Barrow AFC.net

Disclaimer: I don't actually know what I'm talking about, the below has mostly been pieced together from other hearsay

K_BFC I think we'd be ok, wouldn't we? As we'd have until March of the first season in the league to make the changes.

Fylde's problem is that their ground isn't up to Conferene NORTH standards (never mind Conference National) so they're already a step ahead of themselves and therefore wouldn't have any leeway. We're up to Conf National standards, so we'd be ok (albeit under a deadline)

eg you can be one "standard" below your current league, for the first season you're in that league, but you have to at least be up to the standard of the league below. Fylde, I believe, aren't.

A.B. wrote:Let's face it, they'll sort out something in order to get promoted.

+1
Pretty sure that if needed, come the end of March they'll have a groundshare sorted to be elligible for promotion.

audigex wrote:K_BFC I think we'd be ok, wouldn't we?

I think we would be, the criteria is a Grade A ground with a few tweaks which is pretty much what we have although we would have to get a move on. Fylde under the rules would be relegated without their new ground plus ground share at the end of this season they don't even have a Grade B stadium to stay in Conference North.

Promotion to the football league seems to have three criteria. One that allows you to qualify for promotion, a Grade A ground which we seem to have. Then the second one, that allows you to play your first season in the league called admission criteria and a third which you have to reach to stay a member of the league and not get kicked out.

Qualification criteria
Capacity 4000 (with ability to reach 5000)
500 seats (with ability to reach 1000)
Admission criteria
Capacity 5000
1000 seats (with ability to reach 2000)
Membership criteria
capacity 5000.
2000 seats.
Barrow AFC have
Capacity 4200
Seats 1000.

Fylde's ground is hopelessly nowhere near any of these. We only have 4200 capacity, not sure if that can be increased with more stewards or it is the physical limit that has been set with our current set up. Redevelopment of the Holker St end would likely get us above the 5000 mark but we would need to double the number of seats by the looks of it. If we did two promotions in a row we would have a little over 2 years to make the changes, I suspect we will have longer but you never know with football. Although we are talking about Barrow.

Capacity improvements go hand in hand with other improvements like the new toilets, soon to be revamped floodlights, etc. I wouldn't like us to get caught with our pants down doing some of these improvements. Like halfway through re-building one side of the ground only to be told such a development reduces capacity below acceptable levels at the crucial moment, or similar. I don't know how strict the league are on these things, the conference at times seems to let anything go. Think it is well in hand though. Ground share with Morecambe anyone?

It doesn't really matter what ground they play at...
they'll NEVER fill it!

come on troops. all U R doing is hoping that Fylde will not be allowed to go up and if we come second we get auto promotion. No1 is kidding NE1. Think Fylde may have this covered.

orpheus wrote:come on troops. all U R doing is hoping that Fylde will not be allowed to go up and if we come second we get auto promotion. No1 is kidding NE1. Think Fylde may have this covered.

I think we've pretty much established that Fylde won't be stopped from being promoted or even relegated over their current ground. But interestingly it does bring to the fore our own situation, improvements on our own ground which are clearly going to happen over the coming years and sooner rather than later.

There's one thing that will stop Fylde getting automatic promotion .... and that's us finishing top of the table. We do need Fylde to help us by losing a few games, though.

Hopefully, the redevelopment of Holker Street will be planned with meeting the ground criteria for the coming seasons in mind.

You can all stop worrying now they are spending £75,000 to get the required grading.

http://www.afcfylde.co.uk/club-statemen ... d-grading/

No matter what anyone thinks of them, they're not messing about are they?

Yeh, there'll be plenty of seating for all the away fans now!

spirit of 1990 wrote:No matter what anyone thinks of them, they're not messing about are they?

A tragic waste of £75,000 for 12 months they should have just waited until the new ground was built

orpheus wrote:come on troops. all U R doing is hoping that Fylde will not be allowed to go up and if we come second we get auto promotion. No1 is kidding NE1. Think Fylde may have this covered.

To be honest, I'm not that bothered if we go up this season or not. We WILL be promoted sooner or later...
Paul Casson has put plans in place for the next five seasons - so why worry?
Our current squad AREN'T up to Conference standard.

The DIFFERENCE between us and Fylde - with regard to longevity - is simple.
WE HAVE a large fan base and the potential to attract large home crowds.
THEY DON'T - too many teams in their catchment area - Preston, Blackpool, Fleetwood, etc etc.

Whichever ground they play at doesn't really matter. They won't be able to survive on the gates they attract - whichever league they're destined to be in. And whoever is 'bankrolling' them - will - sooner or later - disembark to pastures new...

.............. 'And whoever is 'bankrolling' them - will - sooner or later - disembark to pastures new'

'in the long run we are all dead' - john maynard keynes

barrowfan_chris wrote:You can all stop worrying now they are spending £75,000 to get the required grading.

http://www.afcfylde.co.uk/club-statemen ... d-grading/

Ground share is clearly not an option, or it might be the upgrades are cheaper. Should imagine that clubs with suitable grounds are not that enamoured with the idea of giving them a helping hand... at converting their customer base.

Clearly they are convinced they are going to go up this season and don't want to stop the momentum they have on the field. Fleetwood's crowds got bigger the higher they got averaging less than 300 ten years ago, over 2000 for the last 4 seasons and over 3000 this season. Fylde must be dreaming of the same.

spirit of 1990 wrote:No matter what anyone thinks of them, they're not messing about are they?

Steven Vaughan didn't mess around either. When he first turned up he had the ground assessed and then promptly knocked down the old wooden main stand and had the current one built with crush barriers installed on the popular side (Wilkie stand) to increase capacity. Even if as the liquidator discovered he didn't actually pay for the main stand like he made us think. We could not be promoted for one season while the old stand was demolished and the new one built but it was all done.

I don't think Mr Casson is resting on his laurels either, although he has a different job given the infrastructure we already have in place at Holker St.

We all understand the FA, (F)Frequently (A)Adjust their rules depending on the stature of the club & the Owners of said club they are dealing with, So we should be fine