Ground Up Grades

just had a read of the info on flansiro.net. UFEA want a lot of ground up grades to gurantee a home european tie in july, €200,000 on a flood light system, media centre, alinement of seating, resurfacing of car park, refurbished dressing rooms, etc.

right i agree with some of this, decent media centre for one, and in the car park even though a lot of el clubs don't even have a car park of any sort, i should know its impossible to get out of my apartment when pats are playing.

flood lights yes, when you see highlights on tv 3 ( not very often ) the pitch does look very dark...

do we have the finances to cover these improvment....can they be done in time.....and how come the ground was good enough two years ago but now is not, is it the licence thing ????

The FAI were reported to have money available so that the clubs that qualified for European competition would be able to make any improvements that were deemed neccessary. Hopefully this is still the case.

I think the figures mentioned were in the region of 650,000yoyo per club, although I'm open to correction.

I would say that's just the ground elements of the licence - there's a hell of a lot on the admin/financial side, which I think are more of an issue....

On the Car Park thing - it's not the car park per se, it's loose surfaces around the ground....

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Originally posted by tiktok
I think the figures mentioned were in the region of 650,000yoyo per club, although I'm open to correction.

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AFAIK, it's not necessarily an even split - if the clubs come up with the bucks to match the grant money (25%), then they may get more.... From what was coming out towards the tail end of last season, the ground would need €300-400k to get up to scratch...

the car park thing is a mess anyway. no access for disabled supporters. what is wrong with the seating ??

the grapevine had it that these improvements were required for licencing anyway. there's bigs improvements needs in the terraces and the area outside the ground is classified as a car park and not loose surfaces around the ground and thus need tarmac. The terraces will need filling, the kiosk will be knocked. There's not alot there we didn't know about.

The biggest changes are on the admin front. I think filling the accounts is the biggest part. Don't we need a FT person in there?

The biggest annoyance is that the pitch needs lengthening.:mad:

if our pitch needs to be made longer what is the story with the likes of highbury, its bloody tiny !!! will seating have to be moved to allow this to happen ???

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Originally posted by max power
if our pitch needs to be made longer what is the story with the likes of highbury, its bloody tiny !!! will seating have to be moved to allow this to happen ???

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I remember the pitch at the Cross was the same dimensions as Highbury before our pitch was made longer.

Yers cant be much smaller than ours can it?

the sides were brought in last season, so it is a smaller pitch square foot wise...

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Originally posted by max power
the sides were brought in last season, so it is a smaller pitch square foot wise...

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that was just tatical...

didn't work too well ??? it also made the area for the managers close to regulation size didn't it, not that pat dolan or stephen kenny stayed in it anyway !!!

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Originally posted by Macy
that was just tactical...

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which was silly... our strength is in the space and width....

the pitch thing was just stupid

The pitch has to be extended by just under a yard at both ends, which we have loads of room to do it. Width wise we are ok. As said before, media centre, new Flood lights (€200,000) have to be installed, all the terraces seats have to be taken out & the steps/gaps have to be filled, & also a section has to be roofed...No harm!

Separate entrance, toilets & shop for away fans, all the walls have to be plastered & Car park has to be tarmac & also a separate entrance for players & officials (which there is room behind the unfinished section, access gained by the lane),the unfinished section has to be completed finally I think the dressing room floors have to be tiled & have proper heating.

There just the ones I know. The last I heard the club estimated that it will cost about €1 M to complete & we need to raise about €250,000 ourselves, & get the rest through the grant.

Suppose that lane will have to be lit?

Will supporters be required to volunteer again?

That's jumped a hell of a lot since the end of last season, hasn't it? The figure talked about then was €400,000.

Personally, I think the pitch length is an embarrassment... We knew that if we beat Lovech we wouldn't be able to play the next round at home - it's not like we were stuck for space. I'm not even going to start on the fact that the stand is the wrong side of the ground!

The ground thing needed doing badly at this stage anyway, and I seriously believe if we could get both ends covered (at least) it would lead to increased attendances when the weather is bad. If the part timers only had to brave the weather between car and the turnstyles....

Thank you Gheewhizz for highlighting what has to be done.It is a lot of work but estimates of around €1m seem a bit much.Are the club going to start the work straight away or wait and see how things go.The main things they must get done is open the Bar and cover all of the seating, at least when we qualify for europe again we will be in proper shape as a club.All a bar can do is generate income and i just can't figure out why it still hasn't opened.I thought the supporters club had the money and the furniture.This actually ****es we off as it has been promised twice now and still no sign.Someone tell me what's going on with this.As regards covering in the seating this will make it a more comfortable experience watching a match, create a better atmosphere and let's be honest about it, It would look class.More people might actually get off there hole and come out and watch a match.Now that we have the chance to build on something let's not ruin it.On our 1st season in the premier division we had more people through our gates than any other club, now we scrape about 1200 on a good night even though we are a better and more successful side.In my opinion ( and a i am a Longford through and through and have followed the town home and away for 15 years now ) people in Longford must be the most fickle in the country.We have something not many other towns have, the chance to support a team which is good at the sport it partakes in and yet most of us couldn't be bothered putting in a small bit of effort and going to the LTFC play.People could use it as a family thing that they all do together.The town could sell family tickets for €25 or all kids under 10 free in.This may get people out to the matches but we will only know if it is tried, marketed and pushed.As for the rest of those people it is up to me and you to get them to go to match.Maybe the lure of a few cheaper pints might be the bait that makes them bite who knows but we must get the Bar open and it must be run properly and not just there to rob us.Something like €3 for a pint of stout & €3.25 for pints of lager,beer & cider & €1.50 for a soft drink.These are resonable prices for the punter yet the club can make money off it.Surely the club would sell enough pints on match day ( open at 6pm & close at 10.30pm ) to generate €1000 per game.I know i'd be out earlier, go straight to the bar @ half time then stay a while after the match and probably end up spending at least €20.Surely this must highlight the importance of a Bar and i could go on and on but i won't for now.

great points wiseguy, its all about promoting the club and gaining revenue.....when you enter the town there is a pat the baker bread board with the fixture on it, there should be a full side bill board, saying welcome to longford, the home of LTFC, proudly sponsered by Flancare, next home game 21 march ............


the same at the ground, the bar thing is a mess, great potential for 21st etc, i have already said, i will sponser a sound system for the bar with mic speakers etc !!!


we need to move to the next level, NOW !!!

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when you enter the town there is a pat the baker bread board with the fixture on it, there should be a full side bill board, saying welcome to longford, the home of LTFC, proudly sponsered by Flancare, next home game 21 march

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excellent one there Max...

i've been wondering about that for a while......its a business not just a football club !!!

i think the shop in the shopping centre should be open every saturday during the season....

managers message to the fans in the leader each week and on the web site too.....

some things to keep the profile of the club in peoples head, if you don't know there is a match on how do you go and of course going to the schools with the cup and regular coaching sessions with players who can attend, if keegen is full time there is a way for him to earn his keep