Good, lets get that area cleared and start thinking about acquiring the land all the way around the ground so we can start some serious development.

MA has hinted strongly, (but its much more than that), that the Borough Council are keen for us to pick up the whole footprint around PR, the area behind the Coboold stand and North Stand and the land that houses the ground itself, none of which is ours yet.

Once we've done that, then the world is our oyster with options, the very minimum that would include would be a huge plaza all the way around the stadium that would make our current Fanzone look like a corner shop.

Bring it on, lets get these boys up a division and see just what this fabulous board and investors can unlock!

For me, the Council owning the ground is a huge positive.

At some point the current owners will sell and It protects the club from future lunatic owners selling the ground for development.

I am pretty sure that Evans tried to buy the ground but the council refused to sell. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what his plans were.

Would love for a certain gorgoeus-ginge to purchase the land the ground sits on from the Council and place it into a supporters trust.

Ok so interesting comment from GatesPerm. I disagree but i get where you are coming from. Ill explain.

I know for a fact** that the council asked the club in March (the day after we completed on the office Outlet bit) when they could talk to us about buying the whole lot. They want rid of it because it could never be useful to them with a long lease as a FC.

HOWEVER, dont forget selling it to the right people comes with a huge degree of control, because the Borough Council would still have the rights of planning permission of any change of use, redevelopment etc etc, so although the theory of what GatesPerm says is spot on, in practice, to the right bidders, its a totally risk free proposition to them.

SO this is when it gets interesting, taking this a stage further, and assuming the club does want to buy the land, it has the advantage of waiting for a combination of the right price and the pre-negotiated rights for appropriate planning before striking a deal. Its a brilliant and unique position, where the seller is so keen and the buyer can afford to wait for exactly the right deal. Its a perfect recipe for the club.

Im pretty convinced that this summer latest it will be done, especially if we go up, and with it a raft of plans will unfold for 24-30 to transform it.

** Please message me through the portal and Ill explain, dont want to openly say how i came upon this.

bazza8564

Great info

Interesting. Await developments. Re the area generally did l read somewhere that the car park opposite the Cobbold Stand is going to be where the new aqua park is being built?

Atty, pretty sure that's where the hub of the new Fanzone will end up, if you actually envisage the whole thing from above, it would give us everything bar the Archant building and the council buildings but access all the way around in a circle with access pretty much 360.And pretty big.

Now i've no real ideal how the details would pan out, but if you play this out on your head (some of us have sleep issues :) ) think about the Cobbold stand going back over the road, you could keep a car park there by putting a one story concrete level above it and there is your new Fanzone, arcing around behind SAR across the road no longer in use, and the same at the north stand end

NOW, Im getting into make believe land here for sure but there are absolutely limitless possibilities in this. Football clubs are generally landlocked, we wouldn't be. Some fans will remember how Old Trafford used to be hemmed in by industrial buildings, Anfield by houses. We would have a huge area.

MASSIVELY interesting times, I think we just wait and see but if you've met or listened to Mark Ashton at length, he is without doubt one of the sharpest tools in the box, hes 51 and this is THE job for him. He plays his cards close to his chest and he delivers first talks later, but if this sort of stuff is playing on our minds imagine what this guy is thinking, and why Oxford, WBA, bristol City were just rungs on the ladder to what he once told me was "the biggest opportunity in football".

So when people talk about silly things and get them out of perspective, just remember what we COULD do in that space....

Sorry, Bazza, but this ain't THE job for Ashton. It's the job on the way to THE job.

MyBlueHeaven, hope you are wrong mate, only time will tell i guess.

From my time in industry pretty much the oldest CEO age for appointment is the age MA is now and i reckon its going to take him 5 years absolute minimum from here to het us to PL and get the Gamechanger investors out with a great return. By then, he will be 56/57 and thats a tough age to take on another project.

To be honest his real passion is turning around sleeping giants, hes not "done it" yet, not big time anyway, and I genuinely think he sees this job as a chance to make his personal mark on teh club and walk away in 10 years with a legacy.

God I hope we have him that long, ill pay for the statue myself if we do :)