Some interesting bits in this article which I hadn't read before.
Full article
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/sport/yorkcityfc/diary/10705313.print/
HE was once the second most expensive goalkeeper in the country behind England legend Gordon Banks, and Alan Stevenson also looks a safe pair of hands in his latest role as a York City commercial consultant.
Since persuading Hartlepool to hand him a player/commercial manager role when his days between the sticks were coming to an end in the 1980s, Stevenson has almost established himself as the go-to person when clubs are preparing to relocate from their traditional homes.
Having quickly been head-hunted by Middlesbrough when working for Hartlepool, Stevenson went on to head the commercial department at West Brom before being recruited to maximise the off-pitch potential in stadium moves at Huddersfield, Bolton, Hull, Widnes, Coventry, Doncaster, Shrewsbury and Chesterfield, not to mention Wembley.
His job with the Minstermen will represent the tenth new stadium project that Stevenson has been involved in.
“I am always hoping the next one will be the most successful because it’s all about experience,” the Birmingham-based 62-year-old pointed out. “The first I was involved in at Huddersfield was great but it was a learning curve and there were certain things that I thought ‘I won’t do that with the next one’.
“The size of the stadiums might be different in each project but you face the same problems with all of them and, if you have encountered them before, you usually know how to address them.”
Each move has to be given careful consideration with Stevenson using Coventry’s empty 32,000-seater Ricoh Arena as an example of how relocation can cause huge problems if clubs are too ambitious or the background for a new build is unstable.
Despite urging caution as the Sky Blues’ commercial director of six years, Stevenson could not prevent the 1987 FA Cup final winners chasing past glories and, on the club who are currently playing their home games at Northampton’s Sixfields, he said: “The problem with Coventry was, when the collapse of ITV Digital came, they had just been relegated from the top flight for the first time in 34 years and they had players on £40,000-a-week that needed paying off.
“They were only getting gates of 12,000 at Highfield Road and were haemorrhaging money. They then sold the ground to Wimpey Homes and had to pay £600,000-a-year to stay there so they had a gun to their head really and had to move.
“They had horrendous debts and no income coming in but, even though the move went well, there were problems straight away. As beautiful as it was, they did not need a 32,000-capacity stadium with a banqueting hall and all the other fancy stuff.
“Coventry is a city in name but really it is the size of a town. Birmingham don’t need 32,000 seats and Aston Villa are fine with 40,000 and I said at the time it would be too big.
“The argument was, though, if we want to progress we need the facilities. The other problem was the council built it and the deal was not a good one from the start because the money wouldn’t be coming into the club anyway. Realistically, Coventry should have been looking at 20,000 because you have to look at what you can afford.
