Feethams Video

[wishmaster3211]

How much would it cost to build the minimum requirement with a view to improving as we move up the leagues?

On the other thread its stated that Bishops ground apparently cost £1.5m and a lot of that was from grants.
-------------------------------

I think the Town would welcome any chance to get the Club back at Feethams, even those (and lets face it thats the majority) that dont care about football. There is no doubt an opportunity here, not least for the Council to save face. Most non footballing locals i know see the Council as implicated in whats gone on with the Arena and also in the farce of the undeveloped Feethams site.

There are clearly economic benefits to the Town of having the Club in the Centre, particularly in this age of dying TCs.

The video is fantastic and deserves a wider audience really, as does the story of Arthur Wharton.

If 1883 can try and get something moving without it becoming a distraction (which is clearly an issue as they have a lot on thie plates right now!) then this must be pursued.

[Quakerz]

Just out of interest what is Tori's remit for 1883? How reliable is this 'not even an option' ? Is it fact or opinion?

£1.7million seems a pretty big FACT to me. That's just to buy the site. Then you need planning permission, then you need money to tidy it up and build a new ground.

Maybe the council will just give us £12 million if we campaign enough! Nah, not really.

I would LOVE to return to Feethams as much as anyone else, but we need to be proactively and quickly sorting a ground for the season after next and onwards - at the end of the day the council will play a big part in this and lots of funds will need to be raised. We're really at the mercy of the council and what they might be prepared to help us with. It's no good wasting time trying to get Feethams if it is an ultimately impossible task - all the while playing out of town and not making progress on another venue because we're distracted Feethams.

[Quakerz]

Just out of interest what is Tori's remit for 1883? How reliable is this 'not even an option' ? Is it fact or opinion? if it is being given as a fact then I think this info would come as more than just a tweet!
Let's keep trying to get back home!

Blooomin tweets ... this world is bloomin tweet mad. Tori .... this is far too important than to just tweet a bloody tweet about it ....

Yes she should have just shut her mouth about the fact Esh want £1.7 million for the site, and allowed you to keep on dreaming.

Nowt better than keeping people in the dark eh?

[AnthonyP]

Its just not going to happen, as the Council will never allow planning permission for a new ground at Feethams. The local residents don't want it either. All this is doing is acting as a distraction from finding somewhere for the new club to go in the Darlington area.

110% right Pete.

Focus everyone. It would be a nice idea, but it isn't going to happen.

I know from a cricket club representative that the building company, who have been given provisional approval, paid another deposit into the cricket club coffers recently to continue to hold the land on deposit. Don't know how much, when, or where, but they are determined to hold that land until the economic climate changes and they can build those houses.

Lets find our new home and utilise whatever assistance we have from the council. If a sporting hub is the way to go, let's do it, and make it our new home. Feethams will always be the scene of my favourite memories, but that doesn't make them the future as well.

Credit to Doug and Sean for bringing Feethams into our minds again, but, DFC can't stand still waiting for all the legal wranglings and paid deposits to sort themselves out over the next ten years, before we plan our future.

Our future is NOW. Not when Feethams becomes available.

[dfc1883]

I too would be fully behind a move back to Feethams, even if it meant staying two years at Shildon instead of one.

We're in a unique position of potentially going back there. If we go anywhere else that will be it forever, so for me it's worth trying to put everything into get back there if there is a glimmer of a possibility.

The feel good factor of returning to Feethams would propel this football club in a way that playing on the edge of town won't.

[Strac]

As the plan is to move back to the town in 12 months, there's nothing to say we can't stay at that venue while Feethams is being developed. There are a great number of people with many memories of Feethams who would come back and watch us. Lets at least explore the possibilities and take it from there.

[wellindarlo]

I know from a cricket club representative that the building company, who have been given provisional approval, paid another deposit into the cricket club coffers recently to continue to hold the land on deposit. Don't know how much, when, or where, but they are determined to hold that land until the economic climate changes and they can build those houses.

I am confused now, I know 12 months or so ago Esh Group were trying to buy the land.

http://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.c ... _Feethams/

Your contact is talking about another tranch for a deposit.

Another post on here talks about Esh Group wanting £1.7M some time ago...

twitter-tori - Esh group probably wouldnt sell anyway and the £1.7 million they did want, could be way over now! Not an option guys.

Who actually owns the Feethams land where we used to play?

[AnthonyP]

twitter-tori - Esh group probably wouldnt sell anyway and the £1.7 million they did want, could be way over now! Not an option guys.

Who actually owns the Feethams land where we used to play?

The land is still in the hands of the Trust that was originally set up and the deposit has been paid to the CC, for whatever reason. That probably indicates how easy it will be to get to the bottom of who has the right to do what with Feethams. As a guess it, whatever this amount Tori has come across, would presumably be to buy out the deposit ?

The council want us to be part of their sporting hub. Why would they also want us to go back to Feethams ? We'd like to (if we could), but they don't.

I'm afraid Feethams is a distraction for 1883 and us.

[dfc1883]

twitter-tori - Esh group probably wouldnt sell anyway and the £1.7 million they did want, could be way over now! Not an option guys.

A couple of key words here are 'probably' and 'could'. If the £1.7million is based on a guess, then it's worth investigating for sure and not just ruling out on an assumption.

[wishmaster3211]

[quote="AnthonyP"][quote="wellindarlo"]

council want us to be part of their sporting hub. Why would they also want us to go back to Feethams ?

Well funnily enough wasnt Feethams already a "sporting hub", cricket and football, there was even a sports centre there once. Now its just waste ground. Its one thing saying its difficult, no doubt it is, but then it must be pretty hard for whoever owns it to develop or they would have already done so, and with that fact in mind, is it really worth £1.7m as a patch of waste land? I think not.

It could be a distraction, but it has to be looked into now, because as someone above said its a unique position. If we develop a ground somewhere else then Feethams is dead forever. Though I agree anything concrete needs to be set in motion by the Council.

[AIDO]

twitter-tori - Esh group probably wouldnt sell anyway and the £1.7 million they did want, could be way over now! Not an option guys.

A couple of key words here are 'probably' and 'could'. If the £1.7million is based on a guess, then it's worth investigating for sure and not just ruling out on an assumption.

It's (another) can of worms for sure but it must be fully looked at and all matters therein made public so that nobody is 'left in the dark' .... If it's a community run football club, then the community involved must know the full facts, rather than just sweep them under the carpet just because the council wants a hub at Blackwell.

How ironic that the council are now seemingly dictating proceedings in such a way. Why are they so scared of Feethams? What skeletons might be unearthed, I wonder, if we pursue the facts?

[AnthonyP]

It could be a distraction, but it has to be looked into now, because as someone above said its a unique position. If we develop a ground somewhere else then Feethams is dead forever. Though I agree anything concrete needs to be set in motion by the Council.

Don't get me wrong. I would have no problem at all with it being investigated. I'd even go so far as to say I'd like a definitive answer myself, as, in an ideal world, I would love to go back to Feethams. The problem I see with it would be where does the definitive answer come from ? Haven't we been trying to get something like this done for a good few years - its certainly been one of Sean's focuses, and didn't Jenny Chapman make some comments about Feethams a years or so back.

I, personally, don't see how anything is going to happen in the timescales we have, unless Esh, or the Council, approach 1883 themselves.

[AIDO]

The timescale is certainly an issue. We can't afford more than 1 year away from town ... not because of financial issues as such imo, but because of sustaining some kind of community momentum. In that respect Blackwell will do but I would hate to think we'd missed such a glaring opportunity.

[Quakerz]

twitter-tori - Esh group probably wouldnt sell anyway and the £1.7 million they did want, could be way over now! Not an option guys.

A couple of key words here are 'probably' and 'could'. If the £1.7million is based on a guess, then it's worth investigating for sure and not just ruling out on an assumption.

Tell you what, you do that while 1883 try and get us sorted with a ground. It'll save them being held up.

[Quakerz]

twitter-tori - Esh group probably wouldnt sell anyway and the £1.7 million they did want, could be way over now! Not an option guys.

A couple of key words here are 'probably' and 'could'. If the £1.7million is based on a guess, then it's worth investigating for sure and not just ruling out on an assumption.

It's (another) can of worms for sure but it must be fully looked at and all matters therein made public so that nobody is 'left in the dark' .... If it's a community run football club, then the community involved must know the full facts, rather than just sweep them under the carpet just because the council wants a hub at Blackwell.

How ironic that the council are now seemingly dictating proceedings in such a way. Why are they so scared of Feethams? What skeletons might be unearthed, I wonder, if we pursue the facts?

If the council are going to fund us (I hope they are) to be part of this hub then that is where we will end up. Beggars can't be choosers, and we've seen during the last 9 years the problems that can arise with not having the council on side - or should I say on side with what GR, GH and RS wanted to do.

[Quakerz]

The timescale is certainly an issue. We can't afford more than 1 year away from town ... not because of financial issues as such imo, but because of sustaining some kind of community momentum. In that respect Blackwell will do but I would hate to think we'd missed such a glaring opportunity.

To be honest, I can't see us being at BW within one year, as much as that NEEDS to be the case. If 1883 pull that off, they've performed miracles. At best, it seems to be tentative at the moment - you need planning permission, due diligence, council approval, plans, grant applications, fundraising - all of that could take years! THEN you build a ground.

[shaun campbell]

As a lot of you will know by now, the 'Help Save Feethams’ Facebook Campaign is nothing new to me - I was doing this long before the current plight of the club and will continue to do so.

The campaign is aimed at protecting the land for sporting use, with a view to one day building a sporting academy on the site for our community, but yes, why not incorporate a return for DFC?

I am well aware of the difficulties surrounding a return to Feethams and as such, am already informed. I have already had a number of meetings with the Esh Group and other concerned parties.

The issue is deep, complex and time consuming - if you want to give a return to Feethams the best chance of succeeding, then just keep positive and support me if I go for it full tilt.

Negativity? Boring, and not required – you and I already know that this is going to be nigh on impossible, but so what? If we don't try, for real, in numbers, together, then we lessen the chance of success, right?

I am also not a fool, and know that it will take a remarkable effort to succeed (and maybe some luck!). This is about protecting a significant piece of heritage which belongs to the people of Darlington.

Hence, the question for me is...do I feel that there is enough encouragement, support, passion and commitment from the fans to inspire me to push ahead at full steam? The answer is hmmmm… Absolutely!!

I have read enough on here to feel the emotion and to determine what needs to be done, by whom and when, so I am picking up the baton and running with it.

I have spoken to Doug at length and he will post his response later tonight.

Get behind us and you never know!

Finally - The Motto for this drive is:

‘We will be disappointed if we fail, but Doomed if we never try’.

Game on!

Shaun

[Quakerz]

Shaun.

We need a ground the season after next mate. And funding. And the right ground grading.

I'm all for saving Feethams heritage, and preventing housing, so you've got my support there, but we have the current problem of the football club that absolutely needs somewhere to play, in town, and soon.

Can you deliver that at Feethams in said timescale?

[Hilly]

Shaun.

We need a ground the season after next mate. And funding. And the right ground grading.

I'm all for saving Feethams heritage, and preventing housing, so you've got my support there, but we have the current problem of the football club that absolutely needs somewhere to play, in town, and soon.

Can you deliver that at Feethams in said timescale?

Thats the crux of the matter for me. By all means go for it Shaun / Doug but it has to be feasible in the timeframes that the club sets out. You have my support though.

[bedaledarlo]

Q, not following the logic of your position here.

Feethams v Blackwell appears fiercely similar in it's likelihood to me.

You've said yourself we will never get going on Blackwell in a year. So why put such a tight deadline on Feethams - think of the momentum if we got going with Feethams and people could see it happening they would be prepared to wait, and, crucially, help...

Feethams planning permission won't be an issue v Blackwell. miles quicker than Blackwell in that respect.

Esh are in the way, but there's no way they can build houses on the site. They bought / are buying a duff. It's sat on a flood plain. Would you buy a house there??

As for Blackwell, miles more infrastructure issues there and if the council want us there then they seem equally as happy to advance Feethams.

Choice seems to be impossible task a) or impossible task b) to me.

Let's choose a battle to fight with popular support behind us. Do you see the armies of lapsed fans chasing the dream of Blackwell meadows?

Sorry it would seem like arena 2 to many ( unfairly perhaps ) but let's make a winning move for once in our lives, eh?

[AnthonyP]

Shaun.

We need a ground the season after next mate. And funding. And the right ground grading.

I'm all for saving Feethams heritage, and preventing housing, so you've got my support there, but we have the current problem of the football club that absolutely needs somewhere to play, in town, and soon.

Can you deliver that at Feethams in said timescale?

Agreed. I'm with you on keeping the heritage of Feethams and not allowing housing, but, the timescales don't suit for it to be our ground. It could well be a part of the sporting hub (training pitches, perhaps ?), but we need a ground the year after next.

[AIDO]

Q, not following the logic of your position here.

Feethams v Blackwell appears fiercely similar in it's likelihood to me.

You've said yourself we will never get going on Blackwell in a year. So why put such a tight deadline on Feethams - think of the momentum if we got going with Feethams and people could see it happening they would be prepared to wait, and, crucially, help...

Feethams planning permission won't be an issue v Blackwell. miles quicker than Blackwell in that respect.

Esh are in the way, but there's no way they can build houses on the site. They bought / are buying a duff. It's sat on a flood plain. Would you buy a house there??

As for Blackwell, miles more infrastructure issues there and if the council want us there then they seem equally as happy to advance Feethams.

Choice seems to be impossible task a) or impossible task b) to me.

Let's choose a battle to fight with popular support behind us. Do you see the armies of lapsed fans chasing the dream of Blackwell meadows?

Sorry it would seem like arena 2 to many ( unfairly perhaps ) but let's make a winning move for once in our lives, eh?

Very good post ... some very pertinent points. If Blackwell Meadows can't be achieved in the time scale of within 1 year ... then idelaying to fully investigate Feethams isn't an issue, is it really?

By the way, no insurance company would insure any house built on the site. That is why no houses have ever and will ever be built there.

[Quakerz]

Q, not following the logic of your position here.

Feethams v Blackwell appears fiercely similar in it's likelihood to me.

You've said yourself we will never get going on Blackwell in a year. So why put such a tight deadline on Feethams - think of the momentum if we got going with Feethams and people could see it happening they would be prepared to wait, and, crucially, help...

Feethams planning permission won't be an issue v Blackwell. miles quicker than Blackwell in that respect.

Esh are in the way, but there's no way they can build houses on the site. They bought / are buying a duff. It's sat on a flood plain. Would you buy a house there??

As for Blackwell, miles more infrastructure issues there and if the council want us there then they seem equally as happy to advance Feethams.

Choice seems to be impossible task a) or impossible task b) to me.

Let's choose a battle to fight with popular support behind us. Do you see the armies of lapsed fans chasing the dream of Blackwell meadows?

Sorry it would seem like arena 2 to many ( unfairly perhaps ) but let's make a winning move for once in our lives, eh?

Very good post ... some very pertinent points. If Blackwell Meadows can't be achieved in the time scale of within 1 year ... then idelaying to fully investigate Feethams isn't an issue, is it really?

By the way, no insurance company would insure any house built on the site. That is why no houses have ever and will ever be built there.

Er, maybe BM CAN be achieved in just 1 year, it was only in my opinion that I thought it unlikely.

If BM takes 2 or 3 years, this doesn't suddenly mean Feethams is a goer either!

People are letting their hearts rule their heads here.

[Darlo_Pete]

Exactly Q, all this does is build up people's hopes and distract us from looking for somewhere else.

[Quakerz]

Q, not following the logic of your position here.

Feethams v Blackwell appears fiercely similar in it's likelihood to me.

Blackwell seems much more likely. A blank canvass, seemingly supported by the council, and no housing group owning it.

You've said yourself we will never get going on Blackwell in a year.

Yes, but that's not a fact, just a pure guess by me.

So why put such a tight deadline on Feethams - think of the momentum if we got going with Feethams and people could see it happening they would be prepared to wait, and, crucially, help...

There is a tight deadline on both, Feethams has more issues than simply getting planning permission and building a ground. Who had the right to sell it? Who owns it? Etc etc.

Feethams planning permission won't be an issue v Blackwell. miles quicker than Blackwell in that respect.

Let's hear your reasons for that because I think you're dead wrong.

Esh are in the way, but there's no way they can build houses on the site. They bought / are buying a duff. It's sat on a flood plain. Would you buy a house there??

No I wouldn't, but that doesn't = football club building a stadium on the land in the next couple of years. And again, IF Esh have bought a lemon, they need to see that, not you or I.

As for Blackwell, miles more infrastructure issues there

Infrastructure? Define infrastructure.

As far as I can tell, the infrastructure in place for a football club at Feethams is 0. And the same at BM.

and if the council want us there then they seem equally as happy to advance Feethams.

Are they? Wow that's great news, why didn't you tell us!

Choice seems to be impossible task a) or impossible task b) to me.

OK, lets fold then.

Let's choose a battle to fight with popular support behind us. Do you see the armies of lapsed fans chasing the dream of Blackwell meadows?

Feethams will clearly get a lot of fans chasing "the dream" however this does not make it come true.

We need to settle for chasing what can become reality.

Sorry it would seem like arena 2 to many ( unfairly perhaps ) but let's make a winning move for once in our lives, eh?

The move to Feethams is not winnable, looking at what we know right now. We have no time to waste.

[Quakerade]

Probably already been mentioned somewhere in this topic, but i am sure i have either read or heard somewhere that Feethams was left to the town by someone in the past for sporting purposes, so how come the land was sold to the Esh group or whoever and more so who sold something that was not legally theirs to sell.

[GreathamDarlo]

As a lot of you will know by now, the 'Help Save Feethams’ Facebook Campaign is nothing new to me - I was doing this long before the current plight of the club and will continue to do so.

The campaign is aimed at protecting the land for sporting use, with a view to one day building a sporting academy on the site for our community, but yes, why not incorporate a return for DFC?

I am well aware of the difficulties surrounding a return to Feethams and as such, am already informed. I have already had a number of meetings with the Esh Group and other concerned parties.

The issue is deep, complex and time consuming - if you want to give a return to Feethams the best chance of succeeding, then just keep positive and support me if I go for it full tilt.

Negativity? Boring, and not required – you and I already know that this is going to be nigh on impossible, but so what? If we don't try, for real, in numbers, together, then we lessen the chance of success, right?

I am also not a fool, and know that it will take a remarkable effort to succeed (and maybe some luck!). This is about protecting a significant piece of heritage which belongs to the people of Darlington.

Hence, the question for me is...do I feel that there is enough encouragement, support, passion and commitment from the fans to inspire me to push ahead at full steam? The answer is hmmmm… Absolutely!!

I have read enough on here to feel the emotion and to determine what needs to be done, by whom and when, so I am picking up the baton and running with it.

I have spoken to Doug at length and he will post his response later tonight.

Get behind us and you never know!

Finally - The Motto for this drive is:

‘We will be disappointed if we fail, but Doomed if we never try’.

Game on!

Shaun

Shaun, make sure you drive the Peugeot to every meeting cos I'm sure it's the lucky mascot we need.
DFC back to Feethams......what a dream.... Fingers crossed

[BrianGento]

Exactly Q, all this does is build up people's hopes and distract us from looking for somewhere else.

Just felt it was vital to reemphasise that the idea of pushing ( now very , very strongly) for the " ultimate truth" about Feethams and the possibility of returning there is precisely that. A 100% justifiable quest for a definitive answer.

It is absolutely not about "building up peoples' hopes" ( hell, enough former Chairman have done that already...); it is not about becoming a diversion to current realities. It is simply about seeking..,.for once and for all...the truth; and a definitive answer.Not from somebody who "heard x,y,z... " ; who is "led to believe a,b,c..."; who has it " from a reliable source that ...". No. The unvarnished truth. From those who know or who damned well ought to.

Yes, if it's a "No Go"...and for reasons which I, everyone else.....and his/her/ their dog can 100% understand, fine. Until that time, this campaign proceeds.

I have been in regular contact with Shaun re the "Save Feethams" ticket for a long, long time. From way before the emergence of the rescue group.

I have been in touch with Shaun today. Yes, we will pursue the issue.

I was a major driving force behind and 1st Chairman of the original DFC Trust, and my passion was to see our club remain at and develop its historical home. I made no bones about this then; nor do I do so now.

At this season's Tues evg game vs Luton ( the 2-2), Shaun & I were accompanied by an author who is now compiling a book about old and now unused football grounds. The author's response to the "tales of Feethams" was fantastic.Not for nostalgia's sake. But, because the issue is real. Arena: not fit 4 purpose versus Feethams: ready to be returned to.

My own nightmare is of DFC playing in 1-2 years' time at Blackwell whilst the town also contains 2 former grounds no longer in use. A nailed on Gunness Book of Records qualifier.

As a town, Darlo thrives on rumour and counter - rumour.The only thing which Shaun & I will endeavour to seek is the ultimate, unvarnished truth.

-Is a return to Feethams possible or not?
- If No......give us reasons which every man and his dog can understand.
-If Yes.....what will it take?

I cannot see the harm in this. To fail to do this would be a betrayal of my passions and beliefs which existed well before the rescue group. Anyway, I cannot think of a more magical story to yet again enthuse the world of football.

Let's face it. As with many things to do with Darlo: you couldn't make it up. But....that's the magic of Darlo.....

[Quakerz]

I like what you say Doug, but haven't you and Shaun being trying to find out the truth for years and got nowhere? What will change going forward?

[AIDO]

Spoken like a true gent Doug .... (sorry ) .... Because it's now in the public gaze and because there is so much at stake for everybody (including the council), I'm certain this whole thing could be sorted sooner rather than later. As news breaks about it, I would imagine the Echo will take an interest and this will also speed things up.

It's already too late to stop now ... and thank goodness for that!