Q&A Evening

[Fat Tom Daley]

The club would like to invite all supporters to the Bridge on Tuesday 18th February for a Q&A evening with manager Daryl McMahon, chairman Alex Sharp and vice-chairman Colin McBride. 

This will be held in the clubhouse and free to attend.

[cup of tea]

What a generous thing to do by all three, shows real openness with the football club and the fans.

 

[LukeXIX]

REMINDER! Tomorrow evening from 19:30 in the clubhouse. Your opportunity to ask all those pressing questions 

[Fat Tom Daley]

Just bumping this to the top for tonight. 

 

[cup of tea]

What a great evening - thank you to Alex, Colin and Daryl for being so open with the fans 

[Riversideman]

For those who didn’t attend will we get a summary of the Q&A?

[MikeMike]

I guess the most important item on the agenda was the leading item.
Alex explained in some depth why there was no future for Hornchurch at Bridge Avenue.
He told us that 3 sites had been offered by Havering Council with a view to building a new stadium.
The site on Park Farm Road (Alex referred to this as the place down the lanes so I’m guessing a bit here) was too isolated with no public transport.
A 2nd site at Wingletye Lane would have been perfect (Alex said 300 yards from my house) but it was too small. There is an outside chance of annexing some adjacent land also owned by the council which would give the necessary footprint but Alex had no confidence that it would happen.
The 3rd site is in London Road, Romford next to St. Edwards school. Alex admitted this wasn’t ideal but was the best offer on the table.
We then saw some outline design plans.
The plan showed a 1st team pitch with 4 all seater stands, a training pitch, 6 secondary pitches and plenty of parking.
The build would be phased with the 1st team pitch and training pitch being phase 1.
The main stand will be dual aspect allowing viewing of both the main pitch and the training pitch which would also be used by youth teams and other external rental.
Alex shared that his experience in his day job of building multi million pound data centres gave him the expectation of being up and running in 2 years.

On the footballing side, more things than I can remember but potted highlights.
Nathan Green was the only player released, all other players asked to leave for various reasons.
Daryl has turned down 2 job offers from higher level clubs.
Daryl is happier with the smaller squad as it gives more opportunity to give all the players the minutes they need.
Attendance levels are a concern. Budgets were set on the assumption that crowd numbers would go up but that hasn’t happened. Colin described this as the Geoff King effect. When Canvey were flying crowds were up but as soon as they weren’t winning everything the crowds reduced – and maybe that is the same for Hornchurch.
Daryl has no intention of repeating his Truro cameo, he revealed he didn’t even have boots or shin pads on when it was apparent he needed to go on. He also doesn’t miss playing and is enjoying his management career.
Alex and Daryl told us that Giles Phillips and Will Greenidge both asked to stay at Hornchurch after their loan period ended and they hope to continue to make connections with league clubs to develop their youth players.
 

There were some conversation points around how to further engage with the community to increase crowd numbers.
 

There was so much more but I’ll let others add their recollections.
There was a very good attendance, over 50 people I reckon.

Edited February 20 by MikeMike

[Riversideman]

Many thanks for your summary. I thought Romford fc had planning permission for a stadium on the Westlands site? 

[Old Codger]

I am going to preach heresy here.

I have not enjoyed this season at all, I much preferred the Isthmian League days and the number of away fixtures that were much nearer to attend, regardless of the results to a degree and I would prefer mid table Isthmian Premier to middish table National League South.

Whilst I appreciate that Bridge Avenue and the pitch are not to everyone's taste, it is a ground that we have become used to over the years (albeit it is technically in Upminster rather than Hornchurch) and the swap could be for some soulless stadium nearer to Romford town centre (as the previous contributor alluded to, this seems on the face of it to be the same site for which Romford already have planning approval although it is highly unlikely that their stadium will ever be built).

I am not sure which level Mr Sharp sees Hornchurch ultimately aiming for, but it will take a very substantial investment just to keep the team playing at National South level for a club which, to be quite frank, is only ever likely to have limited support and is currently way down the list of average attendances for the league. 

I await being shot down in flames.

[Phil 1986]

28 minutes ago, Old Codger said:

I am going to preach heresy here.

I have not enjoyed this season at all, I much preferred the Isthmian League days and the number of away fixtures that were much nearer to attend, regardless of the results to a degree and I would prefer mid table Isthmian Premier to middish table National League South.

Whilst I appreciate that Bridge Avenue and the pitch are not to everyone's taste, it is a ground that we have become used to over the years (albeit it is technically in Upminster rather than Hornchurch) and the swap could be for some soulless stadium nearer to Romford town centre (as the previous contributor alluded to, this seems on the face of it to be the same site for which Romford already have planning approval although it is highly unlikely that their stadium will ever be built).

I am not sure which level Mr Sharp sees Hornchurch ultimately aiming for, but it will take a very substantial investment just to keep the team playing at National South level for a club which, to be quite frank, is only ever likely to have limited support and is currently way down the list of average attendances for the league. 

I await being shot down in flames.

Alex, Colin and Daryl spoke very well around the plan for the club and the aspirations. The new stadium does sound and feel like the way forward - the plans looked incredible and with Alex and Co in charge the funding sounded secure - we are very lucky….. 

The club has aspirations of being full time and going into the conference…

The future looks very bright and exciting.

[Robh 1962]

On 20/02/2025 at 19:03, Phil 1986 said:

Alex, Colin and Daryl spoke very well around the plan for the club and the aspirations. The new stadium does sound and feel like the way forward - the plans looked incredible and with Alex and Co in charge the funding sounded secure - we are very lucky….. 

The club has aspirations of being full time and going into the conference…

The future looks very bright and exciting.

It’s very hard to imagine getting any further than the conference south as frankly there’s barely enough People coming through the gates to even stay in this league. How can we pay to go full time? It’s just not sustainable. All clubs have a ceiling based on potential support. I think ours is closer to the isthmian premier than the conference. Thats not being negative just realistic. 
I can also understand the previous posters comments about not enjoying the football. It has been dull for a lot of games which has impacted the gates. 

[Phil 1986]

7 hours ago, Robh 1962 said:

It’s very hard to imagine getting any further than the conference south as frankly there’s barely enough People coming through the gates to even stay in this league. How can we pay to go full time? It’s just not sustainable. All clubs have a ceiling based on potential support. I think ours is closer to the isthmian premier than the conference. Thats not being negative just realistic. 
I can also understand the previous posters comments about not enjoying the football. It has been dull for a lot of games which has impacted the gates. 

On the finances when the new pitches are ready the club will have regular income that’s not match day related and so means we can be self sufficient. Alex and the board have great plans for the club, our 1st year in the con. South will result in success and as staying it in and building the club status in the league. 

[aka PeteBeatz]

There’s no point in having a football club unless you have ambitions, so we’ll done to the club. Yes attendance is an issue like most non league clubs in East London but income isn’t just about bums on seats. I’m certain a modern new ground would encourage more to attend. 

[cup of tea]

Not going to go into too much detail but this is the most excited I’ve been about the football club in the 21 years I’ve been supporting Hornchurch. As for playing in the Vanarama South, that’s what we’ve been aiming for in the last three seasons, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone where we are now. Do you rather go to Canvey or Torquay? I know my preference. As for staying at the bridge , anyone that was there on Tuesday knows the score and knows our future isn’t there.

Great that the board is showing ambition, thank you to them and to Daryl and his team for trying to play good football (where circumstances allow)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 22 by cup of tea

[Riversideman]

I’ve been a supporter for near on 30 years. I personally like our stadium and have enjoyed our time there. One question - are we having to move? Is Havering selling the land for housing? On the options, it’s sad that my son’s old school will be losing most ,if not all ,of their playing field. As a school governor, if Havering’s intention is to sell the site ,it will be a great loss to all the schools that use the site for their children. You say there would be ample parking, but as someone who lives within walking distance , it is mostly resident parking operating Monday to Saturday up to 8pm. I hope the finance is secure as we’ve been here before. Finally, my feeling is that the support comes from the local area so they will only travel if the parking is guaranteed. Bigger crowds will only come if we start to win.

[MikeMike]

Alex told us that Havering Council do have plans for the Bridge Avenue site and are keen to see the club relocated.
The plans for the new ground include plenty of parking on the Romford site.

Edited February 22 by MikeMike

[cup of tea]

I trust our chairman and the board , if anyone doesn’t think that the football club hasn’t looked at all possibilities to stay at the Bridge then I suggest they approach a member of the board (who I always found to be approachable) and discuss it with them. 

[Old Codger]

If I am being quite honest I would rather go to Canvey than Torquay with all the time and expense involved in getting to the west country.

Doesn't the club have a lease on Bridge Avenue from Havering Council?

If Havering Council does wish the club to move do they have to offer a financial incentive other than just offering the site?

Will the site be owned by Havering Council and the club still beholding to them for a long lease?

[cup of tea]

3 hours ago, Old Codger said:

If I am being quite honest I would rather go to Canvey than Torquay with all the time and expense involved in getting to the west country.

Doesn't the club have a lease on Bridge Avenue from Havering Council?

If Havering Council does wish the club to move do they have to offer a financial incentive other than just offering the site?

Will the site be owned by Havering Council and the club still beholding to them for a long lease?

I’m assuming you were not there Tuesday then. Yes we still have the remainder of the lease on bridge avenue to run but for reasons I won’t go into here it will be extremely difficult to see out the remainder of that lease. Please feel free to contact a member of the Hornchurch board on match day. As for Torquay , there was a heavily subsidised coach laid on by the supporters association, it wouldn’t have been much cheaper to go to Canvey unless you drove or got a lift off someone (although it was a far longer journey admittedly). I think the question you have to ask yourself is if we do have to leave Bridge Avenue then what happens next? We’ve seen what happened to Romford with no permanent home and that could happen to us. 

[urchinman1961]

5 hours ago, cup of tea said:

I’m assuming you were not there Tuesday then. Yes we still have the remainder of the lease on bridge avenue to run but for reasons I won’t go into here it will be extremely difficult to see out the remainder of that lease. Please feel free to contact a member of the Hornchurch board on match day. As for Torquay , there was a heavily subsidised coach laid on by the supporters association, it wouldn’t have been much cheaper to go to Canvey unless you drove or got a lift off someone (although it was a far longer journey admittedly). I think the question you have to ask yourself is if we do have to leave Bridge Avenue then what happens next? We’ve seen what happened to Romford with no permanent home and that could happen to us. 

Give me Truro,Torquay,Bath and Weymouth away any day