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http://buytickets.at/dfcsg

As it stands you can't play in the league with a 3G/4G pitch anyhow

I never cease to be amazed by how naive councillors and fans can get during proposals for new sporting facilities. There's always this assumption that just by having good facilities, you'll make money from conferences, pop concerts etc. Hardly any sports clubs actually make this work. There are a few, but when you consider just how many boards of directors cannot run a football club/rugby club for s***, then how exactly can they be expected to suddenly raise millions from activity outside of sport?

In Darlington especially, I find this particularly ridiculous. These councillors have such short memories. Did DFC coin it in with pop concerts and conferences?

Did they bollocks. So why should the rugby club fare any better?

Balls to the 4G it’s bloody awful to play on!

Unfortunately until we actually own our own ground we are always going to be a tenant with the problems that brings. At BM there is little way of increasing our commercial activity yet the Arena potentially would. However there is no point moving there if in 2-3 years we had to move out again due to a plastic pitch. I thought Brexit was complicated.

From what DJ was saying to a group of us at one of his earlier fans' forums, the concept was that both us and Blackwell Rugby Club would be moving to the Sporting Village and the land sold at Blackwell for "superior" housing and thus providing associated funding.
Which is why I queried before about the land ownership down at Blackwell - I was always under the impression that the council still owned some land but leased it to the club, which would make sense from the council's perspective. Otherwise, they would need something spectacular offered to Blackwell Rugby Club to move - they already have us funding their foreseeable future.
And if there is a 4G pitch being put in this new Sporting Village by anyone other than us, then DJ's main plank of fundraising of the football club is shot to pieces.
In the absence of substantial funding from an acceptable source, we may be rattling round Conference North / National for some time. If the option is to play at the Arena, then I'd have to think long and hard on a personal level if I wanted to go back there - hated the place.

This business of the rugby club being allowed to make revenue from a 4g pitch is the one which worries me most. As QuakerPete says, this would be our income stream gone. DJ wanted planning permission at BM to build a clubhouse and 4g pitches to create our income stream. If that isn't viable, and a place at the "Rugby Village" isn't either, where do we go from here in terms of increasing revenue streams and being competitive at the next level? Here's hoping that behind the scenes we have a rabbit to pull out of the hat.

Surely it wouldn't work if every team plays on 1 pitch, unless this hub is only having a couple of teams, then it's not really much of a hub.

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They dont make much, if any, money on Pop Concerts, Sunderland never did, I think Sunderland Council pulled funding of some kind, and SAFC stopped them all together, though they weren't bad for the Local Economy

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I am certain that DJ has previously stated that if the sporting hub was given the go ahead to install a 4g pitch then the club would seek compensation from the council. I'm sure he has said this on more than one occassion. I am guessing our 4g plans are already filed and the council know about them, therefore they would have to compensate us for essentially killing our business plan.

Is that a thing - genuine question? Why would we be due compensation?

Can't see how you'd stand a cat in hells chance of getting compensation. And why should you when another business seeks permission to set something up that you happen to be interested in doing. I don't believe the council has given us some sort of legally binding agreement to have first option on this. And as far as I am aware no plans have been submitted by us. DJ has said it would be something we would be interested in for the future as a very good income stream. That would be dead in the water if there's another one just up the road.

It does seem a bit incongruous that 4G pitches aren't allowed in the football league but are allowed in International football. The Wankdorf stadium, where Young Boys play, has an artificial pitch and was used in EURO 2008. Young Boys won the league this season so it will be used in the Champions League next season.
Notwithstanding that l also don't like watching football on artificial pitches.

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They must be in ecstasy at the Wankdorf... what a climax to the season... sorry, but couldn't help it even though it's no doubt been done many times before

In todays Northern Echo Richard Upshall has aired his view on the "new" sports hub proposal. Sounds like DBC have gained another lifelong fan... NOT

"I was sure that we’d see our idea pushed through by someone else with better connections and here we are."

Ouch!

Dixon poured cold water on Upshalls plans because the retail element Mowden Park are allowed was deemed to have endangered the viability of the town centre. !00% behind Upshall on this.

Could the town centre possibly become any more endangered the way things are going

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I may not live in the north east anymore but i still support the north east teams

Maybe the compensation is based upon having to move to the sporting village due to there been no chance of further developing BM (i.e. installing a 4g pitch) to increase our revenue streams.

From a previous netcafe interview with DJ

http://darlingtonfootballclub.co.uk/net ... ohnston-2/

"At this stage there are no concrete plans to move away from BM and it is all subject to the business plan for the sporting village concept proving to be commercially viable. If the Council however proceed with the scheme and prevent any further development at BM then we would be faced with moving BUT I would naturally look for compensation if this was the case."

More likely that the residents of the Blackwell area didn't want a retail development on their doorstep.

I might be wrong but didn't the proposed Upshall development even get near the stage where NIMBYs would be out in force protesting against it?

Seemed like it never got past even the first hurdle.

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“Everybody knows where that club is going now, so I’m out of the way. They can carry on, it’s their club, they can keep it." - Raj Singh, 2017

It didnt, the council made it known that they would be against it because of the retail side of it potentially damaging the town centre therefore it was pointless proceeding as it would have taken ages to try and get approval over the councils head. The NIMBYs didnt even need to think about protesting!

Events have overtaken the council with Binns, M&S, BHS, Starbucks, McDonalds, Poundland, Mothercare, TK Maxx, Argos all closing /leaving the town centre so it is no longer a real retail destination. There are already enough Wetherspoons / gin bars / pubs / nail bars / Greggs / vape shops / mobile phone shops /bookies / charity shops and Turkish barbers. What we don't have is a bus station or a sporting hub in the centre of town. If the design happened to have a 6k -10k all-purpose stadium with a decent grass pitch at a reasonable rent, then we may be persuaded to put our team in as tenants.

New Look are pulling out as well and possibly Top Shop.

I hate plastic pitches. I'd probably stop going if we went down that route.




Here's another one!

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Mr Singh said this " I'm not expecting to get back any of the money I've already put in, I'm prepared to write it off for the future of the club. I'm not hanging in to make any kind of financial gain in the short or long term - if someone was prepared to come in and take the club off my hands, I'd be more than willing to discuss it"

Tamworth matchday programme 26 Nov 2011

I thought you had your own thread to post on about shop closures Pete??

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Quaker retail is the best reason to go into town these days! Well done to our stalwart volunteers who staff it.