Was that Hampden's last hurrah?

[JamesM82]

29 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

FTFY

I was expecting a paranoid statement about Willie Haughey, at least.

[flyingscot]

4 hours ago, Grant228 said:

That's because it is, hence why so many people say it. I'd imagine it's far easier to get back to Paisley compared to say, pretty much anywhere else. 

Absolutely but I was really looking at public transport. Driving is pretty easy from anywhere in the central belt.  M74 is less than a mile away. M77 is 2 miles away.  Perhaps only Ibrox is closer to the motorways. 

4 hours ago, Detournement said:

The recent Glasgow Edinburgh Pro14 game on a Saturday night was apparently a disaster getting back from Murrayfield to Glasgow.

 Yeah there was a lot of people caught out with that one. SRU indicated they'd avoid late kick-offs but I think Sky had forced it and I think it changed from earlier time. Only 25K there and it might have been less given that was for Super Saturday. 

[GordonS]

A few things:

The cynicism about Willie Haughey doesn't tie with history. Ten years ago he paid £3 million for a three year sponsorship of the Scottish Cup - and then didn't put his company's name on it. Instead he handed the naming rights to the Scottish Government, led by a party he doesn't support, for a health promotion campaign. I'm sure it bought him some friends in useful places, but you don't need to spend £3 million to do that, and political favours are tough to dispense these days.

On top of that he's spent many millions on charities at home and abroad, and he's bought the medal collections of former Celtic players and given them to the club. He sent his staff to build wells in West Africa. I couldn't pick the guy out of a line up and maybe people know things about him that I don't, but to assume he must have an ulterior motive is obviously wrong. He's a southside boy. I found out recently (thanks to another thread on here) that I went to the same school as him, Holyrood, the closest secondary school to Hampden. It wouldn't surprise me if he has a strong emotional attachment to Hampden and doesn't want to see the focus of Scottish football move to Edinburgh.

 

The SFA aren't going to sell the stadium. If they were half as Machiavellian as that, they would have shown a damn sight more competence in recent years. People who know a lot more than me say that the value of the land, with a giant metal, concrete and plastic thing that would need to be removed, is about £6 million, so it's not like they got a knock-down price. And if it was worth more than that, why would QPFC have accepted the offer? By all accounts £6 million is what they were asking for. They'd have told the SFA to pay what it was worth or found someone else who would.

 

I can't see where the money comes from to rebuild the stadium, even just to bring the ends in. Look at how other stadium projects get financed. They don't have the steady income of 20+ home games a year - they have 10 at best. They're not going to sell £400 season tickets. These seats can't bring in any additional income. Nobody is buying expensive debenture seats behind the goals, or high value hospitality boxes, and obviously ticket prices are as high as this market will bear - arguably higher. They're not going to get a big enough loan, because they're not going to be increasing their revenue or assets, and even if they did, they couldn't take on the repayment costs.

They might chuck in a couple of million and help in soft ways, but local and national government aren't going to swoop in and save the day, public finances are far worse than most people realise. There's no millennium fund or anything like that any more, and the great era of help with stadium improvements is long past. The picture is much worse now than it was when the company nearly went bust for the want of £2 million, and we struggled to raise the money for a stadium that was one-part revenue-generator, three-parts seats bolted onto terracing.

 

This is who we are now. We're stuck with Hampden, and other than in marginal ways it's not going to get any better. Its decline in comparison with major stadiums elsewhere in Europe will stand as a mark of our relative decline as a country. I was born in 1975 into a country that was a little wealthier than Sweden and wildly wealthier than the rest of the Scandanavia. Now even Finland and Iceland pity us. The plastic paddies used to get teased about their home country being so crap that they had to move here - Ireland passed us long ago. We're on a steady, slow decline, we have been for decades and we will be for decades to come until, like the Greeks, we sit around and talk about how great our ancestors were while the rest of the continent makes jokes about our poverty. 

I might have let that get away from me a little there. Aye, Hampden. It's shite, but it's all we can afford. Put that on a tea-towel. Wha's like us. 

[Stevie Aitken's Love Child]

Interested if there are any photoshop experts on here who could do us a mock up of the ends squared off, and maybe add an upper tier to the north to match the main stand?

Surely that would bring us to a similar capacity as we currently have? 

[mozam76]

22 minutes ago, Stevie Aitken's Love Child said:

Interested if there are any photoshop experts on here who could do us a mock up of the ends squared off, and maybe add an upper tier to the north to match the main stand?

Surely that would bring us to a similar capacity as we currently have? 

It probably would.

They could also photoshop an extra 7 noughts on to the end of my bank balance, thus enabling me to get a bigger hoose.

Both will never happen.

[JamesM82]

7 hours ago, GordonS said:

I can't see where the money comes from to rebuild the stadium, even just to bring the ends in. Look at how other stadium projects get financed. They don't have the steady income of 20+ home games a year - they have 10 at best. They're not going to sell £400 season tickets. These seats can't bring in any additional income. Nobody is buying expensive debenture seats behind the goals, or high value hospitality boxes, and obviously ticket prices are as high as this market will bear - arguably higher. They're not going to get a big enough loan, because they're not going to be increasing their revenue or assets, and even if they did, they couldn't take on the repayment costs.

They might chuck in a couple of million and help in soft ways, but local and national government aren't going to swoop in and save the day, public finances are far worse than most people realise. There's no millennium fund or anything like that any more, and the great era of help with stadium improvements is long past. The picture is much worse now than it was when the company nearly went bust for the want of £2 million, and we struggled to raise the money for a stadium that was one-part revenue-generator, three-parts seats bolted onto terracing.

The only realistic way for the SFA to raise the money needed is to start qualifying for major tournaments again.

(and even if that did happen, the clubs would probably be angling for large payouts)

[Hedgecutter]

'The P&B National Stadium' on a 10 year deal

Come on Div, you can surely afford it now.

[Lurkst]

3 hours ago, Stevie Aitken's Love Child said:

Interested if there are any photoshop experts on here who could do us a mock up of the ends squared off, and maybe add an upper tier to the north to match the main stand?

Surely that would bring us to a similar capacity as we currently have? 

Can't imagine how the North Stand could be expanded much without demolishing houses on Somerville Drive.

 

[Sergeant Wilson]

13 hours ago, velo army said:

I could see A big company putting up money for naming rights. Irn Bru would be my preferred option having an association with the fan base, but the orange and blue seats might be a bit hard to stomach for some.....

They could have an irn bru end and a paddy power end.

Actually, given the quality of sponsors the authorities in this country attract, I'd expect the usual pawn shops or any number of bookies to be in the reckoning.

[thisal]

22 minutes ago, Lurkst said:

Can't imagine how the North Stand could be expanded much without demolishing houses on Somerville Drive.

 

It used to extend further back and had a stand on top.

Personally I would move the pitch nearer the south stand and you would have plenty room to build a steeper  2 tier North stand.

[Sergeant Wilson]

40 minutes ago, Hedgecutter said:

'The P&B National Stadium' on a 10 year deal

Come on Div, you can surely afford it now.

The site would be down for weeks when they get beat.

[Jambomo]

They could have an irn bru end and a paddy power end.
Actually, given the quality of sponsors the authorities in this country attract, I'd expect the usual pawn shops or any number of bookies to be in the reckoning.

I would genuinely love it to be the Irn Bru stadium. Wonder if we can convince them it’s a good idea [emoji4]

[Ken-Ton]

I have loved Hampden throughout my years as a member of the TA. It's got awful views in almost every part of the ground, it's not the best for atmosphere and it's not in the most accessible area but none of that ever really mattered to me when I was excited about going to watch Scotland play.  Over the years, that excitement has been slowly draining away and its all because of the SFA's inability to run the organisation in a forward thinking and engaging way. So many things contribute to that but in all honesty, they have f***ed it and don't show any indication that they know how to arrest the slide. Once famous for their passion, the Scotland fans have just slowly drifted into apathy and thats the SFA's biggest failing.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Ken-Ton said:

I have loved Hampden throughout my years as a member of the TA. It's got awful views in almost every part of the ground, it's not the best for atmosphere and it's not in the most accessible area but none of that ever really mattered to me when I was excited about going to watch Scotland play.  Over the years, that excitement has been slowly draining away and its all because of the SFA's inability to run the organisation in a forward thinking and engaging way. So many things contribute to that but in all honesty, they have f***ed it and don't show any indication that they know how to arrest the slide. Once famous for their passion, the Scotland fans have just slowly drifted into apathy and thats the SFA's biggest failing.

There's a few things at play here which have caused the apathy and possibly the biggest one is the kick off times and days, however when we add in a pretty steep pricing structure and a poor on field product it all adds up to a pretty poor experience compared with days gone by.

There's also stricter stewarding and policing nowadays and generally not so many extreme drunks as in the past, it used to be a case of at least 80% of the attendees being absolutely blotto, which made the match and poor viewing acceptable for the majority as the occasion was more important than the match for many.

The destruction of the Cathcart Railwaymans club was also a dark day for any self respecting Scotland supporter............

[Ross.]

17 hours ago, Detournement said:

And the profits from selling Hampden used to do up the football stadium Haughey owns for Scotland to play in perhaps?

As others have mentioned, it would be interesting to know what guarantees Haughey has got for his donation. As GordonS above says, he does have previous form for altruistic acts of benevolence, but surely he hasn't just handed over a cheque.

As for your point, I'm unsure if it is in jest or not. I assume you refer to Celtic Park, which despite some wild claims on the internet and amongst Rangers fans, Haughey does not own.

[lanky_ffc]

13 hours ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

I wonder how much a new name would stick though, and whether that would make it less interesting to investors. The Aviva was a complete rebuild and although it's on the Lansdowne Road site I'd never think of it as a 'new' Lansdowne Road, it's just known by everyone as the Aviva. That's a sponsor's dream. If Arsenal had modified Highbury and been sponsored by Emirates everyone would still refer to it as Highbury, but with the newbuild the new name sticks.

If Hampden just had the ends re-done, even if it changed it's name to the sponsor's name, I don't think it would stick at all. I can't see anyone willing to seriously invest in that.

Aye, it'd be hard to justify that amount, but there's no harm putting the feelers out and seeing what brands would be interested and how much they'd be willing to pay. 

Another obvious revenue stream would be to actually qualify for tournaments. Think Euro 2016 was worth about €8m just for making the finals. 

[jimmy boo]

It doesn't always have to be "shite" (which it isn't btw). And it can also be rented oot, with the SFA now as owners:
 
 

Best night I've ever had at Hampden.

[charger29]

5 hours ago, Stevie Aitken's Love Child said:

Interested if there are any photoshop experts on here who could do us a mock up of the ends squared off, and maybe add an upper tier to the north to match the main stand?

Surely that would bring us to a similar capacity as we currently have? 

I'm not a photoshop expert at all but here's some I was messing around with last night. Not scaled properly or anything, just seeing what it'd look like without the running track.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hampden_Panorama.png

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pre-match_2015_Scottish_Cup_Final_(3).jpg

Fwiw, I think it's quite unlikely they renovate any time soon, but it's nice to dream...

[Glasgow1999]

On 14/09/2018 at 20:29, ancientnoise said:

Yes that was a great night. Not the best night I've had but right up there.

My first Scotland game was also the night that King Kenny scored that "tap in" to equal Denis Law's goal record. Like this, in Spanish:

This history counts for something. So does the idea of ACDC hiring the place out and the proceeds now going to the new owners.

The proceeds have always gone to SFA, along with monies from exhibitions, office rent, museum, medical centre etc. £300,000  a year a real bargin  for rent and £5 million for everything!

[Gordopolis]

Just listened to Sportsound there and McFadden and Michael Stewart were debating the Hampden 'plan of action'. Love how staunchly McFadden was backing the purchase and development and he did well to debunk or counter most of Stewart's arguments.

One interesting thing Stewart mentioned was the BC Place stadium as a model we could follow. Had never heard of it but it's two tier and the top tier can be shut off by a roof-like veil. Looks pretty smart.




Maybe we could have a whip round?