Arena 2000. Does anyone still have one of these........... (1 Viewer)

dancers lance

Well-Known Member
I have a video of bryan(the great stadium robber)richardson talking this great new stadium with a retrackable pitch and we will own all of it !!!!!!!!!!
What a load of bollocks

I think I seen that at the time, please post if you can. He is the true master of the 'smug face' even Tim can't top that look.
 

McLovin87

Well-Known Member
Now we have ended up with a retractable team who have pulled completely out of the stadium!
 

Darth Robins

Well-Known Member
It's pretty telling to me that if you look at all the stuff that stadium was going to have that even when a big club like Arsenal with plenty of money were building the Emirates, they didn't go for any of that crap. It was extravagance for extravagance sake, and would have been an even more gigantic waste of money. It's a really good indicator of just how insane BR was, even Abramovich and Mansour don't spend like that!
 

Bassman

New Member
Oddly enough I moved house a few weeks back, and found a copy of each of the 2 issues of "a2" magazine and one of the magazine they produced when they started building. If I could work out how to put photos on here I'd post the piccy I took...

Lots of BR and Ken Bates congratulating each other for being awesome...
 

honestmike

New Member
There were two editions, I have both of them in the loft... it was like flicking through a top shelf magazine getting all excited at the thought but then in reality had to settle for something a little less sexy!!! :D
The magazine promo they released for the Arena 2000? I had one but not sure what happened to it...

Interesting link:
http://thefootballattic.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/things-that-dreams-are-made-of-arena.html

How far we have come, even if it was a pipe dream.
 

James Smith

Well-Known Member
Think there's one at my Mum's house somewhere will have a look next time I'm there. Anyone know who produced and published it, was it the club?
 
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VegetableSamosa

New Member
Oh god, can we not post the promo photos for the building works. There is a terrible one of me aged 12 in a Cov shirt, high vis jacket and hard hat on the construction site where the centre circle was going to be.
 

dancers lance

Well-Known Member
There were two editions, I have both of them in the loft... it was like flicking through a top shelf magazine getting all excited at the thought but then in reality had to settle for something a little less sexy!!! :D

You have summed up my feelings at the time exactly (washes hands). Find them, lets scan and archive them.
 

pusbccfc

Well-Known Member
Arena 2000 certainly looked twice the stadium that The Ricoh is. From the outside anyway!
 

letsallsingtogether

Well-Known Member
Yes I have them both sad I know but seemed a good idea at the time one is Blue the other one is black also have the first programme which looks remarkably similar?
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
It's pretty telling to me that if you look at all the stuff that stadium was going to have that even when a big club like Arsenal with plenty of money were building the Emirates, they didn't go for any of that crap. It was extravagance for extravagance sake, and would have been an even more gigantic waste of money. It's a really good indicator of just how insane BR was, even Abramovich and Mansour don't spend like that!











To be fair, remember at the time the dream was to be the new Wembley. That plan for the roof/pitch came from Arnheim I think, a team about the same size as us at the time.



Edit: Emirates is primarily a football ground, the arena was always dual purpose football/concerts. Different models.

PS: If you think thats crazy, you should've seen some of the plans for the lower precinct.
 
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ajsccfc

Well-Known Member
Was it originally planned to be built by 2000 or was the name just to sound futuristic? I'd guess the latter, what with the plans to have stewards wear silver and for the pies to be in pill form.
 

FootballAttic

New Member
Was it originally planned to be built by 2000 or was the name just to sound futuristic? I'd guess the latter, what with the plans to have stewards wear silver and for the pies to be in pill form.

That brochure was produced in Autumn / Winter 1999 so I'm assuming it was just a name...unless they had a really short build time planned ;-)
 

ajsccfc

Well-Known Member
I got used to 'The Ricoh' but still preferred if Jaguar had kept their original sponsorship. Then for the people of Coventry going to 'The Jag' would have meant something other than the threat of violence and the whiff of STDs.
 

brinner

New Member
ive got 1 of these arena 2000 magazines somewhere, think its in the loft.

it says DREAM ON, on the front cover...............about right lmao!
 

torchomatic

Well-Known Member
I've got one of those somewhere, just had a look but can't find it. I have a few other things too. I seem to remember they were handing them out at HR for quite a while - I was at the East End by then. There were loads of leaflets, etc.
 

ajsccfc

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I remember them talking about both as the Gelredome in Arnhem was basically the inspiration. A roof would have been nice as you could have all kinds of events then, like the regular season NBA touring game.
 

theferret

Well-Known Member
I actually think the original proposal was a good one - the versatility of a retractable pitch and roof would have opened up all sorts of commercial opportunities not available at any other venue in the country (and that is still the case).

BR did a lot of damage to this club, and he was paid a nice salary while at the helm. I do believe that he genuinely wanted the best for the club though and that his mistakes were were honest enough - and I don't think he had another agenda. He was a gambler and a dreamer and it might have all paid off had we not been relegated when we were. Still paying the price for all that I suppose.
 

torchomatic

Well-Known Member
What a load of bollocks all the "BR's heart was in the right place" nonsense is. He wasn't a "dreamer", he was as careless with CCFC as SISU have been. We are homeless and a lot of the blame can be laid at his door. BR's greed got the better of him. I don't remember many fans who wanted to leave HR.

I actually think the original proposal was a good one - the versatility of a retractable pitch and roof would have opened up all sorts of commercial opportunities not available at any other venue in the country (and that is still the case).

BR did a lot of damage to this club, and he was paid a nice salary while at the helm. I do believe that he genuinely wanted the best for the club though and that his mistakes were were honest enough - and I don't think he had another agenda. He was a gambler and a dreamer and it might have all paid off had we not been relegated when we were. Still paying the price for all that I suppose.
 

theferret

Well-Known Member
What a load of bollocks all the "BR's heart was in the right place" nonsense is. He wasn't a "dreamer", he was as careless with CCFC as SISU have been. We are homeless and a lot of the blame can be laid at his door. BR's greed got the better of him. I don't remember many fans who wanted to leave HR.

I think we'll agree to disagree on that. Was he careless? Absolutely. Can we blame him for a lot? Yes. Selling HR when he did was crazy. Was he greedy? Well, he was a salaried chairman earning over 500K a year, so he did very nicely out of everything and managed to get out unscathed because he never risked any of his own money.

Do I think he was a dreamer? Yes, I genuinely believe he thought he was doing the right thing. Just my opinion though.

And to be fair, surveys at the time suggested the majority were keen on the idea of moving. I'm not afraid to admit that I was behind the move. I realise now, and have for a while, that it was a massive mistake. Hindsight is great.
 

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