I disagree. This is something that is standard practice in other parts of the world e.g. the EPL. For example, Tottenham's training facility is in Enfield, about 12km or more from the stadium, and their admin and member-facing services are at the stadium. And I expect a lot of other clubs would be similar.Any option that is to be split between two locations sounds less than ideal.
(Thebarton is about 5-6km from Rundle Mall.)
You might say "ah yes, but that's London, not little old Adelaide", but I would say the principles are the same.
The requirement for a training facility = land area, is non-negotiable and therefore by definition it is located outside the CBD. The requirement for admin and member-facing services is office space / shop front - and, I would argue, accessibility to the public. And much as Thebby is just a few klicks down the road, it's still less generally accessible to the public at large than the CBD.
Plus - maybe, I don't know - it might make more financial sense to lease space in the CBD than to build from scratch at Thebarton.
Provided the CBD office / supporter facing facility is top-notch and genuinely open to the supporters / public (not just an office with a reception desk), including some sort of cafe / hospitality etc, I would argue that members and supporters would be better served by a CBD facility than having to go to Thebarton.
That said, I take this point:
But surely any properly run (no AFC jokes, please) organisation can deal with that. But it's not something to be ignored / taken for granted.Totally agree. Division of sites leads to division amongst personnel, and fosters an us and them mentality.
On this I agree. Any facility at Thebarton must be 100% Adelaide Football Club in every respect.The whole point of this should be establishing a home our own. Not a compromised home that we share with with amateur footy at a location where the SANFL remains as our overlords.