The Skilled Stadium Upgrade is GO!..Costa wants home finals

CF

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Thread starter #1
Geelong Football Club unveils bold AFL finals bid
Michael Auciello
13Nov07



GEELONG president Frank Costa has outlined the club's plans to increase its home ground capacity to 35,000 and eventually push for a home final at Skilled Stadium.

The $28 million second stage of the redevelopment will begin after the final home game against West Coast in round 22 and is expected to be completed in time for the 2010 season.


The Federal Government has confirmed $14 million for the second stage, the State Government $6 million and the AFL $3 million, while the City of Greater Geelong is close to confirming its $2 million contribution.


The Geelong Football Club will add $3 million of its own to the project, which will see the Ross Drew and Past Players' stands demolished.


Costa said once that had been completed and paid for, it could move on to the next stage _ the building of a stand on what is now the Gary Ablett Terrace at the city end of the ground.


``With this (second) stand we go to about a 30,000 capacity. With the Ablett Terrace redeveloped, you'd think we'd go to 35,000 and that should make sure we keep nine games in Geelong,'' Costa said yesterday.


``It should allow us to build our membership to well over 40,000 because you get to a point where it's hard to say to people who want to buy a membership ticket and a seat, `oh no, we can't sell you a seat, we can give you a membership ticket'.


``A lot of people don't want to stand, so we need to continue to improve the capacity.


``We have to get past 40,000 members over the next few years if we want to be one of the strong clubs in Victoria, not one of those ones that's just hanging on. I think we're heading that way.''


Costa said once capacity hit 35,000, it would be Geelong's right to request a home final against an interstate club.


``They'd never let you play a Melbourne (team) here because you'll always be a 60,000-70,000 crowd against a Melbourne club, but when you're playing Port Adelaide or the Dockers, then I reckon if we have the right facilities and it looks smart, I think we can push hard,'' he said. ``We'd be pushing, we'd be trying. You can't win a raffle if you don't buy the ticket.''
Costa said under the third stage of the redevelopment, the seating area in front of the old scoreboard between the Reg Hickey and Doug Wade stands would also be redeveloped.


He said that redevelopment would happen after the second stage had been paid off, by about 2014 or 2015.


``All the debt has got to be cleared up after each move before we make the next move. This board is terribly, terribly concerned about not getting into too much debt that can't be managed,'' Costa said.



http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2007/11/13/8832_gfc.html
 

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Ricardo

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#2
Nice to hear him talking about not just next years redevelopment but to redevelop as soon as the debt is cleared.

What i don't get is what will happen to the Brownlow stand, if i read correctly it said the 3rd stage would be to redevelop the Gary Ablett Terrace (which i'm assuming all standing room would go :(), but no mention of the Brownlow Stand.

With the Terrace redeveloped the capacity would go to 35k, i always thought the Brownlow would be knocked down, re-built to the height of the Reg Hickey Stand, and join to the Past Players/Ross Drew Stand, if that was done after all the others were done then it would easily pass 40k capacity.
 
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Admin #3
I reckon bugger the board - let's get into debt that can't be managed. If the worst comes to worst, we can always ring that mob that advertise on SEN, they seem to know what they are doing.
 
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#6
Jacques from Xenia Mortgages? The bad credit experts!

Surely the best thing to do, although in stages, is to build a stand which will eventually encircle the new Hickey stand. The finished product would be better than a few stand-alone stands. Show some foresight and aim for 40 000 capacity.

I doubt the club would ever be able to have home finals unless KP had a capacity close to Telstra Dome.
 

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#7
Geelong will never have a home final. NEVER. They will be very luck to ever have nine home games again , no matter the capacity

We are not North Melb. Even playing Freo , etc. Geelong would get 40,000 plus to the Dome fro a final and the AFL would see that as preferable. The Dome is there ground and they will want it used. Look at our draw in 2008. WE are Premiers , we have shown the ability to draw big crowds in H&A and Finals yet our home games in Melbourne next year are at the Dome.
What a ripoff!!

As far as the redevelopment goes , its a shame to my mind that hey won't combine the RossDrew to the New Hickey with a new Doug Wade in between. Its shabby and even new seats will not make it look as if it will belongs between The new Ross Drew and the Hickey. The question I suppose is with more seating available will the demand still be as high as it is now. All fine when we are playing well but when in a down period we must make sure that any debts are serviceable with conservative attendance.
 

thegerman

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#9
I agree with most on here, the Brownlow (old Reg Hickey stand), will have to be torn down. Stadium seating would allow for more people to sit in comfort.

The area that stand has should have a greater ability to have more seats. I believe that once the Ablett Terrace is changed, this will be the next to go or get a huge upgrade.

With both the Ablett Terrace (with a larger stand incorporating the corporate boxes), and an upgrade to the Brownlow to have stadium type seating I think we can push 42k-ish crowds.
 
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#11
i dont see why we are talking such small numbers. 35000????
There is no reason why skilled stadium cant be a 40 000 seat stadium and eventually 50 000 maximum!

Of course we need more AFL games as well as other sports, like A-lEague soccer, Cricket both Domestic and International. Maybe a Rugby League game here and there.

Geelong as far as i know is a growing area. Building a great stadium as the economical and city focal point would be terrific.

We could of coruse have other thigns like concerts, seminars etc.

Of course this is expensive and we are talking long term plans. But id like to see more talk of getting a bigger stadium than 35 000.

Back i nthe 90s we uised to get crowds of 31-32000, imagine how much mroe we could get now.
 

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Turbocat

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#12
i dont see why we are talking such small numbers. 35000????
There is no reason why skilled stadium cant be a 40 000 seat stadium and eventually 50 000 maximum!

Of course we need more AFL games as well as other sports, like A-lEague soccer, Cricket both Domestic and International. Maybe a Rugby League game here and there.

Geelong as far as i know is a growing area. Building a great stadium as the economical and city focal point would be terrific.

We could of coruse have other thigns like concerts, seminars etc.

Of course this is expensive and we are talking long term plans. But id like to see more talk of getting a bigger stadium than 35 000.

Back i nthe 90s we uised to get crowds of 31-32000, imagine how much mroe we could get now.
You obviously don't live in Geelong
 

Turbocat

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#13
I agree with most on here, the Brownlow (old Reg Hickey stand), will have to be torn down. Stadium seating would allow for more people to sit in comfort.

The area that stand has should have a greater ability to have more seats. I believe that once the Ablett Terrace is changed, this will be the next to go or get a huge upgrade.

With both the Ablett Terrace (with a larger stand incorporating the corporate boxes), and an upgrade to the Brownlow to have stadium type seating I think we can push 42k-ish crowds.
The Brownlow is NOT the old Hickey. The Brownlow stand is on the Park side of the ground on the wing , between the RossDrew and the Social Club.
The old Hickey is now called the Doug Wade
 

Turbocat

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#15
50,000 seat stadium? Even if was practical to build it , which I doubt because of its location ,even it was allowed which I doubt because the AFL and others would not see it as being in their interest, there is no way on God's earth that we could hope to make money from a 50,000 seat stadium.

Geelongs does well with a capacity of 25ish because of the lock in effect. Good season or bad ,it has a high retention rate due the rarity of seats. Stop paying and you will lose that seat , for ever. They would never be able to fill a 50,000 stadium with regular , pre-sold seats and thus the advantage of having ones own ground. A few bad season and there the churn rate would be huge.

Could this ever change. Only if the structure of the town changed. More high paying jobs , more industry to replace the manufacturing that is closing down everywhere. Geelong is sponsored by Ford because there has always been a strong link between the town and vehicle manufacture. This is now on the verge of being non existent. Not just Ford but small factories like Hendersons Springs , Pilkingtons Glass , Coghlan and Russell that have been indirect suppliers have been falling over , eroding the very employment that supports institution's like GFC. Geelong growing , well not from where I sit but maybe I just dont see it. Who knows maybe we can have a population of 400,000 all based on the service industry but I doubt it.

Its great to see the ground growing , its great to have dreams but we must very careful not to kill the goose...
 

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Thread starter #17
Yeah I agree a 50,000 seater would be overkill. 35,000 is ok as it should maintain Geelong making a big profit from home games if they can get 35,000+ members behind that. I am sure that Costa & Cook have done feasibilty studies on different sizes in seating capacity and 35,000 probably represents the most profitable model going forward. I am sure they haven't just pulled the number out of thin air. These guys do things properly.
 

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#18
We need lights, 35k-40k people is good but there is also alot of other things the go along with that to like transport and parking, those of us who live in geelong know what im talking about, gameday can be a pain in the ass we would almost need some kind of railway footbridge to handle all the people.
 
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#19
if they get rid of standing room I am going to be dark as all hell. As a male who enjoys a beer and the words **** shit and ****, e.g. "you ****ing shit **** white maggot" making me sit with families just isnt fair.

I want to stand in the outa, can in hand, wind in face, rain coming down right into my eyes and be happy
 
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#20
Maybe 50 000 is a tad too high. But honestly dont see 40-45K being a problem.

I dont know why Geelong wouldnt be growing. From wat i have raed, the industrial part of geelong maybe shrinking but pther parts of it are growing. The airport there will surely help the place.
 

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#21
Finals are still probably out of reach unless we can expand it to 40k or beyond. 35,000 is pretty small for a finals crowd even against an interstate opponent.

Good to know that the board is being proactive on these matters, though. One wonders what the potential full capacity of the whole complex might be - it seems as though there is room on at least half of the ground for a large grandstand complex.

That said, a 35,000 KP will still be a grouse place for the GFC to be based.
 

ROARisWAR

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#22
35,000 is perfect

Gabba only holds around that much and it's like a mini-coliseum;
Atmosphere is awesome:thumbsu:

40+ is getting too big in my opinion
 
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#23
It's good to see an upgrade, our current capacity is definitely too low. I don't think that 40k+ is overkill at all in the future, 50k is not necessary and, I should think, not very viable at the current site and stadium.

But we could definitely fill a 40,000 when it comes to a blockbuster, and it would also virtually eliminate the need to play games at the Dome.
 
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