The Stadium

[Shaka]

Like St Mirren basically? I'd tan my wrists if we end up somewhere like that.

 

Explain this for me please.

 

Not like St Mirren, Look at the link, thats a FAR superior stadium then St Midden Stadium

 

And as for the other point?

 

South Stand - Poorly built, huge stand blocking sunlight onto pitch creating big problems, went for cheap option by designing in house (using Bill Dickie)

 

East Stand - Cheap option, put seats on an old terrace. Now roof is falling apart,pish floods the walkway cause toilets are crap,generally a midden. Also poor sightlines

 

Plus we have extensive,expensive + regular fireproofing to be done in the South,Cooper + Main Stands. If we used good quality instead of cheap quality in construction of the South + Cooper stands,the steel wouldnt be rusting to fuck+ this would not need to be done,or at very worst,done far less regularly,

[Albi]

4 single terrace stands of 18-20 rows giving a capacity around the 10k-12k mark

Yesterdays crowd was 3,500. The crowd at the last game vs Dundee United (in November and not on TV) was 4,500.

 

I agree with the other points but we only need the SPL's minimum amount of seats (6,500?). That's more than enough.

[Onthefringes]

Plus we have extensive,expensive + regular fireproofing to be done in the South,Cooper + Main Stands. If we used good quality instead of cheap quality in construction of the South + Cooper stands,the steel wouldnt be rusting to fuck+ this would not need to be done,or at very worst,done far less regularly,

It's done less than regularly

[Jonesy]

If we used good quality instead of cheap quality in construction

 

 

Any new stadium will be built on the cheap as well. So the quality of the materials or workmanship wont be any better than the South/Cooper, and will be rusting to fuck in a few years as well.

[Shaka]

Yesterdays crowd was 3,500. The crowd at the last game vs Dundee United (in November and not on TV) was 4,500.

 

I agree with the other points but we only need the SPL's minimum amount of seats (6,500?). That's more than enough.

 

not really,then you miss out on big matches, it wouldnt cost very much more building stands a bit bigger and it costs nothing to close one for some games where the crowd could be low. Plus 10k-12k could bring in cup semis/u-21 games etc which in turn bring in more money

[Dee]

I'd rather not move from Fir Park. It's completely ridiculous that any Motherwell fan would want to move to Ravenscraig!

[Shaka]

Any new stadium will be built on the cheap as well. So the quality of the materials or workmanship wont be any better than the South/Cooper, and will be rusting to fuck in a few years as well.

 

 

anything built by Barr etc would be guaranteed for 20-25 years at least,therefor if things started falling apart after 10-15 years, They would be liable to fix,not the club

[fatcalf]

Not like St Mirren, Look at the link, thats a FAR superior stadium then St Midden Stadium

Looks a lot like St Mirren to me.

Was down at Blackpool last week, they're 3/4 of the way round building their new stadium on the same site, but the amount of rust visible on the first stands built was noted straight away by my kids. Don't know when the first stands were built but just goes to show.

[Jonesy]

So what do we do in 21/26 years time when it starts falling to bits, and we are back where we started.

 

 

Anyone know who was involved in the construction of the South and Cooper stands?

[mjw]

Until someone with a healthy bank account steps up and starts writing cheques we will have to make do with what we have so all this talk of moving is pure fantasy.

[Shaka]

Looks a lot like St Mirren to me.

Was down at Blackpool last week, they're 3/4 of the way round building their new stadium on the same site, but the amount of rust visible on the first stands built was noted straight away by my kids. Don't know when the first stands were built but just goes to show.

 

 

Have heard that from Blackpool fans, they did the same as us and used a cheap company (think they went bust since) to build the first phase of that stand,they used cheap steel and the stand looks like shit and is rusted to fuck now, its less than 5 years old as well

[Ernie]

anything built by Barr etc would be guaranteed for 20-25 years at least,therefor if things started falling apart after 10-15 years, They would be liable to fix,not the club

 

Guarantees from construction companies only guarantee that they will try their best to avoid admitting it was their fault and get you to pay for it.

[fizoxy]

I have the feeling that if another club had our stadium and pitch we'd be constantly ripping the pish out of them for their shit stadium and pitch. Aye, Fir Park has character, but so does Pete Postlethwaite's face.

 

The who "soulless" and "legoland" tags get on my nerves as well. All empty stadiums are soulless, and any collection of four stands filled with rows of seats is going to look kind of lego-like. I don't want an architectural masterpiece (in motherwell!?!?) I just want something functional.

 

Our stadium is not fit for purpose anymore. The deomographic has changed, more people drive now, and there are more forms of entertainment to compete with, so we need a facility which is more accessible and comfortable. We also need to maximise our income, and find novel ways to bring money into the club. Fir Park limits us in this capacity, and we have the added issue of the place costing us a fortune just to keep it as it is.

 

How we go about doing this is another issue!

[Onthefringes]

As I understand it Motherwell cannot sell the land on as it came as part of a bequest from the Dalziel family and this includes a clause that says the land must be used for recreation/leisure purposes

Discussed before, many a change in policies and behavior of society supercedes. An act of local government changing land use would hold no fear for the developing company... a lot more commonplace than you may think and I'd suspect there are many at North Lanarkshire Council would be easily swayed

[Ernie]

Have heard that from Blackpool fans, they did the same as us and used a cheap company (think they went bust since) to build the first phase of that stand,they used cheap steel and the stand looks like shit and is rusted to fuck now, its less than 5 years old as well

 

For any building in the UK materials must be used to the standard and quality that is specified by the structural engineers. By the way because a company goes bust it doesn't mean that they were cheap.

[Shaka]

For any building in the UK materials must be used to the standard and quality that is specified by the structural engineers. By the way because a company goes bust it doesn't mean that they were cheap.

 

 

didnt say they went bust cause they were cheap, just saying i was sure they have gone bust since building the stadium. According to the blackpol fans tho it was a job done on the cheap tho which was what i was getting at

[airfinz]

anything built by Barr etc would be guaranteed for 20-25 years at least,therefor if things started falling apart after 10-15 years, They would be liable to fix,not the club

Try 5 years defects liability; it aint PFI!

[Ernie]

didnt say they went bust cause they were cheap, just saying i was sure they have gone bust since building the stadium. According to the blackpol fans tho it was a job done on the cheap tho which was what i was getting at

 

If the materials used were those specified and those recommended then they would be within budget. Every firm/ constructor/ client tries the best to get the materials at the most competitive price but this does not mean they are cheap. Before anyone mentions poor workmanship it is harder to get away with this due to the increase in quality control measures across the whole industry. Construction is unfortunately like education everybody knows what it is all about and they can all have an informed opinion

[dosser1886]

so my plan above would work a treat (basically Weston Homes Stadium with some little tweaks)

 

FFS, you must be joking.

[carlukemurray]

Interesting thread.

 

I wouldn't be against a move to a new stadium, but I would think that the site Motherwell have couldn't be bettered. Unless rail links were close to the new ground.

 

Why is it only in the last 2-3 seasons that the lack of sunlight on the South Stand side of the pitch has been an issue?

 

Never used to have any problems with the pitch.

[Ernie]

Interesting thread.

 

I wouldn't be against a move to a new stadium, but I would think that the site Motherwell have couldn't be bettered. Unless rail links were close to the new ground.

 

Why is it only in the last 2-3 seasons that the lack of sunlight on the South Stand side of the pitch has been an issue?

 

Never used to have any problems with the pitch.

 

I think it is more to do with the higher water table than the lack of sunlight. I am sure that I read that as a reason for the digging out of the pitch last summer but I could be wrong.

[cambo97]

Try 5 years defects liability; it aint PFI!

 

Never heard of a 5 year defect liability period, 1 year is the norm, with only 6 months on smaller projects.

 

Most defects due to workmanship will appear within the first year after that it is more likely design issues, which the contractor would not be liable for unless it's also designed by them.

[lonewolf]

I really don't like the idea of moving to a stadium along the lines of St Mirren Park. I can't see why Motherwell can't aim for a unique 10,000 seater stadium along the lines of the ones in mainland europe. Something like the Finnair Stadium in Helsinki would be my idea of a new ground. A big main stand,no big gaps at the corners and can fit 10,770 folk. I know it's unlikely but whenever it gets built as long as it's not like the other new stadiums in the SPL I'll be happy.

 

[johnstone]

Christ all that puts us to shame.

 

We should start using the facilities up at Ravenscraig and also build a new stadium up there too. Not often you get the chance to build on a blank canvas.

 

If we had something like the picture above I would be fair chuffed.

[Haggischomper]

Why is it only in the last 2-3 seasons that the lack of sunlight on the South Stand side of the pitch has been an issue?

 

Never used to have any problems with the pitch.

 

It's been getting worse and worse ever since that stand went up. Used to be such a good surface too, before the government decided we had to build seated stands and the SPL decreed we needed undersoil heating. Not just OUR fault....those other bodies have a bit of culpability too.