I wasn't there last night - it's difficult sometimes to get back to Boston for a 7:45 kick-off so a 7:00 forum was a bit of a non-starter. For the same reason the 7 o'clock consultation workshop on 27th November is going to be awkward, so I'm hoping there'll be other mechanisms by which supporters from away from the town can have their views heard. Maybe there ought to be some kind of similar workshop bolted onto the back of a home game?
From what I've read and heard since last night the plans are looking very good, so congratulations to David Newton and everyone else concerned.
In terms of ideas for the stadium, did anyone else pop into the museum area of Wincham Park the last time we visited Witton Albion? Witton's ground is generally nothing to write home about, but what they have done is set a room up with all sorts of their club memorabilia - old programmes, newspaper cuttings, team photos and kits from yesteryear, etc. - all neatly on show behind glass cabinets. There's even a 1920s seat salvaged from their old stadium before they moved grounds. I'd never seen a non-league club do anything like that before, and even as an away supporter it was very interesting to look around. It was only a small room, but it set Witton apart from just about every other stadium in the Unibond League.
I've looked on line but have only found one image - which doesn't really do the whole room justice - but this is effectively what they've done ...
We all understand the need for moving to a new stadium and having looked at the plans on-line it can't happen soon enough. York Street has been a great stadium but we have to move on. At the same though it'd be nice to have an area somewhere within the stadium which is accessible to fans and which acts as a momento to our heritage and our history and helps maintain our identity after we've left York Street. We've beaten Derby 6-1 in the FA Cup, been to Wembley and played in the Football League. We've had famous players and plenty of club legends down the years, so we wouldn't be short of things we could commemorate.
What an excellent idea LP, I hope the club take note and incorporate this great idea into the plans, which in the most part look excellent. I agree that small things like this can make all the difference.
I also agree with N40's in that it would be nice to see some details added that distinguish the new ground from so many others. But I do believe the current plans are a very good starting point.
My only other slight concern would be the levels of elevation of spectators above the pitch. Personally I like to be quite high up to get a decent overview of the pitch. It looks like the standing areas particularly will provide very little in terms of elevated vantage points.
Overall though it looks a very well thought out project and it's great tinder details like the concourses on each stand and elevated vantage points for disabled spectators.
