Stadium Expansion

[The 17 Bus]

£35 million is more than it cost to build the rest of the ground, and we have been told the piling foundations are already in place I believe.

Then again JM wont spend on the team so no chance on the stadium, especially as Premier games will be worldwide soon.

[Royal Lady]

£35 million is more than it cost to build the rest of the ground, and we have been told the piling foundations are already in place I believe.

Then again JM wont spend on the team so no chance on the stadium, especially as Premier games will be worldwide soon.

That's what I thought - I thought the stadium cost £25 million, mind you, that was 10 years ago, and costs have gone up......

[Royal Monk]

I thought the figure of £1000 per seat was quoted for the cost of the expansion ?

If thats the case then we must be putting another 35,000 seats in

[Dirk Gently]

In the past couple of years, the world steel price has gone up by about 45% - maily due to the demand in China etc.

As steel is one of the major expense in a stadium expansion project like this it'd be no surprise that this has influenced the cost/benfit analysis.

[North Somerset Royal]

M-add Stad
READING FC will have a stadium to match its grand ambitions of being one of the biggest clubs in the land if its expansion dreams become
reality.

And Royals fans can have a say in what the upgraded stadium will look like.

The club has unveiled preliminary £13 million plans that would boost Madejski Stadium’s capacity from 24,000 to a whopping 38,000 by 2008.

£13m to £35m in 14 months? Steel up 45% in two years? Must have planned to use silver plate!

[Platypuss]

In the past couple of years, the world steel price has gone up by about 45% - maily due to the demand in China etc.

As steel is one of the major expense in a stadium expansion project like this it'd be no surprise that this has influenced the cost/benfit analysis.

I'm hoping that was seriously tongue in cheek!

[Coppelled Streets]

Expected but with how we've been in the transfer market since we've been in the Premiership, it's no surprise but again VERY dissapointing.

This football club makes it known how ambitious it is but when it comes to it they don't want to match that ambition with £££'s.

The whole Premiership experiance has opened my eyes also, and I detest the money made game we're in and actually wont be so dissapointed if we do go down. I think my opinion of today's game has also changed and although losing games still ruins my weekends, I'm not putting my hard earned money into football every week anylonger.

I will pick and choose.

I have stood and sat in crowds of the low thousands at both Elm Park and the Madejski Stadium, and what do we get for our loyalty? We get games planned for abroad, we get a football club charging us extortionate fees to attend games and we get a club that banks the money, makes record profits and refuses to match their so called ambition with money - the money we largely put in and have done for so long!

My love for the club will never wilt, but I will be happy supporting them from afar.

It's all about the money today, not the fans.

[premiership_bound]

What a load of old spin.

Would not consider building the stadium until we know what division we are in next season. To let contracts etc would heed about 6 months notice before build starts so we would need to be in a champions league/Europe spot in January for it to go ahead.

As the build will take 1-3 years, does it matter what division we are in when it starts?

£35M what a load of crap. As said before last yea it was £1K per seat.

Anyway the cost would be spread over 3 years.

Mr Mad, just find a buyer for the club if, now you have your money back, you don't want to invest anymore.

And stop using the ambition word if you don't mean it.

[Platypuss]

LOL @ SSC.

Coppell said, "Players want to come to clubs with ambition, and we like to think we've got ambition.
"If you look at the summer, Man Utd and Liverpool spent £40million, £50million each, we spent hardly anything. So by definition we're losing ground.
"So, for this club to be ambitious we've got be be acquiring three substantial signings every year.
"To be honest, it's a minimum of three.
"As time goes by, those signings will become more expensive.
"For us to make those signings, they've got to want to come here.
"They've got to see the ambition, it's got to be tangible in the form of expensive signings, a bigger stadium.
"Everything about the Club has got to meet the demands of the modern Premier League player."

[Beelzebub]

LOL @ SSC.

Coppell said, "Players want to come to clubs with ambition, and we like to think we've got ambition.
"If you look at the summer, Man Utd and Liverpool spent £40million, £50million each, we spent hardly anything. So by definition we're losing ground.
"So, for this club to be ambitious we've got be be acquiring three substantial signings every year.
"To be honest, it's a minimum of three.
"As time goes by, those signings will become more expensive.
"For us to make those signings, they've got to want to come here.
"They've got to see the ambition, it's got to be tangible in the form of expensive signings, a bigger stadium.
"Everything about the Club has got to meet the demands of the modern Premier League player."

Oh bugger

[Coppelled Streets]

That's exactly why I do not blame Steve Coppell for where we are. He wants new players, but the club aren't allowing him to go get the players he wants because they either cost to much or the wage structure wont support the targets.

I'm sure he's very much as frustrated as all of us and will almost certainly be feeling that he has now taken us as far as he can.

[Whore Jackie]

That's exactly why I do not blame Steve Coppell for where we are. He wants new players, but the club aren't allowing him to go get the players he wants because they either cost to much or the wage structure wont support the targets.

I'm sure he's very much as frustrated as all of us and will almost certainly be feeling that he has now taken us as far as he can.

Do you seriously believe that? Coppell is a brilliant manager, an absolute legend at Reading (and Palace for that matter). We've played the best football I've ever seen from a Reading team under him, but that's not to say he's perfect.

And his transfer policy over the years has been somewhat questionable. He's never seemed comfortable with large fees, reluctant to play those that he has coughed up loads for and rarely uses the loan system. In fact he seems at his happiest when he's turned a free transfer player into a success. The scouting operation seems odd too. We've had some noticeable successes, but a fair few duff purchases in recent times. Halford was a complete misfit. Who takes the blame for him and – up till now – Fae? Quite a few signings were never seen in the flesh by Coppell. Do Ferguson, Wenger, Benitez etc ever commit to a player purely on video evidence.

It's easy for us to lump all the blame on Madejski, Hammond and the board. They're not blameless either. I've no doubt that JM can be a tight bastard and the club pay some of the lowest wages, but it seems sometimes that Coppell is happy for that view to perpetuate.

[Coppelled Streets]

Coppell out!

[RoyalBlue]

Expected but with how we've been in the transfer market since we've been in the Premiership, it's no surprise but again VERY dissapointing.

This football club makes it known how ambitious it is but when it comes to it they don't want to match that ambition with £££'s.

The whole Premiership experiance has opened my eyes also, and I detest the money made game we're in and actually wont be so dissapointed if we do go down. I think my opinion of today's game has also changed and although losing games still ruins my weekends, I'm not putting my hard earned money into football every week anylonger.

I will pick and choose.

I have stood and sat in crowds of the low thousands at both Elm Park and the Madejski Stadium, and what do we get for our loyalty? We get games planned for abroad, we get a football club charging us extortionate fees to attend games and we get a club that banks the money, makes record profits and refuses to match their so called ambition with money - the money we largely put in and have done for so long!

My love for the club will never wilt, but I will be happy supporting them from afar.

It's all about the money today, not the fans.

A man after my own heart. I'm in a foul mood tonight as we sink into the bottom three. I will always want the team to do well but, after Madjeski confirmed his true colours yesterday with his remarks about the PL travelling circus and the fact that we supporters should consider ourselves fortunate, I really am getting to the point where I think I would be better following his example and keeping what disposable income I have to myself and my family rather than ploughing it into the business that is RFC 2008.

[Big Ern]

According to the EP today, the stadum expansion has been put on hold for another year.

Reading FC = Ambitious Club

[holsgrove breaks a leg]

According to the EP today, the stadum expansion has been put on hold for another year.

Reading FC = Ambitious Club

a pretty inevitable u turn from the board, the longer RFC fail to make the step up in terms of fan base and capacity, the more difficult it will be for us to be taken seriously. Quite why they actually rolled out plans for an eventual 38,000 capacity ground is beyond me when the reality was that these plans were always dependant on our status. The board should have had a commitment to extending the ground to 29-30 thousand which i think is by and large acheivable even with championship football and left the pie in the sky statement of 38,000 until we are seen as an established club. Its hardly replicating the brick by brick approach that madjeski uses as his business plan for reading....

[CMRoyal]

According to the EP today, the stadum expansion has been put on hold for another year.

Reading FC = Ambitious Club

When the aim was expressed to eventually expand to 38,000 seats, the club were mocked for having the temerity to think that they could draw that many fans. Now that they've taken the realistic decision to wait and see if the team can maintain Preier League status in the short-to-medium term before expanding to 30,000, they will be accused by some of a lack of ambition.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't on this one.

[Coppelled Streets]

At least a year.

So we go down, go back up but we wont know if we'll stay back up so we wont bother again in summer 2009 because we wont know where we'll be a year from then.... Just admit the plans are there to help make the club look more appealing to future buyers.

You unambitious spec eyed c**t.

[riverroyal]

The club are showing no ambition at a time when it is needed.

By saying the expansion is on hold also means the club will say we cant compete with wages as we can only get 24000 crowds maximum.

How are we going to attract new players to the club?

Very disappointing

[North Somerset Royal]

It will never happen because on the latest costings it will be cheaper to build a new 40,000 seater stadium from scratch on a greenfield site albeit in Milton Keynes or Taiwan. JM puts the cost at £35m whereas Bristol City are building a new 40,000 seater less than a mile from Ashton Gate for £30m. As the club has failed to attract a buyer with its present set up relocation must be a possibility especially given JM's support for taking PL matches abroad.