Totally agree..
The bottom line is there’s no sugar daddy coming over the hill to rescue the financial situation..
It’s down to us….. that’s Michael Carter, John Minards, the people who work at the club, some as volunteers and us the fans all pulling in the same direction with a positive attitude..

You'd know old love.

Mackie has stuck it right up our kyber pass and it hurts mackie pay the bloody lot we were promised a new stadium but now where asking fans for money to redevelop the west terrace utta bull

Mackie has stuck it right up our kyber pass and it hurts mackie pay the bloody lot we were promised a new stadium but now where asking fans for money to redevelop the west terrace utta bull

Mackie has stuck it right up our kyber pass and it hurts mackie pay the bloody lot we were promised a new stadium but now where asking fans for money to redevelop the west terrace utta bull

Mackie has stuck it right up our kyber pass and it hurts mackie pay the bloody lot we were promised a new stadium but now where asking fans for money to redevelop the west terrace utta bull

Wasn't worth saying once let alone four times.

I was just looking back and the initial stadium we were supposed to get cost 12 million to build in its entirety.

Fast forward 10 years and 12 million + only gets us likely around 1/4-1/3 of what we were getting for 12 million.

Have costs really tripled and more since then? When you look at what we were getting for 12 million to essentially getting one and a bit stands it seems a wide gap.

Maybe it’s a much improved spec I don’t know.

Steel, labour and just general materials have gone up ridiculous in the last 2 years never mind 10

Trust me it was never going to cost that. The last official figure I saw for NM was 18 million and that was about 2010.

What you’ve also got to remember is that at NM we were tenants, at BV we will own it. So despite what cosmic cat states in the long term it’s a far better deal.

Every penny that is spent at BV goes to the club.

It’s not just the obvious either. That car park and fanzone - farmers market once a month - easy money. You wouldn’t be able to do that at NM. Probably be a grand a month, not huge but it’s 12k a year we don’t have now.

For all the glory these are things clubs like Wigan or Hull who rent just can’t do. Imagination is all it takes.

I can definitely see the benefits of us owning the land and stadium but do “all” monies go to the club?

Im mainly talking the gym memberships and community use though here. Unless it’s an agreement we provide and run the services yet retain all profits/moneys.

Your right though as we do own it and if we can manage to make it profitable and maximise any earnings outside of match day it could spur on money for further player investment and near future stadium improvements. There’s even sponsorship opportunities which could probably bring in a few more thousands.

I think it will really help in attracting some players to the club too.

I'm pretty sure the club will keep all the income (including the £2m grant from the council). The prices we can charge for the community facilities are limited, however, to the going rate by the council.
How the club arrange food/drink profits is also down to them - sub-contract or keep in-house?

I think Carter and Mynards are shrewd businessmen so I would hope whatever we do we maximise it’s potential. Hopefully that will get re-invested into the first team and academy and we can see some success on the pitch which will ultimately spur us on.

I hope the club use this new development to develop a strong professional culture at the club.

The facilities in the stand and refurbished will be improved light years from what we currently have available. Inclusive of 4G Pitch, expanded gym on site, new changing facilities and what looks like new meeting rooms in the new stand etc too.

From a player point of view it will most likely be a much more enjoyable and professional environment.

Without wanting to sound patronising its a very easy formula to work out.

The East stand is the key. At present it contains zero facilities. Its only income stream is match-day seats, it doesn’t even have genuine food and drink outlets.

The new stand will cost the club nothing, there are no repayments. So from day one it’s making money. Apart from doubling the potential seating income, with all the add ons like bars etc it probably makes each seat 25% more profitable, maybe more. Whist the 24/7 nature of the new structure makes for another vastly improved revenue stream. Again I must point out that the club will not be paying a single penny more for all this in terms of loans etc than it does now. It’s an instant cash cow if done right.

Ditto the old clubhouse and flats. As part of a vastly improved environment most notably the car park - there ability to generate income also becomes greatly enhanced. Suddenly a party or even a wedding at the BV flats no longer appears the horror show it is now.

The North stands revenue creation depends more on how the club is performing on the pitch. I’ll put it this way, if you don’t attend regularly you are far more likely to if the team is winning and your no longer at risk of breaking an ankle.

The pitch and what they do with it is the most interesting and it’s clearly the main community element. Go artificial and the usability is almost endless and the returns are high.

Back to the East stand. The shear attractiveness of this new frontage will be the key imho. BV has never had a decent main road frontage. Thus it has never really had a presence in the city. The new stand will instantly become iconic. You won’t be able to miss it where as now most people pass BV and even if they do notice it they don’t believe such a dump could be the home of a famous RL club. At last the club will have a base of operation and a certain grandeur it so lacks at present.

So finally, all the above attracts money. Many people are fickle and attracted to image. The new BV like it or not will attract the bandwagon jumping prawn sandwich brigade but it’s their money that will make the difference. So as a diehard I say welcome aboard and hand over your disposable income as soon as possible.

As much as I agree with all that, and that Monday will be a significant day in the history of the club, I still don't feel we are on the sunlit uplands yet. It will be great to see physical progress start next week, but it'll be at least 12 months before we start reaping the benefits. Next year could still be the toughest yet. Reduced capacity could well hit us hard. The hardcore fans will have to dig deep and redouble their efforts.
Saying that, the value of the assets of the club have shot through the roof recently. 6 or 7 years ago the only value was the players' contracts and our place in the top flight. The club didn't really own anything and we should be thankful and celebrate that progress.
The Future looks bright, but we've got some distance to go yet.

I agree with all the above apart from one word.
Potentially

All the benefits listed are there for us, but we have to sell it. They won't just drag money in because we have nice seats and a few nice meeting rooms. They need to be marketed and sold.. ..and maintained.
So not quite free money. Potential increase in revenue.

Of course it’s not free. However with all the will in the world you can’t sell what you don’t have. We will soon have it and will be in with a fighting chance at last.

One thing I do know is that the city of Wakefield is woefully short of venues like ours so we have the market more or less to ourselves. So no excuses.

Be a lot easier selling corporate facilities in an up to date ground!
The staff have worked wonders in recent years getting businesses involved in Belle Vue the dump. How much easier will it be to tempt people in to nice surroundings!

Exactly.

Never a truer saying than money follows money.

The improvements will take the ground out of the basket case category.
All we need then is some kind of investor who thinks, "tell you what, with a little investment in the western terrace, that could be a tidy stadium "

That’s almost certainly the aim.

Once two stands are done and the income steams are better then it starts to become tempting.

I’m not sure the west terrace will be high on the list other than maybe a tidy up. The problem with the west stand is that it’s hemmed in and can only take a modest upgrade. One that sadly will not improve the revenue stream enough to pay for itself let alone make a profit.

What you will get is investment in players. Then maybe if we gain success you might get more demand and then the redevelopment of the west stand might make sense.

All the same further council investment may be the real way forward on the ground.

The Benidorm flats are a complete joke who bloody hell wants a wedding reception there no nobody bull

Wow even for you that’s missing the point. Somebody on a budget might we are not all as high and mighty as you.

However I was actually thinking of the new 250 seat function room in the new stand.

I’ve asked this before but are you well?