We're committed to a successful football club, and despite the many reports to the contrary, we want (and have always wanted) to provide CCFC with a stadium it can call home, access to all the revenues it can generate (like any other professional football club), control of the costs it incurs, and a stable base from which to challenge up the leagues. We hope that this new stadium announcement reassures fans that this is our aim.
We're very pleased and excited to be able to share this news with supporters as, ultimately, we want this to be a home the fans can be proud of. A great deal of time, effort and investment has gone into bringing the plans to this stage and it has been a real team effort to develop the partnership with Warwick University. We’ve come a long, long way in a very short space of time as we only won promotion recently, back to the level we bought the club at, and are now announcing our plans for the new stadium.
We are working very hard with Warwick University to purchase our preferred site and we will, of course, keep supporters informed when that happens. At that stage, we can then start to plot a timeline of applying for permission, time it takes to build and when we could open. There is still a huge amount of effort required and I would urge supporters to make full use of the communication channels that have been set up because that way their views can help to shape the thinking of how we make this a home for the club and its fans. The supporters' views in this are very important to us.
It’s about so much more than just a football stadium that is used 25 times a year, it’s about creating a place that generates activity and income and becomes a facility for the whole community. The value to the community should not be underestimated and we intend for this to be a real hub for the local area.
We have, of course, learned lessons from other clubs and their stadia. We have spoken to people involved in the Rotherham, Brentford, and Brighton projects among others, along with overseas stadia such as Caen and Le Havre. We are impressed with stadiums such as the New York Stadium at Rotherham. As you know, this was completed at just £20million. We believe that paying back over many years a private developer who would build the stadium would be cheaper than renting a stadium. Rotherham is also a modular stadium, meaning more capacity can easily be added if the club is promoted and attendances shoot up.
We have discussed the plans with key partners, and are excited about the investment opportunities that we will be able to deliver. Unfortunately we are unable to tell you more as of yet, because we are bound by confidentiality agreements, but we have kept the Football League fully informed while the plan is progressing, and they are as excited as us. The partnership with Warwick University makes absolute sense - there are many synergies, and their reputation in sports science is second to none; their plans for expansion are very exciting. They have shown themselves to be very supportive, and the hardwork they have put in with us to get to this stage should not be underestimated.
As you know, we have spoken about a new stadium over a number of years. Since the Council’s decision to sell the Ricoh to Wasps at what we believe to be a gross and unlawful undervalue, we have been determined either to overturn that decision by legal challenge (this is the only way back to the Ricoh on any sort of sustainable basis) or to build a new stadium. It is obvious that other parties have been determined to hamper our attempts to return to the Ricoh, so that option is no longer open to us. There have also been obstructions put in our place to build a new stadium, and this has meant we have been unable to do so up until now. This site does not bring those issues. Of course planning committees are “quasi-judicial” bodies – meaning councillors are legally obliged to vote based on “material planning considerations”. We are confident that the site will obtain permission and, if not initially, at appeal or at a public inquiry if they cannot get their plans through the planning committee, and if any obstructive parties choose to object or make it difficult for us.
Ultimately, success breeds success: a well-performing team attracts excellent players, which enables the academy to continue to recruit and retain outstanding apprentices. This makes it easier to attract and retain sponsors, and most importantly, it encourages fans to watch their football club in action. None of this is possible, however, without a permanent home for the Club.