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Post by The Rover on May 20, 2018 10:45:12 GMT
The Dell was a great stadium and I have very enjoyable memories of taking the kids there every other week but with season tickets in row 3 and the rain pouring off the gutters down our necks and the 'interesting' plumbing, St Mary's was a great improvement if a lot less atmospheric. That last game was rather special though. It's a pity it isn't easier to get to and park nearby though.
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Post by saintsfan73 on May 20, 2018 15:25:27 GMT
As SF73 says, it was sad to see the end of The Dell, with all it's quirkyness, but there was also the excitement of moving to St.Mary's, which after all, was close to St.Mary's Church, where the club was founded. A new bigger stadium, with unrestricted views and close to the foundation point of the club, what was not to like? Having said that, I still sometimes return to where The Dell used to be for a bit of nostalgia, thinking about games half-forgotten. What was the opinion about the design of st mary’s? It’s nothing special tbh. It’s very hard to tell the difference with the Leicester or Derby county stadium for example. You have to remember the type of club we were when we desperately needed a new stadium. Unlike the majority of PL teams we had no sugar daddy. In fact we were a plc listed on the stock exchange which fans could actually buy shares in. As such there was no chance of having the ability to think of design considerations. It was remarkable that the whole stadium was built for only 10m more than Carrillo cost and a great credit to those running the club at the time. The transport criticisms aren’t really valid. It’s far nearer the city centre than most new stadiums. Having its own rail station was never going to happen as it would cost far more than the club or council could afford to have a station in use only 20 days a year. As far as car travel goes, yes it can take 20 mins after the game to get off Brittania Road but from there it’s only 10 mins to the motorway. Also there is a great amount of parking around the stadium in industrial units which is very handy.
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Post by thestartledsaint on May 20, 2018 17:59:53 GMT
Us non-locals couldn't get in the Dell, St Mary's opened up the support to more people, I could get a season ticket for the first time ever. So I don't miss The Dell like a lot of you guys do. I did manage to get into the last game v Brighton through my Brighton mates and sat in the away end.* We were lucky that the early 80s coincided with my parent's retirement. Back then there was a Saints Shop in Newport and Mum and Dad had nothing better to do than go there to buy match tickets while Drew and I were at work. Never in the same place twice but it meant we could get in during the Keegan, Channon, Ball, Jordan, Worthington era when tickets were like gold dust. Once we got Memberships we ended up in the Milton and that was where we were sat for both the Arsenal and Brighton matches. *There's only one Uwe Rossler! Lucky indeed.
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Post by channonite on May 20, 2018 20:40:36 GMT
It may an identikit stadium at the moment, but there are plans in existence to develop both the stadium and the surrounding site, contingent on acquiring the gravel site between the stadium and the riverfront. The fact that Gao's company actually builds sports stadiums in China may, or may not have some bearing on it. As Spot and Tone have said the grass is always green. We commented at the Manchester City game that by this stage of the season at the Dell, there was more sand on the pitch than on the average Cornish beach. That is something I don't miss. No I didn't. I don't disagree but this is my first post on the thread. You are absolutely right of course. It was Crash that said it
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Post by yateleysaint on May 21, 2018 7:08:22 GMT
As a kid I started off in the Junior Saints section at The Dell and then graduated to the Milton. I stopped going when I was no longer a kid, it went all-seater and the ticket price therefore quadrupled. Then I went away to uni and was enthused in my absence by the building of SMS. I could get a ticket without any problem for the first time in about 5 years and soon bought a season ticket. The Dell was quirky but it was a dump. SMS is a flat pack stadium but it’s worthy of a top division team and it’s near town.
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Post by THE BEAST on May 21, 2018 7:16:48 GMT
What was the opinion about the design of st mary’s? It’s nothing special tbh. It’s very hard to tell the difference with the Leicester or Derby county stadium for example. You have to remember the type of club we were when we desperately needed a new stadium. Unlike the majority of PL teams we had no sugar daddy. In fact we were a plc listed on the stock exchange which fans could actually buy shares in. As such there was no chance of having the ability to think of design considerations. It was remarkable that the whole stadium was built for only 10m more than Carrillo cost and a great credit to those running the club at the time. The transport criticisms aren’t really valid. It’s far nearer the city centre than most new stadiums. Having its own rail station was never going to happen as it would cost far more than the club or council could afford to have a station in use only 20 days a year. As far as car travel goes, yes it can take 20 mins after the game to get off Brittania Road but from there it’s only 10 mins to the motorway. Also there is a great amount of parking around the stadium in industrial units which is very handy. bollocks, It often takes an hour to reach the motorway, Building anything that relies on road transport To Get You There is stupid and talking about how cheap Your stadium is give you an idea about how fecking soulless and generic it is (and also completely ignores 20 years of inflation, the rise in costs for both Labour and materials as well as the massive increase in income Premier league teams have had) Also, if they'd put a Station in it would have been used every day of the week you prat, as you pointed out, it's in the middle of an industrial estate, and also in the middle of a housing estate, why would all the people going to and from those places not use it?
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Post by channonite on May 21, 2018 7:24:43 GMT
You have to remember the type of club we were when we desperately needed a new stadium. Unlike the majority of PL teams we had no sugar daddy. In fact we were a plc listed on the stock exchange which fans could actually buy shares in. As such there was no chance of having the ability to think of design considerations. It was remarkable that the whole stadium was built for only 10m more than Carrillo cost and a great credit to those running the club at the time. The transport criticisms aren’t really valid. It’s far nearer the city centre than most new stadiums. Having its own rail station was never going to happen as it would cost far more than the club or council could afford to have a station in use only 20 days a year. As far as car travel goes, yes it can take 20 mins after the game to get off Brittania Road but from there it’s only 10 mins to the motorway. Also there is a great amount of parking around the stadium in industrial units which is very handy. bollocks, It often takes an hour to reach the motorway, Building anything that relies on road transport To Get You There is stupid and talking about how cheap Your stadium is give you an idea about how fecking soulless and generic it is (and also completely ignores 20 years of inflation, the rise in costs for both Labour and materials as well as the massive increase in income Premier league teams have had) Also, if they'd put a Station in it would have been used every day of the week you prat, as you pointed out, it's in the middle of an industrial estate, and also in the middle of a housing estate, why would all the people going to and from those places not use it? I thought that I had read somewhere that there are now plans to open up a station on the line next to the stadium, but not being a resident of the area, I am a bit out of touch with local news there. Anyway we don't have any problem finding somewhere to park, instead we have real problems actually getting through the traffic on matchdays. I think that it has now got to the point where we are going to have to experiment with different ways to get in to Southampton. The worst thing that happened, from our point of view, was when Ikea opened and overnight the whole of the southern part of the city became a nightmare.
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Post by crazydanny on May 21, 2018 7:59:29 GMT
bollocks, It often takes an hour to reach the motorway, Building anything that relies on road transport To Get You There is stupid and talking about how cheap Your stadium is give you an idea about how fecking soulless and generic it is (and also completely ignores 20 years of inflation, the rise in costs for both Labour and materials as well as the massive increase in income Premier league teams have had) Also, if they'd put a Station in it would have been used every day of the week you prat, as you pointed out, it's in the middle of an industrial estate, and also in the middle of a housing estate, why would all the people going to and from those places not use it? I thought that I had read somewhere that there are now plans to open up a station on the line next to the stadium, but not being a resident of the area, I am a bit out of touch with local news there. Anyway we don't have any problem finding somewhere to park, instead we have real problems actually getting through the traffic on matchdays. I think that it has now got to the point where we are going to have to experiment with different ways to get in to Southampton. The worst thing that happened, from our point of view, was when Ikea opened and overnight the whole of the southern part of the city became a nightmare. Was it this article? www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/16141552.St_Mary_s_Stadium_could_get_a_new_railway_station/
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Post by saintsfan73 on May 21, 2018 8:50:56 GMT
You have to remember the type of club we were when we desperately needed a new stadium. Unlike the majority of PL teams we had no sugar daddy. In fact we were a plc listed on the stock exchange which fans could actually buy shares in. As such there was no chance of having the ability to think of design considerations. It was remarkable that the whole stadium was built for only 10m more than Carrillo cost and a great credit to those running the club at the time. The transport criticisms aren’t really valid. It’s far nearer the city centre than most new stadiums. Having its own rail station was never going to happen as it would cost far more than the club or council could afford to have a station in use only 20 days a year. As far as car travel goes, yes it can take 20 mins after the game to get off Brittania Road but from there it’s only 10 mins to the motorway. Also there is a great amount of parking around the stadium in industrial units which is very handy. bollocks, It often takes an hour to reach the motorway, Building anything that relies on road transport To Get You There is stupid and talking about how cheap Your stadium is give you an idea about how fecking soulless and generic it is (and also completely ignores 20 years of inflation, the rise in costs for both Labour and materials as well as the massive increase in income Premier league teams have had) Also, if they'd put a Station in it would have been used every day of the week you prat, as you pointed out, it's in the middle of an industrial estate, and also in the middle of a housing estate, why would all the people going to and from those places not use it? You must have an appaling sense of direction. Once you are off Brittania Road it takes us no more than 10 mins to get to the Hedge End J. of the M27. Yes, there is an industrial estate there but it's a few wholesalers, a couple of car garages and a few tyre fitting companies. If you really think that would provide enough footfall to sustain a railway station for the 340 non-matchdays then I suggest it's maybe you that is the "prat" Yes, of course there has been inflation since the statdium was built but the increase in PL revenues is of no relevance as to how much of a bargain the stadium turned out to be. Even compared with other (generic) stadiums it was remarkably cheap. Maybe "my" (lol) stadium is 'souless' but given the position we were in as a plc with only 15k crowds getting it built at all, while remaining in the PL, was a great acheivement. I have the feeling that this apparent hatred of SMS may be as much down to your opinions on our Chairman of the time as much as the stadium itself.
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Post by saintsfan73 on May 21, 2018 9:04:10 GMT
I thought that I had read somewhere that there are now plans to open up a station on the line next to the stadium, but not being a resident of the area, I am a bit out of touch with local news there. Anyway we don't have any problem finding somewhere to park, instead we have real problems actually getting through the traffic on matchdays. I think that it has now got to the point where we are going to have to experiment with different ways to get in to Southampton. The worst thing that happened, from our point of view, was when Ikea opened and overnight the whole of the southern part of the city became a nightmare. Was it this article? www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/16141552.St_Mary_s_Stadium_could_get_a_new_railway_station/I think that was just Council electionering with no reality to it at all. The Council, club or the rail companies just won't put the millions needed to open a station which won't be used for 90% of the year (which, funnily enough, is why there isn't one there now!)
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Post by saintsfan73 on May 21, 2018 9:05:44 GMT
It may an identikit stadium at the moment, but there are plans in existence to develop both the stadium and the surrounding site, contingent on acquiring the gravel site between the stadium and the riverfront. The fact that Gao's company actually builds sports stadiums in China may, or may not have some bearing on it. As Spot and Tone have said the grass is always green. We commented at the Manchester City game that by this stage of the season at the Dell, there was more sand on the pitch than on the average Cornish beach. That is something I don't miss. Have you got links to these Channers? I know Kreuger has been asked about this every year, and every year he says the club has no plans to re-develop/expand the stadium.
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Post by crazydanny on May 21, 2018 9:49:59 GMT
I think that was just Council electionering with no reality to it at all. The Council, club or the rail companies just won't put the millions needed to open a station which won't be used for 90% of the year (which, funnily enough, is why there isn't one there now!) Why not? I always use the station next to the feyenoord stadium. It’s only used on matchdays, but loads of people use it to get to the stadium.
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Post by saintsfan73 on May 21, 2018 10:36:40 GMT
I think that was just Council electionering with no reality to it at all. The Council, club or the rail companies just won't put the millions needed to open a station which won't be used for 90% of the year (which, funnily enough, is why there isn't one there now!) Why not? I always use the station next to the feyenoord stadium. It’s only used on matchdays, but loads of people use it to get to the stadium. I was just saying that the article you linked didn't have any base of reality, it was just the sort of things politicians say when it's election time. (esp ones who know they won't be winning so can promise the world). In the UK, outside of London, we don't have any football clubs which have their own stadium railway station. Some may be near stations which pre-dated the stadium but there is no precident for a new station being opened just because a new stadium is located near a railway line. The set-up costs make it unworkable and there tends not to be the year round demand outside of match days.
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Post by channonite on May 21, 2018 12:10:33 GMT
It may an identikit stadium at the moment, but there are plans in existence to develop both the stadium and the surrounding site, contingent on acquiring the gravel site between the stadium and the riverfront. The fact that Gao's company actually builds sports stadiums in China may, or may not have some bearing on it. As Spot and Tone have said the grass is always green. We commented at the Manchester City game that by this stage of the season at the Dell, there was more sand on the pitch than on the average Cornish beach. That is something I don't miss. Have you got links to these Channers? I know Kreuger has been asked about this every year, and every year he says the club has no plans to re-develop/expand the stadium. They were on a DVD sent out to Season Ticket holders with their cards, probably in the second year of Marcus' tenure. The architects were the same as the ones that subsequently did Staplewood. The fact that Ralph is saying that proves absolutely nothing, as we well know.
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Post by saintsfan73 on May 21, 2018 12:46:50 GMT
Have you got links to these Channers? I know Kreuger has been asked about this every year, and every year he says the club has no plans to re-develop/expand the stadium. They were on a DVD sent out to Season Ticket holders with their cards, probably in the second year of Marcus' tenure. The architects were the same as the ones that subsequently did Staplewood. The fact that Ralph is saying that proves absolutely nothing, as we well know. Ah ok, those. They weren't really plans though. I liked Cortese more than most but even I recognised that as a piece of nice PR bulshit with about as much chance as happening as Pompey's stadia by the sea. It was just some nice cgi pics that Cortese must have spent a few grand getting a company to knock up for him. Most of what Kreuger says is incoherent but I think we can rest assured he is saying the truth when, every year, he confirms 'no plans to re-develop the stadium'. Makes sense as our owner has no great personal wealth and even though his company do that sort of thing there would have to be a viable business reason to do that in the area around SMS which I can't really see there ever being.
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