Jambomuzz Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I know hibs are not in as much debt as us, but Iv been wondering how they thought it would be a viable option to upgrade a stand? They never have a full ground, even at home Derby games and against Rangers and Celtic. So how do the expect to fund the running costs of a brand new stand if they are not going to be filling it regularly. I was watching the highlights of the rangers game, and to be fair you cant see much of the stands, but from what you can see, the attendance towards the front few rows looked appalling. Your thoughts? PS..Spelling is not my forte! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboAl Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I know hibs are not in as much debt as us, but Iv been wondering how they thought it would be a viable option to upgrade a stand? They never have a full ground, even at home Derby games and against Rangers and Celtic. So how do the expect to fund the running costs of a brand new stand if they are not going to be filling it regularly. I was watching the highlights of the rangers game, and to be fair you cant see much of the stands, but from what you can see, the attendance towards the front few rows looked appalling. Your thoughts? PS..Spelling is not my forte! Because with the conveyor belt of highly skilled talent continually coming through and the free flowing football they play, it is only a matter of time before the capital's OF fans decide to stay in town and watch the prospective European, sorry World, champions play in the flesh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambomuzz Posted August 25, 2010 Author Share Posted August 25, 2010 Because with the conveyor belt of highly skilled talent continually coming through and the free flowing football they play, it is only a matter of time before the capital's OF fans decide to stay in town and watch the prospective European, sorry World, champions play in the flesh. As much as your comment is overused and didnt make me laugh, I really want some serious idea's, Im not here to bash hibs, I just want to know how they can afford to keep a stand running when not filling thier ground even close to full every other week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davieholt Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Because with the conveyor belt of highly skilled talent continually coming through and the free flowing football they play, it is only a matter of time before the capital's OF fans decide to stay in town and watch the prospective European, sorry World, champions play in the flesh. . . under floodlights ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmeladent?rtchen Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I think Rod Petrie has done quite well with Hibs. He slowly got rid of the debt, built the stand, and now I expect him to work hard to fill it. Will take time but they have something to grow into and without any debt they can work on funding a good squad. Worrying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gods a Jambo Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I know hibs are not in as much debt as us, but Iv been wondering how they thought it would be a viable option to upgrade a stand? They never have a full ground, even at home Derby games and against Rangers and Celtic. So how do the expect to fund the running costs of a brand new stand if they are not going to be filling it regularly. I was watching the highlights of the rangers game, and to be fair you cant see much of the stands, but from what you can see, the attendance towards the front few rows looked appalling. Your thoughts? PS..Spelling is not my forte! Must have watched a different game to me then mate. Behind the goals, the old cow shed was empty. When the camera followed the players out of the tunnel at the start of the game you could see the main stand has lots of large gaps in it. Granted the new stand had a decent capacity, but it should have been full considering the occasion. With regards to your original point, hibs will start to post a good few losses soon unless they go on a league winning run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambomuzz Posted August 25, 2010 Author Share Posted August 25, 2010 Must have watched a different game to me then mate. Behind the goals, the old cow shed was empty. When the camera followed the players out of the tunnel at the start of the game you could see the main stand has lots of large gaps in it. Granted the new stand had a decent capacity, but it should have been full considering the occasion. With regards to your original point, hibs will start to post a good few losses soon unless they go on a league winning run. Even it being Hibs, they must have had good financial advisors, that would have mentioned that if they cant fill the ground now on big games, then theres no need for a bigger stand. Im pretty sure, even when they were doing well last season, they were not filling the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Italian Lambretta Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 We can all mock their stand and the club as a whole, but they have done it the right way. Now the stand is built and paid for, they can concentrate on building the team over the next 5 years. They will be projecting an increase in attendance over that time. Really pisses me off that we are taking so long to get ours done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboAl Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 As much as your comment is overused and didnt make me laugh, I really want some serious idea's, Im not here to bash hibs, I just want to know how they can afford to keep a stand running when not filling thier ground even close to full every other week If you want a seious answer why don't you go on the weeteam.com site and ask them then or write to the club direct which would be better for you than ideas from HMFC supporters. There may a reference to this in their accounts which I suspect may be available on line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Croppers Handbag Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I think Rod Petrie has done quite well with Hibs. He slowly got rid of the debt, built the stand, and now I expect him to work hard to fill it. Will take time but they have something to grow into and without any debt they can work on funding a good squad. Worrying Sniff Sniff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Treasurer Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 The truth is they can't afford it. Tick tock , Flats , admunustrashun etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartsfc_fan Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Hibs were forced to rush into building one because the planning permission was due to run out (would've taken another season or two to get it again). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie Walnut Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I think you will find that "hibs have no debt" is another one of the myths. They do have a debt of around ?6 million with around ?2.5 million in cash through transfer sales sitting on the accounts. This does not include the funding of the new stand. But as any good hibs finacial expert will tell you it is not a debt when in mortgage form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Dover Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 We can all mock their stand and the club as a whole, but they have done it the right way. Now the stand is built and paid for, they can concentrate on building the team over the next 5 years. They will be projecting an increase in attendance over that time. Really pisses me off that we are taking so long to get ours done. Then the man doing the projections is clearly not a regular at Fester rd. However Petrie has been smart in looking outwards towards ER being a prime neutral venue for Cup Semis, Scotland youth and perhaps even minor Scotland 'A' team games ! They now have 4 modern stands, a capacity of 20k, and two of those stands with corporate facilities. However they are stil sh*te and if Rod ever gets himself on the top deck of an open top bus...........it will be to dish out leaflets for Edinburgh Festival attractions like Easter rd, Seaworld etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future is maroon Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Planning permission they were granted was due to run out so they decided to build it asap as otherwise they would have had to reapply which I think can be a time conusming application process - perhaps more time consuming now than when they last applied. (fact that there are quite a few flats round the stadium may mean the residents could have delayed the application process too I'd imagine as hardly like I'd want a massive stand blocking the daylight I previously had........then again the stand would be blocking my view of the pitch so maybe it would be a great idea after all) Think Rod is just seeing the pound signs - obviously thinks they will now be guaranteed to hold cup semi finals there every season or scotland b games etc not forgetting the ego boost it will be give him. As has been mentioned previously no way will they fill the stadium as from certain camera angles on Sunday large areas of empty seats could be seen in parts of the stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfairbairn Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Clubs shouldn't wait for crowds to increase before building infrastructure, it has to be there for any crowd increase to be accomodated. It's simple business sense and having a large, modern stadium is hugely useful, regardless of whether it's full every week. Added to the fact that construction costs were at a particularly low level, it would have been folly NOT to build it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Its amazing how manhy posters on this thread have a low post count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambomuzz Posted August 25, 2010 Author Share Posted August 25, 2010 Its amazing how manhy posters on this thread have a low post count. Im not too bothered if they are from the dark side, they are answering the questions better than most hearts fans here! Cheers everyone, for whoever you may support! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I know hibs are not in as much debt as us, but Iv been wondering how they thought it would be a viable option to upgrade a stand? They never have a full ground, even at home Derby games and against Rangers and Celtic. So how do the expect to fund the running costs of a brand new stand if they are not going to be filling it regularly. I was watching the highlights of the rangers game, and to be fair you cant see much of the stands, but from what you can see, the attendance towards the front few rows looked appalling. Your thoughts? PS..Spelling is not my forte! Hibs cleared the majority of their debt by selling the land behind the East stand - they got about ?10m i think. The money for the training pitches and the new stand would have come from the cash they've brought in by selling O'Connor, Murphy, Thompson, Whittaker, Fletcher and Brown - probably in the region of ?15m. Like him or loathe him you can't deny that Petrie has done well for them over the last few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clerry Jambo Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 The Tache has done a grand job business wise for the Hobos. He has brought in millions for the club, built a farm and now completed their stadium with minimum of fuss may I add. Legoland or not they will get BIG matches which will add to their income stream. They "appear" to be on a solid footing. Now our clubs finances have been very well documented with a debt frightning for a club of our size. But we wont go there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninja-lewis Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Possibly lower running costs as well? Can't imagine an old stand that's falling apart and a nightmare to maintain would be much cheaper than a fairly basic modern one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigieboy Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 It's probobly a good thing to finish the stadium but the massive gaps (in ALL three stands) will be funny as **** to look at for the rest of us. Even when they are doing well, hibs get around 11 000 of their own fans at ER. Doing badly & it's going to be like the hibs end of a Hampden semi. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie Walnut Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Its amazing how manhy posters on this thread have a low post count. Loser ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KilbrideJambo Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I was at a meeting in Easter Rd yesterday. I have to be honest and say the stadium and pitch looked good (sunshine helped) and the business facilities are very decent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super_vlad Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Planning permission they were granted was due to run out so they decided to build it asap as otherwise they would have had to reapply which I think can be a time conusming application process - perhaps more time consuming now than when they last applied. (fact that there are quite a few flats round the stadium may mean the residents could have delayed the application process too I'd imagine as hardly like I'd want a massive stand blocking the daylight I previously had........then again the stand would be blocking my view of the pitch so maybe it would be a great idea after all) Think Rod is just seeing the pound signs - obviously thinks they will now be guaranteed to hold cup semi finals there every season or scotland b games etc not forgetting the ego boost it will be give him. As has been mentioned previously no way will they fill the stadium as from certain camera angles on Sunday large areas of empty seats could be seen in parts of the stadium. The major thing was the planning persmission, if they had reapply the cost is Huge, but also they would have to pay for the trams cost. Hearts were hit with a 250,000 tram cost as part of our planning persemisson. Hibs would surly be hit with a even higher cost because of how close they run to ER ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheiky Baby Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Clubs shouldn't wait for crowds to increase before building infrastructure, it has to be there for any crowd increase to be accomodated. It's simple business sense and having a large, modern stadium is hugely useful, regardless of whether it's full every week. Added to the fact that construction costs were at a particularly low level, it would have been folly NOT to build it! Ever heard of supply and demand? Your fans certainly don't demand so don't give me 'business sense' crap Your team were rushed into it because they had to. Enjoy a half empty stadium this season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartsfc_fan Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Clubs shouldn't wait for crowds to increase before building infrastructure, it has to be there for any crowd increase to be accomodated. It's simple business sense and having a large, modern stadium is hugely useful, regardless of whether it's full every week. Added to the fact that construction costs were at a particularly low level, it would have been folly NOT to build it! Don't entirely agree with this. That's like saying, I want to have kids, so I'll buy myself a big car now (before the missus is even pregnant ). Man Utd increased the capacity of Old Trafford not long ago from 67,000 to 76,000. Why? Because it was sold out every week prior to that. Hibs would've been better spending the money on the team and then once they are recording high season ticket sales and sell outs each week, then would be the idea to increase capacity. Just my opinion. Playing in front of a half empty stadium when playing bottom 6 sides can only boost the opposition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hearts Machine Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Spoke to a hobbit at work (actually a semi-decent and realistic one) He states that any new planning application, due to the flats being private, and in place, meant that they would have only been allowed to build a new one with the same dimensions of the old. Fair play to him, he also stated that the inside of the new one is even worse than the pics. we have seen. He used the words "Industrial, basic, ugly, hollow. Bit like Bingo really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericb Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I believe (though dont know exactly) that Hibs have around 8K season tickets, 3K of them are in the new East Stand. As someone has previously said, they usually get around 11K for a Cat B game, so that gives them a 3K 'walk up' support. So lets assume they increase their walk up by 100% (which they won't) due to the fact they now have this state of the art place to sit , then that would give them an attendance of 14K. Still less than what we got v St J, and would make the place very reminiscent of Hampden!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgiewave Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Even it being Hibs, they must have had good financial advisors, that would have mentioned that if they cant fill the ground now on big games, then theres no need for a bigger stand. Im pretty sure, even when they were doing well last season, they were not filling the ground. They had lowish debt, sold a plot of land beside Easter Road, have sold a few players for a few million pounds, mainly to Celtic. The stand may well have been largely financed with credit, but given their generally healthy financial position, they may have found it easy to get and service a loan. They will clearly not sell out very often unless leading the league late in the season. They might sell out against us for "bigger" games, i.e., New Year derby, both going for third, etc., but for a run of the mill derby I think 15,000-17,500 will be the norm. The same for Rangers and Celtic I predict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrymas Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Its amazing how manhy posters on this thread have a low post count. well noticed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seymour M Hersh Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Spoke to a hobbit at work (actually a semi-decent and realistic one) He states that any new planning application, due to the flats being private, and in place, meant that they would have only been allowed to build a new one with the same dimensions of the old. Fair play to him, he also stated that the inside of the new one is even worse than the pics. we have seen. He used the words "Industrial, basic, ugly, hollow. Bit like Bingo really. Saw the intro to the game on Sunday when they (Sky cameras)were welcomed into the new shed by the gardner. Inside it looked just as you're hobo workmate described. But then the inside of their maccano stands are very unfinished as well. May it's the hubz way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartsfc_fan Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I believe (though dont know exactly) that Hibs have around 8K season tickets, 3K of them are in the new East Stand. As someone has previously said, they usually get around 11K for a Cat B game, so that gives them a 3K 'walk up' support. So lets assume they increase their walk up by 100% (which they won't) due to the fact they now have this state of the art place to sit , then that would give them an attendance of 14K. Still less than what we got v St J, and would make the place very reminiscent of Hampden!! So that gives them 5,000 season tickets in both the FF stand and the West stand (seems a bit spread out ) those two stands together probably hold near enough 10,000 yet only half is covered with season tickets. No wonder the FF stand looked rather empty against Rangers Like I said (and another guy mentioned) supply and demand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennyblack'sshot Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Then the man doing the projections is clearly not a regular at Fester rd. However Petrie has been smart in looking outwards towards ER being a prime neutral venue for Cup Semis, Scotland youth and perhaps even minor Scotland 'A' team games ! They now have 4 modern stands, a capacity of 20k, and two of those stands with corporate facilities. However they are stil sh*te and if Rod ever gets himself on the top deck of an open top bus...........it will be to dish out leaflets for Edinburgh Festival attractions like Easter rd, Seaworld etc Not sure ER is now suddenly anymore of a prime neutral venue than Tynecastle. Tynie get a lot of praise for its atmosphere even with one decrepit stand (although I like the old stand - it's a real throwback). Tynecastle has hosted neutral semis and Scotland youth games and Tynecastle will always have an advantage atmosphere-wise due to the spectators being so close to the action. As for Scotland 'A' games, the SFA should take them around Scotland but they spent all that cash on Hampden and so are very unlikely to do so. Hibs have done well to sort their infrastructure out (and have used it as an excuse for not performing on the park - now what will they do!) but "4 modern stands" doesn't in itself mean anything. St Mirren have 4 modern stands! Easter Rd is now just another cookie cutter football stadium with arguably a worse atmosphere than before given that a lot of Hibees were very fond of the old East Stand. They'll need to sort those corners out as well - it looks a bit drafty. As for an attendance of 20,000, Hibs will not fill that stadium once this season guaranteed whether or not they can put together a winning team - apart from maybe against Hearts (but only if they think they have a chance of winning otherwise it could be a smaller crown than against Rangers). We on the other hand have proven beyond doubt that we have the potential to attract big crowds - over 30,000 at Murrayfield for the AEK game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goader Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Interestingly, I was speaking to a mate (rangers fan) who was in the new stand on Sunday. His company was given a dozen complimentary tickets for the game. How many other seats were covered by the 'comp'ticket. Not sure ER is now suddenly anymore of a prime neutral venue than Tynecastle. Tynie get a lot of praise for its atmosphere even with one decrepit stand (although I like the old stand - it's a real throwback). Tynecastle has hosted neutral semis and Scotland youth games and Tynecastle will always have an advantage atmosphere-wise due to the spectators being so close to the action. As for Scotland 'A' games, the SFA should take them around Scotland but they spent all that cash on Hampden and so are very unlikely to do so. Hibs have done well to sort their infrastructure out (and have used it as an excuse for not performing on the park - now what will they do!) but "4 modern stands" doesn't in itself mean anything. St Mirren have 4 modern stands! Easter Rd is now just another cookie cutter football stadium with arguably a worse atmosphere than before given that a lot of Hibees were very fond of the old East Stand. They'll need to sort those corners out as well - it looks a bit drafty. As for an attendance of 20,000, Hibs will not fill that stadium once this season guaranteed whether or not they can put together a winning team - apart from maybe against Hearts (but only if they think they have a chance of winning otherwise it could be a smaller crown than against Rangers). We on the other hand have proven beyond doubt that we have the potential to attract big crowds - over 30,000 at Murrayfield for the AEK game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Sifter Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 The hobos had to build the stand because their planning permission was running out. When they applied for planning, the ground behind the stand was 'industrial', so no problems there. If they had to reapply, that ground behind them would now be 'residential', and would lead to hunners and hunners of objections. So in short, Hibs threw up the cheapest meccano stand they could get. So don't let any hobo ***** tell you any different. I laugh these days when hobos slag us for not having a stand, or for being in debt. Since when did these things matter? Since they CLEARED their debt? Since they BUILT their stand? **** off ya tramps, fitba banter should be about what happens ON the park, not OFF it......unless you've got **** all to crow about on the park I suppose!!! Take a slagging off a hobo about a new stand? Aye ******* right then!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southside1874 Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Nothing to do with planning permission running out. They had started the work when they dug a hole therefore planning permission will last. I think the tache set himself a goal when he took over the reigns at easter road and completing the stadium would have been one of them. He has worked on bringing down their debt and built them some training facilities. We have an owner that owns a bank. He will want us to operate with debt obviously. We pay very low interest on our debt so its not a major concern to him. The guy has loads of cash and needs to loan it out to someone. We have had training facilities for years now and we have also had a four stand stadium for sometime. Admittedly a new main stand would enhance the stadium but only a fool would expand during this economic climate. I'm just glad the guy doesn't have an eye for football or is able to pick a decent manager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audrey65 Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Then the man doing the projections is clearly not a regular at Fester rd. However Petrie has been smart in looking outwards towards ER being a prime neutral venue for Cup Semis, Scotland youth and perhaps even minor Scotland 'A' team games ! They now have 4 modern stands, a capacity of 20k, and two of those stands with corporate facilities. However they are stil sh*te and if Rod ever gets himself on the top deck of an open top bus...........it will be to dish out leaflets for Edinburgh Festival attractions like Easter rd, Seaworld etc Ditto. However I am grateful for the fact their team is nowhere near as good as their board. In fact their team is not even as good as OUR board! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundercats Are Go Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 The Tache has done a grand job business wise for the Hobos. He has brought in millions for the club, built a farm and now completed their stadium with minimum of fuss may I add. Legoland or not they will get BIG matches which will add to their income stream. They "appear" to be on a solid footing. Now our clubs finances have been very well documented with a debt frightning for a club of our size. But we wont go there they will get big matches there because they are already out of said tournament. Id prefer us to be playing in the big matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jambos are go! Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Interest rates are at an historic low and building prices rock bottom because of the recession. Makes sense to take advantage of these conditions and we should try and do likewise. We may not get such great VFM again and we have the benefit of reaping the rewards of decent hospitality suites not available to help pay for the new Hibs stand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.