Fans' Forum tonight

[nw6pie]

What surprised me is a lot of the "wish list", were bl00dy expensive items. Training ground, Concourse under the Jimmy, pitch renovations. OK, poss medium term projects, but costly, where's the bunce for that lot gonna come from?

Good point - especially when weighed up against the sustainability goal. Things like the concourse expansion is a positive step, but it would only really pay dividends if we reached the Championship and regularly got big away followings.

Talking of bringing more money in, would anyone be surprised if we weren’t trying to sell the naming rights to the ground? I assume Joe Palmer was involved in Plough Lane becoming “the Cherry Red Records Stadium”. Or as I’m sure Wimbledon fans call it, Plough Lane.

[durhampie]

Good point - especially when weighed up against the sustainability goal. Things like the concourse expansion is a positive step, but it would only really pay dividends if we reached the Championship and regularly got big away followings.

Talking of bringing more money in, would anyone be surprised if we weren’t trying to sell the naming rights to the ground? I assume Joe Palmer was involved in Plough Lane becoming “the Cherry Red Records Stadium”. Or as I’m sure Wimbledon fans call it, Plough Lane.

Talk of expanding the concourse is just pure fantasy island stuff. If they want to do something meaningful, then less of the talk, and install safety rails to the steps in the Pavis Stand. The number of people who have fallen on those steps over the years, and nothing has been done..

[nw6pie]

Talk of expanding the concourse is just pure fantasy island stuff. If they want to do something meaningful, then less of the talk, and install safety rails to the steps in the Pavis Stand. The number of people who have fallen on those steps over the years, and nothing has been done..

Agree about the safety rail. Joe Palmer said it’s in the works but needs to approved by, I think, the council’s safety officers.

[marky]

It's very clear that the ground is becoming old and tired and several claims from previous owners that they had undertaken a lot of renovation work now looks laughable. It's simply not as nice as some people seem to think and the people in charge have realised this. However I'm not really sure that much can be done other than the safety rails to the steps. Also the club need to look at encouraging children to use the Family Stand like when it was first built in 1992, for the first 3 years that stand was full of "Junior Magpies" I was one of them, since then it's looks empty, depressing and frankly crap.

[marky]

It was also very interesting to hear them describe the Kop as "not really fit for purpose" in response to the lady who asked about the ladies/disabled toillets, but the problem is that's the most popular stand.

[durhampie]

Agree about the safety rail. Joe Palmer said it’s in the works but needs to approved by, I think, the council’s safety officers.

If the design of the rails is structurally approved and ensures the safety of those using the steps, then there should be no problem getting planning permission. Just get on with it.

[TSANHO]

I know it is our home but Meadow Lane is a depressing place to be honest. It’s in the middle of one of the most run down areas of Nottingham, Has no real character or atmosphere, and the stands seem to sit too far away from the pitch. It isn’t quite a flat pack stadium like most are now-a-days but it it still feels like it has no identity….no surprise really seeing as we’ve been largely piss poor since we’ve been in this stadium. Anything the owners can do to make the place less dreary and covered in bird poo the better

It doesn’t sound like it’s an easy job at all, but a massive lick of paint, refurbishment of the bogs and an attempt to get the place hung with black and white at the back of the stands in the way of flags etc would make a difference.

[Magpies1959]

I think I must have imagined all the development going of on Meadow Lane, which the club are hoping to build on, pardon the pun.
It is also very obvious the huge lick of paint given to the ground, both literally and in terms of new signage, and sound system.
Must have missed the covering of bird poo as well.

[Chicken Balti Pie]

Let's be honest, Meadow Lane was redevelop with no real clear plan. Pavis had pinned his hopes on the council building a "super stadium" where Toys R Us was and is ground sharing with them over the river. As soon as that went up in smoke, they redeveloped Meadow Lane to have a similar capacity as before but had no real plan on how to monetise it l, the kop having minimal options for catering for example.

The family stand is effectively a semi permanent stand that isn't really part of the building behind it and the Sirrel stand was a best they could do within the footprint they had job.

The only stand they took time on was the Pavis/Main stand and that has its issues now.

It would not surprise me if in the next few years we had a new stadium elsewhere or even in the same area built and paid for those who want us out of Meadow Lane

[nw6pie]

It's very clear that the ground is becoming old and tired and several claims from previous owners that they had undertaken a lot of renovation work now looks laughable. It's simply not as nice as some people seem to think and the people in charge have realised this. However I'm not really sure that much can be done other than the safety rails to the steps. Also the club need to look at encouraging children to use the Family Stand like when it was first built in 1992, for the first 3 years that stand was full of "Junior Magpies" I was one of them, since then it's looks empty, depressing and frankly crap.

It find it slightly odd that the ground is being described as old given that the oldest stands are only 30 years old. The Kop, County Road and Family Stand probably suffer from being built in a hurry and without frills, though the Pavis Stand is a little better in that regard. I suppose it feels a little worse for wear for Joe Palmer as he’s come from a new stadium at Wimbledon.

All these years later, though, I’m still not sure if the generally poor atmosphere is due to the ground or the fans.
I’m still not sure