Wexham Park

[Barry Scott]

I think the point is that if Windsor are producing relegation fodder with the £25k rent and all the sundry income we bring in every match day, just how badly would Windsor be doing without it. Yes you would have a ground, but you'd also be in Ryman Division 2. I'd much prefer to homeless and in the Ryman Premier thanks.

[Ian]

That touched a raw nerve then! Of course you'll never get kicked out but you still have to fund a team and that's not going to happen without subsiding your income which we're doing at present.

 

If we leave Stag Meadow next season (and I don't think we will) we will have a ground to play at and you won't have a major chunk of revenue. Are we buggered without Martyn? Yes, probably, but no more than you're buggered without the person/people that bankroll Windsor. Neither club is going to survive on gate revenue but that wasn't my point, was it?

[Chris]

Quote:

We've been over this haven't we? Ryman rules want minimum security on the lease of seven years. Why would Mayfair want to grant us a minimum seven year lease which would preclude them from cashing in on their investment for that period if the existing restrictions on the use of the land were to change?

 

Not 100% sure that's still an issue. I think Gary Chappell did a story a while back about this where there was some kind of loophole whereby we could return to Wexham Park without needing the 7-year lease. Can't remember exactly what it was mind you(!), but I remember there being various quotes from Turvey in it. Anyway, does not really matter, because as far as I know nobody is or has been in touch with Byron Thorne from the club?

[Tom]

It should be noted that alot of time and effort would have to be put into bringing the ground up to standard too.

 

I also doubt the club has the money to finance this, so any work would have to be done by a group of volunteers and I'm sure many people wouldn't readly put themselves forward for this.

[Don Juan DeMarcus]

Hopefully getting the final word....

 

1) We will never be able to afford the money to move back to Wexham (30 mill for the land roughly)

 

2) Windsor a getting a great deal out of us BUT without them we would be fuked! because a)

 

2a) As said before Burnham is lovely but fully booked.

 

2b) Maidenhead is a shithole but a possibility.

 

2c) Im sure beaconsfield Sycob would not meet the Prem requirement (If we manage to win a few more and stay up)

 

d) Colnbrook- anyone heard a word about this since the opening week of the season?

 

e) Martin Deaner- Deserves no abuse at all as without him we'd be screwed many moons ago but is his heart with us whilst his son plays just down the road?

 

f) Sorry- im feeling pessamistic but!

 

1) We will not play at Wexham Park again.

 

2) Tony Boot will not come back

 

Hopefully that should save people a lot of effort asking over the next year or so...

 

PPS [****!!****] im sounding like Liam!

[Barry Scott]

Marcus, Mayfair have offered the stadium and the car park (and possibly the driving range) for the knockdown price of £3million, not £30million which I believe includes the land behind the ground.

 

And yet again I have to question why everyone believes that returning to Wexham Park would suddenly make us more stable than we are. We'd be paying rent (just like we are at Windsor) and all the money spent in the bar and on food would not go to the football club (just like at Windsor). So can we PLEASE stop bringing it up as a viable alternative, because at the moment it's another ground we'd have to share just like all our other options except Wexham is falling to pieces and would need and even larger payment than the £25,000 we pay windsor to play there just to get it back to scratch before we even start paying the rent.

[GarySTFC]

On top of the rent would be the ground maintenance and pitch maintenance as well...

[Don Juan DeMarcus]

It would take a good 30K to sort out the stadium

 

Liam-cheers didnt know about the 3 mil

[brighton_rebel]

Maybe there should be a question and answer type thing on the website about various options, why we are playing at windsor etc, but i can't blame people for going over old ground cos it is frustrating playing out of the town and we are seriously losing fans because of it.

If i win the lottery i promise to buy wexham park, once i've bought Zoe lots of nice clothes.

[Windsor_Sec]

Quote:

Ian said:
That touched a raw nerve then! Of course you'll never get kicked out but you still have to fund a team and that's not going to happen without subsiding your income which we're doing at present.
If we leave Stag Meadow next season (and I don't think we will) we will have a ground to play at and you won't have a major chunk of revenue. Are we buggered without Martyn? Yes, probably, but no more than you're buggered without the person/people that bankroll Windsor. Neither club is going to survive on gate revenue but that wasn't my point, was it?

No, that wasn't your point Ian, your point was that you [in your opinion] felt you were in a stronger position than us regarding the groundshare deal and I [in my opinion] didn't feel that was the case, no raw nerves touched just a common sense reply I felt!
Now don't take this the wrong way, but in many ways I feel the groundshare has had a detrimental effect on us as we have become somewhat complacent with the £25k buffer your club pays us. By that I mean I think we as a club have become a little bit lazy in our fundraising activities like advertising boards, sponsorship, etc, but that is our problem and one that will need to be addressed if or when the groundshare deal ceases to be!
I personally have no problems whatsoever with the groundshare deal [apart from sorting out the fixtures!] as I have made many new friends amongst the Slough supporters and it's nice to be able to watch the odd game where I'm not involved now and again, apart from which the money invariably helps the club as well, but for anyone to suggest we're totally reliant on that money is complete nonsense as I said before!
We survived for 13 years in the Premier Division before without groundshare deals and only went into a nosedive because a 'money man' took control of a well-run club and turned it into a poorly-run business. We faced the embarrassment of successive relegations to Division Three and the subsequent climb back to where we are now, but we have come back as a much stronger club in terms of the set-up [despite our current performances on the field!]. We could have gone the same way as the Wokingham's of this world but we didn't, which in itself must be testimony to the way this board and previous ones have turned the club around.
I hope that your club never has to suffer in the same way we did as I wouldn't wish it upon anyone [alright a few clubs do spring to mind <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />] but, at the the same time, in a strange sort of way it does lead to a sort of re-birth that can only be for the good and certainly teaches you never to assume that everything's ok.
I fully expect a number of non-league clubs will go to the wall over the next couple of seasons simply because they cannot adapt to the current financial climate. I certainly don't think we will be one of them as we've learnt our lesson and I hope that your club can do the same!

[Burnham Lad]

Reading the response to the original query is a very dispiriting performance.

 

What is actually being said, since all the expenses which would need to be incurred to get Wexham Park back as a going proposition apply to any other ground as well. Effectively, if they are right, this means we can never afford our own ground again, so we might as well get used to being another Ryman Nomad club until Mr Deaner finally decides he is not going to get anywhere and pulls the plug - possibly at the end of the season.

 

Without a rich benefactor we have had it - we could not even afford to stay at Windsor....... Maybe the new Company has some ideas, but judging from their performance in communication so far this season, it is unlikely.

 

At least Wexham was a football ground - do those who keep rubbishing the idea see another one anywhere?

[Martin]

People are just being practical and using a bit of common sense when it comes to "rubbishing" the idea of a return to Wexham Park.

 

I think the continuing existence of Wexham Park is one of the biggest hurdles the club faces. We are a homeless football team but many councillors (who should know better) and the general public (many of whom are interested in the existence of the club if not active supporters) see a football stadium sitting in Slough and cannot understand why it is not in use. Without repeating myself for the umpteenth time explaining this subject all I would say is that it is time that the Council did something and they have two options:

 

1) Force through some meaningful planning application/reclassifying the land that allows Byron Thorne to demolish the ground and develop the whole site for millions or

 

2) Place a compulsory order on the site and lease back the ground to the Trust for 999 years.

 

Otherwise the site will continue to be run into the ground and will prove to be the ultimate white elephant that puts the mockers on any semblance of a meaningful campaign for "a football ground in Slough"

[Guest]

It is mentioned that Burnham would not welcome Slough to ground share, for what reason ?. I was there on Saturday in a crowd of 103 comprising of about 25 away supporters and about 10 Slough supporters that I recognised. Although car parking may be a problem I am sure they would welcome a regular crowd of 300ish and the extra revenue that it brings. They may have let out their ground for some matches, but the crowds are very small. The playing surface is not very big play decent football. Unfortunately because of the Windsor surface players often take a couple of touches on the ball which slows down momentum and ususally allows somebody of the opposition but it is a decent surface and Slough do try and time to clatter into them, hence some decent performances away from home.

Without provoking controversy, Uxbridge is a well equipped ground who are poorly supported. Although I still go to games,in my opinion to me, Windsor is one of the poorer grounds in the area.

No offence to Windor it is just my opinion.

[A Rebel and a Saint]

Quote:

Anonymous said:
It is mentioned that Burnham would not welcome Slough to ground share, for what reason ?.

this has been said anon, eton wick play their midweek games at burnham, in the unlikely event that a groundshare there would happen, we would not be able to play any midweek games at 'home', including not get drawn at home in the league cup, nor play rearranged fixtures/replays. i think this would lead to a backlog of fixtures a hell of a lot worse than last year!

[Guest]

Eton Wick do not play any matches at Burnham. They played a couple last season when they had a fixture congestion and no where else to go.

[A Rebel and a Saint]

Quote:

Chav Killer said:
Eton Wick play their midweek games at Burnham so that's out of the question

was just going on what was said

[Barry Scott]

what i heard was Eton Wick's floodlights were rubbish and so had to play their midweek games at Burnham. If it's changed I apologise, but if all these people have these great ideas as to where we are going to play, why aren't they suggesting them to the club's owners?

[brighton_rebel]

Eton Wick's floodlights really are rubbish, infact they are non existant

[stokepogesrebel]

i no its a bit off topic but has anyone else seen the sign in wexham that still says slough town fc

[A Rebel and a Saint]

all the turnstile signs are still there too!