Thames Sports Investment

[ZacNaloen]

And more importantly, if there is something dodgy then I'm bloody glad they were so careful about it all.

[Hampshire Royal]

I've met Ian Hislop - he's (in my opinion) a slimy little git (although very intelligent) who flies the banner of truth and honesty, but in reality is full of self-importance.

[winchester_royal]

Very similar to the Telegraph article, people reading too much into the fact that it's taking a while to go through. Predictable but thoroughly boring.

I'll trust my own eyes thanks, and from what I saw on Tuesday night, as well as what we've heard since, there's nothing to be worried about it.

[Uke]

And more importantly, if there is something dodgy then I'm bloody glad they were so careful about it all.

It's in the Eye 1312 Pg 32-33

Some of your link is copied wholesale from the Eye, linking Samuelson's with "crashed" helicopters, money-laundering, etc.

Wionder why Samuelson is not suing the Eye for defamation of character?

Oh...

The FL and the PL can take as long as they bloody well want and reject it if they want

However, if I was SJM I'd stay away from helicopters - they sound unreliable and can crash

[Chaney]

SJM has just announced the TSI deal should be completed next week - FL (RT).

Ive looked and I can`t see anywhere he made that statement.

[winchester_royal]

SJM has just announced the TSI deal should be completed next week - FL (RT).

Ive looked and I can`t see anywhere he made that statement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17789683?

[Royal With Cheese]

I've met Ian Hislop - he's (in my opinion) a slimy little git (although very intelligent) who flies the banner of truth and honesty, but in reality is full of self-importance.

Sounds like an old version of Nicky Campbell.

[Friday's Legacy]

SJM has just announced the TSI deal should be completed next week - FL (RT).

Ive looked and I can`t see anywhere he made that statement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17789683?

Shame TalkSport didn't read that article before blowing things out of proportion today and claiming this was becoming a farce. All future buyouts will be conducted with a lot more care, it just seems we are the first where they've been so careful since the Portsmouth fiasco twice over. It's a good thing and should be welcomed.

[ZacNaloen]

There's also the fact that the media got wind of it very quickly, should only have come to light in the last few weeks really.

[Ian Royal]

SJM has just announced the TSI deal should be completed next week - FL (RT).

AZ plans expansion to 38k next summer if we stay up.

He's an idiot then, if true.

Who'd have thought you'd manage to find a negative and criticise the club somehow.

[Royal Lady]

Well, personally, I can't see us filling 30K regularly after next season, let alone 38k, unless the ticket prices are significantly lower than they currently are.

I'd still try for 30k first and see how that goes. 38k all in one go seems madness to me. Still, at least more seats will mean you'll be there every week eh?

[melonhead]

significantly lower than they currently are.

what do you want? blood?

agree that 30 first would be better, but maybe we save alot of money doing it one go.
and i certainly dont see us struggling to fill 30k at least half the time in the prem.
if its the upper tier, we can just close it when not needed, and then its no drain on finance or atmosphere

[Ian Royal]

Well, personally, I can't see us filling 30K regularly after next season, let alone 38k, unless the ticket prices are significantly lower than they currently are.

I'd still try for 30k first and see how that goes. 38k all in one go seems madness to me. Still, at least more seats will mean you'll be there every week eh?

Seat availability has rarely prevented me going. No chance I'll be there every week when it'll cost me a minimum of £70 a game. More like £100.

I don't have £2300 spare in my salary. I can probably manage £1000.

[Friday's Legacy]

Well, personally, I can't see us filling 30K regularly after next season, let alone 38k, unless the ticket prices are significantly lower than they currently are.

I'd still try for 30k first and see how that goes. 38k all in one go seems madness to me. Still, at least more seats will mean you'll be there every week eh?

The club haven't said it will be done all in one go. In fact the initial plans were to do it in stages, as per the PDF in the expansion thread in Policies.

[Royal Lady]

Well, personally, I can't see us filling 30K regularly after next season, let alone 38k, unless the ticket prices are significantly lower than they currently are.

I'd still try for 30k first and see how that goes. 38k all in one go seems madness to me. Still, at least more seats will mean you'll be there every week eh?

The club haven't said it will be done all in one go. In fact the initial plans were to do it in stages, as per the PDF in the expansion thread in Policies.

My original statement was in response to this:

Cobi wrote:
AZ plans expansion to 38k next summer if we stay up.

[Royalee]

Well, personally, I can't see us filling 30K regularly after next season, let alone 38k, unless the ticket prices are significantly lower than they currently are.

I'd still try for 30k first and see how that goes. 38k all in one go seems madness to me. Still, at least more seats will mean you'll be there every week eh?

Why? Have a look at our attendances from 2007/8 - even when we were struggling we sold out the majority of games. The ones which weren't 24,000 were where segregation and poor away support limited us. If we can sell out 24,000 against Portsmouth, Fulham and Sunderland when we're playing abysmally, then it's rather laughable for you to think that we couldn't regularly sell out 30,000 against half decent sides.

[Friday's Legacy]

Well, personally, I can't see us filling 30K regularly after next season, let alone 38k, unless the ticket prices are significantly lower than they currently are.

I'd still try for 30k first and see how that goes. 38k all in one go seems madness to me. Still, at least more seats will mean you'll be there every week eh?

The club haven't said it will be done all in one go. In fact the initial plans were to do it in stages, as per the PDF in the expansion thread in Policies.

My original statement was in response to this:

Cobi wrote:
AZ plans expansion to 38k next summer if we stay up.

To begin the process, yes. Have a read of the PDF and it states in there that all three stands will not be done at the same time.

[Ian Royal]

It's always about negativity.

If we upgrade our stadium what happens if we're shit in 5-6 years? Yeah, well one of the ways to make sure we arn't shit in 5-6 years, is to grow the club. And the only way to do that is to expand the stadium so it's easier for fans to come, which means more opportunities to get people hooked.

If we've got a 24,000 seater stadium, with 18,000 STHs and 2,000 away fans... that leaves a maximum of 4,000 who can come to any game. That's tiny. It means there are no special offers, because they'll sell most of the tickets regardless.

With 30,000, we could have 20,000 STHs, room for 4,000 away fans, and still have room for 2,000 extra infrequent visitors. Even then we'd probably get close to selling out half the games in the Prem., with or without promotions. At least for the first couple of years.

Add in kids for a quid, STHs bring a mate for a fiver / tenner... £20 tickets offers... Hell, we could have a cheap section that you could only get 5 tickets a season on any one member card... Loads of ways to attract new fans, families, or causal supporters for the odd games.

It's not like we haven't trippled our average attendence in the last 15 years by building a new stadium and spending more time at a higher level. We can fecking andd another 50% by taking the next step.

[Friday's Legacy]

Actually Ian, when we were in the PL the last time there was only 3000 seats available after STH's and away allocation. 30,000 is more than reasonable and a must do. The rest we will have to wait and see, but if we grow as TSI want us to, then it will be full - certainly on the big occasions while the support base increases.

[Royalee]

It's always about negativity.

If we upgrade our stadium what happens if we're shit in 5-6 years? Yeah, well one of the ways to make sure we arn't shit in 5-6 years, is to grow the club. And the only way to do that is to expand the stadium so it's easier for fans to come, which means more opportunities to get people hooked.

If we've got a 24,000 seater stadium, with 18,000 STHs and 2,000 away fans... that leaves a maximum of 4,000 who can come to any game. That's tiny. It means there are no special offers, because they'll sell most of the tickets regardless.

With 30,000, we could have 20,000 STHs, room for 4,000 away fans, and still have room for 2,000 extra infrequent visitors. Even then we'd probably get close to selling out half the games in the Prem., with or without promotions. At least for the first couple of years.

Add in kids for a quid, STHs bring a mate for a fiver / tenner... £20 tickets offers... Hell, we could have a cheap section that you could only get 5 tickets a season on any one member card... Loads of ways to attract new fans, families, or causal supporters for the odd games.

It's not like we haven't trippled our average attendence in the last 15 years by building a new stadium and spending more time at a higher level. We can fecking andd another 50% by taking the next step.

100% agreed.