| Cobbold Rebuild 06:34 - Aug 8 with 5982 views | LA_Tractor_Boy |
Unless the Cobbold Stand becomes unsafe, I can see it being a few years until GC invest substantial funds to rebuild the Cobbold.
Our first home match back in the Championship will probably sell out, but it's hardly been a scramble for tickets. Been on general sale for 24 hours and tickets still available.
I know a new stand will increase the value of the club, but I think we need to sellout consistently in the CS, or be an established PL club before a rebuild happens.
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 06:49 - Aug 8 with 4299 views | EssexBloo |
I think you make a good point although Saturday will sell out and I’m sure on Saturday morning there will be some posts from people looking for tickets. An increased capacity will increase the ST cap as well. We could also increase away allocation.
I’m sure it will happen at some point but I guess we will have to purchase the road and some of the car park so it’s never going to be easy.
When Ashton announced the Cobbold needs rebuilding in one of his first interviews I think it built all our hopes up! | | | |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 07:45 - Aug 8 with 4123 views | PioneerBlue |
August is always weird for tickets because people are on holiday. I know 6 season tickets holder away on holiday as it is.
I don’t disagree about the cobbold. The least financially disruptive will be doing it when we get to the premier league because tv money will make us less dependent on ticket sales. However if premier league doesn’t come in next 3 years they may wish to seek the alternative revenue that a new stand could bring.
I think it’s a 3-7 year ambition. More might be known once they run one season in the Championship because everyone will have a better feel for how the land lies on squad and on pitch investment needs. | |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 07:59 - Aug 8 with 4046 views | textbackup |
A rebuild of that stand reduces our capacity for a large period of time whilst it were to be done.
I wonder if they’d work it to build around current structure, therefore keeping bums on seats for as long as possible |  |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:04 - Aug 8 with 4023 views | Churchman |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 07:45 - Aug 8 by PioneerBlue |
August is always weird for tickets because people are on holiday. I know 6 season tickets holder away on holiday as it is.
I don’t disagree about the cobbold. The least financially disruptive will be doing it when we get to the premier league because tv money will make us less dependent on ticket sales. However if premier league doesn’t come in next 3 years they may wish to seek the alternative revenue that a new stand could bring.
I think it’s a 3-7 year ambition. More might be known once they run one season in the Championship because everyone will have a better feel for how the land lies on squad and on pitch investment needs. |
It’s a very old stand now (50+ years) and its age shows. It felt so modern and smart back in the day, but cramped and not fit for purpose now.
Obviously it’s got to be replaced, but given the space behind it is tight it’s no mean task. It’s doable, not least because Portman Road is no longer used as a road, but that’s down to what they agree with the council.
Cost wise - astronomic. I cannot see it being done in the short term and your guess of 3-7 looks right to me, as long as they can see how it fits with the rest of the stadium in driving revenue. Could it be refurbed and another tier added? Need an engineer to answer that as I’ve no idea!
What is clear with the work that’s gone into the ground continuously in two years is that they’re serious about it and I wouldn’t be surprised if something came out of the blue on this, assuming the team continues to improve and attendances hold up.
What’s that cliche? ‘Build it and they will come’. I still can’t see a capacity of more than 35,000 comfortably seated (without restricted views) being necessary tbh.
Edit: looking at seat availability there are a few at the back of the West stand and the odd one or two dotted about so my rough guess is there’s a couple of hundred available. My guess is also about 29k for Saturday [Post edited 8 Aug 2023 8:22]
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:16 - Aug 8 with 3950 views | azuremerlangus |
Not sure what the design is going to be (extra tier bolt-on or a complete rebuild) or when it gets done but I’m guessing the options have been looked at in detail already. |  |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:17 - Aug 8 with 3943 views | xrayspecs |
Early season matches are impacted by people being on holiday. We have sold around 25k home tickets before these got to general sale, which is something we have never done before.
Stoke have sold their allocation so this should be around 29k on Saturday. | | | |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:20 - Aug 8 with 3915 views | xrayspecs |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:16 - Aug 8 by azuremerlangus |
Not sure what the design is going to be (extra tier bolt-on or a complete rebuild) or when it gets done but I’m guessing the options have been looked at in detail already. |
Would need to be a complete rebuild the lower tiers are no longer fit for purpose.
Would cost circa £75-100m based on the cost of new stands at Fulham and Palace. | | | |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:20 - Aug 8 with 3912 views | SheffordBlue |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:16 - Aug 8 by azuremerlangus |
Not sure what the design is going to be (extra tier bolt-on or a complete rebuild) or when it gets done but I’m guessing the options have been looked at in detail already. |
A big part of a rebuild will be increasing the amount of space that can be used for non-match days - e.g. rooms that can be used for hospitality on match day but also corporate conferences, etc during the week.
Increasing non-match day revenue will be as important as adding another 2-3k matchday capacity I think. | |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:34 - Aug 8 with 3809 views | xrayspecs |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:04 - Aug 8 by Churchman |
It’s a very old stand now (50+ years) and its age shows. It felt so modern and smart back in the day, but cramped and not fit for purpose now.
Obviously it’s got to be replaced, but given the space behind it is tight it’s no mean task. It’s doable, not least because Portman Road is no longer used as a road, but that’s down to what they agree with the council.
Cost wise - astronomic. I cannot see it being done in the short term and your guess of 3-7 looks right to me, as long as they can see how it fits with the rest of the stadium in driving revenue. Could it be refurbed and another tier added? Need an engineer to answer that as I’ve no idea!
What is clear with the work that’s gone into the ground continuously in two years is that they’re serious about it and I wouldn’t be surprised if something came out of the blue on this, assuming the team continues to improve and attendances hold up.
What’s that cliche? ‘Build it and they will come’. I still can’t see a capacity of more than 35,000 comfortably seated (without restricted views) being necessary tbh.
Edit: looking at seat availability there are a few at the back of the West stand and the odd one or two dotted about so my rough guess is there’s a couple of hundred available. My guess is also about 29k for Saturday [Post edited 8 Aug 2023 8:22]
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I do wonder whether the closure of PR is a pre-cursor to a permanent change in land use behind the stand, which would give us the space to build on what is currently the road. MA talked about a council land strategy for the area behind the Cobbold and some permanent changes in usage may be part of the thinking. | | | |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:42 - Aug 8 with 3753 views | Guthrum |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:04 - Aug 8 by Churchman |
It’s a very old stand now (50+ years) and its age shows. It felt so modern and smart back in the day, but cramped and not fit for purpose now.
Obviously it’s got to be replaced, but given the space behind it is tight it’s no mean task. It’s doable, not least because Portman Road is no longer used as a road, but that’s down to what they agree with the council.
Cost wise - astronomic. I cannot see it being done in the short term and your guess of 3-7 looks right to me, as long as they can see how it fits with the rest of the stadium in driving revenue. Could it be refurbed and another tier added? Need an engineer to answer that as I’ve no idea!
What is clear with the work that’s gone into the ground continuously in two years is that they’re serious about it and I wouldn’t be surprised if something came out of the blue on this, assuming the team continues to improve and attendances hold up.
What’s that cliche? ‘Build it and they will come’. I still can’t see a capacity of more than 35,000 comfortably seated (without restricted views) being necessary tbh.
Edit: looking at seat availability there are a few at the back of the West stand and the odd one or two dotted about so my rough guess is there’s a couple of hundred available. My guess is also about 29k for Saturday [Post edited 8 Aug 2023 8:22]
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35k will take us back to around the capacity before all-seater was introduced. While some games in that era were nearly full, the averages seem to have mostly been a bit under 25k.
Based on that, there is no need to go mad in adding thousands more than that. Especially as football is a more expensive hobby than it once was, with lots of games televised in the top two tiers.
As others have said, I think the additional infrastructure (e.g. conference rooms), providing extra revenue streams, is going to be as important as a large number of additional seats. |  |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:42 - Aug 8 with 3759 views | OldFart71 |
The Cobbold is over 50 years old, opened if my memory serves me correct in season 70-71. The coporate boxes are so poor given todays standards. I don't see a new building for maybe two or three seasons. Obviously what happens on the pitch determines some of the things off of the pitch. It is a balance really. Although for those that harp back to the rebuiling of Churchmans and the North stands our situation is completely different. We have a significant wad of cash behind us in the form of Gamechanger, whereas in the Sheepshank/ Burley days they relied on staying in the Prem and of course that didn't happen. Also players who frankly weren't up to it were purchased and had to be paid several millions to get rid of. If we analyse the purchases by McKenna and co so far there's far more positives than negatives. Whereas Burley the legend was perhaps ill advised which although you cannot say we will never buy a dud under McKenna it does seem on the face of it that a lot goes into looking at what we are buying. So I do believe the Cobbold will be replaced to increase capacity to maybe 35,000, but it's a season or so off. | | | |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:54 - Aug 8 with 3684 views | xrayspecs |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:42 - Aug 8 by Guthrum |
35k will take us back to around the capacity before all-seater was introduced. While some games in that era were nearly full, the averages seem to have mostly been a bit under 25k.
Based on that, there is no need to go mad in adding thousands more than that. Especially as football is a more expensive hobby than it once was, with lots of games televised in the top two tiers.
As others have said, I think the additional infrastructure (e.g. conference rooms), providing extra revenue streams, is going to be as important as a large number of additional seats. |
You cannot compare football attendance from the 70s and 80s with today, there is much more interest now than there was then. | | | |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 09:08 - Aug 8 with 3597 views | Churchman |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:42 - Aug 8 by Guthrum |
35k will take us back to around the capacity before all-seater was introduced. While some games in that era were nearly full, the averages seem to have mostly been a bit under 25k.
Based on that, there is no need to go mad in adding thousands more than that. Especially as football is a more expensive hobby than it once was, with lots of games televised in the top two tiers.
As others have said, I think the additional infrastructure (e.g. conference rooms), providing extra revenue streams, is going to be as important as a large number of additional seats. |
The 30-35k gates were mostly 1974 - 1980 and they were actually pretty rare. Mostly Man Utd, Leeds, Liverpool etc. the highest average was around 26k.
But that was then. The catchment area has actually grown and what is wanted from a football ground has changed a fair bit. So yes, Corporate stuff is very important as is the ability to stage other events and use the facility more (concerts etc - new pitch).
Also important is developing the fan base. At the moment the 29k capacity includes a fair few restricted and poor views. The seating in the East stand is tight, stairs narrow. There is nowhere to accommodate away fans is a satisfactory way and if the demand and for tickets hold up the capacity to bring in for example disadvantaged kids/promotions is limited.
One thing I notice from Town in 5 is the age of the supporters. Many more younger people, less sour old fogeys like me. Brilliant. For me, it’s all about investment and redeveloping the East Stand (Chicken Run!) is part of that. Can it be justified financially? No idea. Well if anyone can make it work, the Americans can. That’s the optimistic view from me, anyway. | | | |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 09:11 - Aug 8 with 3572 views | Pinewoodblue |
Pretty sure that Saturday’s attendance will be one the highest ever for the first home game of the season, even if there are empty Sears in away areas.
Last season was just over 23,000 expect it be at least 15/20% higher Saturday.
Looking ahead if capacity doesn’t increase expect prices to rise. |  |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 09:13 - Aug 8 with 3556 views | Guthrum |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:54 - Aug 8 by xrayspecs |
You cannot compare football attendance from the 70s and 80s with today, there is much more interest now than there was then. |
Even so, I can't see us consistently getting gates of 40k, even in the Prem. Unless, perhaps, we went on a run of extreme success like the late '70s. | |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 09:23 - Aug 8 with 3447 views | Cheltenham_Blue |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:20 - Aug 8 by SheffordBlue |
A big part of a rebuild will be increasing the amount of space that can be used for non-match days - e.g. rooms that can be used for hospitality on match day but also corporate conferences, etc during the week.
Increasing non-match day revenue will be as important as adding another 2-3k matchday capacity I think. |
Exactly this. The biggest part of any stadium now is 365 usage, far bigger than match days.
Its about corporate hospitality, wedding venue hire, meeting hire and lop level facilities, all of which the Cobbold does not offer us.
Thinking about it, a football season means the stadia is only used maybe 30-31 days out of 365 in a normal season, and thats our biggest income. If you can covert it to a year-round stadium, then suddenly your biggest income is corporate use, not football operations.
As much as we'd like it to be all about us, getting an extra 4000 bums on seats at £30 a ticket for 30 days of the year is far less than half the story in the reasoning for a new Cobbold, and potentially other stands, believe me when I say the planning for the Cobbold is already in the works. |  |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 09:28 - Aug 8 with 3400 views | Guthrum |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 09:08 - Aug 8 by Churchman |
The 30-35k gates were mostly 1974 - 1980 and they were actually pretty rare. Mostly Man Utd, Leeds, Liverpool etc. the highest average was around 26k.
But that was then. The catchment area has actually grown and what is wanted from a football ground has changed a fair bit. So yes, Corporate stuff is very important as is the ability to stage other events and use the facility more (concerts etc - new pitch).
Also important is developing the fan base. At the moment the 29k capacity includes a fair few restricted and poor views. The seating in the East stand is tight, stairs narrow. There is nowhere to accommodate away fans is a satisfactory way and if the demand and for tickets hold up the capacity to bring in for example disadvantaged kids/promotions is limited.
One thing I notice from Town in 5 is the age of the supporters. Many more younger people, less sour old fogeys like me. Brilliant. For me, it’s all about investment and redeveloping the East Stand (Chicken Run!) is part of that. Can it be justified financially? No idea. Well if anyone can make it work, the Americans can. That’s the optimistic view from me, anyway. |
I think the Americans will make it work, otherwise it won't be done. They'll have a very clear idea of what is possible and how the revenue streams add up.
I'm pretty convinced they're looking to establish a leisure/entertainment complex centred around the football club and that's where a decent slice of their projected return is going to come from. Basically the same as Johnson's plan for Pawtucket, altho there he has to start the team from scratch. | |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 09:31 - Aug 8 with 3352 views | Pendejo |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:20 - Aug 8 by xrayspecs |
Would need to be a complete rebuild the lower tiers are no longer fit for purpose.
Would cost circa £75-100m based on the cost of new stands at Fulham and Palace. |
Rebuild could be done in two stages;
1. Build new stand behind / over old stand - this maintains current capacity and is in process at Anfield and was how Pioneer (as was) constructed.
2. Once new stand in place, demolish and rebuild lower tier
Whatever happens I don't expect we will see anything for quite some time yet |  |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 09:33 - Aug 8 with 3322 views | SheffordBlue |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 09:28 - Aug 8 by Guthrum |
I think the Americans will make it work, otherwise it won't be done. They'll have a very clear idea of what is possible and how the revenue streams add up.
I'm pretty convinced they're looking to establish a leisure/entertainment complex centred around the football club and that's where a decent slice of their projected return is going to come from. Basically the same as Johnson's plan for Pawtucket, altho there he has to start the team from scratch. |
With our owners there's also the potential for the Pension Fund to provide the investment to fund any rebuild as a separate investment to owning the club. This provides a different long term investment opportunity even if they sell the club in the shorter term. | |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 10:20 - Aug 8 with 3096 views | Westcountryblue |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 08:04 - Aug 8 by Churchman |
It’s a very old stand now (50+ years) and its age shows. It felt so modern and smart back in the day, but cramped and not fit for purpose now.
Obviously it’s got to be replaced, but given the space behind it is tight it’s no mean task. It’s doable, not least because Portman Road is no longer used as a road, but that’s down to what they agree with the council.
Cost wise - astronomic. I cannot see it being done in the short term and your guess of 3-7 looks right to me, as long as they can see how it fits with the rest of the stadium in driving revenue. Could it be refurbed and another tier added? Need an engineer to answer that as I’ve no idea!
What is clear with the work that’s gone into the ground continuously in two years is that they’re serious about it and I wouldn’t be surprised if something came out of the blue on this, assuming the team continues to improve and attendances hold up.
What’s that cliche? ‘Build it and they will come’. I still can’t see a capacity of more than 35,000 comfortably seated (without restricted views) being necessary tbh.
Edit: looking at seat availability there are a few at the back of the West stand and the odd one or two dotted about so my rough guess is there’s a couple of hundred available. My guess is also about 29k for Saturday [Post edited 8 Aug 2023 8:22]
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35,000 may result in a few empty seats. However, last season it was almost impossible to get a good seat (without restricted viewing) and with there now being 21,000 season ticket holders, it will only get harder to find seats.
Rather than 35,000, perhaps a vertical extension of the Cobbold is possible ? And/or integrating each the sides of each stand? May result in a 2-3k increase in capacity without serious disruption. | | | |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 10:28 - Aug 8 with 3049 views | Guthrum |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 09:33 - Aug 8 by SheffordBlue |
With our owners there's also the potential for the Pension Fund to provide the investment to fund any rebuild as a separate investment to owning the club. This provides a different long term investment opportunity even if they sell the club in the shorter term. |
Precisely. | |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 11:00 - Aug 8 with 2936 views | ArnieM |
I do wonder if its reconstruction will be fine in partnership with the IBC. There were rumours of a new multi use complex being built ( swimming pool and other sports and non sports usage). IF this were the case I don’t see “ space” being an issue bevy that develop would potentially go across Portman Rd snd onto the neighbouring cattle market car park. Effectively PR is closed as a road behind the Cobbold stand now anyway, so to build a new stand that went up and back across that road is not out of the question.
This is more of less the type of global multi use development the owners did in Phoenix : making the stadium usable 24/7 and 365/7 a year. For the local community it generates income. I bet the local pubs love GC ! |  |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 11:09 - Aug 8 with 2884 views | ElephantintheRoom |
Our ‘owners’ are here to make money - and the best way to do that is to increase opportunities for spectators to spend their money whilst in the ground. Any cosmetic changes will be to increase income per customer. Next - and probably more important is to fleece people who don’t go anywhere near the ground - there’s a global audience out there for Town TV and cr@p shirts. | |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 11:22 - Aug 8 with 2850 views | Pinewoodblue |
| Cobbold Rebuild on 09:31 - Aug 8 by Pendejo |
Rebuild could be done in two stages;
1. Build new stand behind / over old stand - this maintains current capacity and is in process at Anfield and was how Pioneer (as was) constructed.
2. Once new stand in place, demolish and rebuild lower tier
Whatever happens I don't expect we will see anything for quite some time yet |
Can remember when Charlton extended capacity of the stand to the left of the away end. They removed the roof from the stand and built behind. Guess our problem is there is Portman Road behind the Cobbold.
It isn’t used by vehicular traffic so with co-operation of IBC I’m sure something could be worked out. | |
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| Cobbold Rebuild on 12:53 - Aug 8 with 2601 views | ElephantintheRoom |
What’s it like getting away from the ground now? Geography means I haven’t been for years - but the mysterious Bury Road/ Ring Road junction had become a huge bottleneck in recent years - even with tiny crowds. Must be hell for franchise followers nowadays (and residents, most of whom, lest we forget don’t go to football). - let alone with another 5,000 stuck in a traffic jam. Parking had also shrunk since the heady days of the 70s/80s when there was no resident’s parking and people didn’t assume ownership of the road their house is on.
Ultimately for chancers looking for a relatively quick Buck, extensive stand development is madness - it’s made the club insolvent the last two times it’s happened and the club (or chancers) don’t own the ground. Something in partnership with the council as part of a long term plan for the area is a different kettle of poissons - and by happy coincidence ‘adds value’ at someone else’s expense. | |
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