The Big Queen's Park FC Thread

[G_&_T]

46 minutes ago, TxRover said:

 

There is a fair bit of institutional memory in fitba about the fiascos of the 80’s-90’s and minimum capacity hijinks. Raith, for one, is saddled with a totally inappropriate lash up of a stadium because of a scramble to get to the 10,000 seat requirement that was in place. As a result, we have a couple of sore thumb 3,300 seat stands on either end of the pitch that now need £500,000+ of deferred maintenance and some such to continue to meet health and safety standards. Top that with knowing the work would be needed, and still retrofitting the rooftop floodlights to LED, thus ensuring you HAVE a to fix those worthless b*****ds, and then having the owner come out saying he wants to sell out!

Gordon Brown can pay for those with a few speaking engagements, though...

[Todd_is_God]

46 minutes ago, TxRover said:

 

There is a fair bit of institutional memory in fitba about the fiascos of the 80’s-90’s and minimum capacity hijinks. Raith, for one, is saddled with a totally inappropriate lash up of a stadium because of a scramble to get to the 10,000 seat requirement that was in place. As a result, we have a couple of sore thumb 3,300 seat stands on either end of the pitch that now need £500,000+ of deferred maintenance and some such to continue to meet health and safety standards. Top that with knowing the work would be needed, and still retrofitting the rooftop floodlights to LED, thus ensuring you HAVE a to fix those worthless b*****ds, and then having the owner come out saying he wants to sell out!

Given that it terracing is now allowed again (even in Europe as UEFA allowed Union Berlin to play their Europa League games at home) I have no idea why any Scottish lower league club, regardless of ambition, building a new stadium wouldn't just build a main stand with all the modern gear (hospitality / media etc) and 3 covered terraces.

[TxRover]

3 hours ago, Todd_is_God said:

Given that it terracing is now allowed again (even in Europe as UEFA allowed Union Berlin to play their Europa League games at home) I have no idea why any Scottish lower league club, regardless of ambition, building a new stadium wouldn't just build a main stand with all the modern gear (hospitality / media etc) and 3 covered terraces.

£££ is why stadia don’t get built. I doubt there are more than 5-10 teams in fitba who have the means to build a stadium these days, if that many. A partially finished ultimate 5,000 capacity field cost Boston United £12M a few years ago, and that’s with 2,100 seats installed, a terrace and two unfinished sides. You figure the ugly sisters, Hearts, Hibs and the Dons could probably all do it…but whom else? Queen’s are doing it because they owned property, but many teams don’t own the property anymore (see Falkirk and Raith for quick primers on the problems).

The absolute pisser is the cost of even proper terracing. Look at AFC Wimbledon spending £34M on Plough Lane, and getting a little over 9,000 capacity with 1,000 standing at one end…saved a ton, didn’t it.

[Dave]

Shamrock Rovers announcing the loan signing of Johnny Kenny this afternoon - Shameless self plug link

Never really worked out for him with us the first half of this season. The form of Simon Murray certainly a big factor, but I think he has to look at himself a bit too and perhaps consider if he took the chances he was given with us. Aside from the 2-0 Hamilton game where I thought he played well that day, overall think it's fair to say this was a disappointing loan signing and I'm not overly upset it has ended early.

[Mon eh Ton]

On 25/12/2022 at 03:45, TxRover said:

£££ is why stadia don’t get built.

Whilst that's true, those examples aren't really showing the cost of building new football stadia. They're more like residential and commercial developments that just happen to have a football stadium attached.

[qpfc]

On 28/12/2022 at 15:59, Dave said:

Shamrock Rovers announcing the loan signing of Johnny Kenny this afternoon - Shameless self plug link

Never really worked out for him with us the first half of this season. The form of Simon Murray certainly a big factor, but I think he has to look at himself a bit too and perhaps consider if he took the chances he was given with us. Aside from the 2-0 Hamilton game where I thought he played well that day, overall think it's fair to say this was a disappointing loan signing and I'm not overly upset it has ended early.

We’ve had some disappointing loans the last couple of years but Kenny probably tops it for me. Had some form of pedigree at first team level at Sligo yet looked like he’d been plucked from a school team when playing for us. He was incredibly lightweight and never looked close to scoring goals. I think Dundee at home was probably his last straw as we lost all control of the game as soon as he entered the pitch and in hindsight we dropped a pretty crucial couple of points when you look at the table now 

January will be really interesting as I do think we’ll sign a couple players. I would prefer to sign a couple of players on permanent contracts though. 
 

Departures will be inevitable. Any of the following of Boateng/Moore/Biggar/Naismith you’d imagine are at most risk of being let go. Still unsure on the circumstances regarding Liam Brown  and how his loan and season ended very prematurely. Still see him at all the home games 

Edited December 29, 2022 by qpfc

[Anonymous Spider]

Any vibes from the AGM? 

[Ben Reilly]

1 hour ago, Anonymous Spider said:

Any vibes from the AGM? 

It was stated that we had one or two targets that we're hopeful of getting in to strengthen the squad, and that a few players that haven't worked out as well as had been hoped may move on.

Nothing more detailed than that.

[gav-ffc]

7 hours ago, qpfc said:

. 
 

Departures will be inevitable. Any of the following of Boateng/Moore/Biggar/Naismith you’d imagine are at most risk of being let go. Still unsure on the circumstances regarding Liam Brown  and how his loan and season ended very prematurely. Still see him at all the home games 

We are in dire need of a right back what’s the script with Naismith?

[Zanetti]

7 hours ago, gav-ffc said:

We are in dire need of a right back what’s the script with Naismith?

Would be surprised if he signed for another full time club after us but you never know, I just don't think he can handle the pace of the game anymore. Very slow and doesn't appear to be able to jump either. I believe he had a bad injury during his time down south and he hasn't been the same since then.

[Northsea80]

What was said at the AGM regarding the stadium build at lesser? Was there any questioning of the royal box being built in place of a proper stand? If so, what was the reasoning/justification for it? 

 

[Spider Rico]

1 hour ago, Northsea80 said:

What was said at the AGM regarding the stadium build at lesser? Was there any questioning of the royal box being built in place of a proper stand? If so, what was the reasoning/justification for it? 

 

I’m no clearer on the past, present, short term future or long term future of Lesser Hampden following the meeting

 

[Anonymous Spider]

14 minutes ago, Spider Rico said:

I’m no clearer on the past, present, short term future or long term future of Lesser Hampden following the meeting

 

Splendid. 

[spiders4ever]

1 hour ago, Spider Rico said:

I’m no clearer on the past, present, short term future or long term future of Lesser Hampden following the meeting

 

A bit like the Committee then.

[Hampden Diehard]

1 hour ago, Spider Rico said:

I’m no clearer on the past, present, short term future or long term future of Lesser Hampden following the meeting

 

Only receiving £3 million to build a ground has fkd us up.  In today's world, that won't build you much. Prices of raw materials have gone through the roof over the past couple of years and the sacking of the original contractors for, presumably, not doing what they were meant to do to a particular standard, have both increased the headache.  It could have been worse  without having Lesser as a starter; we would have been completely fkd if we had to look about for a new build site.

I think your comment pretty much sums it up; I'm not sure anyone knows. If we have aspirations to be promoted, we'll have to come up with a Plan B. Plan A, even if we find the cash to complete Lesser with less expensive terracing (if that is indeed now allowed), may just do enough for it to be our home in the Championship.

It's a balls acher of a problem but almost, in a way, in a good sense. I still have to pinch myself when I think of where we are now. How long is it since we finished bottom of the pile in League Two and we're out of all the cups before December?

In the mix at the top of the Championship, still in two cups and it's nearly January.

Halcyon days. Cup currently half full rather than half empty.

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Hampden Diehard

[Bring Your Own Socks]

My only comment on the AGM generally, would be that several Members asked pertinent questions on a number of matters and most were responded with wishy-washy answers, short on fact or commitment. Some of it understandable, especially around the size of the stadium. When this project started we were hoping for top half of League 1. So all this chaos is the fault of Simon Murray and Owen Coyle. Just joking. But it is a real problem. You can't take a Ford Focus and turn it into a Mercedes E Class.

I won't give details here, but some matters were poorly answered by the Office Bearers present, to the level that they either didn't know what Members were asking or they didn't want to answer. Specifically on the reporting of the accountability of the adjudication settlement and , separately, questions about the QP Foundation and it's legal structure. One confirmation that was emphatic was that our arrangement with the Main Sponsor is in writing. I hope it's better writing than the contracts to build the stadium. 

What was confirmed re the stadium is that the South stand will not be built until the summer, but even at that there was a caveat that the design may change again, driven by cost. The East stand is almost finished, as is the changing facility as is the West stand. Best guesses (see my previous post on why it's essential to have a contracted Programme of Works) for SPFL games is most likely March. Several 'confirmed' dates have passed now and with no control over the contractor there's no reliability on any future confirmations. 

With regard to the West side of the ground, no specific discussion was taken about the West stand and the hospitality/catering, other than they hope to exploit it's commercial use on non-match days. I've previously commented that in the original design, prior to the introduction of our CEO and the current influence by our Main Sponsor, it wasn't there. And now it is. It's pretty obvious who decided that stand was required. What was discussed, with good questions asked, was about the overall development of that side and frankly, the responses were vague at best and showed no understanding of the challenges the new stand has created for the rest of that elevation. There's also no working solution for guests of the matchday hospitality in the Pavilion moving back and forth to their seats which will have to be in the East stand.

It was also recognised that the Limited companies current constitution will need amended, on several articles, in the near future and that will,  by law, require a vote with Members. A seldom used article was invoked to allow the current President to retain his office for another year. 

[an86]

Cup half full on the park, half empty off it. I didn’t even bother going to the AGM and it sounds like a wise choice. What would the point have been? We’ve been bullshitted since the start of the Lesser shambles, so it’s not going to change now.

We’re approaching three years since the building project started. The original plan was a capacity of around 1800. What we have is 900 seats for punters and 40 seats for the prawn sandwich mob. A resignation job all day long. It has swung between disaster and farce for far too long, whilst the “not long now” card has been played.

[williebraveheart]

I appreciate the summaries of the AGM. 

I have the increasing feeling that this whole Lesser debacle is going to have a very unhappy end.

I have said it before but this just reinforces my opinion that I love following my team but intensely dislike the people running the club. 

[Arachnophile]

36 minutes ago, an86 said:

Cup half full on the park, half empty off it. I didn’t even bother going to the AGM and it sounds like a wise choice. What would the point have been? We’ve been bullshitted since the start of the Lesser shambles, so it’s not going to change now.

We’re approaching three years since the building project started. The original plan was a capacity of around 1800. What we have is 900 seats for punters and 40 seats for the prawn sandwich mob. A resignation job all day long. It has swung between disaster and farce for far too long, whilst the “not long now” card has been played.

Our final league match of the season is at home to Dundee. Just imagine the crowd that would attract if the two teams are still first & second & separated by a point.

 

 

[CathcartSkins]

30 minutes ago, an86 said:

 The original plan was a capacity of around 1800. What we have is 900 seats for punters and 40 seats for the prawn sandwich mob. A resignation job all day long. It has swung between disaster and farce for far too long, whilst the “not long now” card has been played.

That original plan was with the original contractor. So I presume that what we have now is a sequence of consequences of having to start again. One of the consequences being an improved spec for the changing rooms.  Another was the need for improved commercial opportunities hence the removal of the farmhouse and unsightly elevated box of 40 seats.   

On our original five-year plan of getting to the Championship, having 1,000 capacity at Lesser was adequate as we could upgrade each year as finances allowed.  Now, with the very real possibility of being in the Premier League within three years has caused mild panic; the option of playing at Hampden needs to be explored as this would generate the finances to complete Lesser.

My gut instinct is to never play at Hampden again however, pragmatic me says otherwise.