Bulliac wrote:
I strongly suggest the huge costs at Darlington are probably more to do with the 'management company', no doubt set up to run the stadium at a profit, than for any actual maintenance costs. It is a fair point to bear in mind though, as a management company would probably be involved in any re-build of Odsal.
To be honest, I can't remember Caisley ever holding anything remotely like a 'fans' forum', unless that was, perhaps, his term for board meetings. Maybe the £10m was a figure he quoted in the articles in the T&A where he berated fans for not turning up in sufficient numbers? In truth, I wouldn't like to say how much has been spent on the ground, probably the minimum which kept its licence, but the problem with Odsal has always been its sheer size and the fact is you could spend an awful lot, though maybe not £10m, and hardly notice when glancing round.
He held a couple circa 2001/01. I got the impression that they were really Abi Ekoku's idea, Caisley looked as if he would rather have been anywhere else and was seriously vexed off when any criticisms were made. Ekoku clearly saw them as a means of getting the fans to lobby MPs for the stadium redevelopment. Told us we should follow the example of Arsenal fans who had raised 40,000 signatures for a petition for their new stadium. The first one was held about the time that Ekoku appeared on Question Time.
Caisley reeled off a list of urgent repairs which he said would cost £10m. The main item was £2m for a new roof for the main stand as the existing roof was about to collapse. He made the claim as part of his justification for moving to VP.
It did seem to me that "Odsal's excessive maintenance costs" was really part of the strategy to obtain support for the new stadium and perhaps has just become accepted wisdom. The terraces aren't crumbling, there rarely seems to be any work going on at the ground.
If we can re-negotiate the rent when we are relegated I hope we can stay at Odsal. Its a huge ground for a Championship club but if the terraces could be mothballed and we just used the main stand would it be that much more expensive than the alternatives?
I think we might be able to survive relegation and we might be able to survive leaving Odsal, but not both.
