AyrExile Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 It will also be interesting to see how having a hands on chairman helps change things. Whilst the last few years were in the main good the period before that very much less so. There will be much less of a hiding place now than when someone is based thousands of miles away. Certainly good to see Smith making a difference getting the hub sorted and plugging gaps in our income stream 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callum-ayr Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 58 minutes ago, Ayr23 said: All fair and valid points. There was no research on my part on the number I plucked out. Obviously it will cost a lot to install, but we must spend a small fortune on renting school pitches and facilities from the council though. So there's the money saved from that, and as I said in an earlier post, the pitch can be let out sustainably so not to drastically increase wear. On the naming of the stadium, I guess it's all about who is wanting to sponsor it. A big name could be willing to splash the cash, particularly for a stadium like Somerset that is so often spoken about as a favourite of away fans, and has even recently been mentioned on national TV for this reason, and has had widespread publicity on social media for this too. We also have an obscure following from people who are into Bitcoin, so there's that overseas market that companies could be tapping into through stadium advertising. The McDonalds sponsorship/advertising of the hospitality suite was lauded as one of the biggest, if not biggest sponsorship deal we have had. From numbers I’ve seen online, sponsorship at Somerset ranges from a few thousand to maybe 7-10k. With the exposure and size of the McDonalds one, I’d imagine you’ll be doubling that at least. (Robbo may or may not know more about that. So for actual naming rights of a stadium is like to think you’re talking about doubling that. You may even see Smith look at the possibly of Ashleigh Construction have some sort of involvement, who knows. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayr23 Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 South ayrshire is awash with Astro pitches and more being built with new schools being built etc, it doesent cost anything like what people on here are posting, my god if boys clubs can afford it get a grip on your costings Saving hundreds of thousands and making the same get a grip. Just look at livingstone this week frozen and flooded pitch in one week not the be all people are making out. Somerset used to be one of the best playing surfaces in Scotland that’s why for many years Albeit a long time ago England used to train on it when they came up, the pitch needs proper regular maintenance and investment in it relaying turf and drainage etc when was the last time that was done and a lot cheaper then S——y Astro, god help us if we go that route.100% my preferred option is a top quality grass surface, something we've not had though since Harko left the club. If we can fix the current problems and equip the groundsmen with the proper tools, I'd vote for that all day long. Livingston is a bad example to use, their pitch is rotten. Raith and Alloa on the other hand, their plastic pitches are much better. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMIP Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 23 minutes ago, AyrExile said: Don’t think the club actually owed any cash when Cameron took over. They did inherit a very large wage bill that was gonna exceed income and were unable to manage or cut it quickly enough. This along with ignoring the tax man resulted in a large deficit being run up That was only because the massive subsidy from Barr didn’t come from soft loans that theoretically needed to be paid back. There’s no doubt that the club has always run with a deficit. It then becomes a question of how much the owner is willing to put in of their own money. It’s always been clear that Cameron had put in over a million of his own cash in the form of soft loans, and yet was accused by some folk of asset stripping the club. Writing off that debt is an incredible gesture, though it always seemed like Cameron was never particularly looking for his money back if he could find the right buyer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finlay21 Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, Lochwood said: South ayrshire is awash with Astro pitches and more being built with new schools being built etc, it doesent cost anything like what people on here are posting, my god if boys clubs can afford it get a grip on your costings Saving hundreds of thousands and making the same get a grip. Just look at livingstone this week frozen and flooded pitch in one week not the be all people are making out. Somerset used to be one of the best playing surfaces in Scotland that’s why for many years Albeit a long time ago England used to train on it when they came up, the pitch needs proper regular maintenance and investment in it relaying turf and drainage etc when was the last time that was done and a lot cheaper then S——y Astro, god help us if we go that route. It’s not that cheap for a 3G pitch booking in Ayrshire , we can book a grass pitch for around £25 per game , when we ( not Ayr United) then go to 3G it’s £75 ( that’s concession price full price is £100) for a school pitch as you need 2 hrs and if we use Cambusdoon we pay £81 , that’s for adults cheaper for kids Edited January 14, 2021 by Robbo63 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lochwood Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 So based on those figures we are nothing near what’s been quoted as costs to the club or going to make if we have one and as prev said the area is awash with Astro with more on the way no guarantee we will make any income. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGAYR Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 I never saw a artificial pitch making us money. Between the first team and the Academy teams it would have very little opportunity to hire out to others. It would however save money and travel time if all training was in one place that we were in control of. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpInTheAyr Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 See Raith have got the results from their Covid tests.When do we get ours? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callum-ayr Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 12 minutes ago, UpInTheAyr said: See Raith have got the results from their Covid tests. When do we get ours? Just seen they have an outbreak. That’ll be that I think. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finlay21 Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 38 minutes ago, UpInTheAyr said: See Raith have got the results from their Covid tests. When do we get ours? Would think tomorrow morning if going by the 48hr turnaround 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finlay21 Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 26 minutes ago, callum-ayr said: Just seen they have an outbreak. That’ll be that I think. If it’s a one off I think we will be fine , do think along the lines of though if another couple of teams ask for postponements this week it could force the league to close down for 2/3 weeks to start with 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callum-ayr Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 3 minutes ago, Robbo63 said: If it’s a one off I think we will be fine , do think along the lines of though if another couple of teams ask for postponements this week it could force the league to close down for 2/3 weeks to start with Personally I don’t think Raith will be the only club with positive tests, especially with another 2 part time clubs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 17 hours ago, rb123! said: I would say the best one i've seen is Alloa's Over the last two or three years we have had some outstanding performances on artificial pitches, not least at Alloa. That is why I am in favour of an artificial pitch. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftk Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 Glad our new owner said he was going to be very careful with any changes he carries out at Somerset.Somerset Park is an iconic old ground that most fans love going to. Too many clubs in Scotland in the past have demolished their lovely old grounds in pursuit of 10,000 seats for SPL status.Nothing much wrong with Somerset as it is. Subtle changes are all thats needed. Roof over the North terrace and expand the hospitality if required. Improve toilets, catering facilities, lick of paint and a tidy up.Most importantly is a better grass pitch for the first team to play on! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyline Drifter Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 55 minutes ago, callum-ayr said: Personally I don’t think Raith will be the only club with positive tests, especially with another 2 part time clubs. Given that Morton were unable to fulfil last Saturday's fixture already as a result of positive tests and isolations that's already very obvious. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diegomarahenry Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 On the pitch front, there is a guy who by all accounts in a complete knob, turns pitches around over 18 months or so, he did Troon Juniors pitch and caused all sorts of bother in junior football with it. Teams weren't able to train on it, even warm-ups were to be done on a patch of grass behind the goals. The pitch was ruined during the early days of the Daziel era to get a televised cup game on, they sanded it heavily and it cup up a lot. It took a few years to get it back to a bowling green surface. In the last 4-5 years it has been dreadful. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 10 minutes ago, diegomarahenry said: On the pitch front, there is a guy who by all accounts in a complete knob, turns pitches around over 18 months or so, he did Troon Juniors pitch and caused all sorts of bother in junior football with it. Teams weren't able to train on it, even warm-ups were to be done on a patch of grass behind the goals. The pitch was ruined during the early days of the Daziel era to get a televised cup game on, they sanded it heavily and it cup up a lot. It took a few years to get it back to a bowling green surface. In the last 4-5 years it has been dreadful. Surely there's a good quality Golf greenkeeper in our support who could provide some tips / assistance to the groundsman ?? I know Ian Barr (head greenkeeper at Kelburn) took over at the vale (Ladesides ground) and made a huge difference, so surely we have someone who could help with somerset ?? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lochwood Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 Firstly thank god lots of people have my thinking in how crap Astro is. I think most people have hit the nail in the head an experienced person to assist the big fella that does the pitch now, and you need to invest in it in real terms, the local bowling greens put thousands in to them not just a matter of cutting the grass and getting on with it, winter work starts way before the seasons start leading to April start. Davy Harkness still goes to games retired now and remember he trained the guy doing it now, so either him or someone with that experience, there is a guy who is from Dunoon and has done wonders to quite a few greens in Ayrshire, comes over first thing in the morning ferry and very knowledgeable and reliable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Venom Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 To be honest I love playing on quality, modern astros that have a bit of give and a truer bounce/run, the alternative is usually a shite bobbly grass pitch with the odd exception if the club is minted. Appreciate though that the pros are probably used to playing on lovely manicured pitches these days, so I get the preference. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidkennedyshand Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 On the pitch front, there is a guy who by all accounts in a complete knob, turns pitches around over 18 months or so, he did Troon Juniors pitch and caused all sorts of bother in junior football with it. Teams weren't able to train on it, even warm-ups were to be done on a patch of grass behind the goals. The pitch was ruined during the early days of the Daziel era to get a televised cup game on, they sanded it heavily and it cup up a lot. It took a few years to get it back to a bowling green surface. In the last 4-5 years it has been dreadful. Is it Gus Hollas?He was with Troon for a while. Killie as well. Also had a short spell with us I believe. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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