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Post by bucky on Nov 7, 2018 9:43:41 GMT
Rovers are hindered Laird by our beautiful but crumbling ground and having to rely on football alone for our sole income. Have a look at this from my local Club Broxburn Athletic and have a look at their facilities :- busc.org.uk/I can't list everything they host at the Club but it ranges from Ukulele classed to Zumba classes and everything in between. It used by various Hibs ladies teams and all of the Broxburn Colt teams as well as Livingston reserves. Among the facilities are a 3G pitch,10 changing rooms, Sports Injury Clinic, physiotherapy room, multi-purpose community room, Tae Kwan Do and Judo clubs and the Boxing Club has it's own separate pavilion within the ground. They have revenue coming in all year round apart from 5 days when the Club is closed. There are 3 primary schools in the town all of which have forged strong links to the Club to such an extent that virtually every child attends the Club in some shape or form for a sporting activity. Coatbridge is crying out for something like this and this would be something that would put ARFC at the forefront of the Community. I would love to see something like this happen to Rovers. Rovers under Frank , Lew and Robert were a whisker away from getting something similar with NLC which would have meant a new community stadium at Kirkwood Sports Barn while Cliftonhill was redeveloped for housing. The credit crunch and financial crash of 2008 put the kybosh on it. One thing I would bear in mind is the value of Cliftonhill is not near what some fans think. Which is why I think a new stadium move is anywhere near the offing.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 12:29:52 GMT
Wasn't aware that Frank Meade was around THAT long but upon a quick google.....I found this article Frank Meade hero
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Post by tommysermanni on Nov 7, 2018 14:29:40 GMT
I'm not an expert but hasn't there been a gradual but significant upturn in the housing market since 2008 ?
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Post by harriskid44 on Nov 7, 2018 14:47:30 GMT
We wont sell cliffton hill, we just need a money guy thats going to put money into the club, and some money to upgrade the stadium.
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Post by bucky on Nov 7, 2018 14:53:15 GMT
I'm not an expert but hasn't there been a gradual but significant upturn in the housing market since 2008 ? There has been an upturn but the proposals that I mentioned involving Frank would need Council money. Also I was reminded by a Rovers supporter this morning that since then St Ambrose and St Andrews has been built and are the community facilities. Rovers have missed the boat and there is zero chance of council money.
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Post by d7 on Nov 7, 2018 17:17:47 GMT
It does all seem to come down to money, which isn't rocket science really. First game of the season against Edinburgh I ended up parking next to a close relative of the manager - don't want to give the entire game away about who it was. Anyway, as we were walking into the stadium they mentioned how the chairman had said that if the team stayed up last season then there would be money made available to make a real challenge for the L2 title. Seems Edinburgh are now paying top wages for L2. No idea if that is right or not but it probably makes sense.
Being realistic Rovers were always going to find themselves in this position - ie bottom or nearly bottom of the league - at some point in the coming years. And even if by some miracle we end up staying in L2 this season we'll be here again soon enough. We're not alone in that position and the likes of Clyde, QP, Berwick, Cowdenbeath (again) and Stirling are all going to be vulnerable.
There's plenty hard core fans on this site, all doing their bit, in different ways maybe, to support the Rovers. But without wider support and decent revenue streams we'll be f*cked sooner or later.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 17:50:09 GMT
you are right D7 no club has a right to stay in the league and if another team goes down like East Stirling they will have themself to blame god knows we already have enough of an advantage over the team that has to travel the length of Scotland to play a playoff semi final while we would get a week of rest, so if the Senior team goes down it's on them no one else
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2018 1:16:10 GMT
The truth is it appears the club is pretty rudderless.
It has basically been running hand to mouth for one reason or another. RB focused on getting debt down which is commendable but dangerous. Austerity is good in theory but inevitably becomes false economy. There’s no point paying loans off early only to get relegated and cut off the SPFL money.
My own opinion is if the board had found extra funds last year when it was clear we needed an experienced keeper to replace Bowman we would’ve stayed up & there wouldn’t have been an issue this year.
That said , it’s done and can’t be changed but There appears to be no 1,3,5,10 year plan in place. Who’s driving commercial revenue, what being done to attract the business community. Might seem harsh but why do we always have people painting the steps etc but not the GD lounge. As well as the pitch being a hub for the community the game & lounge should also be.
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Post by mildrover on Nov 10, 2018 19:54:00 GMT
In view of the success which this Club have achieved this Season so far would it be ludicrous of me to suggest that a couple of our Directors pay a fact finding visit to this Club to see how they have managed to be so successful. We are never to old to learn and they are obviously doing something right whilst we are obviously not. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I took up John's suggestion and spoke to several of the Edinburgh City directors today about their success this season( I decided to save money on the fact finding trip in the name of austerity). Basically they have said that they have had a bit of extra money invested this year but not a lot and have decided to invest that in a small squad focussing on some quality rather than a larger number of players. Also , whilst they have to pay to share with Spartans, they don't have the costs and challenges associated with a 99 year old stadium. Ronnie
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