The Valley Stadium

The pitch will be worked on alot! Ask Fenners... grass expert

I remember when we played Kettering in the Cup, queue up the hill was manic! Ended up parking down one of the side alleys.

Parking is an issue as is access... That long hill going down to the valley is horrible! Potholes the lot!

I can say 100% the pitch will be better... just not sure about parking!

There is a healthy part of the budget going on the pitch.
If you have trouble sleeping ring Fenners about 11 o' clock as you get into bed
and ask him what's the best way to grow grass on a pitch? After 5 minutes absolute certainty

Great debate though....for me...
Car Parking Charge..Against. I park On Cedar Rd sometimes anyway.
Ground Move...For!!! eventually..

when you go to a prem game you have to park well away from the ground and walk and then some kids say they will watch the car for you for a fiver so walking to the ground is no problem.

I hate paying to park... it's non league football for god sake, it's not as if we're doing well and can nip people for a quid or so to park!

We didn't have to pay for parking at Pershore, Studley and Hyde etc so i'm sure Redditch can afford to not charge for parking.. surely?

Let people park free and we may just get a few more in!

rawlings09 wrote:I hate paying to park... it's non league football for god sake, it's not as if we're doing well and can nip people for a quid or so to park!

We didn't have to pay for parking at Pershore, Studley and Hyde etc so i'm sure Redditch can afford to not charge for parking.. surely?

Let people park free and we may just get a few more in!

+ 1, why also charge £1 to sit down? Amazes me why these extras come into it, just charge to get in as £9 is enough to see the garbage week in week out! Oh and the annoying Cedar Road band who are on a par with that England band

I'm happy with the occasional light drumming to back up vocals, but when it's over the top and drowning out the singing, whilst accompanied by symbols it gets 'slightly' cringeworthy.
Parking - Not really too bothered about £1 charge personally. The car parks always seem to be reasonably full. If we were to make this free then the club would lose out on around £80 a game (all adds up).
£1 for transfer to the Main stand - It might still be in place I'm not sure, but I've never seen anyone actually charged. This might as well be scrapped as it's a bit tinpot'ish and pointless, and most of the occupants are elderly folk who wish to sit down in comfort with a decent view, and have quick access to facilities (bar, toilets, food).

Pitch - Being invested in, and I for one can't bloody wait to see a decent playing surface!

Leethall wrote:
Oh and the annoying Cedar Road band who are on a par with that England band

No bite from me.

rawlings09 wrote:

Leethall wrote:
Oh and the annoying Cedar Road band who are on a par with that England band

No bite from me.

Move from The Valley? I'd rather not, place rocks when you get a good crowd in. New grounds always lose that but bigger picture required I suppose. New ground would know doubt have a larger revenue stream capability. so open mind needed.
Parking I would rather be kept free but if the car park was relayed marked out properly and had security during a game then def charge. We are in a quite fortunate position regards parking really loads of non league clubs don't even have our size car park so I see we're fairly fortunate on this front. Any serious home fan knows the areas close by where parking can be easily found away fans may struggle but who cares about that?
As for bands/drums etc to be honest I can't stand them im old school on this. what next cheerleaders?? anyone remember the bunch circa 2003/4/5?

Kev...remember the 10 year old cheerleaders?..hated it!

Band...agreed, drum is OK to keep the singing going...not a fan of anything else...remember having a toy monkey with symbols and hating that as well!
Love to get Roger's symbols around his lugholes!!

Ground?...heart, stay at Valley.......head, new ground at Washford.

Heart - history, spiritual home, etc..etc.

Head - stimulate interest, more room etc.

My rule is never let heart rule head....but in this case, into 'The Valley' is still the best for me!!!

Drums are fine i think... Adds to the Atmoshpere.

Just never Cymbals! ever... EVER!

With a bigger crowd, drums would be even better! Look at games on the continent... buzzing!

i seriously think that we should "confiscate" the cymbals. I agree that the drums do help to create an atmosphere, but then again how can you create an atmospher when there are only a few people on the Cedar Road at kick off?
I would prefer it if we stayed at the valley, reason being, history, character, and a sense of belonging. If we can change the change by adding new stands etc, then go for it. The valley is unique, quaint, call it what you will,but the fact is, its ours. That my opinion for what its worth.

Some excellent points on here,to sum it up for me,NO GROUNDMOVE,unless we become seroius contenders for the football league, i think the valley has enough scope to be developed, to allow us to reach blue sq prem but of course i'm not an archietect.NO,parking charges,i know other clubs charge but i see it as totally unfair,and puts people off.I think come the end of the season we should have an open forum for all fans to have their chance to air their views face to face and someone from the council to state their long term plans for the club(maybe this has already been organised?) and not just debated on here.Not eveyone has access to www or wants to debate on line,but their voice must be heard.Dennis

Whilst being a traditionalist myself and would prefer the Valley to be developed, I think you have to look to the long term
future and what would bring in the most revenue for the club.

Demographically are there more people who live locally to the proposed new site than the Valley? Has there been a survey of
the local people near there asking if a new stadium was built would that mean they would support the Reds and go along
and spend their money regularly? Would new facilities mean that they would use them on a regular basis?

Would it be easier to sell conference facilities if they were available at the new site?

Kev

I think we should consider away fans as well, being close to the town centre makes it easy to find and easier to get to(if we have new signage eg like brown tourist ones even easier). Parking charge would not be so bad if you did not have to step in to a huge puddle to get out of your car, a charge may encourage people to use public transport locally.
Also being in the Town centre should bring more revenue if the clubhouse is to be used on a regular basis aside from Match day, Having said that a new site could cater for bigger events such as concerts and exhibitions.
on another note, I have the cymbals so the dodgy cedar Jazz band are no more!!!.

Redjeff wrote: on another note, I have the cymbals so the dodgy cedar Jazz band are no more!!!.

Can you melt them please

If Roger Moore has any other musical instruments then these should be conviscated as well

Leethall wrote:

Redjeff wrote: on another note, I have the cymbals so the dodgy cedar Jazz band are no more!!!.

Can you melt them please

If Roger Moore has any other musical instruments then these should be conviscated as well

I think Roger needs an ASBO with his musical instruments

Leethall wrote:

Redjeff wrote: on another note, I have the cymbals so the dodgy cedar Jazz band are no more!!!.

Can you melt them please

If Roger Moore has any other musical instruments then these should be conviscated as well

I will add a bit more detail to this, I have confiscated the whole drum Kit which may I add has pleased his neighbours who I know. It would seem I have made many people happy by doing this, I'd like to think its like taking a Bullet for the team(visit roger and you'll know what I mean!!).

I have been fully updated of the changes down at The Valley. All sounds spiffing.
Thing is.. (and i know clubs do move on, get new grounds, blah blah) I'd want Redditch to stay put.. what with all the history and highs... and lows we've had there. With a lick of paint, some new stands and a few tweaks here and there.. that place could look amazing. BUT (and i hate to admit it).. i like the sound of moving grounds.. and basically starting from scratch and hopefully getting some more followers. I dont know where the new place is though.. Someone wanna help me out there?


I apologise for my ramblings..
I've just woken up

Hi Pollster..hope you are well?

The council had planned a new ground at Washford Mill...on the current pitches know as 'Holloway Park'.

Capacity 3500, with 800 seats.

Also, 3 x 3G pitches (revenue to be kept by council) - 200 car parking spaces.

We saw the plans during the Plan B project. Very impressive, but the council were not able to fund the project.

Bob Marley wrote:Hi Pollster..hope you are well?

The council had planned a new ground at Washford Mill...on the current pitches know as 'Holloway Park'.

Capacity 3500, with 800 seats.

Also, 3 x 3G pitches (revenue to be kept by council) - 200 car parking spaces.

We saw the plans during the Plan B project. Very impressive, but the council were not able to fund the project.

would have been ok for a rescue bid(plan b) but not as good as what we could have where we are me thinks!!!

The car park issue could not really be dealt with unless the whole lot was turned round, the way the site is arranged.

The Stadium could have a dedicated car park though, private and only available to visitors of The Valley, then a shuttle service.

This is not a debate about old town v new town or even sentiment,it's about history.Since football was first played in the town in 1891 we have been in this part of town,that's 120 years of history.I personally don't agree with a club selling it's spiritual home this part of town is our home,i would hate to see us leave 120 years of history behind for a few new stands and some executive boxes,for example look at Spurs willing to uproot from their home in north london to go to east london,just for a new ground.It's simply wrong,you just can't wipe out 120 years of history just like that,not that the council would ever fund a new ground,so for me NO GROUNDMOVE,the valley is good enough with development.

Sorry, but there is a very fine line between sentiment and history; neither of which is a compelling argument in the face of progress. The club needs to be run as a business. Any other business would move to a better location if it wasn’t doing well, no matter how long it had been there.

I don’t really think that your Spurs example is relevant. There is one senior club in Redditch… there are 20+ in London. There is an incomparable and massive difference between us and Tottenham.

Indeed, lets not forget that in 1900, Redditch and its surrounding villages were markedly different to what they are now. The boundary and definition of Redditch as it is now is unrecognisable in comparison to back then. There were no cars, buses, away fans, multi-storey car parks etc, etc, etc, There was probably no Batchley!

Don’t get me wrong; I’d probably shed a tear if I ever find myself leaving The Valley for the last time. But if it is done in the name of progress, then I’m up for it.