TYNECASTLE STADIUM UPGRADE POTENTIAL - UEFA category 4 granted ( updated/merged )

[OTT]

34 minutes ago, Clerry Jambo said:

Nothing wrong with suggestion mate but the club are having difficulty getting the seats occupied currently and with reduced capacity for away fans we are probably fine as we are just now 

 

Think the opposite - having to reduce away capacity because of increased demand suggests we need to be considering expansion. 

 

Also think it gives the club an air of excitement and a buzz about it - a feeling of continuing to move forward - not staying still etc. 

 

Obviously funding it is the crux of the issue though, and that is no small task!  Maybe Ann can catch Mr Anderson on a good day  

[OTT]

1 minute ago, johnking123 said:

Think new training complex will eat up our extra funds.

 

We've just bought the Bistro from the Hearts Standard article, so I think we're semi-serious about staying at Riccarton if the right sort of deal can be done - although in fairness, I expect we're looking to expand the facilities so either way £££ will be spent. 

[stirlo]

The problem is that with our current turnover we're still miles behind the Old Firm and even very middle-of-the-road European teams. So unless there is a plan to significantly increase turnover, 4-0 and 5-1 defeats in Europe and 3-1 defeats in semi-finals to Rangers will remain par for the course. 

 

I just cannot see a way to increase turnover in a meaningful and sustainable way that doesn't involve selling more tickets for games and growing the fanbase.  

Edited November 15, 2023 by stirlo

[johnking123]

1 hour ago, OTT said:

 

We've just bought the Bistro from the Hearts Standard article, so I think we're semi-serious about staying at Riccarton if the right sort of deal can be done - although in fairness, I expect we're looking to expand the facilities so either way £££ will be spent. 

Think we want to expand out the back. Next to car park. Would be good if we could do that. Save us over £10 million 

[mitch41]

On 12/09/2023 at 14:25, Selkirkhmfc1874 said:

Went to watch our B Team play at gala few weeks ago and folk were drinking during the game 

Aye drinking cola…………………….right 😎

[mitch41]

2 hours ago, stirlo said:

The problem is that with our current turnover we're still miles behind the Old Firm and even very middle-of-the-road European teams. So unless there is a plan to significantly increase turnover, 4-0 and 5-1 defeats in Europe and 3-1 defeats in semi-finals to Rangers will remain par for the course. 

 

I just cannot see a way to increase turnover in a meaningful and sustainable way that doesn't involve selling more tickets for games and growing the fanbase.  

It would help if we stopped signing duds. 

[XB52]

4 hours ago, chrisyboy7 said:

With the accounts published it's clear to see that we have spent the extra income well...there has been lots of investment in infrastructure....but after the hotel is complete the stadium needs an increase in capacity or we are completely stuffed as far as growth goes....I know these things are expensive but I hope next year the club look at anyway possible for us to continue in this great journey and continue to grow the fan base. Having an increase in around 5k would bring in huge returns.  

Great idea. I'm surprised you haven't mentioned it before

[stirlo]

9 hours ago, mitch41 said:

It would help if we stopped signing duds. 

 

No disagreement from me on that. I've said many times on here that some of the recent recruitment has been nowhere near good enough even taking account of the financial context we are currently operating in.

[Jambo61]

14 hours ago, OTT said:

 

The costs to do anything are likely to be astronomical, but if we want to grow we need to figure it out. 

 

Smart people on the board for once, hopefully they can work out the best approach to delivering a massively expanded Wheatfield. 

Restrict season tickets to those under 7 stone and put in twice as many small seats!

[chrisyboy7]

11 hours ago, XB52 said:

Great idea. I'm surprised you haven't mentioned it before

Haha...you are correct...I suppose its good to keep a debate that points important things out for the club going forward....however...my question should come up at the club/board meeting soon  so I've been told. I love my club but the thought of being stuck where we are when it has a brilliant chance to grow further,  like it has over the last 10 years saddens me. 

I'm eternally grateful in the way we have all be galvanised and the position the club is in now compared to a decade ago. But we must never rest....anyway have a good day.

[King Of The Cat Cafe]

1 hour ago, Jambo61 said:

Restrict season tickets to those under 7 stone and put in twice as many small seats!

We could have a seat-sharing system - I mean two people in each seat.

I'll happily share my seat with another Jambo, as long as she is five-footish, under 60kg, brunette (blonde at a pinch).

Might make things hard, but it'll take my mind off some eye-bleeding action on the pitch.

[Section Q]

The FoH contributions alone would support and service a loan of £10m+ ...

If it was used to increase capacity by around 5,000 it would be money well spent.

Don't ask me how to increase capacity................It might get impossible......

[OTT]

7 minutes ago, King Of The Cat Cafe said:

We could have a seat-sharing system - I mean two people in each seat.

I'll happily share my seat with another Jambo, as long as she is five-footish, under 60kg, brunette (blonde at a pinch).

Might make things hard, but it'll take my mind off some eye-bleeding action on the pitch.

 

Such a martyr!  

[Fxxx the SPFL]

Any word on the hotel opening date, iv'e signed up for emails. We're at the Hogmanay gig at the Skyline so was hoping to book a night in the hotel.

[upgotheheads]

44 minutes ago, Section Q said:

The FoH contributions alone would support and service a loan of £10m+ ...

If it was used to increase capacity by around 5,000 it would be money well spent.

Don't ask me how to increase capacity................It might get impossible......

It's very difficult to see how that could be done, given the tight nature of the site. I have suggested filling the corners, which would need the re-engineering of the stanchions to involve some kind of cantilever structure. The only other way forward would be another level on the Wheatfield stand, again with quite a major re-engineering and costs. If we increase the capacity we should also increase the pitch size to make it available for top-level international football. It's difficult to see how an extra 5k capacity would justify the cost, unfortunately.

[droid]

On 16/09/2023 at 08:27, brownkg said:

I am sure the barrier takes up about 18 seats out of 28 in a row and I am  sure it would be equally effective if it was only 10 seats wide thus freeing up about 200 more seats for home fans . That equates to about 80k income over a season a figure not to be sneezed at.

A big perspex wall like the one at Feyenoord would do the job. Probably the width of a seat.

[TWF]

3 hours ago, Jambo61 said:

Restrict season tickets to those under 7 stone and put in twice as many small seats!

With a height restriction of 5 foot 5 inches so as to provide unrestricted viewing. Aye Right

 

[Fxxx the SPFL]

16 minutes ago, R9. said:

Do a Kevin Locke ( Gary’s twin ) and sleep in the 18 yard box he done that in 98 😂

good idea will take a sleeping bag a double you never know who might be looking for company 

[Sooks]

It really is a dog chasing its tail this topic . I doubt it is impossible to increase it , just very expensive and probably that makes it financially unviable as we would not be earning more from it than we spent ………….. unless of course benefactors just say **** it - here is a blank cheque , get it done 

[TheBigO]

18 hours ago, OTT said:

 

The costs to do anything are likely to be astronomical, but if we want to grow we need to figure it out. 

 

Smart people on the board for once, hopefully they can work out the best approach to delivering a massively expanded Wheatfield. 

Smaller seats.

 

You're welcome.

[indianajones]

8 minutes ago, TheBigO said:

Smaller seats.

 

You're welcome.

 

And strict diet plans as we're all fat bassas.

 

Vegan low calorie pies too. 

[TheBigO]

1 minute ago, indianajones said:

 

And strict diet plans as we're all fat bassas.

 

Vegan low calorie pies too. 

Well yes, the season tickets would be means tested on erse width.

[Percival King]

1 hour ago, Sooks said:

It really is a dog chasing its tail this topic . I doubt it is impossible to increase it , just very expensive and probably that makes it financially unviable as we would not be earning more from it than we spent ………….. unless of course benefactors just say **** it - here is a blank cheque , get it done 

You're no doubt absolutely right but is that a good enough reason not to add another 100+ pages to this thread?

[kingantti1874]

1 hour ago, Sooks said:

It really is a dog chasing its tail this topic . I doubt it is impossible to increase it , just very expensive and probably that makes it financially unviable as we would not be earning more from it than we spent ………….. unless of course benefactors just say **** it - here is a blank cheque , get it done 

Agreed.  The question is how long does it take to get a return on investment.  Usually if it’s more than 7 years it’s risky depending on where the funding has come from.
 

If we could get to 30k for £25m, confident we can fill

it with extra hospitality and more hotel rooms and it pays back within 7 years then it’s worth it.

 

if we could only get to 25k and we weren’t confident, with no more hospitality or hotel space then it’s probably not. 
 

In Scottish football with current limitations then I don’t think it’s worth it.  However, we will also never be able to get closer to the old firm 

[HopeDiouf]

4 minutes ago, kingantti1874 said:

Agreed.  The question is how long does it take to get a return on investment.  Usually if it’s more than 7 years it’s risky depending on where the funding has come from.
 

If we could get to 30k for £25m, confident we can fill

it with extra hospitality and more hotel rooms and it pays back within 7 years then it’s worth it.

 

if we could only get to 25k and we weren’t confident, with no more hospitality or hotel space then it’s probably not. 
 

In Scottish football with current limitations then I don’t think it’s worth it.  However, we will also never be able to get closer to the old firm 

for me, it's required for us to move up a level.  Mercer and others knew this from business side.  I'm sure our current board do as well.  hard to get any return on any investment atm. we're doing plenty good stuff to grow the customer base, but we've no room for more customers.  

 

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by HopeDiouf

[Sooks]

20 minutes ago, kingantti1874 said:

Agreed.  The question is how long does it take to get a return on investment.  Usually if it’s more than 7 years it’s risky depending on where the funding has come from.
 

If we could get to 30k for £25m, confident we can fill

it with extra hospitality and more hotel rooms and it pays back within 7 years then it’s worth it.

 

if we could only get to 25k and we weren’t confident, with no more hospitality or hotel space then it’s probably not. 
 

In Scottish football with current limitations then I don’t think it’s worth it.  However, we will also never be able to get closer to the old firm 

It all just depends for me . We are fan owned and we possibly have an opportunity to grow our support and attendance 

 

Okay it may not bring in more income because we are paying it off , but more seats and a bigger support gives us potential to be better

 

IF we could get five years of benefactor contributions diverted towards increasing our capacity at Tynecastle to around 35 thousand then we would have that extra income coming in season upon season when it was built . We would also be able to make sure all Hearts supporters can come and watch us which we cannot right now . We also would not have to pay the money back 

 

It really would be the best use of benefactor money imo , but we are not in a position to tell a kind and rich benefactor what to do . I am just grateful that he thinks enough of us to keep doing what he does 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Sooks

[Watt-Zeefuik]

4 hours ago, Section Q said:

The FoH contributions alone would support and service a loan of £10m+ ...

If it was used to increase capacity by around 5,000 it would be money well spent.

Don't ask me how to increase capacity................It might get impossible......

 

Unfortunately we'd be likely having to shell out £3-5m alone to do land acquisition, limited demo, and COMAH remediation before we even spent a dime on new construction. With that, it's not likely to be cost effective to just add 5k.

 

1 hour ago, kingantti1874 said:

Agreed.  The question is how long does it take to get a return on investment.  Usually if it’s more than 7 years it’s risky depending on where the funding has come from.
 

If we could get to 30k for £25m, confident we can fill

it with extra hospitality and more hotel rooms and it pays back within 7 years then it’s worth it.

 

if we could only get to 25k and we weren’t confident, with no more hospitality or hotel space then it’s probably not. 
 

In Scottish football with current limitations then I don’t think it’s worth it.  However, we will also never be able to get closer to the old firm 

 

I think it's more likely to be £40m to get to 30k. I think this would be worth it (unpopular opinion but giving visiting fans, including the nasties, the full Roseburn is unfortunate but it does mean taking a lot more of their money). But financing it will be very tricky.

 

As I've said before I'd like it if we had a plan in place to do this but waited until credit markets and construction costs were more favorable.