finance the deal, but 14 acres of housing and a local football stadium would have attracted a fair amount of traffic to an already poor road. The money they planned on spending on infrastructure upgrades seemed to be optimistic. Ultimately their plan B was still flawed and whilst it would be wrong to completely ignore some of the issues they identified, their proposal was never likely to be a particularly viable solution in it's most recent incarnation. It's telling that they've not come back with Plan C.

So why object to the lighting at the castle? If they're looking at the land at the current ground for possible redevelopment then night lighting at the castle isnt exactly going to be a big draw for potential home owners. It devalues the land even more from a housing viewpoint. Whether any such development of even a small part of the land at the current ground ever actually happens, Brabco clearly believe that lighting at the castle would put any future development in doubt. The club's statement is telling - this was a solely Brabco decision without consultation with anybody at the club. It's created some very negative press amongst a local population who are at best ambivalent about their local football team, and in some cases actually hostile towards us.

All of the efforts of the current board and the volunteers who help with fundraising activities has been channelled into dealing with a legacy of mismanagement from previous chairmen, often running the club like their own private fiefdom, and an ownership group who gave little regard to the asset they owned until it started to look like their investment was a massive bust. The scale of the challenge is staggering. The club needs to get the local community on board. That may be as new fans to follow the club but it equally may be as venue users who will hire the function suite, pay for sponsorship or attend events organised by the club and it's volunteers. The local press story undoubtedly made that job a little bit tougher. It's just another in a line of issues that have had to be dealt with and hopefully one that the club can put behind it as we all look towards next season.

Edited April 25, 2019 by BallochSonsFan

[the snudge]

Aye but blue passports! 

[Homer Sandoval]

2 hours ago, cremola foam said:

Opinions are obviously divided on the Young Farm proposal. A 9-10 vote is close. Our current home cannot continue. We are boxed in, capacity is limited, investment is compromised and atmosphere could be better. It is just not good enough for a club with Championship ambitions.

I am touched by some people's faith in the Council.  My paranoia, on the other hand, is wholly justified ;).

Interested to read your comments. Why do you think that the present home for the Sons ‘cannot continue’? Also you mention that ‘investment is compromised’. How so?

[Boghead ranter]

3 hours ago, Ross Forbes said:

Good job you're in hospitality on Saturday or I'd be right up for a square-go for patter like that 

  Hide contents

Unless you mean the Reporter obviously, in which case fire away panning them.

 

^^^Not Gare Clyde^^^

[the snudge]

Is the Ross County gaffer the ex sons player Stevie Ferguson? 

[The Moonster]

5 minutes ago, the snudge said:

Is the Ross County gaffer the ex sons player Stevie Ferguson? 

Aye.

[the snudge]

3 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

Aye.

Always like him as a player. Thought he was quite intelligent on the ball. Fair play to the guy. 

[The Moonster]

29 minutes ago, the snudge said:

Always like him as a player. Thought he was quite intelligent on the ball. Fair play to the guy. 

Always remember his diving headers in the middle of the park for absolutely no reason. Solid player though. 

[FifeSons]

All I remember about Stevie Ferguson as a player was his sending off in that Forfar game.

[TheChase]

Brabco are right. There is no reason whatsoever to sign over any club assett , big or small, without gain for the club.If plans for this pathway were made and published without prior consultation of the club then that is on the Council.
I think I have been rational to this point, now I am going to be true to my paranoid, conspiracy theory geeky self.
There are people on the council who could not give a damn about the club. They see us as a diddy club and their  affections lie in Glasgow, and I do not mean with Thistle or Queens Park. They may even by hostile to the idea of a successful local community club which broadens its support base, offers cheaper football and is free of a lot of ugly stuff to be found elsewhere. Hence the narrow defeat of the planning application. Happy to be shot down on this by people who know more about that than me, but that is my suspicion.

Council Conspiracy Update

[Jan Vojáček]

Delighted to read that Carsy picked up POTY tonight. The guy has been absurdly consistent for us over the past two and a half seasons, and you could probably count the number of poor games he’s had in that time on one hand. Given he’s been in some pretty poor teams, that’s a terrific achievement.

Anyone who didn’t rate him prior to this season won’t have been able to turn a blind eye to how much poorer we are without him. Combine that with the fact he plays like he actually gives a damn and I’d love to hear from anyone who still isn’t a fan.

What a boy.

[YoungScrotum]

Delighted to read that Carsy picked up POTY tonight. The guy has been absurdly consistent for us over the past two and a half seasons, and you could probably count the number of poor games he’s had in that time on one hand. Given he’s been in some pretty poor teams, that’s a terrific achievement.

Anyone who didn’t rate him prior to this season won’t have been able to turn a blind eye to how much poorer we are without him. Combine that with the fact he plays like he actually gives a damn and I’d love to hear from anyone who still isn’t a fan.

What a boy.

Aye

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

Good to see Carswell winning it but I still think Dom deserved it.

 

Well done to the Sonstrust for putting together a great night. Unfortunately it was another year where the players turn up in their trackies and f**k off after an hour. Something about that just kinda irks me.

 

 

[Highland Son]

Stevie Ferguson is a great guy who shows enormous passion and enthusiasm for Ross County. He also speaks very fondly about his time with Dumbarton.