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General Category => Altrincham FC First Team => Topic started by: wayno on March 01, 2014, 06:55:05 PM

Title: Moss lane
Post by: wayno on March 01, 2014, 06:55:05 PM
I didn't make it to the ground last week

But I was shocked to stand back and look at how tired our once proud ground is looking

I know the winds were bad but there are now several areas of roofing come off

A large fallen down wall

And the barriers round the ground look worn out

I know money does not grow on trees and improvements are not cheap but I wonder if any works are planned / can be afforded

We are in danger of a new facility on one side whilst the other side falls down :(
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: markecky on March 01, 2014, 07:03:23 PM
The community hall is designed to raise generate funds to maintain the ground.  That's one of the reasons for doing it.

Whilst the ground is tired, the winds ripping down that wall and parts of the roof off are out of the clubs control really and will be replaced on the insurance.

It's why fund raising remains a vital yet often ignored part of the football club.
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: wayno on March 01, 2014, 07:14:16 PM
The community hall is designed to raise generate funds to maintain the ground.  That's one of the reasons for doing it.

Whilst the ground is tired, the winds ripping down that wall and parts of the roof off are out of the clubs control really and will be replaced on the insurance.

It's why fund raising remains a vital yet often ignored part of the football club.
good to know we have insurance to cover the damage didn't think we would

And let's hope the community hall goes ahead to aid us longer term
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: AFC56 on March 01, 2014, 07:21:47 PM
While on the subject of the ground, does anybody know if the now huge scaffolding a permanent arrangement for alty tv? The highlights of the games are great but the scaffolding is ugly and restricts the view from the popular side massively.
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: RobinHood on March 01, 2014, 07:26:36 PM
Just out of interest, if the ground was renovated/improved/redeveloped/moved - what would your personal preferences/ideas include?

(Agree with the comments about the Pop side + Alty TV btw)
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: cheshire cat on March 01, 2014, 08:41:19 PM
The bit where the wall has blown down is just the right size for a big screen! We can dream.
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: eightiesrobin on March 01, 2014, 08:43:12 PM
Just out of interest, if the ground was renovated/improved/redeveloped/moved - what would your personal preferences/ideas include?

(Agree with the comments about the Pop side + Alty TV btw)

Ideally?  

Replace the pop side roof and give the main stand a new coat of cladding, or at least a coat of paint.

Install proper toilets at the Chequers end.

Knock down (probably do it with a couple of kicks!) the club shop and replace it with a brick-built structure.

Ditto the away end snack bar.

Plug the gaping hole in the advertising hoardings at the corner of Golf Road / pop side.

Get rid of the scaffolding at the open terrace and perhaps scale down that on the pop side.  
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: wayno on March 01, 2014, 09:09:09 PM
Just out of interest, if the ground was renovated/improved/redeveloped/moved - what would your personal preferences/ideas include?

(Agree with the comments about the Pop side + Alty TV btw)

Ideally?  

Replace the pop side roof and give the main stand a new coat of cladding, or at least a coat of paint.

Install proper toilets at the Chequers end.

Knock down (probably do it with a couple of kicks!) the club shop and replace it with a brick-built structure.

Ditto the away end snack bar.

Plug the gaping hole in the advertising hoardings at the corner of Golf Road / pop side.

Get rid of the scaffolding at the open terrace and perhaps scale down that on the pop side.  
that reminds me some kind soul has punched a hole in the chequers end toilets as well
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: markecky on March 01, 2014, 09:26:37 PM
I couldn't make it when they presented the future plans but that I know that that away end toilets, snack bar and the replacement of the wooden turnstiles were mentioned ( the secretly most rickety part of the ground!) and they would be done in the future if we can get an income stream from the community hall.
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: Jenga on March 01, 2014, 09:53:45 PM
Will this community hall really make that much money? I dont see it personally but i am sure the relevant people would have looked into it and have a good profitable business plan, because £500,000 to spend on it and not make money would be a travesty.
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: bumble on March 01, 2014, 10:04:32 PM
Will this community hall really make that much money? I dont see it personally but i am sure the relevant people would have looked into it and have a good profitable business plan, because £500,000 to spend on it and not make money would be a travesty.

if the bar sells jager, then we could fund a football league bid
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: markecky on March 01, 2014, 10:24:06 PM
It will provide a 5 - 7 day a week income instead of the once a fortnight we have now as well as allowing for the necessary changes to the dressing rooms and new matchday bar that doesn't leek. 

The club aren't spending £500,000 on it, a lot of it is grant funded.  So as well as the unseen benefits of bringing people to the ground on a midweek afternoon who may take an interest in the club it will be a regular income.  It certainly won't make millions but any profit it does make will be welcomed and will allow us to actually maintain the ground for example and maybe even increase the playing budget as well.

One thing is for sure, we can't keep on pouring every penny we have into the playing budget for another 10 years or the ground will crumble around us.  We have to invest in the future as well as chasing the Conference dream.

We should be very grateful that people have put years of work into giving us a chance to build something like this, I don't see it happening at many other grounds, even the ones with millionaires.

It would be very Alty to find some negatives of course..
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: Jenga on March 01, 2014, 11:01:05 PM
I do agree Ecky, my concern though is will people actually use it and will it generate the income expected or will people go the leisure centre for example.

Fingers cross it works out a treat and the club get something back from the hard work.

Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: Toff Apple on March 02, 2014, 10:18:00 AM
The bit where the wall has blown down is just the right size for a big screen! We can dream.
Like Mansfields
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: Timperley The Best on March 02, 2014, 10:22:35 AM
Has the grant for the community hall been confirmed yet and is the rest of the money likely to be raised?isnt work scheduled to begin in the pre season ?
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: PukkaPieman on March 02, 2014, 11:27:03 AM
Has the grant for the community hall been confirmed yet and is the rest of the money likely to be raised?isnt work scheduled to begin in the pre season ?

Please be patient Jack ;)
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: Jezza on March 02, 2014, 12:39:27 PM
as one who lived through the john maunders era with the actual falling down of the popular side, the destruction of what used to be stood on the family stand and the replacement of a portakabin with conifers....the only ground improvement was the flattening and tarmacking of the grass banks and the mega patio later to become home to the flaggers.......I have to say moss lane is looking in relatively tidy shape.......

The community hall will put right the loss of the old chequers original use and I just wish we'd had the community efforts whilst we were successful in the 70s 80s and early 90s as we may have held onto more fans from that era.....my passenger yesterday made the comment that he'd seen so many kids in alty shirts around town and on local football pitches that he assumed we were having a brilliant season....

For future development I'd like to see in order
a 3G pitch
a car park on the allotments (buy these and move them a mile away or something simple and we can hold a car boot and markets etc
a droyslden type terrace on the chequers end
A new cantilever main stand running the full length of the pitch with community hall and bar underneath and executive boxes/tv gantry at the top
A dane bank type terrace down the pop side
leave the golf road as it!!!
completion for 2017 season please  :)
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: Hamilton on March 02, 2014, 01:12:37 PM
as one who lived through the john maunders era with the actual falling down of the popular side, the destruction of what used to be stood on the family stand and the replacement of a portakabin with conifers....the only ground improvement was the flattening and tarmacking of the grass banks and the mega patio later to become home to the flaggers.......I have to say moss lane is looking in relatively tidy shape.......

The community hall will put right the loss of the old chequers original use and I just wish we'd had the community efforts whilst we were successful in the 70s 80s and early 90s as we may have held onto more fans from that era.....my passenger yesterday made the comment that he'd seen so many kids in alty shirts around town and on local football pitches that he assumed we were having a brilliant season....

For future development I'd like to see in order
a 3G pitch
a car park on the allotments (buy these and move them a mile away or something simple and we can hold a car boot and markets etc
a droyslden type terrace on the chequers end
A new cantilever main stand running the full length of the pitch with community hall and bar underneath and executive boxes/tv gantry at the top
A dane bank type terrace down the pop side
leave the golf road as it!!!
completion for 2017 season please  :)


The only trouble I see is local residents, who bought houses within a stones throw of a football stadium, complaining about football stadium things going on.
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: Bob on March 02, 2014, 01:31:06 PM
Biggest issues for me are:

The roofs on the Golf Road end and Popular Side, they are in very poor condition.  It's ironic that the central section of the Popular Side is one of the most modern and best parts of the ground yet a whole chunk of it is unusable because of scaffolding.

Sort the segregation fencing out properly on the Popular Side too.  In fact I'd say the Popular Side as a whole is a mess.

New toilets and snack bar at the Chequers End.

I don't see the need to spend fortunes building whole new stands and structures if they aren't going to bring money in.  It's largely tidying up and repairing what we already have.  On the whole we have a pretty decent ground.

Hopefully the Community Hall will help with the funding for this.  Even repairs cost a fair bit of money.

Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: markecky on March 02, 2014, 01:47:50 PM
We only fill the 13% of the capacity each fortnight so wouldn't make sense to build anything bigger.  Just maintain what we have and spend the rest on marketing.
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: Jimmy on March 02, 2014, 01:50:28 PM
Agree no need to expand but the ground looks tired
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: bumble on March 02, 2014, 02:10:30 PM
We only fill the 13% of the capacity each fortnight so wouldn't make sense to build anything bigger.  Just maintain what we have and spend the rest on marketing.

Our marketing efforts could definitely do with a boost. Wouldnt cost that much. Sponsorship would certainly cover a decent amount of it.
Title: Re: Moss lane
Post by: cheshire cat on March 02, 2014, 11:02:20 PM
The bit where the wall has blown down is just the right size for a big screen! We can dream.
Like Mansfields

Ha ha. I never knew they had one. I used to stand on the terraces at Field Mill in the seventies.

It didn't look that different from Moss Lane in those days. Some one came along with some money in the mean time.