| Who WANTS to leave Loftus Rd? 10:32 - Nov 9 with 7989 views | BrisbaneR |
I've no wish to distract from the discussion of our recent improvement in form, and this shouldn't at all - I'm just keen to hear your views given the volume of support I heard from the other side of the planet last night.
The City game in particular made me think of the old 'extra man in the stands' cliché, and the look of wonder/terror on the faces of visiting superstars who haven't played in a pokey little ground like Loftus Rd before was a joy to behold.
TF wants Rangers to be a 'global' brand - well perhaps our selling point, the differentiator, should be that we're the club where football looks and sounds like it used to? Rather than just being spectators, the intimacy of Loftus Rd means the pitch is surrounded by 18000 participants. Can we be the West London team that people think of when they imagine the atmosphere of a football match as it used to be....rather than sitting in a 'library' like that mob in SW6, waiting for an 'inevitable' win and being bored because of that inevitability?
I know and understand the arguments for a move to a new ground, but we need to be careful what we wish for. I'd happily stay small and intimate rather than growing but losing what I saw and heard against City. BTW, the support at Chelsea brought a lump to my throat even at this distance - you lot make me proud...COYR's.... |  | | |  |
| Who WANTS to leave Loftus Rd? on 07:58 - Nov 11 with 1241 views | derbyhoop |
The post Hillsborough Taylor report changed everything. There is no way you can safely expand Loftus road on its current footprint. If it stays as it we'll be left with a L1 standard ground. And L1 income.
We just have to move. Its likely to be as cheap as trying to increase the existing footprint and a lot more deliverable. We all want to retain the special atmosphere and that can be designed in. The fanbase can be increased to fill 30k + stadium. |  |
| Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one’s lifetime. (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop |
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| Who WANTS to leave Loftus Rd? on 10:38 - Nov 11 with 1184 views | classof93 |
I would like to stay at Loftus road and redevelop it if possible. However, I think one thing that hasn't been mentioned on this thread is that for the current owners, a new stadium is fundamental to their plans. As much as people will say how much they love the ground and the owners will no doubt agree, what they want to acheive is impossible by staying at Loftus road. So if Tony and his mates remain in charge, it is inevitable that we will be leaving. They want a brand new stadium in a central London location. A stadium that will make money not just from football (concerts, corporate events etc). A complex attached to the stadium that will include hotels, casinos etc. A stadium to host the increased tourist fans they hope to attract and also have swanky corporate hospitality for companies to hold events for big premier league games. No doubt some sponsorship attached - "Air Asia Stadium"....combine that with building a load of flats in a central London location along with the stadium.
With the current owners and their plans moving at some stage is inevitable. | | | |
| Who WANTS to leave Loftus Rd? on 10:41 - Nov 11 with 1180 views | Clive_Anderson |
Was the Linford Christie stadium totally out of the question? The local hospital doesn't have A&E there anymore.
Would be good if some rich supporter bought it up just in case the new ground idea goes tits up. | | | |
| Who WANTS to leave Loftus Rd? on 11:53 - Nov 11 with 1154 views | Tonto |
There are good things about LR and bad things.... but the bad outweigh the good.
The good -its compact and the atmosphere can (on its day) be amongst the best. You're close to the pitch.
The stadium is too small, the legroom is appalling there isn't enough room to get in the ground, let alone circulate, get a drink/food at half time, there aren't enough toilets, and there is little to no chance of generating extra income and there are pillars which restict the view of many seats. If the TV cameras are there they have to remove seats to acoomodate the cameras. Its completely outdated. It needs redevelopment.
But any redeveopment should come with caveats: its houldn't be replaced by a bog stanard cereal bowl a la Southampton, Derby, Leicester, etc. Ideally it should be in Shpeherds bush. but the time has come to move on... its not like we've never done that before! |  |
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| Who WANTS to leave Loftus Rd? on 13:29 - Nov 11 with 1115 views | TacticalR |
| Who WANTS to leave Loftus Rd? on 10:41 - Nov 11 by Clive_Anderson |
Was the Linford Christie stadium totally out of the question? The local hospital doesn't have A&E there anymore.
Would be good if some rich supporter bought it up just in case the new ground idea goes tits up. |
Plus we could get sponsorship from the prison. |  |
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| Who WANTS to leave Loftus Rd? on 16:31 - Nov 11 with 1063 views | Ingham |
Yes,but we don't know that even the stadium is inevitable, let alone QPR moving there. And Fernandes's explanation of why and how isn't even intelligible. Bhatia tells us we're debt-free, Fernandes we're £178 million in debt. But even though the £178 million is gone on players, the losses are 'stadium-related'.
How? There isn't a stadium, so the debt can't be secured against it. The money is gone, squandered on some of the worst players and performances we've ever seen in the top flight - so the £200 million Beard thinks they need to build it has gone down the drain already has it? £80 million from the Premier League, £120 million borrowed - and nothing to show for it.
If the debt is stadium-related, how can it be in QPR's accounts, when it doesn't exist, and the Club won't even own it when it does.
We moved out in the early sixties and returned. Soon after, Gregory wanted to move us out again in 1967, but we didn't go. He and Marler tried closing us down in 1987 to get their hands on Craven Cottage, and that didn't happen. Wright wanted us to go to Milton Keynes but THAT didn't happen. And Paladini and others have mooted moves to just about everywhere including Hammersmith Park, Unigate, White City.
Build support through brilliance on the pitch and, like Arsenal, we'll know how many supporters we have and the size of ground we need, from ticket sales and whatever size waiting list we have now.
The only explanation for not doing it that way is that they don't know how. Any number of people know how to put up a building. VIrtually nobody knows how to succeed in football.
And the number of people who know how to transform a Club the size of QPR to a 'world class football' outfit (Bhatia/Fernandes) is, as far as I can make out, zero. They could learn the game, find out what it takes, find out whether it is possible for us to do this, and build on that.
Clubs with smaller Grounds than the giants are more successful at the moment. Clubs with bigger grounds than ours fill the second tier below us.
All they have to do is play superbly enough for long enough to get 22,000 on the waiting list, and 40,000 will look reasonable.
The problem will remain the same for a new LR-type ground of 30,000, although it will be less empty if we don't have the support.
And developers and chairmen, judging by the grounds round the country, and the lack of atmosphere reported at the Bridge, Arsenal's, Newcastle's, are not interested in the qualities supporters value. | | | |
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