Arbour Park - 50 year lease!

[Sir Rebel1965]

From club website:

Club secures future with 50-year lease at Arbour Park | The Official website of Slough Town FC - latest news, photos and videos

[GlenSTFC]

I think a lot of us knew/guessed this would be the announcement but still it’s excellent it’s now official and a longer lease than originally sought. Hopefully the club can expand on what plans they have for the stadium in the short, medium and long term. Shame the site isn’t bigger as it would be ideal to build another pitch as we have so many teams under our umbrella now. I’m guessing the club are now liable to replace the pitch whenever it expires which will be a massive cost. 

[Sir Rebel1965]

1 minute ago, GlenSTFC said:

I think a lot of us knew/guessed this would be the announcement but still it’s excellent it’s now official and a longer lease than originally sought. Hopefully the club can expand on what plans they have for the stadium in the short, medium and long term. Shame the site isn’t bigger as it would be ideal to build another pitch as we have so many teams under our umbrella now. I’m guessing the club are now liable to replace the pitch whenever it expires which will be a massive cost. 

It’s all in the detail.

I think you are right Glen with what costs, like the pitch replacement, will be involved as with a 50 year lease the main building will age considerable and require major maintenance - was the building even designed to last that long 8 years so far + 50 more - that is a long period for a building like that with the fancy curved roof etc.

On top of these costs there will be the annual rent to be paid to the council and will that vary in time?

Then there are all the hidden costs like insurance, heating and power etc.

And which company is taking on the lease - A23 Football Group or Slough Town Football Club and will there be any cross charging of these companies for the ground cost.

Will be interesting to see what details come out.

[Curtis]

4 hours ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

Then there are all the hidden costs like insurance, heating and power etc.

As mentioned before, the biggest concern would be business rates….. hopefully the lease agreement is inclusive of them.

[Nathan]

4 hours ago, GlenSTFC said:

I’m guessing the club are now liable to replace the pitch whenever it expires which will be a massive cost. 

4 hours ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

It’s all in the detail.

I think you are right Glen with what costs, like the pitch replacement, will be involved as with a 50 year lease the main building will age considerable and require major maintenance - was the building even designed to last that long 8 years so far + 50 more - that is a long period for a building like that with the fancy curved roof etc.

On top of these costs there will be the annual rent to be paid to the council and will that vary in time?

Then there are all the hidden costs like insurance, heating and power etc.

And which company is taking on the lease - A23 Football Group or Slough Town Football Club and will there be any cross charging of these companies for the ground cost.

Will be interesting to see what details come out.

The pitch must surely be no more than a year or two from needing to be re-laid, as it's been 8 years. And the more it's used, the earlier it will need to be re-laid, so presumably the more it's going to cost the club.

Whilst this is excellent news in principle (A23 do seem to know what they're doing marketing-wise, whereas the Council couldn't organise the proverbial piss-up in a brewery with regards to marketing Arbour Park), as Sir Rebel1965 says it's all in the detail.

I heard rumours than our owners have plans to physically alter Arbour Park. I hope these are true, today proved that the present design isn't adequate for nearly 2000 football supporters!

[GlenSTFC]

4 minutes ago, Nathan said:

The pitch must surely be no more than a year or two from needing to be re-laid, as it's been 8 years. And the more it's used, the earlier it will need to be re-laid, so presumably the more it's going to cost the club.

Whilst this is excellent news in principle (A23 do seem to know what they're doing marketing-wise, whereas the Council couldn't organise the proverbial piss-up in a brewery with regards to marketing Arbour Park), as Sir Rebel1965 says it's all in the detail.

I heard rumours than our owners have plans to physically alter Arbour Park. I hope these are true, today proved that the present design isn't adequate for nearly 2000 football supporters!

Heard much the same and it’s certainly needed as all the facilities are based on one side which just causes bottlenecks. I’d like to see a big fan zone behind the Berkeley stand. A bar, food truck, toilets, lots of seating/tables along with a roof and heaters for the colder months would be top drawer plus take a lot of pressure away from the main stand side.

[Reading Rebel]

Fantastic news for the club and supporters!

[Nathan]

20 minutes ago, GlenSTFC said:

Heard much the same and it’s certainly needed as all the facilities are based on one side which just causes bottlenecks. I’d like to see a big fan zone behind the Berkeley stand.

Agreed. Today there was a Windsor & Eton Brewery hut by the East (Berkeley) Stand which I didn't know was there until after the match. It's not much use there at the moment in my opinion.

[Curtis]

Was there also a self service beer vending machine near the entrance?

[Reading Rebel]

2 hours ago, Curtis said:

Was there also a self service beer vending machine near the entrance?

I saw something resembling a beer machine near an entrance.

[Grant Brown]

Arbour Park needs more terracing down the sides of the Main Stand.

I decided to go and stand the end we were defending yesterday as it was 2 deep the attacking end, couldn’t see a thing.

This is a positive though, more people through the gates, more money for the club but something does need to be done regarding terracing.

Even behind the goals you can’t see the ball if it’s get close 🤦🏼‍♂️

[Norbert22]

1 hour ago, Grant Brown said:

Arbour Park needs more terracing down the sides of the Main Stand.

I decided to go and stand the end we were defending yesterday as it was 2 deep the attacking end, couldn’t see a thing.

This is a positive though, more people through the gates, more money for the club but something does need to be done regarding terracing.

Even behind the goals you can’t see the ball if it’s get close 🤦🏼‍♂️

With attendances on the rise you might consider reserving a seat in the main stand. The view is excellent. 

[Sir Rebel1965]

18 hours ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

It’s all in the detail.

And which company is taking on the lease - A23 Football Group or Slough Town Football Club and will there be any cross charging of these companies for the ground cost.

 

Was thinking about this statement overnight.

Suppose A23 Football Group take on the lease of the ground, what would happen if they decided to let go of the Slough Town Football Club side of the business to another party?

Will the football club end up in a similar situation as at Wexham Park where the Thornes owned the club and the ground, but then sold the club to Martyn Deaner and the club eventually ended up homeless, and the Thornes retained the ground.

And that is not taking into account how any rent etc. may be taken from the football side.

Important that these issues are transparent and clear.

[Reading Rebel]

As far as ground improvements are concerned weren't supporters asked a while ago what improvements were needed at AP?

I'm pretty sure that most supporters feedback was that terracing behind the goals needed improving and some form of terracing/stands down the sides were needed to improve viewing for the larger attendances.

I know for certain they are planning to do away with the club shop and tea bar where it is now and put in a downstairs bar/function room.

Someone mentioned changing the layout of the main clubhouse?

I doubt very much if those type of expensive improvements are on the to do list of the owners.

 

Edited April 21 by Reading Rebel

[RebelVilla]

Terracing along the sides of the ground would be helpful. With the large crowd in attendance yesterday, presumably due to free tickets being issued, it was slightly disappointing that regular fans had their view of the game impaired due to some people taking up 'prime' locations against the barrier however showing no interest in watching the match and just chatting away to themselves instead.

[Irishadrian]

4 hours ago, RebelVilla said:

Terracing along the sides of the ground would be helpful. With the large crowd in attendance yesterday, presumably due to free tickets being issued, it was slightly disappointing that regular fans had their view of the game impaired due to some people taking up 'prime' locations against the barrier however showing no interest in watching the match and just chatting away to themselves instead.

RebelVilla

Sounds like a Dulwich Hamlet crowd God forbid!

[Mark44]

As a frequent user of the sunshine stand (sorry Berkely homes stand - definitely 2-3 degrees warmer on a Saturday afternoon in there with the sun beating down on it) I agree that a big miss is toilets on that side. My 4 year old can't go 25 mins without needing to go and we then have a long walk around to our nearest facility.

Was great to see the crowds on Saturday and i think it is one of those where you invite an extra 1,000 in for free and maybe 10 will become regulars and another 30 come every now and then. Do this a few times through the season though and the base attendance increases by say 50 so longer term there is a financial benefit. On the day itself the benefit through food and drink is huge. 
I was speaking to one guy (in the toilet queue of course) at half time and he had no idea who the opposition team was but was saying he got his free ticket through a group chat he is in. He then went on to say that it is just around the corner but he'd never been and will probably return even due to the fact that its a better place to drink than most of Slough has to offer

[DonnyNo6]

The crowd was definitely a big plus on Saturday but yes its shows what is needed to be able to easily cope/cater for a big crowd on regular occasions.

The toilets and Windsor & Eton Brewery over by Turnstile 3 were a welcome addition and certainly helped, hopefully this is a way forward at the very least for that side of the ground, personally some new steeper terracing along side both sides of the Community Stand would really help imo with then adding in toilets/concessions etc either behind or underneath.

Looking forward to some changes coming up fingers crossed.

[Reading Rebel]

2 hours ago, DonnyNo6 said:

The crowd was definitely a big plus on Saturday but yes its shows what is needed to be able to easily cope/cater for a big crowd on regular occasions.

The toilets and Windsor & Eton Brewery over by Turnstile 3 were a welcome addition and certainly helped, hopefully this is a way forward at the very least for that side of the ground, personally some new steeper terracing along side both sides of the Community Stand would really help imo with then adding in toilets/concessions etc either behind or underneath.

Looking forward to some changes coming up fingers crossed.

Agree.

There's stacks of space down both sides of the community stand and on the main stand side to put up some sort of terracing for better viewing when the larger crowds attend.

Also the stands behind the goals could do with being steeper/higher.

[Sir Rebel1965]

1 hour ago, Reading Rebel said:

Agree.

There's stacks of space down both sides of the community stand and on the main stand side to put up some sort of terracing for better viewing when the larger crowds attend.

Also the stands behind the goals could do with being steeper/higher.

I dont think it is just for larger crowds, but it will help, but there are a lot of fans who like to stand on the 18 yard line (or around there) so it will give them cover and a better view.

As for behind the goal having steeper/higher stands, this may be limited by the space and therefore ensuring they are safe, but they only give you about "half a head" elevation on those the step in front, and if you have a Radders stood in front of you, you will not see much!